Select Bus Service Discussion Thread

[East New York]

14 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

So it must be sooner than we think. Even though they said they said they won’t have anymore sbs until 2021.

No they did not say that. Where do you guys keep getting this from??? Why are you all commenting and not even bothering to read. I've also talked about this route well before it even made black and white.

B38 is ONLY the placeholder for the route which as I have said a dozen times is supposed to be a new route fellas. Some of you are getting carried away with these questions about every little detail. 

18 hours ago, BrooklynBus said:

The MTA cannot continue to blame DOT for lack of enforcement of bus lanes with DOT blaming the NYPD. Travel times cannot continue to be twice what the schedule states if there is to be any semblance of reliability. 

Actually they can continue to blame both the DOT and the NYPD. it's not the job of the MTA to enforce bus lanes. The DOT and NYPD clearly are not doing anything which is a MAJOR problem citywide, but it's 10 times worse in Brooklyn.

I have no knowledge of any bus trips in the city being twice the scheduled run time..... Not only that, it's virtually impossible for 5,900 buses to always be reliable. There are unplanned incidents 365 days a years. 

19 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

What’s the point for having one artic at GA if it wasn’t going to be on a route? Unless they’re driving it around a potential route from north Brooklyn to downtown? 

The M14 is supposed to be temporary but I still could see it being permanent. Also aren’t they trying to make the old north shore rail line a busway of some sort? 

So the B15 isn’t going artic or sbs but another route will? Weren’t the XD60 from the Bronx 4700s supposed to go to Brooklyn for this? 

The B41 would be interesting because it’s my neighborhood bus. But are they goin mg to plan two routes since the b41 is two branches? 

They have an artic for the purposes of logistics and planning. This happens with all depots when when articulated buses are implemented. Gleason had one bus for a while prior to conversion, and they had an XD60 earlier in the year.

Yes, we've talked about North Shore, and as I said, the complete plans are still under development so let's just wait until more details are available.

We have discussed the 4700's countless times. That was put on hold in favor of new buses. Theoretically, if the route was to go artic before SBS, 4700's could be uses. However, this is not in the plans. The B15 is going articulated. The new SBS routing is what is not confirmed. It could end up being the B15. 

[RR503]

3 hours ago, East New York said:

No they did not say that. Where do you guys keep getting this from??? Why are you all commenting and not even bothering to read. I've also talked about this route well before it even made black and white.

See page 437 of the July financial plan (which, to be fair, is not the Nov. FP so is not binding yet).

Not saying you're wrong, just saying this bears more explanation...

Edited September 12, 2018 by RR503

[P3F]

5 hours ago, East New York said:

I have no knowledge of any bus trips in the city being twice the scheduled run time..... Not only that, it's virtually impossible for 5,900 buses to always be reliable. There are unplanned incidents 365 days a years. 

Several weeks ago, there was a discussion about B44 select buses being scheduled for an hour between WBP and Knapp, but in reality taking about two hours to make the trip.

[Around the Horn]

48 minutes ago, P3F said:

Several weeks ago, there was a discussion about B44 select buses being scheduled for an hour between WBP and Knapp, but in reality taking about two hours to make the trip.

That schedule was extremely hopeful in the first place...

[EastFlatbushLarry]

6 hours ago, East New York said:

it's virtually impossible for 5,900 buses to always be reliable. There are unplanned incidents 365 days a years.

it's a part of life. the unexpected will happen. something that people conveniently forget when riding public transportation on public roadways. last time i checked, majority of our bus lines don't operate on bus only or bus priority roadways. 

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

it's a part of life. the unexpected will happen. something that people conveniently forget when riding public transportation on public roadways. last time i checked, majority of our bus lines don't operate on bus only or bus priority roadways. 

I mean its kinda hard for SBS routes to be on time when NYPD and other cars are parking in the bus only lane.

[Brillant93]

It’s quite odd that the Q10 isn’t on the planned routes for sbs. I think a queens link to jfk would work because it’s a straight forward route. 

