Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)

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Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Gold_12th on Sun Jun 16 12:56:10 2013 edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Dozens of Northport residents are opposing a section of a new Huntington Town-operated bus route, and village and town officials say they will sit down soon to address those worries. "The safety issue is our main concern," said Christina Adams, one of about 80 people who signed a petition opposing the change. "This is an accident that is going to happen and someone is going to get hurt," said Adams, who lives on Scudder Avenue, along the new route. New Huntington Area Rapid Transit bus routes went into effect throughout the town on Jan. 2, after a town-hired consultant finished a three-year study. The consultant analyzed the decades-old routes and made several recommendations, including eliminating bus service to Main Street in Northport, town officials said. On the old route, buses traveling between the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Walt Whitman Mall in Melville went down Main Street in Northport, the village's principal business street, turned around at the harbor and came back the same way. Now, the buses travel down Main Street and return via Scudder Avenue, a more residential street. Northport Mayor George Doll said he objects to the new route unless town officials "can convince me there is a good reason for it." Doll said that when he meets with the town, he wants to discuss why the route was changed, adding he would like to see the buses return to their original route. Huntington officials said the public had several chances to comment on the consultant's recommendations, including public sessions last year. But several village residents said they didn't hear about the sessions until after they were held. "We were very upset that we weren't notified," said Jane Smith, who lives on Scudder Avenue. The consultant recommended eliminating bus services to Main Street altogether, said Stephen McGloin, town director of transportation and traffic safety. After hearing from the public, the town decided to maintain service there, but with a different route. McGloin said several people pleaded that they needed the buses to get to work, and that they boost business in the village. McGloin said a village merchant suggested using Scudder Avenue, so his department and HART officials analyzed the road to make sure it would be safe and would work in their time frame. "And it did work. It was tight, but it did work," he said. McGloin said one of the reasons Main Street wasn't included in the consultant's study was declining ridership. "We looked at how we could increase ridership," he said. "Going down Main Street and up Scudder gave us a better chance to increase ridership." He said buses have been picking up people on Scudder. "I think it was a good idea to utilize Scudder." - http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/concern-in-northport-over-bus-route-safety-1.5440599?qr=1
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Joe V* on Sun Jun 16 16:28:10 2013, in response to Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by Gold_12th on Sun Jun 16 12:56:10 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Do school buses travel down residential streets ? Why is it more dangerous fora 30' HART bus to do likewise ? I think the real reason is they don't want "those people" able to get on/off streets near their homes.
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Mac5689* on Sun Jun 16 16:35:32 2013, in response to Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by Joe V on Sun Jun 16 16:28:10 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d School Buses however warn you that they will be stopping when the drivers activate their yellow lights, which is something Transit buses don't have. Also HART does or had allowed passengers to flag down buses at any street corner, even if it didn't have a bus stop sign.
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Joe V* on Sun Jun 16 16:50:38 2013, in response to Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by Mac5689 on Sun Jun 16 16:35:32 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d The school buses are a bigger pain in the ass than transit buses to share the streets with. In my neighborhood in NJ, which has 25 MPH side streets and sidewalks, they stop at every god-damned house that has a kid, and even high school kids line up on the opposite side of the street as the bus stop, wait for the front gate to fold out like their mommy's won't let their 15- 17 year-olds cross the street. And the buses load out in the middle of the road like a damned trolley car as the drivers won't pull the front end into the curb like a real bus. That also increases the tripping hazard for kids getting on and off, and opens the hazard of passing on the right. I stand by the NIMBY-agenda.
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Mac5689* on Sun Jun 16 21:40:26 2013, in response to Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by Joe V on Sun Jun 16 16:50:38 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Most School bus stops were I lived were always at a street corner. The exceptions seemed to be if the road happen to be a major street, there was a very long gap between cross streets, or if a cross street dead ended on the street. Mini buses were used for door to door service in nearly all districts I attended. Also I don't know about New Jersey, but in New York School buses have to stop a certain amount of inches away from the curb, so they are basically in the middle of the street.
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by merrick1* on Mon Jun 17 07:29:06 2013, in response to Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by Joe V on Sun Jun 16 16:50:38 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d School buses are easy enough to avoid. They only run twice a day. The only time I have ever had a long driving commute I figured out within a few days that if I left home at 6:25 I would not have to stop for a single school bus. If I left any later I would have to stop for several over the 40 mile trip.
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Joe V* on Mon Jun 17 08:00:23 2013, in response to Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by merrick1 on Mon Jun 17 07:29:06 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Around me, there is every level of public school, some routes work 2 round trips a day, then there's the Catholic school buses.
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Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island)
Posted by Joe V* on Mon Jun 17 09:10:09 2013, in response to Re: Concern in Northport over bus route safety... (HART Long Island), posted by merrick1 on Mon Jun 17 07:29:06 2013.* edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d I would leave for work at 6:46am. Any earlier or any later, I would get stabbed by multiple buses in 2 miles by different buses. Then the 16 year old dawdles across the street, then walks 20 feet to the bus, and the flashers don't go off until he sits down inside.
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