Suffolk County may cut 46% of its bus routes

[Mtatransit]

16 hours ago, DS4Ever said:

Ok I can understand the eliminations of the aforementioned routes but I disagree with the s54 s62 and 10c why?I'll make the reason by routes:

s54: this route is very very important as it is the only route to go from WW Mall to Hauppauge some residents from Hicksville and country road take the n79 and transfer to the s54 to ride it to Hauppauge...also it is the only route to ride from Hauppauge to Patchogue...so in my opinion is a huge NAY...the s54 is staying and should the s54 be eliminated then extend the s58 to WW Mall and have it ride from Smith Haven Mall to Hauppauge and Commack with a 3 hour headway as the next route to be mentioned will be supplemented by the s58 bus route.

 

s62: now this is a tricky route since from Monday to Friday it does the full route but weekend it goes as far west as Smith Haven Mall...now I disagree with this route since while yeah it is true it gets half the riders than the s58 I can admit that since I've ridden that route many times but don't forget it is the only route to go from Port Jefferson to Smith Haven Mall and Riverhead...the Hauppauge segment can be replaced by an extension of the route 3D from Hauppauge to Smith Haven Mall OR a detoured s58 route although the former is much more better than the latter but you can't eliminate the s62 and if so take what I've mentioned as plan B routes.

 

10C: OK now this is another tricky route since the 10C is the ONLY SCT bus east of East Hampton and thus the only route in Montauk...i don't think it should be eliminated I mean sufficient having it run every 3 hours but don't eliminate it as it is a feeder route for the already LONG s92 bus...the 10c was created since the s92 is a VERY long route at 110 km in length....having it the s92 extended towards Montauk should the 10c be scrapped it would have a total route length of over 130 km...to put this length in perspective the s92 route will have the same length distance between Orient Point and Montauk as the same as from New York City (Manhattan Midtown) to Philadelphia at a flat fare of $2.25 one way trip it will also be the longest local bus route in the northeast USA ad it will surpass the NJT 317 as the longest local bus line of the aforementioned USA region.

S54- That may be true in the year past, but transfers from n79 from WWM or even ridership on the n79 is no where it was in 2017. Tbh I think the busiest portion of the S54 is the portion that could be replaced by the S58. They will have to add a bus on the S58 . Because a bus every 2 hr and a half or every 3 hour is nowhere near acceptable for a route like S58. Tbh, it SCT was NICE bus, the route would've been split at Smith Haven Mall or the college lol

S62- My experience riding that route is that MOST of the passenger is off by Port Jefferson or slightly north of Port Jefferson. The areas such as Wading River doesn't really command much ridership or deboardings. My guess is that SCT sacrificed the S62 to preserve the busier S58. I don't think rerouting the 3D off its current route and rerouting them on the S62 along Nesconset Highway is a good idea. I believe the local ridership along Nichols Rd is much greater than along Nesconset Hwy. Riders can continue to ride the 3D to Brentwood Rail or Central Islip and take the hodgepodge of routes there to Hauppauge. 

10C- That loop at Ditch Plains should be streamlined. Right now some trip serves it two times, evidently to give that area more service at the expense for overall East Hampton service. I remember the first time I rode it, I got on Montauk before the loop. It did the loop and went BACK to where I came from, I was like wtf? This route at its headways carries a decent amount of people from Montauk out to East Hampton.

 

 

 

[DS4Ever]

On 10/14/2020 at 5:42 PM, B35 via Church said:

- Running n71's down 110 would instantly boost ridership (SCT might have something to say about it though)..... It would need to take Main to 109 to 110 though; continuing on Main to 110 would stunt the growth increase.... Of those people that are taking n54's to Sunrise, the majority of them (in the mornings anyway) xfer to the S33... Very few of those riders are actually seeking Sunrise Mall itself.... Anyway, thing about that is, some of those people take the S33 to LIRR Amityville for the S1..... This makes sense, because when the N54 used to run to LIRR Amityville, virtually all of those people that were still on the bus after having served Sunrise, used to xfer to the S1 at LIRR Amityville..

