The problem is compounded by the fact that bus drivers are explicitly told to do nothing about fare beaters. They keep track of those who don’t pay via a clicker but due to valid safety concerns, are told not to confront those who skip out on the fare. The vast majority of those sneaking on do so through the back door, but until cops ramp up enforcement efforts, this bus-based fare-beating will continue. For more on the issue of fare-beaters, check out the coverage from Tuesday and Wednesday.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

Last night, NYC DOT and the MTA gave its most recent Select Bus Service presentation to Manhattan’s Community Board 8. Since I was on an airplane, I couldn’t attend, but Michael Auerbach from Upper Green Side filed a report for me from the event. I’ll have more about the DOT presentation next week. In the meantime, check out Michael’s take on how Select Bus Service will coexist with the Second Ave. Subway construction along the Upper East Side. The weekend service alerts follow.

After a rather tame affair downtown at Community Board 3 on Wednesday night, the DOT and MTA headed north to present details of the City’s highly anticipated (albeit watered down) version of Bus Rapid Transit, or as it is known, Select Bus Service, to Community Board 8’s Transportation Public Forum. The start of the forum was actually delayed because City officials themselves were held up due to the tragic accident on the 6 train last night where a woman was killed at the 77th Street station as she tried to retrieve her bag from the tracks.

Seasoned from weeks of practice in front of boards across the City, the DOT came to CB8 with their SBS schpiel ready to go. The presentation began with DOT identifying station locations and describing exactly where each design choice will be implemented along the corridor and why. In areas of “intense traffic,” particularly around the 59th Street Bridge entrances and exits, Design C (curbside bus lane, shared bike lane) would be used. whereas in areas of lighter traffic further up 1st and 2nd Avenues, Design A (offset bus lane and protected bike lane) would be utilized. For the most part, no real bombshells were dropped last night save for the small shocker that when M15 SBS service is up and running, all M15 buses (including locals) will terminate at South Ferry. That means no more M15’s making they’re last stop at City Hall. However, DOT did mention that customers wishing to travel to City Hall will still be able to take the M103.

Of particular interest (and long a burning question to the readership of this blog) has been exactly how SBS will co-exist with the ongoing construction for the Second Avenue Subway. Last night we finally got some answers: As per DOT officials, the City does not intend to paint the bus lanes or install any physical infrastructure in the roadway on 2nd Avenue from 100th to around 67th Street until SAS construction is complete. DOT does plan however to install two temporary SBS stations on 2nd avenue at 88-89th streets and 67-68th streets, respectively. Both stations will have fare collection machines installed so people can pay the SBS fare before they board, enabling DOT to realize some of the promised SBS time-saving goals in the short-term.

Once construction of the SAS is complete (or better yet, when conditions on the roadway allow) the DOT will then implement full SBS on 2nd avenue, which includes painting the bus lane, installing a physically separated bike way on segments of the avenue, relocating the temporary stations, and adding additional ones. According to last night’s presentation, it still appears that SBS will be somewhat hampered in the SAS zone due to construction crews that take up lanes of traffic on the avenue. DOT regulations require the MTA to maintain 4 lanes of moving traffic through the SAS zone at all times. A DOT official even went as far as to say that the current curb side lane (once a fully functional bus lane back in the day) is now NOT in fact a bus lane, but simply a lane for buses. Which also means it’s a lane for cars, and a lane for trucks…The statement makes one really wonder whether or not SBS will be able to truly achieve its stated goal of speeding bus trips along the corridor.

* * *
I’d like to thank Michael for this report. Definitely check out Upper Green Side for more livable streets analysis about the areas impacted by the Second Ave. Subway. In the meantime, below are your weekly service advisories. Subway Weekender has the map, and it’s worth repeating that work on the 7 line has wrapped three weeks early. As always, these comes to me via the MTA and are subject to change without notice. Listen to announcements and check signs in your local station.

Please note: From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, there are no transfers between A, 23, and 45 trains at Fulton Street-Broadway-Nassau. Manhattan-bound A trains are running on the F line from Jay Street to West 4th Street. Queens-bound A trains run local from West 4th to Jay Streets, bypassing Fulton Street-Broadway Nassau. In Manhattan, free transfers are available between 45 trains at Fulton Street and AE23 trains at the World Trade Center/Chambers Street/Park Place station. Customers must exit and re-enter the system when making this free connection. In Brooklyn, customers may transfer at Nevins Street between 23 and 4 trains.

From 11 p.m. Friday, March 12 to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 13, from 11 p.m. Saturday, March 13 to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 14 and from 11 p.m. Sunday, March 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, 2 and 3 trains run local between 96th Street and Times Square-42nd Street due to a track dig-out near 50th Street.

From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, 3 train service is extended to/from 34th Street-Penn Station due to a track dig-out near 50th Street.

