Earlier this week during the MTA Board members, Transit put forward a plan, as they often do, to adjust bus service schedules along a series of routes. In July, 17 bus routes will see altered plans with 12 lines suffering from reduced service and five lines seeing added buses. As is often the case when the MTA cuts service, people are none too thrilled.
This short bit from The Post pretty much sums up the public reaction to the move. With an intentionally inflammatory headline, the article focuses on the popular routes — the M23 and Flatbush Avenue’s B41 — that will see longer headways at various times of the day. The changes themselves are cost-neutral to the MTA but will have an impact on riders.
According to the Transit materials, these schedule changes are “a product of NYC Transit’s continuing effort to review and revise bus and subway schedules to ensure that they accurately meet customer demand and are in compliance with with MTA Board-adopted bus loading guidelines.” Some schedule changes are due to surface transit conditions as well. According to the staff summary, the changes will add somewhere from one to five minutes of wait time on some lines while reducing it on others. Most buses will end up with capacity at around 95 percent.
So it this a service cut? In the past, I’ve always been very hesitant to embrace these scheduling changes. While we don’t want empty buses running along our streets, we also don’t want to reduce service, and by first establishing load guidelines that make buses more crowded than we would prefer, the MTA Board can then cut service to meet those new load guidelines. In 2010, they did so extensively to meet budgets.
Furthermore, by cutting bus service even just a little, buses become less convenient. Their riders are more willing to pursue alternate routes than subway riders are, and a longer wait will inevitably lead fewer people to take the bus. For the bus to thrive, in other words, it has run frequently and reliably. So a few lines will suffer with fewer buses at various times during the day. These buses will be more crowded and less frequent. If we want to encourage transit use, that’s not a desirable outcome at all.
For more on the specifics of the service adjustments, check out the section that starts on page 110 of this pdf. In the meantime, the weekly service advisories follow after the jump.
From 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., Saturday, April 28, 3 service is extended to New Lots Avenue due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street and renewal of switches north of Borough Hall.
From 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., Saturday, April 28, there are no 4 trains between Brooklyn Bridge and New Lots Avenue due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street and renewal of switches north of Borough Hall. Customers should take the 3, N, Q or R instead. Note: 4 trains operate local in both directions between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge.
From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, April 28, there are no 5 trains between Grand Central-42nd Street and Bowling Green due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street and renewal of switches north of Borough Hall. Customers should take the 4 (operating between Woodlawn and Brooklyn Bridge.), Q or R trains instead. 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Grand Central-42nd Street.
- For service between Grand Central-42nd Street and Bowling Green, customers may take the 4.
- For service between Brooklyn Bridge and Bowling Green, customer may use the nearby Cortlandt Street, Rector Street and Whitehall Street R stations, served by the uptown Q and Brooklyn-bound R trains during this time.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, April 28, there are no 6 trains between Parkchester and Hunts Point Avenue due to demolition and removal of abandoned wires north of Whitlock Avenue station. Free shuttle buses provide alternative service. The 6 trains operates in two sections:
- Between Pelham Bay Park and Parkchester
- Between Hunts Point Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge.
From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29, Flushing-bound 7 trains skip 82nd Street, 90th Street 103rd Street and 111th Street due to the installation of conduit and signal platforms for Flushing CBTC.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 30, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to West 4th Street, then via the F Line to Jay Street-MetroTech due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street MetroTech.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29, Brooklyn-bound C trains run via the F line from West 4 Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street MetroTech.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 30, Coney Island-Bound D trains run via the N line from 36th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue due to station and line structure rehabilitation near 9th Avenue.
From 12:01 am to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, April 28 and Sunday April 29 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, April 30, Bronx-bound D trains run express from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, skipping DeKalb Avenue due to track work north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 28, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 30, E trains operate via the F in both directions after 36th Street in Queens to West 4th Street in Manhattan due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization project. E trains travel via the 63rd Street tunnel and 6th Avenue corridors, stopping at F stations. Downtown trains resume the E route at West 4th Street.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, April 28, L trains operate in two sections due to fencing installation at Canarsie Yard:
- Between 8th Avenue and Broadway Junction
- Between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Parkway (every 24 minutes)
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, April 30, Manhattan-bound N trains run express from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, then via the Manhattan Bridge, skipping DeKalb Avenue due to track work north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 30, Manhattan-bound Q trains run via the R line between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street due to track work north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 30, Coney Island-bound Q trains run express from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach due to track panel installation south of Kings Highway.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29, Manhattan-bound R trains run express from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, then via the Manhattan Bridge, skipping DeKalb Avenue due to track work north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street. Note: Manhattan-bound Q trains replace the N and R, stopping at Jay Street-MetroTech, Court Street, Whitehall Street, Rector Street, Cortlandt Street and City Hall.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, April 30, there are no R trains between 59th Street and 36th Street in Brooklyn due to track work north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street. Customers should use the N instead. R trains operate between 95th Street and 59th Street in Brooklyn.
