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We got an email from the Straphangers yesterday, who directed us to check out the MTA's
NYC Bus Rapid Transit Study. The MTA is looking to identify "corridors in the five boroughs that have BRT potential," and there will be public information sessions starting next week in all five boroughs. So far, the MTA is considering fifteen corridors:
BronxLooking at the MTA's site, it's pretty cool that the MTA is taking other bus systems around the world into consideration - and we love any plan that wants better bus boarding!
- Fordham Road/Pelham Parkway
- Grand Concourse
- Webster Avenue + 3rd Avenue
Brooklyn
- Flatbush Avenue
- Flatlands Avenue + Kings Highway
- Nostrand Avenue
Manhattan
- 1st/2nd Avenues + 125th Street
- West Side Corridor
Queens
- Guy R. Brewer Boulevard
- Hillside Avenue
- Horace Harding Expressway
- Main Street + Parsons/Kissena Boulevards + 164th Street
- Merrick Boulevard
- Union Turnpike
Staten Island
-Hylan Boulevard
And there's nothing rapid about the M34, winner of last year's Pokey Award from the Straphangers Campaign
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the M11 (9th ave and 10th ave) bus sucks. It has to be one of the worst bus routes in the city. The bus has never once adhered to the schedule (if the roads are clear and there's no traffic, it's still no where to be found), the drivers are usually the meanest of the mean, and most of them drive well under the posted speed limit of 35MPH (close to 15MPH). When the bus(es) finally does arrive it comes in a pack of 4 or more. 4-5 M11 buses at the same time? WTF!!!
i think this would be great, but i wonder if it's feasible for nyc.
I thought we could all agree that the M23 was the slowest and most hated bus in Manhattan.
OT: Does anyone ride Metro-North? I heard that a truck hit an overpass and delayed a train yesterday. Where can I find out more about that?
the M11 (9th ave and 10th ave) bus sucks. It has to be one of the worst bus routes in the city. The bus has never once adhered to the schedule (if the roads are clear and there's no traffic, it's still no where to be found), the drivers are usually the meanest of the mean, and most of them drive well under the posted speed limit of 35MPH (close to 15MPH). When the bus(es) finally does arrive it comes in a pack of 4 or more. 4-5 M11 buses at the same time? WTF!!!
[1] Posted by: edEx | June 2, 2006 12:14 PM
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I think it's called caravaning. The bus drivers hang out together at the end of the line, then all show up a the same time. Meanwhile, the passengers have waited several times longer than they should have.
They cracked down on it when I was a kid and things were good for a long while, but it has crept back into full-blown (non-)operation and the MTA doesn't seem to want to address it punitively anymore. They are instead counting on technology fixes.
We'll see.
"The bus has never once adhered to the schedule"
Never ever follow the schedules unless its 5:30 in the morning at the beginning of the line.
Another thing is that when they are ahead of schedule, they will slow the bus down to a crawl and sometimes hang around at a bus stop for a few minutes, with passengers on board! That pisses me off beyond anything.
Another thing is that when they are ahead of schedule, they will slow the bus down to a crawl and sometimes hang around at a bus stop for a few minutes, with passengers on board! That pisses me off beyond anything.
[5] Posted by: Kojak | June 2, 2006 12:42 PM
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They have to wait. Otherwise, they'll get to the next bus stop before the scheduled time and when people arrive to get the bus, it will have been and gone.
The B35 bus in Brooklyn is excellent. I always get a seat and I have to wait for it about 20% of the time - even then, it shows up within moments.
Taking the bus is ususally very slow in Manhattan and places in the outerboroughs where there is congestion. On the other hand, buses are cheaper than light rail or subway, as there is less infrastructure needed. The notion of "bus rapid transit" is joke. I have seen it in action in Ottawa where it basically blighted the landscape with "Busways" which appeared to have a heavier environmental impact than a rail line would. Plus buses pollute in the city while electric powered light rail and subways can get power from elsewhere and that power can be more environmentally friendly.
This bus rapid transit idea is just putting a band-aid over a problem that requires surgery.
BRT is not just one thing. In NYC it will not be on dedicated busways, but rather use dedicated lanes which are actually enforced to keep cars from violating the lanes. Other treatments include branding, faster running times, headway based scheduling, and stations that are farther apart.
It can work here, but the key will be political will. Go to the workshops and participate for a change rather than just bitching about your bus service!
This seems like a good idea. The Bx12 (Fordham Road) runs frequently, but that trip can be epic if there's traffic. I'd like to see more crosstown buses get bus lanes (particularly 125th St., so I'm happy to see that on the list, but 23rd and 34th, too) because that's really where all the congestion is. I'm not sure how you'd do it, though, since those streets are not that wide, and adding a bus lane would make bad traffic even worse.
They should've put cameras on buses to catch and ticket drivers who park/idle on bus stops/lanes a looooooong time ago.
It'll be the only way to enforce the bus's primacy on the road. That and curb extensions.
I forgot to mention the MTA should also get bike racks for buses which only cost a couple hundred dollars per bus, but have benefits which would be far greater.
Toby, don't base your vision of BRT on one city. BRT has worked fantasically well in London, Paris, and other cities around the world.
Kojak: You have not a clue what you are talking about. Don't comment on what you don't understand.
Think Twice: What about the car drivers who assume that Bus Stops are parking spaces, what is you take on that?
Andrew J. Lederer: Shut Up!
BusGirl: I totally agree with you.
I take Q19A every morning. Schedule says it's running at an interval of about 8-10 minutes, but of course that's not what you get. Even in the morning hours, sometimes you have to wait nearly half an hour until you see a pack of buses--2 most of the time but sometimes more. The first bus carries full load of people and the second one's half-empty cuz it's running right behind. Nonsense.