tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post3417137756437185660..comments2024-02-01T04:37:41.878-05:00Comments on Cap'n Transit Rides Again: To Save Money on Marketing Buses, Try Running Enough BusesCap'n Transithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-11307402335847856512015-02-23T10:36:01.255-05:002015-02-23T10:36:01.255-05:00I live in Astoria near the Astoria Blvd/31st St st...I live in Astoria near the Astoria Blvd/31st St stop on the M60. I use the bus pretty regularly, but would use it a lot more if it were more reliable and less crowded. The bus is always packed and is usually bunched. You wait 20 minutes and 2 buses arrive at once. The bustime app doesn't even show all the buses and they appear and disappear from the next arrival list. It's definitely improved over the last year or two, but based on the crowds, I see no reason why that route shouldn't be running at 5 minute intervals. It's a work in progress at best.AlexBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08641696582734014602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-43177439023781358772015-02-20T00:34:58.485-05:002015-02-20T00:34:58.485-05:00Andrew, I recognize that the M60 is not carrying 1...Andrew, I recognize that the M60 is not carrying 122 riders from end to end, 24 hours a day, but that bias and the crush capacity estimates work against each other. Even if the ridership is significantly lower off-peak and at the less popular points of the route, it's still standing room only.<br /><br />I've ridden all four of these bus routes multiple times and it's only on the Q48 and Q72 that I've seen any significant drop in ridership at a certain time or place. The M60 and Q70 seem to be pretty full round the clock.<br /><br />These averages still support my main point: people are already riding the bus to La Guardia, and the MTA isn't running enough buses to keep them comfortable. In this environment, marketing the buses in an effort to get more ridership is pointless and in fact counterproductive.Cap'n Transithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-68404705724077554232015-02-19T18:45:59.592-05:002015-02-19T18:45:59.592-05:00Your math is incorrect, since it's based on th...Your math is incorrect, since it's based on the average number of riders per bus over the length of the run, not the average number of riders per bus at the peak load point. On the Q70, it's close enough, since virtually every rider is on the bus between Jackson Heights and the airport (i.e., the number of riders between Jackson Heights and Woodside, or between airport terminals, is negligible), but on the other three it's way off. The M60, for instance, may carry 122 riders per bus, but there's quite a bit of turnover as the M60 proceeds along its route, so it doesn't carry all 122 riders at any single point on the line.<br /><br />Your denominator is also off, since it looks like you're using crush capacities rather than anything remotely sustainable. You can find NYCT's guideline capacities at http://web.mta.info/mta/compliance/pdf/supplemental-info.pdf (page 23, and I think MTA Bus now uses the same guidelines), although they vary by headway, so a simple division across the entire day won't work even if you do get your hands on the peak loads.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12353421570892445524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-36404031879372770022015-02-18T21:51:08.459-05:002015-02-18T21:51:08.459-05:00Good points, Sandy, but all of the crush-loading I...Good points, Sandy, but all of the crush-loading I observed was east of Steinway Street in Queens. If that's only ten percent of the ridership, it must be hell in Manhattan!<br /><br />I think building out the dedicated bus lanes the rest of the way on 125th Street would help, but in the RPA study (<a href="http://www.panynj.gov/airports/pdf/Regional_Plan_Association_Study.pdf" rel="nofollow">PDF</a>) there was a map showing that most LGA passengers are coming from Midtown, so I still think <a href="http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2014/05/its-time-to-extend-n-train-to-laguardia.html" rel="nofollow">extending the N train</a> is the best solution.Cap'n Transithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-66947715364383243342015-02-18T20:48:00.037-05:002015-02-18T20:48:00.037-05:00I used to ride the M60 back in college. It had sev...I used to ride the M60 back in college. It had several challenges: 1) with 125th being so slow, it had huge bunching problems, seemingly regardless of frequency. 2) It was often crazy crowded, and as several people have noted only 10% of ridership goes to the airport. 3) At the time (this has since been remedied) most buses did not have luggage racks, which was a PITA for a college student. <br /><br />Honestly, the M60 would be most useful as airport transportation if it were boarding-only eastbound in Manhattan. That would free up a ton of capacity for extra airport passengers immediately. There's still demand for Harlem--Queens service, though, so that's not necessarily a desirable result. <br /><br />If MTA really wanted a dedicated airport bus, they could do a premium fare, boarding-only eastbound, with one stop at Astoria Blvd. in Queens. But I'm not sure that would be a great result, and yeah, basically, there should be a subway along 125th, over the Hell Gate, and to Astoria/LGA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com