Select Bus Service Discussion Thread

[BrooklynBus]

54 minutes ago, DueceDrives said:

Buses are on schedule...... Sometimes we have to slow down to avoid being ahead of schedule. Transit rather us late than early...... 

Okay then. That I understand. Just explain to me the part about the OTO. If the bus was ahead of schedule as you claim, then why if he is told "to take it easy" would he get OTO? You get OTO when you are late, not when you are early. So I find it difficult to believe he was really early. 

[Express Bus Operator]

1 minute ago, BrooklynBus said:

Okay then. That I understand. Just explain to me the part about the OTO. If the bus was ahead of schedule as you claim, then why if he is told "to take it easy" would he get OTO? You get OTO when you are late, not when you are early. So I find it difficult to believe he was really early. 

Its complicated to explain...if the dispatcher was involved therefore it must of been a reason why he told the operator to slow down. the dispatcher monitors the line, and theres a supt also watching the line. Maybe in the situation your bus was in, the line had a shortage with buses.

[checkmatechamp13]

12 hours ago, DueceDrives said:

Buses are on schedule...... Sometimes we have to slow down to avoid being ahead of schedule. Transit rather us late than early...... 

Except the M34 SBS only has 2 timepoints: The first stop and last stop, and you can get to the last stop early.

In any case, the schedule should be written so that B/Os can drive at a reasonable pace and not have to drag the line.

11 hours ago, DueceDrives said:

Its complicated to explain...if the dispatcher was involved therefore it must of been a reason why he told the operator to slow down. the dispatcher monitors the line, and theres a supt also watching the line. Maybe in the situation your bus was in, the line had a shortage with buses.

If they had a shortage, wouldn't it make sense to have the buses speed up so you can get them back and forth sooner? If he finishes the round-trip 10 minutes sooner, he can get out of the terminal 10 minutes earlier to compensate for the bus shortage. If they get overtime, that's good for them, but there should be some way that it benefits the passengers.

In any case, it never makes sense for the bus to drive slowly. If you're trying to avoid getting ahead of schedule (or otherwise "take it easy" because there's a gap forming behind you because of a lack of buses), the right thing to do (or at least, the customer-friendly thing to do) is wait at the stop itself. Make an announcement "We're going to be waiting here for 5 minutes. Thank you for your patience". That way, people who are in a hurry have the option of leaving the bus and walking if their destination is close enough, and you have 5 more minutes to pick up people at that particular stop who would've otherwise missed the bus. Then in between stops, you drive normally. 

Edited July 14, 2018 by checkmatechamp13

[BrooklynBus]

27 minutes ago, Vtrain said:

Anything on when the B82SBS will begin?

There was a secret meeting on Friday. Don't have any other details.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

3 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Except the M34 SBS only has 2 timepoints: The first stop and last stop, and you can get to the last stop early.

In any case, the schedule should be written so that B/Os can drive at a reasonable pace and not have to drag the line.

If they had a shortage, wouldn't it make sense to have the buses speed up so you can get them back and forth sooner? If he finishes the round-trip 10 minutes sooner, he can get out of the terminal 10 minutes earlier to compensate for the bus shortage. If they get overtime, that's good for them, but there should be some way that it benefits the passengers.

In any case, it never makes sense for the bus to drive slowly. If you're trying to avoid getting ahead of schedule (or otherwise "take it easy" because there's a gap forming behind you because of a lack of buses), the right thing to do (or at least, the customer-friendly thing to do) is wait at the stop itself. Make an announcement "We're going to be waiting here for 5 minutes. Thank you for your patience". That way, people who are in a hurry have the option of leaving the bus and walking if their destination is close enough, and you have 5 more minutes to pick up people at that particular stop who would've otherwise missed the bus. Then in between stops, you drive normally. 

See how no one on here has nothing to say when it comes to letting passengers know what's going on. That's exactly what should be happening bro. They don't care about the customers, only a select few actually care about the customers. Then their excuse is "oh they don't pay anyways".  Majority of riders pay, except Staten Island local buses, so keep that excuse out the window. 

[Express Bus Operator]

33 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

There was a secret meeting on Friday. Don't have any other details.

I believe the sbs82 will enroll this fall.  On Flatlands before you cross ralph ave they started to pave the red carpet “Bus Lanes” 

[Future ENY OP]

10 minutes ago, DueceDrives said:

I believe the sbs82 will enroll this fall.  On Flatlands before you cross ralph ave they started to pave the red carpet “Bus Lanes” 

Accurate. Spotted the bus lane this morning.  

[Express Bus Operator]

24 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Accurate. Spotted the bus lane this morning.  

They already have the sbs wrapped bus out in service on the 82

[Future ENY OP]

3 minutes ago, DueceDrives said:

They already have the sbs wrapped bus out in service on the 82

Yes.. Saw 7669 finally this morning while driving down Penn Avenue..

