September 1, 2019 Bus Route and Service Changes

[B35 via Church]

1 hour ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Do you suppose that riders are avoiding the Q36 just because it isn't a stand-alone route?

Solely, no.....

In part, yes - As you have people in these quiet residential areas that feel that somehow "an outsider" won't bother gaining access to their area by xferring to "their" bus from another bus... As opposed to taking a solitary bus that has the capability of directly transporting said "outsiders" from other neighborhoods, into theirs..... Possessiveness is one thing, xenophobia is another....

The other aspect, quite frankly, is just how unreliable the Q36 from Jamaica to Little Neck is, compared to a bus that runs ran up & down LNP every 30 mins.... May not be frequent, but damn it, its ours & we know it'll be there, was the attitude... That's what the Q79 was & that is why I believe there are less people bothering to patronize the Q36 the way the Q79 was....

Edited September 7, 2019 by B35 via Church

[checkmatechamp13]

@B35 via Church Another thing to consider is that the Q79 had a 3-legged transfer (subway-any bus-Q79). I'm not sure if that's the case with the Q36. So for example, someone living towards the northern end wouldn't be able to take the Q43 or Q46 to reach it, they have to loop down and back up on the Q36. Having to pay 2 fares is definitely a disincentive for riders.

Though on the other hand, I'm not sure if other bus lines (e.g. In Flushing & Jamaica) were included in the 3-legged transfer so if that's the case, the Q36 actually helps a bit in that case, since it directly connects to other lines in Jamaica.

For the record I think 3-legged transfers should be more widespread than they are now. You shouldn't have to pay 2 fares to make a local trip

[Gotham Bus Co.]

9 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@B35 via Church Another thing to consider is that the Q79 had a 3-legged transfer (subway-any bus-Q79). I'm not sure if that's the case with the Q36. So for example, someone living towards the northern end wouldn't be able to take the Q43 or Q46 to reach it, they have to loop down and back up on the Q36. Having to pay 2 fares is definitely a disincentive for riders.

Nobody has to pay 2 fares. Just stay on the Q36 directly to the subway.

 

 

9 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@B35 via Church Though on the other hand, I'm not sure if other bus lines (e.g. In Flushing & Jamaica) were included in the 3-legged transfer so if that's the case, the Q36 actually helps a bit in that case, since it directly connects to other lines in Jamaica.

No. The third leg had to be the subway.

 

9 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@B35 via Church For the record I think 3-legged transfers should be more widespread than they are now. You shouldn't have to pay 2 fares to make a local trip

I totally agree, which is why I take every opportunity to state my suggestion to scrap all transfers in favor of a time-based pass. Just dip/tap/swipe once and you have your run of the whole "base" system (local bus, subway, S.I. Railway) for the defined amount of time (e.g. Denver RTD allows 3 hours for its "cash pass"). The "risk" of round-tripping would be a very small price to pay for the public perception of enhancing mobility.

[Deucey]

On 9/5/2019 at 9:42 AM, Future ENY OP said:

B38 LIMITED - Service Reduction Due to Artic Implementation

• AM Rush service will operate every 8 minutes instead of every 6-7 minutes.
• PM Shoulder: WB Service will operate every 9-10 minutes instead of every 6-9 minutes.
• PM Rush service will operate every 9-10 minutes instead of every 7-8 minutes

When you have every 40-footer getting stuffed to 2.5 times it’s capacity - even when bunching, why would you go to artics AND reduce service by 1/3?

B38 LTD will be packed worse than both Bx12 lines.

[NewFlyer 230]

4 minutes ago, Deucey said:

When you have every 40-footer getting stuffed to 2.5 times it’s capacity - even when bunching, why would you go to artics AND reduce service by 1/3?

B38 LTD will be packed worse than both Bx12 lines.

All about cutting cost down for the  . This agency doesn’t care anything about providing sufficient service that benefits the riders. 

[B35 via Church]

18 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

What was the Q79? Was it the college shuttle?

You're thinking of the Q74....

The Q79 was this puppy:

 

19 minutes ago, Deucey said:

When you have every 40-footer getting stuffed to 2.5 times it’s capacity - even when bunching, why would you go to artics AND reduce service by 1/3?

B38 LTD will be packed worse than both Bx12 lines.

B38 Ltd riders won't be sitting on the roof and/or dangling outside the windows....

