Increased S66 Rush Hour & Evening Service and New Route from SUNY Farmingdale to Babylon

[checkmatechamp13]

Also a pilot ridesharing service in Southampton: 

https://sct-bus.org/assets/service improvements 2019 print hearing notice_.pdf

Looks like the route down 109 is intended to replace the n72 discontinued by NICE

Edited August 29, 2019 by checkmatechamp13

[NY1635]

The n72 still runs Early Weekday Mornings, Late Evenings, and Weekends to Conklin at 110. The trips to Babylon got cut due to a mix of budget cuts by Nassau County under Manago and the route losing ridership down from 3,000 under the LIB to roughly 2100 under NICE before the cuts. 

 

[Gotham Bus Co.]

On 8/30/2019 at 6:39 AM, NY1635 said:

The n72 still runs Early Weekday Mornings, Late Evenings, and Weekends to Conklin at 110. The trips to Babylon got cut due to a mix of budget cuts by Nassau County under Manago and the route losing ridership down from 3,000 under the LIB to roughly 2100 under NICE before the cuts. 

 

It was silly and petty for NICE to turn those trips at Conklin/110 instead of running them to SUNY Farmingdale as N70s.

 

Meanwhile, should SCT create a totally new route or extend/restructure an existing route? It might make sense to extend the S40 to Farmingdale so that the two busiest routes in the County can actually intersect. 

[NY1635]

1 hour ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

It was silly and petty for NICE to turn those trips at Conklin/110 instead of running them to SUNY Farmingdale as N70s.

 

Meanwhile, should SCT create a totally new route or extend/restructure an existing route? It might make sense to extend the S40 to Farmingdale so that the two busiest routes in the County can actually intersect. 

The n70 to SUNY Farmingdale is far more frequent and busy now during the day. 70/71/72 riders travel between HTC and 109 with the ridership dropping east of Newbridge Road.n70/72 riders are more interested in conecting to the S1 at 110 or traveling to 110 proper than going thru.

The n19 to Babylon also lost 800 riders east of Sunrise, which is why NICE ends it at the mall. NICE did a survey of their riders before making cuts and found that a lot of East Nassau routes had anemic ridership.

I think SCT is more interested in Farmingdale and Babylon because Farmingdale is trying to develop their downtown along with Patchogue 

[mac5689]

5 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Meanwhile, should SCT create a totally new route or extend/restructure an existing route? It might make sense to extend the S40 to Farmingdale so that the two busiest routes in the County can actually intersect. 

It doesn't make sense to extend the S40, It's already a busy route, which I think from time to time gets delayed, Not to mention quite a few runs are inter lined with the S66. 



I'm very interested to see if they really do end up creating a new route for Babylon to Farmingdale. (If they extend a route I could see them extending the S25 or maybe the 2B. 

Edited September 2, 2019 by mac5689

[NY1635]

7 hours ago, mac5689 said:

It doesn't make sense to extend the S40, It's already a busy route, which I think from time to time gets delayed, Not to mention quite a few runs are inter lined with the S66. 



I'm very interested to see if they really do end up creating a new route for Babylon to Farmingdale. (If they extend a route I could see them extending the S25 or maybe the 2B. 

I can honestly see the 2B getting extend to sell the idea that Wyandanch Rising is working, complete with increased service. Wyandanch, Patchogue, and Ronkonkoma are the only parts of Suffolk that I hear undergoing rezoning and development.

 

[mac5689]

10 hours ago, NY1635 said:

I can honestly see the 2B getting extend to sell the idea that Wyandanch Rising is working, complete with increased service. Wyandanch, Patchogue, and Ronkonkoma are the only parts of Suffolk that I hear undergoing rezoning and development.

 

It's more Wyandanch and Ronkonkoma as the County is helping with those Projects.  Patchogue is just the villages own Planning or Zoning board doing the rezoning to get new businesses in and there is no big master plan like with Wyandanch and Ronkonkoma. Or at least no big master plan that I have heard about. 

Edited September 3, 2019 by mac5689

[NY1635]

25 minutes ago, mac5689 said:

It's more Wyandanch and Ronkonkoma as the County is helping with those Projects.  Patchogue is just the villages own Planning or Zoning board doing the rezoning to get new businesses in and there is no big master plan like with Wyandanch and Ronkonkoma. Or at least no big master plan that I have heard about. 

That explains why I have been hearing so much about Patchogue turning itself around, and why things went so smoothly over there. Hempstead is doing the same thing and using its own planning, scrapping the Master Plan for downtown entirely. 

[B35 via Church]

On 9/3/2019 at 10:10 AM, mac5689 said:

It's more Wyandanch and Ronkonkoma as the County is helping with those Projects.  Patchogue is just the villages own Planning or Zoning board doing the rezoning to get new businesses in and there is no big master plan like with Wyandanch and Ronkonkoma. Or at least no big master plan that I have heard about. 

Then how do you explain the New Village at Patchogue?

[mac5689]

On 9/15/2019 at 6:03 PM, B35 via Church said:

Then how do you explain the New Village at Patchogue?