Are the bus lanes on Penn Avenue 24 hours or are they set 7A-7P M-F??? like all others in Brooklyn

[Express Bus Operator]

1 minute ago, Future ENY OP said:

Yes.. Saw 7669 finally this morning while driving down Penn Avenue..

Are the bus lanes on Penn Avenue 24 hours or are they set 7A-7P M-F??? like all others in Brooklyn

Not sure... most likely 7am to 7pm

[Lawrence St]

So how exatcly did they fix the situation to allow artics to run on the Bx6?

[Brillant93]

6 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

Yes.. Saw 7669 finally this morning while driving down Penn Avenue..

Are the bus lanes on Penn Avenue 24 hours or are they set 7A-7P M-F??? like all others in Brooklyn

Bus lanes on penn ave are 24/7. 

[Future ENY OP]

Just now, Brillant93 said:

Bus lanes on penn ave are 24/7. 

Than I need to see some documents that show that?

Cuz, I got 1 telling me 7a-7P, and now this.........

[Brillant93]

11 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Than I need to see some documents that show that?

Cuz, I got 1 telling me 7a-7P, and now this.........

From when I last traveled through there the signs never indicated a cut off time. I guess since penn ave never lost a lane they just added three each way. 

[checkmatechamp13]

8 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

See how no one on here has nothing to say when it comes to letting passengers know what's going on. That's exactly what should be happening bro. They don't care about the customers, only a select few actually care about the customers. Then their excuse is "oh they don't pay anyways".  Majority of riders pay, except Staten Island local buses, so keep that excuse out the window. 

I can't stand when people single out Staten Island local buses as being full of farebeaters. The vast majority of riders on all lines pay, even on the North Shore. Are there a sizable amount of farebeaters? Yes. But to make it seem like there's more farebeaters than people paying their fare (which is what "majority" means) is foolish.

On a separate topic, announcing what you're doing is good customer service in general, regardless of who you're dealing with. One thing you learn in customer service is how to diffuse arguments. If a B/O announces in advance "I'm going to be holding here for a few minutes, you can get off if you want to. Sorry for the inconvenience", it shows that the B/O cares about the passenger, and that it's something that's out of the B/O's control. So when somebody hears that, they know that the B/O isn't the root cause of the problem (i.e. Arguing with them isn't going to solve it). Just by saying it in advance, it avoids a lot of potential conflicts (arguments can sometimes turn physical), regardless of who they're with. 

That being said, the MTA policy should be that B/Os should hold at the timepoints, where possible, because those are usually major stops/transfer points. One thing that used to irk me back in high school was when I would catch an S44 or S59 local, and they would either crawl down Richmond Avenue, or hold at a local stop, and then the S89 would go flying by. I remember on an S93, he just pulled over at some random place on Victory Blvd (I think it was over by Renwick), when if he had just gone up to Clove & Victory and waited there, those of us who needed to transfer to the S53 could've done so). 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

15 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

I can't stand when people single out Staten Island local buses as being full of farebeaters. The vast majority of riders on all lines pay, even on the North Shore. Are there a sizable amount of farebeaters? Yes. But to make it seem like there's more farebeaters than people paying their fare (which is what "majority" means) is foolish.

On a separate topic, announcing what you're doing is good customer service in general, regardless of who you're dealing with. One thing you learn in customer service is how to diffuse arguments. If a B/O announces in advance "I'm going to be holding here for a few minutes, you can get off if you want to. Sorry for the inconvenience", it shows that the B/O cares about the passenger, and that it's something that's out of the B/O's control. So when somebody hears that, they know that the B/O isn't the root cause of the problem (i.e. Arguing with them isn't going to solve it). Just by saying it in advance, it avoids a lot of potential conflicts (arguments can sometimes turn physical), regardless of who they're with. 

That being said, the MTA policy should be that B/Os should hold at the timepoints, where possible, because those are usually major stops/transfer points. One thing that used to irk me back in high school was when I would catch an S44 or S59 local, and they would either crawl down Richmond Avenue, or hold at a local stop, and then the S89 would go flying by. I remember on an S93, he just pulled over at some random place on Victory Blvd (I think it was over by Renwick), when if he had just gone up to Clove & Victory and waited there, those of us who needed to transfer to the S53 could've done so). 

Actually there is a load of farebeating going on Staten Island, and just about every line that I used had an issue with it, but it was concentrated to certain areas.  I'd see it by Jersey Street on the S48, on the S53, S54, etc.  In my area people paid, but you go further west to Port Richmond and those areas like Mariners Harbor and farebeating is rampant. What they need to do is crack down in certain areas.

Same issue in the Bronx.  In Riverdale people pay the fare.  You go down hill on say the Bx9 and start going past the really poor areas (University Heights, parts of Fordham, etc.) and it's another story.  Staten Island has concentrated poverty which is the real problem and areas that are high income (most of my old neighborhood (West Brighton), Westerleigh, Emerson Hill, Randall Manor, etc. most of the mid-island and South Shore, etc.) are the areas where people pay.  Park Hill is another area where farebeating is rampant.  

