Is No G Train Better Than Slow G Train?

Courtesy NY Shitty

We're halfway through the G train's month-long disappearance on weekends, and naturally there have been horror stories of inconvenient commutes by shuttle bus to under-served parts of Brooklyn and Queens. That Greenpoint blog New York Shitty published a photo series of forsaken commuters waiting for the shuttle bus in Williamsburg, calling it "Waiting for G(odot)," with a dedication to the MTA. And another blogger described an annoying ride on packed shuttle that passed her usual stop by half a block. Nightmare! But not everyone misses the G train, and some wish it would stay disappeared for good.

Well, okay, one person, anyway. Williamsburg resident Tovah Shanok usually relies on the G train to get to her weekend job in Fort Greene, but she tells us she loves the shuttle, because "weekend G train service is the worst. You wait forever. The shuttle is so much faster than the train." According to Shanok, she usually allows 20-40 minutes for her weekend G train commute from Broadway / Union Avenue to Clinton-Washington, but with the shuttle bus she gets there in 10 minutes. Though she admits some people riding on the shuttle are "confused and screaming" at the driver for not stopping exactly at their usual subway stops, she's in no rush to go crawling back to the subway platform.

Of course, this coming weekend marks the first of many 7 train weekend service suspensions, so you've got that going for you, Long Island City. And although Shanok's case is persuasive, she still seems part of some radical shuttle bus-loving fringe. Here's The Sargasm's characteristic take:

I finished a crossword, had a full-length conversation with my mom, painted my nails, updated all of my social networking sites, ate a sandwich, made a friend, gave him a bight of my sandwich, tried a new variation on tying my shoe laces, became religious, brushed up on current tragedies, practiced my french, practiced my Jack Nicholson, and took a nap before you decided to grace us with your presence. Thanks for showing me what it was like to be schizophrenic and homeless.

For what it's worth, NYC Transit spokesman James Anyansi tells The Local that "because a bus can hold far fewer people than a train, they have been running shuttles every four minutes at peak hours," which is twice as often as the G normally runs. "Hopefully, things will be running much smoother this weekend," Anyansi adds. Well, we're convinced.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 26, 2010 3:10 PM

Comments [rss]

anne frank

no, sorry, I call BS. the shuttle is great but it's nice to be able to quickly transfer to other trains in the system, also, bus-to-bus transfers suck! people who actually use the G because they work or go to school deep in BK or Queens (like me) need the G to work like a real train...

...PS, it's not that bad, jesus.

1stephanie

I must be riding some sort of magical G train, because I don't find it to run any less sporadically than the F. That's not saying a whole lot, but I really don't understand why everyone lambastes my favorite half-a-subway.

laisla

I am on the same magical G train!

csk

The "G" train is not running on weekends? I didn't notice any change.

S.K.

Part of the G route runs thru Satmar territory, perhaps we could muster their legendary political clout to save the G.

Greenpoint60

No way, they ride around in yellow buses to avoid contact with the goyim

Greenpoint60

If the G is running on weekends & at @nite next year I owe you lunch

laisla

BerndD, you mean you think it's going to stop running at night and weekends permanently or temporarily?

Even with the recent extension to Church Ave.

What do you know that we don't? Dish!

Greenpoint60

This was proposed twenty years ago but public outcry put an end to the idea. At that time Dinkins was mayor, he was an advocate for the poor and working class. Now we have Bloomberg an advocate for the rich and ruling capitalist class.

Greenpoint60

Back in the 1970’s and 80’s the MTA strategy was to maintain service on all lines even though the quality was poor(crowded trains, delays, graffiti and broken doors)

My hunch is that come 2011 they will save money by maintaining quality service on lines that serve the Manhattan elite and eliminate service on lines like the G that serve the poor and unknown( Polish & Hispanic immigrants and African Americans in Bed-Stuy)

laisla

Ah, I see your reasoning. I am with holy. I don't see it happening. It's going to keep going like it always is--the lines like the G will get the shaft over the well-maintained lines. But the service will still exist.

Also, it would not be a money saving method either. You would push people to use already overcrowded Brooklyn buses (the 38, 44, 48, etc).

It just does not make any sense as an well-thought out business move (not that MTA is known for that).

