MHV9218 Posted October 12, 2021 Share #26 Posted October 12, 2021 22 hours ago, R10 2952 said: 5, 10, 15 years ago I actually remember seeing undercover police Crown Victorias disguised as taxis. People would hear a siren, turn their heads, and be surprised seeing a yellow cab with flashing lights gunning its engine down the left lane. Turns out the gypsy cab drivers could sniff them out, though. The actual Crown Vic taxis had an extended wheelbase, but the cop cars disguised as taxis apparently were standard wheelbase. The other thing that gave it away was the fact that it'd usually be a husky, middle-aged Irish or Italian-looking dude driving the undercover cab around, with the pickup light for passengers permanently switched off. Nobody's going to fall for that unless they're not paying attention. It's funny, they finally learned their lesson and got themselves LWB Crown Vics, and they use them, but now all the Crown Vics are getting retired! The 6th has a Crown Vic taxi and a Crown Vic fake car service I see around all the time, and it was great cover until it became the only Crown Vic in town. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted October 13, 2021 Share #27 Posted October 13, 2021 23 hours ago, Lawrence St said: I blame for letting these dollar vans get this insane in the first place, ever since the 2010 BKLYN cuts they let the dollar vans come in and wreak havoc on the discontinued bus lines. 18 hours ago, B35 via Church said: Those short lived services you're referencing aren't the dollar cab/van services we're talking about.... somehow i don't think empty Q79 dollar vans were ever the problem. Man, I forgot about those. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM5 via Woodhaven Posted October 13, 2021 Share #28 Posted October 13, 2021 7 hours ago, R10 2952 said: Sadly, this is one of the oldest tricks in the book. They did similar things with a number of ex-PBL express bus routes in Brooklyn and Queens after 2010. The MTA also did the same (via LIRR) with the Lower Montauk Branch, and they're going to do the same with the Atlantic Branch. Not just the MTA though, honestly seen this strategy play out in other places and with other agencies, too. NJT, MBTA, SEPTA, CTA, Seattle, and so on. Run a route as badly as possible, cut service, send ridership into a death-spiral, then eliminate said route due to "low ridership". Rinse, wash, repeat. This kind of underhanded sabotage wrapped in a cloak of plausible deniability is one of those situations where I think there should be lawyers suing the agencies' asses in court. The way the MTA basically reduced and decimated the service levels on the ex-Command express routes (BM1-5) was atrocious. They initially increased service on the routes during off peak periods, but then they went ballistic after 2010. Pick after pick, they would cut the last trips and combine trips. I remember the last Saturday trip on the BM1/2/3 into Midtown was somewhere around 10:30 PM, now it's around 3:30 PM! Completely useless for a lot of people, especially as more people are adopting non-traditional work schedules. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future ENY OP Posted October 13, 2021 Share #29 Posted October 13, 2021 14 hours ago, bobtehpanda said: somehow i don't think empty Q79 dollar vans were ever the problem. Man, I forgot about those. Q79 dollar vans????? How sway. Never saw those during my frequent travels to Queens. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted October 13, 2021 Share #30 Posted October 13, 2021 5 hours ago, Future ENY OP said: Q79 dollar vans????? How sway. Never saw those during my frequent travels to Queens. According to the ridership numbers, no one else did either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted October 13, 2021 Share #31 Posted October 13, 2021 6 hours ago, Future ENY OP said: Q79 dollar vans????? How sway. Never saw those during my frequent travels to Queens. Yeah, different van services ran the B23, B39, B71, Q74, and the Q79 not too long after they got discontinued... Of course, the B39 later got reinstated & the Q36 later got extended over the Q79 route. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted October 14, 2021 Share #32 Posted October 14, 2021 14 hours ago, B35 via Church said: Yeah, different van services ran the B23, B39, B71, Q74, and the Q79 not too long after they got discontinued... Of course, the B39 later got reinstated & the Q36 later got extended over the Q79 route. Somehow you never saw the B51 dollar van, now that would've been a sight outside City Hall lmao... Driy-vah! Driy-vah! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future ENY OP Posted October 14, 2021 Share #33 Posted October 14, 2021 18 minutes ago, MHV9218 said: Somehow you never saw the B51 dollar van, now that would've been a sight outside City Hall lmao... Driy-vah! Driy-vah! During 9/11 and the blackout of ‘03.they had the Brooklyn and Queens dollar vans at City Hall Parked. That was a sight to see to get people across the bridge. Shit was insane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted October 15, 2021 Share #34 Posted October 15, 2021 On 10/12/2021 at 11:29 PM, BM5 via Woodhaven said: The way the MTA basically reduced and decimated the service levels on the ex-Command express routes (BM1-5) was atrocious. They initially increased service on the routes during off peak periods, but then they went ballistic after 2010. Pick after pick, they would cut the last trips and combine trips. I remember the last Saturday trip on the BM1/2/3 into Midtown was somewhere around 10:30 PM, now it's around 3:30 PM! Completely useless for a lot of people, especially as more people are adopting non-traditional work schedules. I think they cut a trip or two each pick like that so that they wouldn't have to hold any public hearings. That's what that was about. I recall that as well, and I was quite pissed about it and wrote to some elected officials. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Sith Posted October 15, 2021 Share #35 Posted October 15, 2021 On 10/13/2021 at 7:58 PM, B35 via Church said: Yeah, different van services ran the B23, B39, B71, Q74, and the Q79 not too long after they got discontinued... Of course, the B39 later got reinstated & the Q36 later got extended over the Q79 route. The 39??? I've never seen that(I hope you're being sarcastic). What I do know is that after the 39 got cut, Monroe Bus took over the stops in Manhattan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted October 15, 2021 Share #36 Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, Cait Sith said: The 39??? I've never seen that(I hope you're being sarcastic). What I do know is that after the 39 got cut, Monroe Bus took over the stops in Manhattan. that entire program was a mess. the drivers were complaining nobody was riding (which is why they were cut in the first place), the riders were complaining that the drivers were barely keeping to a published schedule if there was one and they didn't take Metrocard. I guess if you really wanted to decimate ridership you could make it so you could only pay $2.25 in exact cash. (I think that's what the fare would've been back then.) Edited October 15, 2021 by bobtehpanda 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Sith Posted October 15, 2021 Share #37 Posted October 15, 2021 3 hours ago, bobtehpanda said: that entire program was a mess. the drivers were complaining nobody was riding (which is why they were cut in the first place), the riders were complaining that the drivers were barely keeping to a published schedule if there was one and they didn't take Metrocard. I guess if you really wanted to decimate ridership you could make it so you could only pay $2.25 in exact cash. (I think that's what the fare would've been back then.) Wait, now I remember this program.....I just never saw the vans on the 39 🤣 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted October 15, 2021 Share #38 Posted October 15, 2021 On 10/12/2021 at 5:57 PM, MHV9218 said: It's funny, they finally learned their lesson and got themselves LWB Crown Vics, and they use them, but now all the Crown Vics are getting retired! The 6th has a Crown Vic taxi and a Crown Vic fake car service I see around all the time, and it was great cover until it became the only Crown Vic in town. The 24th Precinct also had a fake yellow cab that looked pretty real, I used to see it pre-covid all the time. Haven't seen it in a while, though I'm not in that area nearly as often anymore 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future ENY OP Posted October 16, 2021 Share #39 Posted October 16, 2021 5 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said: The 24th Precinct also had a fake yellow cab that looked pretty real, I used to see it pre-covid all the time. Haven't seen it in a while, though I'm not in that area nearly as often anymore Quite a few precincts had the fake crown vic mostly in Manhattan.. When I drive into Midtown, MTN has one, and quite a few precincts downtown which patrol 6th/7th/8th Avenues.. However, they been replacing those for more highly sophisticated Ford Taurus undercover and CTTF (Citywide Traffic Task Force) vehicles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R10 2952 Posted October 20, 2021 Share #40 Posted October 20, 2021 Few years ago, the Access-A-Ride services started auctioning off their retired Crown Vics. Extended wheelbase, just like the yellow cabs, but a lot less beat up than the regular taxis. Had an opportunity to get one at the public auction for a great price, but ultimately didn't act on it. Idiotic that I didn't, because at this point (10 years after the car went out of production) the chances of me finding a deal like that (on the LWB version, no less) are next to none. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAzumah Posted October 20, 2021 Share #41 Posted October 20, 2021 On 10/15/2021 at 11:49 AM, bobtehpanda said: that entire program was a mess. the drivers were complaining nobody was riding (which is why they were cut in the first place), the riders were complaining that the drivers were barely keeping to a published schedule if there was one and they didn't take Metrocard. I guess if you really wanted to decimate ridership you could make it so you could only pay $2.25 in exact cash. (I think that's what the fare would've been back then.) The program was intended to be a mess. They did not get the green light until after the passengers were long gone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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