Again it was approved by the village, and no help or deal with the County.  As far as I know there is like I said no grand master plan, they are just revitalizing the area as they go. 

[The TransitMan]

Any word of the outcome of these proposals?

[NY1635]

On 10/12/2019 at 12:43 PM, The TransitMan said:

Any word of the outcome of these proposals?

I honestly don't know. Suffolk likes to take their time with these proposals. They also want to coordinate with NICE to see if bringing the n72 back to Babylon via 109 is still possible. 

Suffolk just needs buses to travel along state roads and the Farmingdale-Babylon Route looks like a college shuttle for SUNY Farmingdale. 

[DavidRJbuses]

On 10/14/2019 at 12:42 PM, NY1635 said:

I honestly don't know. Suffolk likes to take their time with these proposals. They also want to coordinate with NICE to see if bringing the n72 back to Babylon via 109 is still possible. 

Suffolk just needs buses to travel along state roads and the Farmingdale-Babylon Route looks like a college shuttle for SUNY Farmingdale. 

From what I understand, the bus route on Route 109 will run hourly, and since it only takes about a half-hour or less for a bus to get from SUNY Farmingdale to Babylon RR and vice versa, chances are only one vehicle will be used on the route, which I hope will be Monday through Saturday with service up to 8PM.  Also, I truly believe that if NICE bus ever had any intention of reinstating n72 service to Babylon, it would have done so by now.  But it looks like n72 service to/from Babylon is now gone for good after two-and-a-half years, thus SCT's decision to put its own bus route on Route 109.

[NY1635]

2 hours ago, DavidRJbuses said:

From what I understand, the bus route on Route 109 will run hourly, and since it only takes about a half-hour or less for a bus to get from SUNY Farmingdale to Babylon RR and vice versa, chances are only one vehicle will be used on the route, which I hope will be Monday through Saturday with service up to 8PM.  Also, I truly believe that if NICE bus ever had any intention of reinstating n72 service to Babylon, it would have done so by now.  But it looks like n72 service to/from Babylon is now gone for good after two-and-a-half years, thus SCT's decision to put its own bus route on Route 109.

NICE eliminated the n19 and n72 to Babylon because both routes lost 800 riders east of 110. Nassau residents care more about getting to 110 for shopping, a connection to the S1, or heading to SUNY Farmingdale. The n19 and n72 to Babylon were used more by people who couldn't take the LIRR between Freeport and Babylon due to disabilities or living out of it's range.

NICE can still run the n72 to Babylon to fill in the 40 minute gap left by the n70 to SUNY Farmingdale, but I'm not certain if the n70 is willing to give up it's new frequent service.

[checkmatechamp13]

So they went ahead and added the extra S66 service: https://sct-bus.org/assets/s66 for January 5 2020.pdf

@B35 via Church @BM5 via Woodhaven @mac5689

[Lex]

What's with that 7 AM departure from Riverhead?

For that matter, what's with that 5:30 PM weekend departure from Patchogue?

[B35 via Church]

On 9/20/2019 at 1:02 PM, mac5689 said:

Again it was approved by the village, and no help or deal with the County.  As far as I know there is like I said no grand master plan, they are just revitalizing the area as they go. 

That's all well & good, but I'm not questioning who it was approved by, or who's helping them....

What I am questioning, is any notion that hints towards this whole thing as not being a part of something larger than a mere isolated effort..... I don't believe in happenstances; this is all part of a trend AFAIC.... This revitalization of that part of the village strikes me as Patchogue's bid to try to appeal to city residents (that are looking to GTF out of the city) into moving to their section of Long Island - instead of other sections of LI that are/have also undergone relatively recent revitalizations for the same purpose....

IMO, Mineola's efforts are - worthy, Wyandanch's efforts are cringe-worthy, Patchogue's efforts are... admirable, I suppose....

 

2 hours ago, Lex said:

What's with that 7 AM departure from Riverhead?

For that matter, what's with that 5:30 PM weekend departure from Patchogue?

I'd like to think it's demand driven, but knowing SCT, it's probably part of some interlining scheme.....

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

6 hours ago, Lex said:

What's with that 7 AM departure from Riverhead?

For that matter, what's with that 5:30 PM weekend departure from Patchogue?

 

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I'd like to think it's demand driven, but knowing SCT, it's probably part of some interlining scheme.....

From what it looks like, that the trip going from Patchogue to Riverhead goes via Montauk Highway from Patchogue to Shirley, and then takes the S68 route to get to Mastic and Center Moriches. It looks like they make all stops, but times are purposely not listed on the timepoints to get people onto the put-ins. 

 

7 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

So they went ahead and added the extra S66 service: https://sct-bus.org/assets/s66 for January 5 2020.pdf

@B35 via Church @BM5 via Woodhaven @mac5689

In addition, the S68 schedule has also been released (separately)

 https://www.sct-bus.org/schedules/s68.pdf

The two routes are not being treating as separate routes from each other instead of variants/complements of each other. Makes sense, since the S68 was relatively far from most of the S66 route (except Bellport), and very few trips actually go on to Center Moriches (which also bypasses Mastic Beach). Also, the S68's headways are not evenly distributed. The one thing I would look to change is to make the S68 hourly instead dividing the S66 up to run either via Montauk Highway and via South Country Road. 

