Express Bus Advocacy Group

[QM1to6Ave]

16 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

That is pretty much the plan for the Downtown express buses in the latest draft.

Excellent, i haven't had a chance to look at the downtown proposals, ill take a look

[QM1to6Ave]

21 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

That is pretty much the plan for the Downtown express buses in the latest draft.

I just had a chance to review the proposals, and I knew that the addition of the 34th and 1st stop was too good to be true lol. The QM7 would now make all those stops along Queens Blvd, like the QM18, which is going to slow it down immensely! And I see they are pulling the same nonsense with east of 188th street vs west of 188th street for the QM7 and QM8. Ugg.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I just had a chance to review the proposals, and I knew that the addition of the 34th and 1st stop was too good to be true lol. The QM7 would now make all those stops along Queens Blvd, like the QM18, which is going to slow it down immensely! And I see they are pulling the same nonsense with east of 188th street vs west of 188th street for the QM7 and QM8. Ugg.

Yes, we've had a few Zoom meetings with another advocacy group and some riders have expressed their frustration with that QM7 Queens Blvd nonsense. Only the QM7 would make the Queens Blvd stops though, but another idea would be to have the new route (the QM65 make those stops instead) since it is unclear how much ridership that line will get from Southeast Queens. This is their attempt to streamline the current QM11, as they propose to not have it serve Queens Blvd. The QM8 would run just like the QM5 trips and stop picking up after 188th St.

Looks like I'm also going to be giving a chat up in Whitestone, also in June, as I was asked to come there and speak, but that one will be just for folks in Whitestone, so it will focus on Northeast Queens. The other one will be open to whoever wants to come.

[QM1to6Ave]

31 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yes, we've had a few Zoom meetings with another advocacy group and some riders have expressed their frustration with that QM7 Queens Blvd nonsense. Only the QM7 would make the Queens Blvd stops though, but another idea would be to have the new route (the QM65 make those stops instead) since it is unclear how much ridership that line will get from Southeast Queens. This is their attempt to streamline the current QM11, as they propose to not have it serve Queens Blvd. The QM8 would run just like the QM5 trips and stop picking up after 188th St.

Looks like I'm also going to be giving a chat up in Whitestone, also in June, as I was asked to come there and speak, but that one will be just for folks in Whitestone, so it will focus on Northeast Queens. The other one will be open to whoever wants to come.

So frustrating. Thank you for the continued advocacy and organizing!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

8 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

So frustrating. Thank you for the continued advocacy and organizing!

My pleasure. Got a few weeks to organize the June 6th meeting. A reporter from one of the regular channels contacted me today via text to say that they wanted to attend, so I'm sure they'll do a story and have it on the news.

[7-express]

I remember hearing that the new Prevosts had AC issues last summer.  Does anyone know if those issues have been addressed ahead of this summer?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 minutes ago, 7-express said:

I remember hearing that the new Prevosts had AC issues last summer.  Does anyone know if those issues have been addressed ahead of this summer?

I've been on several new express buses of late and the AC has been just fine. Seating situation has also been addressed.

 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Reminder of events on the Queens Bus Redesign upcoming that I'll be speaking at or co-hosting (these are NOT events, but they have agreed to attend at least the first one).

1. Poppenhusen Institute - College Point

114-4 14th Road

College Point, NY 11356

June 6th - Doors open @ 6:30pm

**Masks Required** - If you don't have one, free masks and sanitizer will be available.

Open to anyone who wants to leave feedback or make comments or ask questions regarding the Queens Redesign. There will be tables set up for the express bus lines, local bus lines and any disability issues. Light refreshments will be available. We expect media to be present and a few elected officials as well.

You can also attend this meeting via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84586076383?pwd=eUZFNIZGNUMzNXZKOHItbUZiRFFFdz09

Meeting ID: 845 8607 6383
Passcode: 136316

Recording will be sent to the  for all feedback. 

-----------

2. Townhall Meeting - Whitestone

St. Luke's Church - Basement

16-34 Clintonville St

Whitestone, NY 11357

June 15th - Meeting Starts @ 7:30pm

This is ONLY for residents who live in Whitestone, as we will be discussing QM2, QM20 & QM32 service and the Queens Express Bus Redesign. 

------

Events elsewhere in Queens may be held in the future by us to allow Queens residents to provide feedback on their express bus lines.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[shiznit1987]

Is there any way you could speak about not cutting back QM15 service? I'd rather they expand the saturday schedule to include sunday as well and keep the current weekday frequencies the same. Those buses often do have great ridership. 

 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

18 minutes ago, shiznit1987 said:

Is there any way you could speak about not cutting back QM15 service? I'd rather they expand the saturday schedule to include sunday as well and keep the current weekday frequencies the same. Those buses often do have great ridership. 

 

 

You can attend the meeting in College Point and speak on that. It will be recorded and the recording will be reviewed by the  or you can speak via Zoom. Either option. I forgot that there will be a remote option for people to speak, etc. Here's the Zoom info:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84586076383?pwd=eUZFNIZGNUMzNXZKOHItbUZiRFFFdz09

Meeting ID: 845 8607 6383
Passcode: 136316

Recording will be sent to the  for all feedback.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[7-express]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I've been on several new express buses of late and the AC has been just fine. Seating situation has also been addressed.

