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| Re: Will Queens Bus Redesign really speed things up? (334191) | |||
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Re: Will Queens Bus Redesign really speed things up? |
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Posted by BrooklynBus on Fri May 10 19:49:01 2019, in response to Re: Will Queens Bus Redesign really speed things up?, posted by JerBear on Thu May 9 07:38:58 2019. The MTA does all its SBS studies one year after implementation and doesn’t release any further data in future years. That is problem number one. The exception is if the data isn’t positive after the first year, they wait until the end of the second year to release results as with the B44. If the data still isn’t positive after two years, as with the B46, they don’t release any data and hope it will be positive after the third year.As for how much time is saved, except for the Woodhaven routes where they reported passengers riding for three miles saved three minutes, all the other savings have been measured from one end of the route to the other, and no one rides an entire route to benefit from the entire savings and even those savings are questionable. They claimed the B44 SBS can travel the entire route in 15 minutes less time, but drivers claim the trip takes up to twice the scheduled time. So who do you believe? It is hard to tell how much of the savings are from the lanes, most of which are not enforced, and how much by using all doors and not having to dip. That’s why I quoted the M86 because there are no exclusive lanes to speak of. I understand the M79 which does have lanes saves more time than the M86. I don’t understand your question about Joe Schmoe. The schedule supposed to take into account average real conditions which includes if you have to dip or not, so dipping is irrelevant to keeping on schedule. Fare evasion is a separate issue. For years the MTA insisted it was within industry standards of 3 percent and enforcement was not necessary until the Daily News did their own study and determined it was 14 percent. Then the MTA stepped up enforcement. Then because of driver safety, drivers were instructed not to insist passengers pay their fare, so naturally evasion went up. As fare as SBS, fare enforcement is its most expensive component. Although the Eagle Team has been expanded, it is not expanded as quickly as SBS routes are added, so as time goes on, your chances of getting caught for not having a receipt goes down and the riders know it. The MTA also knows which routes have the greatest amount of evasion and that where they target their enforcement the most. Regular riders on some routes claim to have not seen any enforcement for months. When a new SBS route takes effect after a few months there is regular enforcement and then the team moves to other routes and only returns if they determine ridership is dwindling. I believe that is what happened with the B44 and why ridership tanked the first year because there was little enforcement and the riders knew it. Why pay if no one checks? So they increased enforcement the second year to be able to show a ridership increase the second year. After that it has gone down each year, but they do t need to do any more reports anyway so they don’t care. They got their ridership increase to show in their report to claim the route a success. The machines have a five year lifetime. That’s why it makes no sense to start new SBS routes until at least OMNI is in effect. Yes when that is in effect you will be able to tap and enter on any door for all routes. But unless they add turnstiles for the rear doors, I don’t know how they will ensure everyone pays. I guess they could have cameras with facial recognition so they could somehow summons you if you don’t tap. We don’t have the street space for real BRT. Most other cities use abandoned rail rights of way for BRT or else don’t have the amount of traffic NYC does where they can afford to lose general traffic lanes without greatly increasing traffic congestion. Some also provide parking so you can leave your car and switch to BRT. We don’t do that here. When did they fly 15 or 20 years ago? |
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