12 comments
I noticed there is no j shuttle running to prospect park. anybody knows why the mta is not sending the j shittle?
From what I can glean from that rather unhelpful PDF, the M23 and Flatbush Avenue’s B41 will see increased headways, not decreased ones. No one would be complaining if the headways were being decreased, would they?
The MTA does need leeway to adjust schedules but what is troubling is the so-called cost neutral. Can someone show me where the MTA ever spells out the costs in dollars and cents to prove it is really cost neutral. showing a percent change of increased and decreased revenue mileage is not showing dollars and cents. They woud have to show actual increases and decreases to revenue miles, not percent changes which are meaningless in calculating costs.
I’ve read that sometimes they save $750,000 by making routine adjustments. How is that cost neutral? Where is the transparency?
What they don’t tell you is that most probably the reduction in usage of the B41 is not due to reduced demand but due to more riders shifting to dollar vans. A reduction in bus service will only cause additional riders to shift. Remember that the B41 for about 30 years was Brooklyn’s most heavily used route before the start of dollar vans. Now it is number 6 and usage will continue to decline each time service is further reduced. MTA counts need to include the dollar vans to determine real demand.
I don’t follow. Why would the MTA count dollar vans to determine real demand? People taking dollar vans aren’t going to take the bus until the dollar vans stop undercutting the bus on fares.
My guess is that demand for the B41 has gone down because B/Q service is far more reliable now than it was during the decades of construction and service re-routings on the Manhattan Bridge.
Don’t believe they take the dollar vans because of the cost savings. They take it because it is quicker and more reliable. Yes there needs to be enforcement and I’m not saying that the MTA needs to increase service based on the dollar vans. They just need to keep track of their ridership to determine if more people ride the vans and more are encouraged to operate there everytime bus service is reduced instead of making believe tey don’t exist.
I don’t believe that people are switching to the B and Q because it s more reliable unless they are going to Atlantic Avenue or DeKalb. The bulk of Downtown Brooklyn riders ate destined for the Borough Hall area. That requires a transfer at DeKalb to the R. So even if a few did switch from bus to subway, they have also been switching back from subway to bus because of fewer trains through the Montague Street tunnel with the elimination of the M.
The subway has always been more reliable and generally quicker than the bus so anyone in a hurry will use it. Those who take buses and dollar vans are more concerned with comfort rather than time. They want to get a seat. Anyone getting on at Prospect Park or later will probably have to stand. That’s why I don’t think there was that many were switching from the bus to the train. More likely they went to the dollar vans.
If you’re talking about rush hour, are you sure that taking the bus means getting a seat? It seems to me that in the rush hour, a passenger can stand and ride quickly on a train, or they can stand and ride slowly on a bus.
It depends on the direction traveled. If you are boarding in Downtown Brooklyn at the first three or four stops you are almost always guaranteed a seat even in rush hours. The AM is another story. When I worked in Downtown Brooklyn, I would sometimes take the B67 or B41 to 7th Avenue and change there for the B or Q. It only took about 15 minutes and it was direct. Taking the train meant walking an extra block to Lawrence Street, taking the R and changing at DeKalb, standing usually on both trains usually until Kings Highway. At most it was 5 minutes quicker and sometimes longer than the bus. Taking the bus I only had to stand for the middle part of the trip for a few stops.
In the morning, I wouldn’t even think of getting off the train to take the bus because I usually had a seat. Many people have different routes going and coming for just this reason. The MTA does not understand this and thinks everyone follows the exact same path everyday.
Vans don’t offer free transfers. Buses do.
[Sorry, HERE is where I had intended to put this question.]
Ben, the Post article is not only inflammatory as you say, but also vague. Was anything announced about WHICH LINES are getting WHICH CUTS? The M23, is that line getting the five minute increase in wait time, or the half-minute increase?
OK Ben, thanks for adding the link to the pdf document. So now I see that they are talking about making the M23 less frequent on Sundays, and how much less frequent depends on the time of day.
One of the latest local news items right now (Friday evening) is about somebody from the MTA talking today about extending the #7 further downtown. How about putting in the 10th Ave./41st St. station instead? Or do they think that most New Yorkers by now have forgotten about that cancelled station?