There was a time when the S20 used to carry more than the S33 did to/from Sunrise, but now a large majority of it now goes towards the S33..... With that said, you do have Nassau patrons (of the ones that use NICE and/or the LIRR, I'm specifically referring to) that want no part of having to use SCT; it's a deterrent for them.... This is why I say that if the n71 ran down 110 from 109 to LIRR Amityville, it was steal a nice little significant chunk of riders from off the S1.... The question with that then becomes, how would NICE decide to divvy up n70 & n71 service along Hempstead Tpke, etc..... An hourly bus (current n71 service levels) to Amityville won't cut it.

- NICE is trying it's best to passively kill off the n78... It's actually still heavily used (well, all things considered, with its measly 2 trips each way... It's doing a hell of a lot better than the S31, I'll tell you that much).... If not for having it be a standalone route, I would've combined portions of the N95 with the N78.. Not only that, but I would've had it terminate w/ the N35 via the N22 west of Hicksville... Would've been a solid rush hour route.... So to your point about running it to 110, I would it (still) try my hand at it, even with it's two trips......

- Of anyone that's on a NB S29 north of Deer park, most get off at Whitman.... Of course it depends on the trip/time of day, but generally speaking, I'd say the split is 20/80.

- Nah, there was never any fence separating those two separate court buildings.... Just the grass, as you see on the google maps.

The problem is that the s1 should be extended from LIRR Amityville to Sunrise mall I mean it us a mere 5 min distance and the full s1 route is 1h15 having go to Sunrise would in theory be 1h20 minutes...why do I say in theory well is simple to say that there's a HUGE problem with that traffic lights in the intersection prior to enter sunrise damn that semaphore can last up to 10 minutes or more to change also it doesn't count the other traffic signal as enter the mall. I would say the primary reason for the truncation of the n54 from Amityville to Sunrise mostly has to do with that slow traffic light man that semaphore gives me anxiety it takes forever to change...becauae of that traffic light NICE and SCT get scare to extend the n54 and s1 respectively (as well the n19) then again the s33 is a busy route and is by far the only heavy route remaining to suffer the traffic signal slowpoke

To me the s1 has gotta be extended it would only have 1h25 of full route of a 1h30 headway the n54 ain't gonna be reverted back anyways make the s1 risk the quicksand of that traffic signal.

[DS4Ever]

Yeah the s54 has lost popularity since the n79 was scrapped from full time to rush hours only the n79 was like the adjoining twin of the s54 of the passengers of the n79 about 50% transfer to the s54 about 25% to the s1 about 15% to the rest routes stopping at the mall and only 10% are workers or to a lesser extent visitors to the WW Mall I mean is obvious as the vast majority of the people would head to the mall with their cars should they but various items and/or want to depart/arrive on time and not wait like 30-40 minutes for the next n79 bus (if your shift ended at 9:00pm prior to the 2017 cuts you had to wait 30 minutes in the bitter cold...i remember I coming from the last s54 from Hauppauge at 900pm i had to wait half hour for the next n79 with cold weather...thats another thing of Commack i mean the s58 arrives as should come at Macy's at 825pm but it comes at 835-840pm since it is the LAST route so the s54 at most waits til 830pm and it leaves so you be on the s58 and arrive Commack at 840pm you're toast...also I gotta add that waiting at Hauppauge at night time is kinda scary I mean it is all dark in the courts...the s58 would have to extend to WW Mall should the s54 be sacked like you just said add another bus to cover the s58 bus...i mean your absolutely right no bus is over 2 hours headway ONLY the s92 is over 2 hours but those B/O are accustomed since they work for Hampton jitney...the next SCT bus route with a long trip is the s62 with 1h55 so IF the s58 be extended to WW Mall it will be the second longest after the s92.