Touching on the subject with why our buses are stuck in traffic especially here in nyc is because of our culture here. In other places where bus lanes are people often respect them more so than people here do. Whenever I tell people from other places that people here park in bus stops and lanes they are baffled because in places where they came from that is a direct tow. Here we have more so a corrupt culture when it comes down enforcement. NYPD won’t enforce bus lanes a much as they should and they even too park in them. People in nyc know they’ll get a slap on the wrist and this is also why fare envision is also high since the MTA won’t harsley punish those who do fare envade. So if sbs buses are just as slow as the limit is because our nypd won’t enforce the lanes. To add on Brooklyn is the most populated borough and we have certain communities that have a suburban mentality in populated dense areas. So you have a neighborhood not built around cars but the people who have families have about two to three cars per household there’s bound to be congestion. Then you have trucks and freight trucks delievering to businesses at sparetic times which leads to excessive double parking, especially in areas with lack of loading zones. 

Sorry to off topic but I just wanted to put my say into why our bus lanes aren’t enforced because it goes into much deeper than just no one is enforcing them. If we really want better sbs we have to change the culture in nyc. Our city wasn’t built around for cars. 

[LTA1992]

I would love to see Protected Bus Lanes. 

[trainfan22]

Glenwood road is now a two way street near the Rock Park station, traffic lights installed both ways, yellow lines and SBS machines on both sides of the street.

[Future ENY OP]

1 minute ago, trainfan22 said:

Glenwood road is now a two way street near the Rock Park station, traffic lights installed both ways, yellow lines and SBS machines on both sides of the street.

2 way traffic between East 98th and East 103rd?

[Brillant93]

32 minutes ago, LTA1992 said:

I would love to see Protected Bus Lanes. 

It would work but I think more so on places like big boulevards or avenues. Like the avenues in manhattan could use a protected bus lane for its up and downtown routes. I wish I could make a street design plan and show it to the DOT. I think that would make sbs much more effective. 

[trainfan22]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

2 way traffic between East 98th and East 103rd?

Rockaway Parkway and E103.

[BrooklynBus]

15 hours ago, East New York said:

Actually they can continue to blame both the DOT and the NYPD. it's not the job of the MTA to enforce bus lanes. The DOT and NYPD clearly are not doing anything which is a MAJOR problem citywide, but it's 10 times worse in Brooklyn.

If a problem is ever going to be solved all the affected agencies have to learn to work together, not just blame each other. We should not be creating an new exclusive bus lanes if there is no intention to keep them clear. 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, BrooklynBus said:

If a problem is ever going to be solved all the affected agencies have to learn to work together, not just blame each other. We should not be creating an new exclusive bus lanes if there is no intention to keep them clear. 

 

I agree. I intend to speak with Byford about it personally when we meet at the upcoming workshops.  The  may not be responsible for overseeing the bus lanes, but they sure as hell can do more advocating for them.  Polly Trottenberg sits right on the  board and is the head of the DOT, so you're telling me that she comes to the monthly meetings and the rest of the board can't speak with her and come up with ideas to work together on better enforcement? I don't buy it. She spends more time yapping about the damn subways than about traffic and things that her department controls.  Supposedly per Byford, they're looking into technology to help with daily enforcement, but God knows how long that'll take given how slow traffic signal priority has been.  I mean when you sit and think it's now 2018 and they're just now starting to install more bus lanes around the City when this has been in place for years in other cities, the  should be embarrassed. They've had a hands off policy for far too long in saying that there's congestion as if they can't do anything about it.  I've been watching some of their board meetings with some members saying that they need to be more aggressive in this area, so clearly they can do more.

6 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

It’s quite odd that the Q10 isn’t on the planned routes for sbs. I think a queens link to jfk would work because it’s a straight forward route. 

Touching on the subject with why our buses are stuck in traffic especially here in nyc is because of our culture here. In other places where bus lanes are people often respect them more so than people here do. Whenever I tell people from other places that people here park in bus stops and lanes they are baffled because in places where they came from that is a direct tow. Here we have more so a corrupt culture when it comes down enforcement. NYPD won’t enforce bus lanes a much as they should and they even too park in them. People in nyc know they’ll get a slap on the wrist and this is also why fare envision is also high since the MTA won’t harsley punish those who do fare envade. So if sbs buses are just as slow as the limit is because our nypd won’t enforce the lanes. To add on Brooklyn is the most populated borough and we have certain communities that have a suburban mentality in populated dense areas. So you have a neighborhood not built around cars but the people who have families have about two to three cars per household there’s bound to be congestion. Then you have trucks and freight trucks delievering to businesses at sparetic times which leads to excessive double parking, especially in areas with lack of loading zones. 

