Queens Bus Redesign Discussion Thread

[LGA Link N Train]

Looking at everything upon first glance so my thoughts will be a bit all over the place:

- Combining the Q1 and Q6 seems like an odd combination but given that Jamaica Avenue has (or is supposed to have) a busway and Bus Improvements are needed on Hillside and Sutphin, I'd expect this route to be okay to say the least

- For the Q4, frequencies being cut in favor of an extension to Elmont. Not sure how Cambria Heights Residents will react to this?

- Q7. 75th-Elderts Lane seems like an odd place to terminate the bus but hey, more coverage I guess.

- At least the Q11 ain't a weird loop route below Rockaway Blvd

- Q14 is an interesting route. Better than the previous "QT82"

- Q18 is straightened. nice

- So the Q20 is cut back to Briarwood, then takes over the Q34 route.... I wonder whats serving College Point.

- I like this Q21 extension. might take advantage of it myself.

- Q24 is simplified but isn't the stop at Jamaica Hospital popular with Q24 riders or something or am I mistaken? At least the Q42 is serving it.

- Guess the Q31 simplification is alright but the current Q20 terminal in College Point seems odd to me.

- Nice to see the Q38 is finally getting split and that Middle Village wasn't screwed over too hard. Now that both ends between Juniper Valley South and Metropolitan Avenue are sandwhiched by buses

- This new Q39 route is interesting, I support it!

- At least the Q49 is preserved.

- That Q51 route is gonna get stuck in summer time traffic on the Belt parkway unless the  and DOT decide to do some Bus Priority project along the Belt Parkway. Either way, its a nice addition to the network

- Interesting how they keep both the Q52 and Q53 and extend the former to Jackson Heights. I guess that's one way to solve that issue.

- Guess the thought the Q110 and Q112 route combo was a good idea. Given the bus priorityh projects taking place in Jamaica, I don't take as much issue with this proposal as I used to. 

- Nice tht the Q59 was simplified on the Brooklyn end but on the Queens end it makes no sense. Given the DOT projects done on Queens Blvd, how are Q59 buses supposed to turn around in that specific section of Rego Park?

- The Q66 reroute to Hunters Point is a nice additon. Since that area has been rapidly developing, it'd be nice for buses to serve that part of LIC better.

- This new Q68 route has a better northern terminal as opposed to the QT2. Given that options for a Rail Link to LaGuardia Airport are being looked into and I heard that there's a landmark near Steinway/19th. This route could build a greater case for implementing the extension via 19th Avenue with a stop at Steinway.

- At least the Q73 covers the south portion of Forest Hills. I'm disappointed by the lack of a local route on Yellowstone Blvd.

- The Q78, Q80 and Q98 seem like nice additions to the Bus Network, the Q5/Q85 split is also a nice addition.

- The B53 is nice up until Williamsburg Bus Terminal. 

- Guess they might be pushing for some form of the BQX with that B62 proposal.

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, IAlam said:

The PW line AM peak service is terrible if you're west of Bayside the QM3 provide an alternative to that.

Still reading the plan but other than minor issues the plan on the local side so far looks a lot better.

Yeah, this is a much much better plan.  They don't need to re-invent the wheel here.  I like most of the routing changes a lot and some of the things I don't like we can work on to get back.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I just spoke to an advocate. We'll be meeting via Zoom tomorrow. In our minds, we're not settling for anything less than what we have now. My group doesn't cover the local lines, but the other advocates are clear that we can't have all of these cuts to bus service and I totally agree.

[jaf0519]

Just about the routes by me:

• Q10: Glad they kept the Q64 combined with Q10. Plus they kept some stops on Jewel, but its definitely better than the draft.
• Q25: Not sure how I feel about this one. I do think what they did with the Hillside route no longer being covered by the Merrick route, replacing their proposed QT18 with the proposed Q1, but I don’t know if the Kissena route is the best one to connect with Merrick. Then again, there aren’t a lot of options. 
• Q65: Was personally hoping that they kept it out of Flushing, but at least it no longer duplicates service on 46 Av. Don’t know about the routing on Liberty Av.
• Q73: Glad they kept a 73 Av route that covers the whole length. Not crazy about the fact that it takes Austin St in Forest Hills.

Overall, I think the new draft is definitely an improvement, but there are some issues. Firstly on a personal level, I don’t like the fact that neither the Q25 or Q65 will serve Jamaica LIRR. Secondly, some of the route ideas may not work. The mix and matching of the Q39 and Q67 might work better if both were somewhat closer in ridership, but I don’t think it works the way they proposed. Thirdly, but it goes hand in hand with my first point, I feel they missed some opportunities to have more connections to LIRR stations, for example, the Q25 and Q77 end at Springfield/135, but Laurelton is just down the road. 

[Bill from Maspeth]

At first glance, I can live with it.  Which depots routes would be assigned to will be interesting. 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

Q109 = a "crosstown" version of the Q41 via 109 avenue (i see what you did there, transit), without carrying air into howard beach.