 

Now that the S66 has been given more service, expanded evening service on the S58, and 30 minute headways for both the S58 and S62 during the rush should also be considered. With the S62, the 30 minute headways would be between Smith Haven and Riverhead (meaning hourly service on the North Country Road and Wading River sections of the route). Of course, money is the issue here.

Edited January 11, 2020 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[NY1635]

IIRC, SCT wants to modernize their routes and increase service hours but not overdo it like Nassau did with their bus system.

[B35 via Church]

22 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

From what it looks like, that the trip going from Patchogue to Riverhead goes via Montauk Highway from Patchogue to Shirley, and then takes the S68 route to get to Mastic and Center Moriches. It looks like they make all stops, but times are purposely not listed on the timepoints to get people onto the put-ins. 

How do you come to that conclusion?

14 hours ago, NY1635 said:

IIRC, SCT wants to modernize their routes and increase service hours but not overdo it like Nassau did with their bus system.

Overdo it like Nassau did with their bus system? You're delusional.

Let's not act like NICE is this overly progressive bus system that has completely modernized things, to the point where they're now overserving its routes... Man, get out of here with that....

Edited January 12, 2020 by B35 via Church

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

How do you come to that conclusion?

 

Should have been clearer with this point. I believe those buses make all the S66 stops they pass by. If you look at the weekend 5:30 PM trip in particular, it doesn't have times listed for any of the timepoints past Montauk Hwy & Camp Upton Road. I believe it bypasses Mastic Beach, but then makes any S66 stop along the way. There's no time listed for the Center Moriches timepoint because likely doesn't deviate to serve Bank Street (where the timepoint is). It's not impossible to do Shirley to Riverhead via Center Moriches in 30 minutes either (such a trip during that time is estimated to be 22-35 minutes long). 

Same thing goes with the 7:00 AM weekday trip from Riverhead. Now, I don't know if it takes Montauk Highway straight or not, but there has to be some sort of connection preserved for those going towards Bellport (who would need to take the bus which starts in Mastic Beach). According to google maps, the max time between the Mastic and Patchogue timepoints is 26 minutes, in which the 30 minutes alotted sounds reasonable.

Whether it's officially closed door (making drop-offs only), or open door (basically get picked up if you figure out when the bus passes), I don't know. 

 

[B35 via Church]

10 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Should have been clearer with this point. I believe those buses make all the S66 stops they pass by. If you look at the weekend 5:30 PM trip in particular, it doesn't have times listed for any of the timepoints past Montauk Hwy & Camp Upton Road. I believe it bypasses Mastic Beach, but then makes any S66 stop along the way. There's no time listed for the Center Moriches timepoint because likely doesn't deviate to serve Bank Street (where the timepoint is). It's not impossible to do Shirley to Riverhead via Center Moriches in 30 minutes either (such a trip during that time is estimated to be 22-35 minutes long). 

Same thing goes with the 7:00 AM weekday trip from Riverhead. Now, I don't know if it takes Montauk Highway straight or not, but there has to be some sort of connection preserved for those going towards Bellport (who would need to take the bus which starts in Mastic Beach). According to google maps, the max time between the Mastic and Patchogue timepoints is 26 minutes, in which the 30 minutes alotted sounds reasonable.

Whether it's officially closed door (making drop-offs only), or open door (basically get picked up if you figure out when the bus passes), I don't know.

If they operated open door, the times would be listed....

That part of the inquiry boils down to whether those trips are operating closed door along the respective portion of the route where there's no timepoints listed, or operating non-stop (no pickups or dropoffs).... What I ultimately want to know though is a] why is it those 2 particular trips in question & b] why they operate the way they do (regardless of how they do it).....

[N6 Limited]

On 1/12/2020 at 12:08 AM, B35 via Church said:

Let's not act like NICE is this overly progressive bus system that has completely modernized things, to the point where they're now overserving its routes... Man, get out of here with that....

To be fair, they installed passenger counters, gps systems, and made their feed available to Transit App, which helped a LOT. They have the county bus dispatch center (whatever it's called), updated the transit center in Hempstead, etc.

[B35 via Church]

5 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

To be fair, they installed passenger counters, gps systems, and made their feed available to Transit App, which helped a LOT. They have the county bus dispatch center (whatever it's called), updated the transit center in Hempstead, etc.

Oh, I'm not knocking their progressiveness, I'm just not the person saying they're doing it to the point of overkill (whatever that's supposed to mean).... It's a stupid thing to make a sticking point out of, in comparison to what SCT isn't doing with its bus system.... May as well revert & devolve the surface transit operations of/for Nassau's residents to that of having them carrying bindlestiff's on conestoga's to get around....

If only the MTA had that genuine (instead of a forced) innovative spirit that NICE has.... When NICE comes out with some shit, it's like, oh wow... When the MTA comes out with some shit, it's like, "it took you long enough.... god damn"....