The s62 between Port Jefferson and Riverhead like you just said is plain dead I was aware of that nearly NOBODY gets off at Wading River...also between SH Mall and Hauppauge is also a dead route which conclude that 90% of the passengers count for the s62 is between Port Jefferson and SH Mall....like you just mentioned the s62 is a filler route for the s58 then again barely nobody goes from Riverhead to Port Jefferson I betcha the s69 with is mere 3 passengers get more passenger count than the s62 Pt Jefferson-Riverhead segment as well as the SH Mall-Hauppauge ...idk but I think the s33 should be extended to SH Mall since at theory it is a Loop routr with no northern terminal so why don't extent the s33 to SH Mall and the route will be 1h45 the s33 extension will cover the eliminated s62 segment although the s62 excludes Hauppauge on Saturdays.

 

The 10c gets like mentioned yourself a decent amount of passenger between East Hampton-Montauk is obvious since the route comes every 3 hours and yes they should eliminate the ditch plains segment I mean SCT does this to accommodate Montauk residents for them to go to the Town center and vice versa since Ditch Plains is all houses no supermarket no Walgreens etc...i think as a risk is to extend the s92 to Montauk and have it terminate at the RR station or at the port via the Town center first this would make the s92 a 3 hour headway route so in retrospect a B/O operating from Orient Point to Montauk round trip has worked his/her days work since he/she been on the wheel for 6 hours...what kinda kills time for the s92 is that part in Southampton where it enters a road to a dead end and then comes back sort of like a deviation and no I'm not talking about the deviation to Southampton hospital nono is the segment prior to entering the hospital going east from Riverhead to East Hampton but that beats some time for the s92 

[Trainmaster5]

Perhaps some things should be looked at a little closer methinks. Talking about the posts relating to Macy's in Commack which is history and the Sunrise Mall which seems to be on it's deathbed. The new owner is actively soliciting ideas from the public at the moment. Carry on.

[DS4Ever]

14 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

Perhaps some things should be looked at a little closer methinks. Talking about the posts relating to Macy's in Commack which is history and the Sunrise Mall which seems to be on it's deathbed. The new owner is actively soliciting ideas from the public at the moment. Carry on.

Sorry that Macys of commack is no more i wasnt sea de of that as well as sunrise mall...i guess the whole fad of the shopping malls in long Island is going haywire comparing its. Popularities in the 80s 90s and 2000s

But I mentioned Macy's since I was going for to mention the transfer point of the S54 S56 and S58 

[Mtatransit]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:19 PM, DS4Ever said:

I mean the s58 arrives as should come at Macy's at 825pm but it comes at 835-840pm since it is the LAST route so the s54 at most waits til 830pm and it leaves so you be on the s58 and arrive Commack at 840pm you're toast...

S54 leaves Macys at Commack at 8:25PM as well. This transfer always screw me over, because usually the S58 would be slightly late and the S54 would be gone or turning out of the plaza and too late for the driver to do anything.

[B35 via Church]

On 2/10/2021 at 1:30 AM, DS4Ever said:

Ok I can understand the eliminations of the aforementioned routes but I disagree with the s54 s62 and 10c why?I'll make the reason by routes:

s54: this route is very very important as it is the only route to go from WW Mall to Hauppauge some residents from Hicksville and country road take the n79 and transfer to the s54 to ride it to Hauppauge...also it is the only route to ride from Hauppauge to Patchogue...so in my opinion is a huge NAY...the s54 is staying and should the s54 be eliminated then extend the s58 to WW Mall and have it ride from Smith Haven Mall to Hauppauge and Commack with a 3 hour headway as the next route to be mentioned will be supplemented by the s58 bus route.

s62: now this is a tricky route since from Monday to Friday it does the full route but weekend it goes as far west as Smith Haven Mall...now I disagree with this route since while yeah it is true it gets half the riders than the s58 I can admit that since I've ridden that route many times but don't forget it is the only route to go from Port Jefferson to Smith Haven Mall and Riverhead...the Hauppauge segment can be replaced by an extension of the route 3D from Hauppauge to Smith Haven Mall OR a detoured s58 route although the former is much more better than the latter but you can't eliminate the s62 and if so take what I've mentioned as plan B routes.

S54: What replaces the southern portion of the S54 (as in, between Patchogue & Hauppauge)?