Sorry to off topic but I just wanted to put my say into why our bus lanes aren’t enforced because it goes into much deeper than just no one is enforcing them. If we really want better sbs we have to change the culture in nyc. Our city wasn’t built around for cars. 

It's actually right on topic.  Bus Lane enforcement is a joke in this City, and as Uber, Lyft and others clog our streets, more of them have no respect for the bus lanes.  I regularly see bus lanes blocked by delivery trucks, and drivers from elsewhere that will just sit and park even if a bus is approaching the stop. They refuse to move.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Union Tpke]

15 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's actually right on topic.  Bus Lane enforcement is a joke in this City, and as Uber, Lyft and others clog our streets, more of them have no respect for the bus lanes.  I regularly see bus lanes blocked by delivery trucks, and drivers from elsewhere that will just sit and park even if a bus is approaching the stop. They refuse to move.

Police cars, cars with police placards, and construction vehicles are ALWAYS blocking the 7-10 AM Lexington Avenue buslane near Hunter.

 

[Union Tpke]

22 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

It’s quite odd that the Q10 isn’t on the planned routes for sbs. I think a queens link to jfk would work because it’s a straight forward route. 

Touching on the subject with why our buses are stuck in traffic especially here in nyc is because of our culture here. In other places where bus lanes are people often respect them more so than people here do. Whenever I tell people from other places that people here park in bus stops and lanes they are baffled because in places where they came from that is a direct tow. Here we have more so a corrupt culture when it comes down enforcement. NYPD won’t enforce bus lanes a much as they should and they even too park in them. People in nyc know they’ll get a slap on the wrist and this is also why fare envision is also high since the MTA won’t harsley punish those who do fare envade. So if sbs buses are just as slow as the limit is because our nypd won’t enforce the lanes. To add on Brooklyn is the most populated borough and we have certain communities that have a suburban mentality in populated dense areas. So you have a neighborhood not built around cars but the people who have families have about two to three cars per household there’s bound to be congestion. Then you have trucks and freight trucks delievering to businesses at sparetic times which leads to excessive double parking, especially in areas with lack of loading zones. 

Sorry to off topic but I just wanted to put my say into why our bus lanes aren’t enforced because it goes into much deeper than just no one is enforcing them. If we really want better sbs we have to change the culture in nyc. Our city wasn’t built around for cars. 

Where on earth are you going to fit bus lanes on Lefferts? The street is narrow. Four lanes, two parking, two travel. Some bus curbs would help, but there isn't much else to do. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

16 minutes ago, Union Tpke said:

Police cars, cars with police placards, and construction vehicles are ALWAYS blocking the 7-10 AM Lexington Avenue buslane near Hunter.

 

It's out of control.  The response that I got from Byford via e-mail was that it's an ongoing struggle.  He seems to believe that the fix will be the cameras, hence his comment about using technology to enforce the bus lanes in his response to me. I'm not sure that it'll be enough.  Something else that makes the bus lanes chaotic is that they stop and start in random places and they are also worn out on various streets.  Last night I was on 6th Avenue.  I didn't even realize that there were bus lanes there, and no driver would either because you can barely see the BUS ONLY signage.  They need to make the lanes more visible, not only by re-painting them, but by educating drivers as well. Even with the painted lanes, some drivers have no clue that they are bus only lanes and will sit and park in the them.   

Edited September 13, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Future ENY OP]

42 minutes ago, Union Tpke said:

Police cars, cars with police placards, and construction vehicles are ALWAYS blocking the 7-10 AM Lexington Avenue buslane near Hunter.

 

The 19th precinct and Manhattan North is right there and the construction workers are good with the DOT Manhattan Borough Commish. Same problem in Brooklyn 

[Union Tpke]

In addition, buses are forced to drop passengers off from the travel lane, which is dangerous, and blocks traffic.

[Union Tpke]

On 9/9/2018 at 4:21 AM, East New York said:

This thread will be to discuss all pending and planned SBS routes throughout the 5 boroughs. Planning calls for these routes to be rolled out through the next decade. For discussion about current SBS service, please refer to the existing, and recently renamed General SBS Discussion Thread.