Edited July 15, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Union Tpke]

MTA mulling changes to B82 Select Bus Service plan

The B82 bus arrives at Bay Parkway and 86th Street. Changes the MTA is considering for the bus line have raised concerns in Bensonhurst. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas

 

By Paula Katinas

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which was all set to introduce Select Bus Service (SBS) to the B82 line in Brooklyn this summer, pulled back and is still tinkering with the plan after the agency’s original proposal was met with skepticism and concern from local elected officials and neighborhood residents.

“Community outrage expressed by this office at meetings and rallies, in petitions, letter writing and comments on their own website, have led to getting our voices heard,” Assemblymember William Colton said in a statement.

SBS buses are used to connect neighborhoods to subway stations and major destinations, according to MTA’s website. SBS features an off-bus fare payment system; the installation of dedicated bus lanes; traffic signal coordination; and longer distances between bus stops.

The S79, which runs between Bay Ridge and Staten Island, was one of the first lines to get SBS.

Colton, a Democrat who represents portions of Bensonhurst and Gravesend, was among the lawmakers raising objections to the original SBS plan or the B82, charging that it would hurt senior citizens with limited mobility, small business owners and the disabled because the proposal called for bus stops to be spread further apart instead of the current configuration which has bus stop approximately two to three blocks apart.

The MTA’s original SBS plan would also have resulted in the loss of too many parking spaces along the Kings Highway portion of the B82 bus route, opponents said.

The MTA and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced possible alternatives to the original proposal, including plans to reduce the bus-only lanes along parts of the B82’s route, installing “No Left Turn” rules at busy intersections, creating loading zones and introducing metered parking around Kings Highway. 

The B82 route runs through several Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Coney Island, Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Midwood, Flatbush, Marine Park, Flatlands, Canarsie and Spring Creek Gardens

While Colton said he was pleased to see the MTA back off its original proposal, he urged the agency to consider the input of neighborhood residents before finalizing its plan.

“This decision to adjust their plan proves the power of the people to have a voice in the projects affecting their community and the commitment of the MTA to the needs of neighborhoods they serve. Together, we must demand that the MTA return to the communities affected by this change to give them input into the revised plans, so the quality of the lives of both residents and commuters can be improved,” Colton contended.

Colton was one of several Southwest Brooklyn elected officials to express concern with the MTA’s proposed changes on the B82 line. Kings County Politics reported that Councilmembers Chaim Deutsch, Mark Treyger and Kalman Yeger, State Senators Simcha Felder and Martin Golden, and Assemblymembers Helene Weinstein, Dov Hikind and Steven Cymbrowitz all attended a meeting with MTA and DOT officials in the spring where the entire plan was called into question.

An MTA spokesperson told this newspaper on Monday in an email that the transportation agency has always taken the community’s concerns into consideration when formulating the SBS plan for the B82 and would continue to do so.

A new B82 plan is forthcoming, the spokesperson said.

[aemoreira81]

For the B82, I am still convinced that, except for between East 13 to East 17, Kings Highway should be one-way eastbound between Ocean Parkway and Ocean Avenue, the busiest of the commercial stretch, along with eliminating parking on the west side of East 16 Street between Avenue P and Kings Highway. Parking would be replaced by changing parking on one side of East 17 Street between Avenue P and Kings Highway to angled or parallel parking, along with restored parking at bus stops westbound at East 18 Street, and East 9 Street and Coney Island Avenue (on the north side of Kings Highway). The short two way segment is because there is no real alternative. (Quentin Road would be one-way westbound from East 13 to Ocean Parkway.)

The only segment that needs bus lanes is where they already exist now.

[Kingjunior34]

Has there been anything that’s has come out of the meeting about the B82 SBS that was supposedly happening Friday 

[Future ENY OP]

15 minutes ago, Kingjunior34 said:

Has there been anything that’s has come out of the meeting about the B82 SBS that was supposedly happening Friday 

Article # 1: https://www.kingscountypolitics.com/mta-dot-floats-preliminary-plans-for-sbs-b82-service/

Article # 2: https://www.kingscountypolitics.com/colton-reveals-preliminary-options-for-sbs-b82-service/

Anything after that figure out..

[Brillant93]

Sbs machines are up by the Canarsie train station. 

[Future ENY OP]

SBS Machine installation: Louisiana & Flatlands. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Future ENY OP

[King Transit]

49 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

SBS Machine installation: Louisiana & Flatlands. 

Are you saying that it's already installed ?

[Express Bus Operator]

Ill stop by ENY depot sometimes this week at the pick room to see if the sbs82 is up for operators to pick.

[XBht26]

21 hours ago, DueceDrives said:

Ill stop by ENY depot sometimes this week at the pick room to see if the sbs82 is up for operators to pick.

Not yet