S62: The 3D should be left alone along Suffolk av & should not be diverted along the S62 portion b/w Smith Haven & Hauppauge.... The 3D between Brentwood & Islandia simply carries more people to/from Smith Haven than that stint on the S62 west of Smith Haven does.... While I agree that something else should cover that part of the S62, the 3D aint it....

On 2/10/2021 at 6:30 PM, Mtatransit said:

S54- That may be true in the year past, but transfers from n79 from WWM or even ridership on the n79 is no where it was in 2017. Tbh I think the busiest portion of the S54 is the portion that could be replaced by the S58. They will have to add a bus on the S58 . Because a bus every 2 hr and a half or every 3 hour is nowhere near acceptable for a route like S58. Tbh, it SCT was NICE bus, the route would've been split at Smith Haven Mall or the college lol

S62- My experience riding that route is that MOST of the passenger is off by Port Jefferson or slightly north of Port Jefferson. The areas such as Wading River doesn't really command much ridership or deboardings. My guess is that SCT sacrificed the S62 to preserve the busier S58. I don't think rerouting the 3D off its current route and rerouting them on the S62 along Nesconset Highway is a good idea. I believe the local ridership along Nichols Rd is much greater than along Nesconset Hwy. Riders can continue to ride the 3D to Brentwood Rail or Central Islip and take the hodgepodge of routes there to Hauppauge.

S54: Exactly, that former N79 patronage in Suffolk county is practically spent... That is an old ridership pattern (significant amt's of ppl xferring b/w N79's & S54's) that is now long gone.... That would be a poor argument for keeping the S54 intact; I wouldn't even bring that up.... The main folks xferring to S54's these days from Whitman are doing so from off the S1 (from either direction).....

To be perfectly honest, I would not run a route b/w Whitman Mall & Riverhead.... If the idea is to have the S58 cover the S54 west of Huntington Square mall, then I would split that resultant route at Coram Plaza... Then perhaps you could combine the resultant eastern portion (Coram Plz. - Riverhead) with the 6a or something for coverage purposes....

S62: With the 3D, it's not so much Nichols rd. more than it is the portion along Suffolk av.... Either way, I agree with both points you raise here (3D point & S62 point).... While I don't think the S62 should be outright eliminated, I do think it should be piecemealed..... @checkmatechamp13 raised a valid point - SCT tends to think in terms of entire routes, rather than preserving portions of routes when they're considering budget cuts... They're actually worse than the MTA in that category, because even though the MTA is far more cut happy, they will look to preserve portions of routes (merging them into other routes in some form or fashion or whatever).....

On 2/10/2021 at 6:51 PM, DS4Ever said:

The problem is that the s1 should be extended from LIRR Amityville to Sunrise mall I mean it us a mere 5 min distance and the full s1 route is 1h15 having go to Sunrise would in theory be 1h20 minutes...why do I say in theory well is simple to say that there's a HUGE problem with that traffic lights in the intersection prior to enter sunrise damn that semaphore can last up to 10 minutes or more to change also it doesn't count the other traffic signal as enter the mall. I would say the primary reason for the truncation of the n54 from Amityville to Sunrise mostly has to do with that slow traffic light man that semaphore gives me anxiety it takes forever to change...becauae of that traffic light NICE and SCT get scare to extend the n54 and s1 respectively (as well the n19) then again the s33 is a busy route and is by far the only heavy route remaining to suffer the traffic signal slowpoke

To me the s1 has gotta be extended it would only have 1h25 of full route of a 1h30 headway the n54 ain't gonna be reverted back anyways make the s1 risk the quicksand of that traffic signal.

...except I'm not suggesting the n54 be reverted to Amityville.

I would just have the S33 be the only SCT route operating out of Sunrise at this point & leave the S1 be at LIRR Amityville.... While the S1 would draw in more riders than the S20 from Sunrise Mall, there still isn't a real need for SCT to have both the S1 & the S33 running to Sunrise.... No point in making the same mistake NICE bus continues to engage in, with having as many bus routes run to that mall.....

Edited February 12, 2021 by B35 via Church

[DS4Ever]

10 hours ago, Mtatransit said:

S54 leaves Macys at Commack at 8:25PM as well. This transfer always screw me over, because usually the S58 would be slightly late and the S54 would be gone or turning out of the plaza and too late for the driver to do anything.