Greenpoint60

They have a budget to balance and a union contract to cover. Escalating health insurance costs are a major cause of this problem. There will be cuts, G service on the weekends & at night may well be on their list.

holy

yeah, i don't think so.

don't forget that it services carroll gardens, fort greene, park slope, parts of queens, and all of the young professionals that overflow from williamsburg into greenpoint.

the mta would be retarded to get rid of the only [albeit slow moving and sometimes unreliable] cross-borough brooklyn train and they know that.

Greenpoint60

You wrote don't forget that it services carroll gardens, fort greene, park slope- - They will take the F

jza1218

I'm 29 years old and have lived by the 74th Street/Roosevelt Ave train station my whole life.

I've seen a G train about five times in my life.

That is all...

laisla

While anecdata is awesome and really useful, that's because it's a part-time stop. Information that's easily found on MTA.info. You'd have to be on the train at those weird times to see it. Crazy how that works, huh?

I am also 29, and I have seen the G in Queens past Court Square. So we cancel each other out apparently.

The G is Queens is not necessary though--why not take any of the other trains that run on the same line?

jza1218

If you think after 9PM is a "weird time", then you're a hermit...

laisla

Obviously not looking. I have been on it.

laisla

Am I only one who has yet to wait more than 5 minutes for a G shuttle bus? I was surprised at how many buses there were and often it was coming.

And I never wait more than 15 minutes for a G train in the off hours. The G and I must have something special. I even take it home at 4 am, and it never takes that much longer than usual and sometimes even faster.

I commute with my son every day on the G train to school, then come home and commute on it again for work. It always comes around the same time, which makes commuting a breeze. And I never have service delays or signals issues or trains passing by because they are too full (hello, L and G train!). And today, we were a little late and the train was in the station, and they held it, which is not uncommon. That's not happening on most other lines.

My only complaint is that it's a Queens-Brooklyn crosstown line. I only wish it went into Manhattan, even for a detour. But that's minor comparatively speaking, and I am just being demanding.

¡VIVA LA G!

laisla

*(hello, L and 6 train!)

G and 6 look a lot alike :)

oprahbookclub

Twenty minutes is great for any weekend commute -- none of the trains are at their best. And bullshit on it taking forty minutes or more -- have never once seen the G train come any more than 8-10 minutes during the weekend (save middle of the night). I ride it every weekend Nassau - Clinton-Washington.

The bus would have been fine had the driver actually called out the stops. Not a problem if you're a G train regular, but there was lots of confusion.

Gothamist_Cynic

I'm not really complaining. At least they're doing something to fix it up. The 7 train suspensions are going to be killer.

Kevin Walsh

The MTA is in a conundrum regarding the G. It seems as if they have wanted to get rid of it for years (just look at the decrepit Court Sq and Van Alst stations) but can't, since Williamsburg, Greenpoint and LIC have had a population influx. There's no good way to substitute any other lines on it either, unless you want to run the V on it from the Queens line, and they already have the V slated to replace the M.

www.forgotten-ny.com

melanarchy

V slated to replace the M? Do you mean continue the V service through the Chrystie st connector and run as an M? I believe that would make it a K?

Also what would happen to 4th ave service in brooklyn then? Run the N or D local during rush?

Kevin Walsh

Yes the Chrystie Street tunnel would be reactivated for revenue trains and the V would take over the M local route. The 4th Ave locals would be the R; perhaps the D or N would be turned local.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Greenpoint60

My hunch is that this is a test by the MTA to end G service on the weekends and late night. The shuttle bus can never

Substitute for the train. This is the first time the G was put

Out of service since in the 26 years I have lived in Greenpoint. In 2011 we may see the end of the G and long lines on the street waiting for a crowded bus.

Guest

any chance of a regular running G train?

TheMactastic

"gave him a bight of my sandwich"

What is a "bight"?

Clarice City

The great sandwich blight of 1845?

Ed

First, with transportation no service is often better than crappy service. I think that's because no service is more reliable.

Second, the best way to run a bus service is to run lots of small busses frequently, instead of a big slow bus infrequently. This is something that should be pretty obvious but the MTA isn't close to understanding it. Though I've been told the reliance on the big slow busses is an effort to keep the number of bus drivers down, because the MTA can't afford to hire more.

So Tovah Shanok is correct, the small shuttle really is much better for commuters than the G train.