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| Re: MTA's Poor Priorities (314710) | |||
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Re: MTA's Poor Priorities |
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Posted by GojiMet86 on Mon Jun 20 15:04:24 2016, in response to Re: MTA's Poor Priorities, posted by BrooklynBus on Mon Jun 20 13:20:25 2016. Brooklyn Bus:"In the June 2 Letters, Larry Penner makes some sensible, low-cost recommendations the MTA could make to improve transit to and within the Rockaways today, not 10 years from now (“Rockaway transit options”). One of those recommendations I also made several months ago in a Rockaway newspaper, i.e., a direct bus route between the Sheepshead Bay Station and Riis Park for commuters as well as beachgoers. During non-summer months there could be free parking in the huge Riis Park lot, which currently goes unused. That would enable anyone in the Rockaways with a car to utilize that bus route for a quicker ride to Manhattan than they currently have. So the question is, why doesn’t the MTA make such sensible improvements? The answer is the agency is overly concerned with increased operating costs when considering new routes and does not consider how those costs would be offset by the revenue those routes would produce. The route I proposed would be heavily utilized, but the MTA’s goal is not to better serve the city’s residents but to keep operating costs to a minimum, hence the emphasis on longer buses and SBS routes with fewer stops, and little emphasis on new and extended bus routes. The MTA is finally increasing summer weekend service on the Q35 as Penner suggested, but much more needs to be done. Why is every Q53 bus overflowing as late as 8 p.m. on nice weekends even before the summer has started when the planning service guidelines call for seated loads on buses during the off-peak? Why do we need to wait for Select Bus Service for the Q52 to be extended? Why are no bus route changes being proposed to serve the new ferries? The MTA needs to answer these questions. So your solution to the MTA's problems with bus service is to improve that bus service, but only for those with cars and the ability to take advantage of the free parking? You make the claim that the route would be heavily utilized, but offer no evidence other than the usual qualitative, anecdotal claim of bus crowding." WillD: "How does your autocentric proposal in any way reflect upon the MTA's priorities? If anything it only reflects upon your priorities, but then you've established yourself as an shill for automobile interests quite ably." BB, some people just can't see the forest for the trees. WillD just assumed it was a car article. Of course he ignores the part about the Q53 being crowded into the night and there not being enough buses. It's convenient to continue a personal tirade than it is to delve into why the MTA is being so frugal and so uptight about making the little and big improvements. The M60-SBS on 125th Street, for example, is incredibly crowded in the rush hours and the buses bunch like crazy, so much so that there can be 5 buses in Manhattan heading to Queens but only one heading the opposite way in Manhattan. Then there are these huge gaps in service. Every time I have ridden it in the rush hour heading to Queens, there's always someone standing too close to the exits for the doors to close. It takes 5 or 6 minutes for the bus to leave a stop. Then people get desperate and start yelling at each other. It's why I stopped taking the bus as an alternative and opted to just take the (1). The bus can take 45 minutes to get from St. Nick to 31st & Hoyt because of that. Those PM rides are very uncomfortable and tense. But I'll bet you the MTA considers it a very efficient line. They would prefer to pack people like sardines and save money than providing a comfortable ride. |
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