The q11 being chopped in favor of the q21: didn't see that one coming... not by a LONG shot. and 24 hour service on the 21 via lindenwood/84 Street? i dig it, however, we'll see how long that lasts. 

the Q52 & 53 running to & from 74/broadway: in regards to the 53... FINALLY! that layover on 61st with artics is atrocious, letalone traffic along Roosevelt to 61st. my natural assumption is that the 52/53 will both run out of La Guardia Depot and possibly interline at 74/Broadway, but time will tell. 

The Guy R. Brewer corridor: yikes... and not necessarily in a bad way. i mean the 111 & 114 basically bypassing most of Guy Brew in favor of the 111 short-sign (Q115... geez, they love upping the ante with these triple digit route numbers, innit?) is at first glance disgusting, but if you really think about it (or have ever commuted along Guy Brew in the first place) you'd overstand that most 113's, 114's & 111's from rosedale are ram-jam packed by the time they reach farmers, letalone Rochdale village, so they're already being "bypassed" anyway. thankfully, artics run along Brewer and at under 10 minute headway out of farmers, the Q115 SHOULD be ok. 

they seem to have a perpetual hard-on for combining the Q10 & 64... they're philosophy must be to kill 2 birds with one stone: run artics out of one depot across 2 corridors because other than this, i don't see the necessity to merge lefferts & jewel into one. 

my swing time is up. i have some other thoughts about the brooklyn/queens routes, but my brain is processing alot of info. plus, the express network. i truly hope that any queens residents on this forum offer their authentic analysis regarding this redesign based on their past & present commuting patterns because... damn, son. 🤟🏾✌🏾

[paulrivera]

I'm digging the new Q44 and Q50, especially the latter. 

31 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Not the end of the world... There are many things I like about this redesign, but they need to do much better on span/frequency. No way is 90 minutes between buses flying.  If riders give up the QM3, we need something else in return.

At least they brought back the QM1. They had the QM5 doing way too much, but yea, 90 minute frequencies are disgusting, especially in the middle of a driver shortage. At least do 60 across the board if you can't do 30, but 90 is just too thin if you want to attract riders.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

I'm digging the new Q44 and Q50, especially the latter. 

At least they brought back the QM1. They had the QM5 doing way too much, but yea, 90 minute frequencies are disgusting, especially in the middle of a driver shortage. At least do 60 across the board if you can't do 30, but 90 is just too thin if you want to attract riders.

I can live with the QM1 coming back off-peak and it makes sense because the QM5 does too much, but the frequencies are not going to work for us. There are also some pissed riders in the group.  I think the best change is the QM63, QM64, QM68 in Manhattan. That makes much more sense than the meandering they currently do. Just do the PM routing for the AM and call it a day, but again, they propose service cuts. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[NBTA]

I got a couple notes so far.

Starting off, I can tell you that this version of the draft, is a lot more liked than the previous version.

I love the 26/27 combination. 

The re-routed Q31 looks great on paper.

The Q25 re-route and extension looks weird on paper, but I can see it working well.

I feel really bad for the Q17, but someone’s gotta say it, those buses are relatively empty south of Fresh Meadows.

The Q19s service expansion just proves to me that you can take a joke of a route, and actually re-work it to make it better, great job. 

I’m only up to the Q32, but I can say that this is a way better job at fixing the routes than the previous draft.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

6 minutes ago, NBTA said:

I love the 26/27 combination. 

This actually goes back into some pre-1950s history. Before Robert Moses mucked up the street grid with the Clearview Expressway and the L. I. E....

 originally took Hollis Court all the way to Queens Village.

 originally ended at Springfield Blvd & Horace Harding Blvd.

 

 

[Cait Sith]

1 hour ago, LaGuardia Link N Tra said:

- Q24 is simplified but isn't the stop at Jamaica Hospital popular with Q24 riders or something or am I mistaken? At least the Q42 is serving it.

It is.

But one of the primary arguments about the line is that the Jamaica Avenue(west of Sutphin) & Van Wyck portions holds up the line in Queens, which to an extent, is true, especially with how stupid those traffic signals are set up West of Sutphin.

The problem, again, is that they have no idea what to do with Jamaica Hospital, now that the Q24 is being straightened out. Those Q24 riders will just shift over to the Q56, or take the subway if they're close to it.

Seeing what they did with the Q25 southward goes with what I said previously about the Merrick Blvd corridor....those folks hated the changes in the first draft. And they actually listened by sending a route down to Springfield Blvd to compensate for the loss of local service to Jamaica Center in the previous draft. While the Q25 is compensating, I'm not sure if that would be my route of choice.

That B53 though.....holy moly

Edited March 29, 2022 by Cait Sith

[paulrivera]

34 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I can live with the QM1 coming back off-peak and it makes sense because the QM5 does too much, but the frequencies are not going to work for us. There are also some pissed riders in the group.  I think the best change is the QM63, QM64, QM68 in Manhattan. That makes much more sense than the meandering they currently do. Just do the PM routing for the AM and call it a day, but again, they propose service cuts. 