When it comes to this city, th'aint no such thing as packed worse than the Bx12....

Point taken, though.

8 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

All about cutting cost down for the  . This agency doesn’t care anything about providing sufficient service that benefits the riders. 

Yep... A public transit provider that doesn't give two shits about the riding public.

Imagine that.....

Edited September 8, 2019 by B35 via Church

[Union Tpke]

19 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Of course it was, but my point is & has been that the Q79 carried less air than the Q36 does now along LNP... I think there's something to that.

It's one thing to have gotten rid of the S60 & replaced it with a diversion of the S66.... It's another to run Q36's to Little Neck as a compromise to getting rid of the Q79.

If I thought it was time to cut my losses with the Q79, then that would have been it & the end of it....

The Q36 has been useful for me a few times when LIRR service at Little Neck went down completely. I took it to 179th and then took the . A route is needed there.

[B35 via Church]

33 minutes ago, Union Tpke said:

The Q36 has been useful for me a few times when LIRR service at Little Neck went down completely. I took it to 179th and then took the . A route is needed there.

The essence of everything I've been saying thus far is that they should have left the Q79 alone.

[Union Tpke]

13 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

The essence of everything I've been saying thus far is that they should have left the Q79 alone.

I understand. They should have extended it to Floral Park LIRR, like was planned multiple times in the 1980s and 1990s. See the Wikipedia article on the bus that I wrote.

[Future ENY OP]

1 hour ago, Deucey said:

When you have every 40-footer getting stuffed to 2.5 times it’s capacity - even when bunching, why would you go to artics AND reduce service by 1/3?

B38 LTD will be packed worse than both Bx12 lines.

There was one day last week I've seen 6 B38 buses heading in 1 direction = Ridgewood from Downtown Brooklyn.. There is so much bunching on this line. I just guess you don't make service..

[B35 via Church]

3 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

There was one day last week I've seen 6 B38 buses heading in 1 direction = Ridgewood from Downtown Brooklyn.. There is so much bunching on this line. I just guess you don't make service..

Curious... how many of them were Met. av buses?

Every time I see a conga line of EB B38's, I take a mental note of which ones are Catalpa buses & which ones are Met. buses....

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

There was one day last week I've seen 6 B38 buses heading in 1 direction = Ridgewood from Downtown Brooklyn.. There is so much bunching on this line. I just guess you don't make service..

That was the norm when I was with Citi Habitats and the office was on Bedford - multiple 38s and LTDs bunches and still as crowded as pictures say trains in India are.

The maths say that a 60ft bendy bus should increase capacity 50+%, but if you can have 40-footers with close to 100 people on them all arriving within 2 minutes of each other, that capacity boost is already ruined when service is cut.

Looks like it’s B26 or B52 whenever I wanna go to Bed-Stuy.

[Future ENY OP]

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

Curious... how many of them were Met. av buses?

Every time I see a conga line of EB B38's, I take a mental note of which ones are Catalpa buses & which ones are Met. buses....

Oh.. all were Metro Ave buses.. 3 limiteds, 3 locals. Also, if the is trying to make the 38 an all artic line. You have standards also working the line. It's good that GA got a full 42 buses for the line.. However, that count needs to be at least 50 for the line to be fully artic.

[Lex]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

Oh.. all were Metro Ave buses.. 3 limiteds, 3 locals.

Huh?

[NewFlyer 230]

Isn’t extreme bunching a problem that lots of routes out of Grand Ave have? 
I was on the Q58 today and noticed 3 buses bunched together and then I saw a gap of about 15-20 minutes. After that gap I saw a few more buses bunched up again and then a gap. In an ideal world shouldn’t all these buses be evenly distributed throughout the route instead of bunched up in threes and fours.

However I know the Q58 is prone to bunching like that, and I noticed they will have buses randomly pulled out of service by Fresh Pond Rd and Putnam. It’s happened to me several times where me and everyone else was kicked off the bus over there and told to take one of the other buses that are within that group of bunched up buses. 

 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

Oh.. all were Metro Ave buses.. 3 limiteds, 3 locals. Also, if the is trying to make the 38 an all artic line. You have standards also working the line. It's good that GA got a full 42 buses for the line.. However, that count needs to be at least 50 for the line to be fully artic.

That can't be. The LTDs all go down Seneca Avenue, while the locals run to Metropolitan Avenue.

Edited September 8, 2019 by BM5 via Woodhaven