August 10, 2008
Study Finds NYC Buses to be a Great Place to Chill Out
Underground there are shootings and stabbings and the subway stations may just generally be in a state of disaster, but at least the MTA can guarantee you a cool ride on its city buses. A study conducted by Transit Workers just released shows that New York City buses stay cooler on a more consistent basis than many other cities. The study showed that buses did not have working A/C less than 4 percent of the time, as compared to an average of 10 percent for cities nationwide. The most consistently cool buses were in Queens and Manhattan, possibly making a crosstown ride with your Unlimited the cheapest way to beat the heat.
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Do they mention the fact that some bus drivers have the heat blasting as late as May?
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I've stopped taking the bus cause it's too depressing. I've noticed that 90% of all the riders are either senior citizens, poor people, or poor senior citizens. You've also got your handicapped dudes that make you wait an extra 15 minutes at a bus stop. I've decided it's best to walk crosstown than ever wait for the bus.
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I actually avoid taking the bus because it's usually FREEZING in them! the A/C is a little over the top most of the time.
They could probably use some kind of energy efficient thermostat to keep things reasonable.
Taking the bus is also a good way to learn to live in harmony with people less fortunate than babyhitler, above.
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The bus is awesome. The only thing that has never made sense to me is when perfectly healthy people wait at the stop for 10 minutes, then wait on the bus in traffic for another 10 minutes, when they could have easily walked to their destination in about 5 minutes. For example, people pick up the M66 at Hunter College, then get off on York avenue or even earlier. WTF?
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Sheesh, from Lex & 68th to York & 68th is exactly one-half mile (I measured on Google Earth). Some people may appear "perfectly healthy" but you wouldn't know they've got a bad knee or a thyroid problem and a half-mile is just too much. Or it's simply too damn hot out and they don't want to arrive at their destination all sweaty. That's wtf.
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BTW, I love buses for the ability to look out the window but sometimes the equipment just rattles so loudly, it goes right through you.
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there's also the fact that when riding the bus instead of the subway, you don't have to swelter in the ovens that pass as NYC subway stations. if it's hot out and you're waiting for the bus, standing in the shade outdoors is almost always cooler than the underground furnace.
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Bus or subway, the MTA is a great system that runs smoothly and efficiently. I come from a place where the buses run once per hour, the drivers are crack heads and the passengers are the same guys that ride Baby Hitler's buses.
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Love the bus! Cool, clean, and usually right on time. I'll take it any day over schlepping up and down 3 flights of stairs to wait in the dirty, sweltering heat of the subway.
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I love taking the bus. I live about a block from my subway stop but will sometimes take the bus about 20 blocks just for the view and the nice a/c.
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The bus is ok for some travel,(I take evening classes at Hunter and live up in Washington Heights, so the M98 Limited is the most direct and quickest route.)
I do however draw the line at taking the bus to work or to run errands, because it stops every few blocks it takes FOREVER.