Exactly it has an unusual ease transfer connection I mean the s58 always comes late and the s54 leaves early .

Then again if you wish to transfer for the s54 (could be at any hours time) is suggesting that you tell the B/O after leaving Smithtown or at best after leaving SH Mall you're going to transfer to the s54 so he can radio the s54 to wait at Commack til the s58 arrives.

I remember one time me being in the s58 going to Riverhead and it was like 6:47pm and it still did not reach Tanger Riverhead I was very scared it to me being stranded in Riverhead since the s66 LAST bus at that time leaves at 6:50pm and I told the B/O that I was going to transfer to the s66 bus he radio the s66 B/O to wait for the transfer and the bus arrived at 6:57pm so the s66 waa about to leave and I luckily got to transfer to the s66 bus...the same happens in SEAT of New London CT the Route 10 tells the passengers boarding at Pawcatuck (border with Westerly,RI) if you're to transfer to the #108 since its terminus is really a wilderness only use for transfer the B/O radios the #108 bus to wait and indeed it waited for the two transfers which was a lady and myself.

I guess that the radio to the other B/O is only to be used If necessary so yeah is a must that the s58 if a passenger says he/she is going far west than Commack should radio the s54 down especially if is the last bus.

[67thAve]

I wonder if this is connected, but Suffolk County is now apparently redesigning its transit network, with a new bus system to be launched by the end of the year.

https://www.connectli.org/ReimagineTransit.html

Sounds like a bit of a rushed job to me.

[Lex]

16 minutes ago, 67thAve said:

I wonder if this is connected, but Suffolk County is now apparently redesigning its transit network, with a new bus system to be launched by the end of the year.

https://www.connectli.org/ReimagineTransit.html

Sounds like a bit of a rushed job to me.

Something tells me that this will be a case of lines drawn on a map (not necessarily great for enthusiasts, but an absolute shitshow for professionals).

[jaf0519]

Out of everywhere in the NYC area, Suffolk definitely needed a redesign the most, yet also I least expected to do one. Even NICE with the absolute decimation of service in the southeastern part of Nassau, for the most part the routes are okay. Just needs better service.

[bobtehpanda]

I will believe this is going to happen when I see it.

After all that Nicolls Road BRT is still nowhere to be found.

[checkmatechamp13]

On 3/4/2021 at 4:25 PM, 67thAve said:

I wonder if this is connected, but Suffolk County is now apparently redesigning its transit network, with a new bus system to be launched by the end of the year.

https://www.connectli.org/ReimagineTransit.html

Sounds like a bit of a rushed job to me.

Even if they need to cut service, as I mentioned, it's better to try to do it in a way where the busiest portions of routes are saved, rather than an all-or-nothing approach (in terms of eliminating entire routes). But hopefully they come up with something good. If Jarrett Walker is involved, hopefully it turns out decently.

[B35 via Church]

On 3/6/2021 at 7:55 PM, checkmatechamp13 said:

Even if they need to cut service, as I mentioned, it's better to try to do it in a way where the busiest portions of routes are saved, rather than an all-or-nothing approach (in terms of eliminating entire routes). But hopefully they come up with something good. If Jarrett Walker is involved, hopefully it turns out decently.

Suburban route planning differs starkly from urban bus planning.... You're not going to (logically/justifiably) get away with gridding the shit out of SCT's system
(Example: restructuring the network to where folks would be dumped off along rt. 25 or rt. 347 in the immediate vicinity of Smith Haven & having that be their access to the mall... Instead of running inside the thing)

Let's just hope Walker realizes that.

[Lex]

5 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Suburban route planning differs starkly from urban bus planning.... You're not going to (logically/justifiably) get away with gridding the shit out of SCT's system
(Example: restructuring the network to where folks would be dumped off along rt. 25 or rt. 347 in the immediate vicinity of Smith Haven & having that be their access to the mall... Instead of running inside the thing)

Let's just hope Walker realizes that.

In that case, I'd recommend grabbing some barf bags.