I'd take a hard look at the QM4 too because they're losing almost all their service, and Union Turnpike (which isn't really close to Jewel Avenue to begin with) is only going to have the QM1 in that area, with the QM5 and QM6 running nonstop through there. I don't know if the Q10 to the subway would be adequate enough...

Edited March 29, 2022 by paulrivera

[NBTA]

So I’m sorta assuming that the Q50, 51 and 98 are the “new SBS” lines for Queens?

I’ve been asking for the Q12/Q13 swap for quite some time now, and to see that they’re actually going for it, is a good thing. I also see that they removed a few buses from terminating in Flushing, less congestion, more fluid service. 

[nuyorican]

Why not combine the q32 and q33? Also what happened to bus Service to North Shore Hospital

 

 

[Future ENY OP]

27 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

It is.

But one of the primary arguments about the line is that the Jamaica Avenue(west of Sutphin) & Van Wyck portions holds up the line in Queens, which to an extent, is true, especially with how stupid those traffic signals are set up West of Sutphin.

The problem, again, is that they have no idea what to do with Jamaica Hospital, now that the Q24 is being straightened out. Those Q24 riders will just shift over to the Q56, or take the subway if they're close to it.

Seeing what they did with the Q25 southward goes with what I said previously about the Merrick Blvd corridor....those folks hated the changes in the first draft. And they actually listened by sending a route down to Springfield Blvd to compensate for the loss of local service to Jamaica Center in the previous draft. While the Q25 is compensating, I'm not sure if that would be my route of choice.

That B53 though.....holy moly

B40. 2.0+. 

[Gotham Bus Co.]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

...but yea, 90 minute frequencies are disgusting, especially in the middle of a driver shortage. At least do 60 across the board if you can't do 30, but 90 is just too thin if you want to attract riders.

Propose 90 now, "settle" for 60 later?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

36 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

I'd take a hard look at the QM4 too because they're losing almost all their service, and Union Turnpike (which isn't really close to Jewel Avenue to begin with) is only going to have the QM1 in that area, with the QM5 and QM6 running nonstop through there. I don't know if the Q10 to the subway would be adequate enough...

I'm not going to discuss the entire plan now because I already reviewed everything earlier and I know which lines have proposed cuts. We'll be doing fliers for each line, just as we did last time, so everything will be covered.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[JAzumah]

This is a significantly better plan.

I see some bus routes being used as ADA substitutes for subway lines which COULD fly depending on the frequencies (every 15 minutes minimum all day works).

The QM3 WILL operate. I encourage the MTA to do it themselves, but it WILL operate. My guess is that September is the target implementation month.

90 minutes is a weird frequency. 60 or 120 minutes is more user friendly (memorable). I would encourage the MTA to run the same exact off-peak express schedule 7 days per week during daylight hours.

[paulrivera]

Here's something I overlooked:

Our former governor was going to spend $1.5 billion on a nonstop rail link from Willets Point to LGA.

The Q50 is literally going to do the same exact thing in bus form, for PEANUTS.

2 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Propose 90 now, "settle" for 60 later?

who knows at this point...

[R32 3838]

This is a lot better than the first draft but they still need to do some work but other than that, It isn't that bad compared to the first draft.

[checkmatechamp13]

1 hour ago, JAzumah said:

This is a significantly better plan.

I see some bus routes being used as ADA substitutes for subway lines which COULD fly depending on the frequencies (every 15 minutes minimum all day works).

The QM3 WILL operate. I encourage the MTA to do it themselves, but it WILL operate. My guess is that September is the target implementation month.

90 minutes is a weird frequency. 60 or 120 minutes is more user friendly (memorable). I would encourage the MTA to run the same exact off-peak express schedule 7 days per week during daylight hours.

From the draft plan to actual implementation is over 1 year (for the Bronx the draft plan was released August 2019 IIRC and the original implementation date was October 2020). For this, it'll be even longer considering they have to wait for the Brooklyn redesign to catch up.

[Kamen Rider]

The Q50 will still get stuck in traffic. A one way trip has to get onto a highway twice. There will probably need to be a few short turn runs penciled in that don't go to the Bronx just to keep things moving in Queens. 

[Cait Sith]

20 minutes ago, Kamen Rider said:

The Q50 will still get stuck in traffic. A one way trip has to get onto a highway twice. There will probably need to be a few short turn runs penciled in that don't go to the Bronx just to keep things moving in Queens. 

It'll get stuck in current Bronx/Whitestone traffic more than it would get stuck in Queens traffic honestly.

[azspeedbullet]

living by atlas park in glendale, i am disappointed i am going to lose my 1 seat ride to the 7 train that i need to use to get to work. Kinda sucks. looks like i am going to have a fun journey taking multiple buses or multiple trains

[Joyjliradio]

I don’t like q30 just cut!!! Because no service to Jamaica lirr on lie service road ! My question is how get Jamaica lirr on that route area