 

Listed below are all the planned SBS routes as of September 9, 2018. Current priority is B82, M14, and S90. Please remember all information is subject to change without notice. 

 

@East New YorkWill these changes be reflected in the STIP any time soon? Thanks.

[bobtehpanda]

12 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's out of control.  The response that I got from Byford via e-mail was that it's an ongoing struggle.  He seems to believe that the fix will be the cameras, hence his comment about using technology to enforce the bus lanes in his response to me. I'm not sure that it'll be enough.  Something else that makes the bus lanes chaotic is that they stop and start in random places and they are also worn out on various streets.  Last night I was on 6th Avenue.  I didn't even realize that there were bus lanes there, and no driver would either because you can barely see the BUS ONLY signage.  They need to make the lanes more visible, not only by re-painting them, but by educating drivers as well. Even with the painted lanes, some drivers have no clue that they are bus only lanes and will sit and park in the them.   

Problem is that's all DOT. Left hand needs the right hand and vice versa.

It's kind of hard to tell what the solution is; when the DOT controlled the subways and buses it got pressured into holding the fares down as the infrastructure deteriorated. Maybe a city Transportation Authority that controls all the roads and subways and buses, like LA Metro.

Edited September 14, 2018 by bobtehpanda

[Union Tpke]

19 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's out of control.  The response that I got from Byford via e-mail was that it's an ongoing struggle.  He seems to believe that the fix will be the cameras, hence his comment about using technology to enforce the bus lanes in his response to me. I'm not sure that it'll be enough.  Something else that makes the bus lanes chaotic is that they stop and start in random places and they are also worn out on various streets.  Last night I was on 6th Avenue.  I didn't even realize that there were bus lanes there, and no driver would either because you can barely see the BUS ONLY signage.  They need to make the lanes more visible, not only by re-painting them, but by educating drivers as well. Even with the painted lanes, some drivers have no clue that they are bus only lanes and will sit and park in the them.   

@Via Garibaldi 8I just took this video. It is awful.

 

[Lawrence St]

19 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's out of control.  The response that I got from Byford via e-mail was that it's an ongoing struggle.  He seems to believe that the fix will be the cameras, hence his comment about using technology to enforce the bus lanes in his response to me. I'm not sure that it'll be enough.  Something else that makes the bus lanes chaotic is that they stop and start in random places and they are also worn out on various streets.  Last night I was on 6th Avenue.  I didn't even realize that there were bus lanes there, and no driver would either because you can barely see the BUS ONLY signage.  They need to make the lanes more visible, not only by re-painting them, but by educating drivers as well. Even with the painted lanes, some drivers have no clue that they are bus only lanes and will sit and park in the them.   

You should see the bus only lanes on Fordham, oh wait, you can't 😕

[Union Tpke]

On 9/9/2018 at 4:21 AM, East New York said:

 

Queens Division**

Q6, Q12, Q25, Q27, Q43, Q46, Q58, Q65, Q85, Q113, Q114

** Please note Queens will be the last borough to undergo bus redesign. All planned SBS services for this borough will be put on hold until 2021. 

 

 

Is the Q66 SBS to Columbus Circle still planned?

NYCDOT X77307

NORTHERN BOULEVARD FLUSHING-MANHATTAN CORRIDOR SELECT BUS SERVICE FROM NORTHERN BOULEVARD AND MAIN STREET, IN QUEENS COUNTY TO COLUMBUS CIRCLE, MANHATTAN, NEW YORK COUNTY TO REDUCE TRAVEL TIMES AT BOTH COUNTIES

[LTA1992]

On 9/12/2018 at 6:23 PM, Brillant93 said:

It would work but I think more so on places like big boulevards or avenues. Like the avenues in manhattan could use a protected bus lane for its up and downtown routes. I wish I could make a street design plan and show it to the DOT. I think that would make sbs much more effective. 

I don't want to hear that when there are cities in the world with WAY less road space and just as much congestion that can take up half a two-lane street for a protected Bus/Bike lane. 

And I don't want to hear that ridiculous notion of New York exceptionalism that tries to dictate what is and isn't possible here.