 

 

I've been on a few newer ones and it seems more often than not the overhead vents aren't blowing any air.  While on the older MCI's, they're almost always working.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 hours ago, 7-express said:

I've been on a few newer ones and it seems more often than not the overhead vents aren't blowing any air.  While on the older MCI's, they're almost always working.

The new express buses have climate control, so the air does not constantly blow. It blows as needed.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Delete

Edited June 2, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Excellent turnout tonight at the Poppenhusen Institute...

[QM1to6Ave]

The QM5/6 to Queens on Saturday evenings are consistently more filled than I've ever seen...tonight, the 10:00 pm QM5 had 25 people on it, and in the past few weeks (except Memorial Day Weekend), the 9:30 QM6 had 30 people. And of course they want to cut down on the weekend service now that people are using it more heavily SMH

[Via Garibaldi 8]

18 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The QM5/6 to Queens on Saturday evenings are consistently more filled than I've ever seen...tonight, the 10:00 pm QM5 had 25 people on it, and in the past few weeks (except Memorial Day Weekend), the 9:30 QM6 had 30 people. And of course they want to cut down on the weekend service now that people are using it more heavily SMH

We're having some more in-person meetings not run by the , so what's important is that people continue to provide feedback. I'm speaking in Whitestone next Wednesday and after that we'll see what other locations will come up.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[7-express]

The DOT released a presentation showing the installation of a bus lane on Northern Blvd from Broadway to 114 Street over the next few months.  The two traffic lanes will be reduced to one, with the right lane being for buses only.  They're pitching this as the way to speed up the Q66/QM2/QM20/QM32.  It has the chance to cause massive congestion but I'm holding my breath that express bus speeds will increase a bit through here after being bogged down for years.

https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/northern-blvd-broadway-114-st-transit-jun2022.pdf

[danielhg121]

6 hours ago, 7-express said:

The DOT released a presentation showing the installation of a bus lane on Northern Blvd from Broadway to 114 Street over the next few months.  The two traffic lanes will be reduced to one, with the right lane being for buses only.  They're pitching this as the way to speed up the Q66/QM2/QM20/QM32.  It has the chance to cause massive congestion but I'm holding my breath that express bus speeds will increase a bit through here after being bogged down for years.

https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/northern-blvd-broadway-114-st-transit-jun2022.pdf

Will there be massive enforcement of said bus lane like they do with the M15? Implementation of onboard bus lane cameras to catch violators because if not, double parkers will not care.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

2 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Will there be massive enforcement of said bus lane like they do with the M15? Implementation of onboard bus lane cameras to catch violators because if not, double parkers will not care.

IIRC, those on-board cameras needed special one-off approval from the State Legislature. (Yes, the rest of the state has more say over City streets than the City itself does. Ugh.)

[7-express]

3 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Will there be massive enforcement of said bus lane like they do with the M15? Implementation of onboard bus lane cameras to catch violators because if not, double parkers will not care.

Doubt it.  In an earlier presentation, they acknowledged they had a trouble enforcing the rush hour only no standing regulation in the third/right-most lane of Northern Blvd.

They do say that camera enforcement will begin in 2023.  But until then, it'll likely continue being a shit show.  The area already has reduced capacity since 34th Avenue was converted to pedestrians only.  It'll likely be a horror show on many other E-W routes in the immediate area.  This could also slow down SX buses even more with more folks taking the GCP/Astoria Blvd than now.

[7-express]

Looking through the MTA board books for this month, it looks like 161 out of 257 of the Prevosts for MTA Bus.  They also have an open procurement for 250 more additional express buses for MTA Bus.

[QM1to6Ave]

On 6/24/2022 at 10:59 PM, 7-express said:

Looking through the MTA board books for this month, it looks like 161 out of 257 of the Prevosts for MTA Bus.  They also have an open procurement for 250 more additional express buses for MTA Bus.

They won't need them if they push through all the proposed cuts in queens...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

They won't need them if they push through all the proposed cuts in queens...

Haven't been posting here lately, but we've been busy. I had an interview with Fox 5 News that aired last Wednesday night regarding a bus stop loaded with garbage that we're trying to get moved. We also had another Zoom meeting on the Queens Redesign for feedback. We may do a walk through along the QM10 for people concerned about losing their bus stops and service. We've also been talking with the  about the new bus operator shields that block the aisle in the event of an emergency among other things. 

[QM1to6Ave]

16 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Haven't been posting here lately, but we've been busy. I had an interview with Fox 5 News that aired last Wednesday night regarding a bus stop loaded with garbage that we're trying to get moved. We also had another Zoom meeting on the Queens Redesign for feedback. We may do a walk through along the QM10 for people concerned about losing their bus stops and service. We've also been talking with the  about the new bus operator shields that block the aisle in the event of an emergency among other things. 

Excellent work as always!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Blocked off rows on new express buses:

-There is apparently a space issue on the new express buses, which is why the chains remain on most or all of them for the first and/or second row.  They will remain until that issue is rectified. All chains should be removed on the older express buses.