From 11 p.m. Friday, March 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, Manhattan-bound 4 trains run express from Burnside Avenue to 125th Street due to a concrete pour at 149th Street-Grand Concourse.

At all times until September 2010, the Whitlock Avenue and Morrison-Sound View Avs. stations are closed for rehabilitation. Customers should use the Elder Avenue 6 station or the Simpson Street 25 station instead. The Bx4 bus provides alternate connecting service between stations.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, A trains run local between 168th Street and 145th Street, between 59th Street and West 4th Street, and between Jay Street and Euclid Avenue due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project and station rehabilitation at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, Manhattan-bound A trains run on the F line from Jay Street to West 4th Street due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project.
At West 4th Street, customers may transfer to a:

• Brooklyn-bound A to reach Canal, Chambers or High Streets or
• World Trade Center-bound E to reach Spring Street.

Note: A trains do not stop at Broadway-Nassau Street in either direction.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, there is no C train service due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization project. Customers may take the A or D instead. Note: D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street. A trains run local with exceptions.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street due to station rehabilitation at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, there are no D trains between Pacific and 34th Streets due to the Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street transfer construction. The N and free shuttle buses provide alternate service.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, E trains run local between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Queens Plaza due to track maintenance.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, F trains run local between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and 21st St-Queensbridge due to track maintenance.

From 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to track maintenance. Customers may take the E or R instead.

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, March 13, Manhattan-bound J trains skip Flushing Avenue, Lorimer Street and Hewes Street due to track repairs.

From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, March 15, N trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street due to Jay Street station rehabilitation and construction of the underground connector to Lawrence Street.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, N trains run local between Pacific Street and 59th Street in Brooklyn due to Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street transfer construction.

From 11 p.m. Friday, March 12 to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 13, from 11 p.m. Saturday, March 13 to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 14 and from 11 p.m. Sunday, March 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, uptown Q trains run local from Times Square-42nd Street to 57th Street/7th Avenue due to a track dig-out north of 42nd Street-Times Square.

From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday, March 13, downtown Q trains run local from 57th Street/7th Avenue to Times Square-42nd Street due to track cleaning.

From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday, March 14, downtown Q trains run local from 34th Street-Herald Square to Canal Street due to track cleaning.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, Q train service is extended to/from Ditmars Blvd.

From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, there are no R shuttle trains between 36th Street and 59th Street in Brooklyn due to Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street transfer construction. Customers may take the N instead.

From 6:30 a.m. to midnight Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, R trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge between DeKalb Avenue and Canal Street due to Jay Street Station Rehabilitation and Construction of Underground Connector to Lawrence Street.

From 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, free shuttle buses replace S trains between Rockaway Park and Beach 67th Street due to station rehabilitations at Beach 98th and Beach 90th Streets.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

The latest DOT plans for the 34th St. Select Bus Service call for physically separated lanes. (Click to enlarge. Courtesy of NYC DOT)

Over the last few years, as the New York City Department of Transportation and the MTA have worked together to develop plans for a comprehensive city-wide bus rapid transit system, the proposals have all fallen short on one front. None of the routes set forth have included physically separated bus lanes. The 1st and 2nd Ave. Select Bus Service routes suffer from this flaw, and although DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has long promised a true BRT network, she had not yet delivered those separated transitways.

Today, though, NYC DOT has revealed bold plans for the 34th St. corridor that include physically separated lanes from the Hudson River to the East River. Now calling it the 34th St. Transitway, DOT says the crosstown route will feature a “high quality right-of-way” including physically separated bus-only lanes, passenger boarding islands, a prepayment fare system, and “other bus operations improvements.” The route will be used by local and express buses and should speed up cross-island traffic by 35 percent.

As Streetsblog noted today, 34th St. was ripe for this type of ambitious planning. The route will connect with subway stops at Lexington Ave., Herald Sq. and the Penn Station stops at both 7th and 8th Aves. With the ARC Tunnel under way, even more people will be pouring into Penn Station and the surrounding streets as well.

Furthermore, as Noah Kazis noted, this is a very pedestrian-friendly plan. “Running bus service in both directions along one side of the street allows for wider sidewalks and pedestrian refuge islands, according to an analysis of different options for the corridor,” he said, referring to DOT’s Alternatives Analysis screening report. “Compatibility with loading and deliveries was also a make-or-break factor — the configuration maintains curbside access to one side of the street along the entire route.” It is, for now, unclear what type of barrier DOT would employ to ensure that cars do not stray into the bus lanes.

The Department of Transportation, which hopes to attract federal money for this project, warns that these plans are still in their infancy. The agency still has to conduct an environmental review, hear public input on the design needs for the corridor and study necessary changes for the city’s truck route network. Still, these plans deserve praise because they truly represent the bus network the city must implement to realize faster and better Select Bus Service.

After the jump, a few cross-section views of the proposed 34th St. Transitway.

34th St. cross-section at the BRT stations. (Click to enlarge)

34th St. cross-section along the route. (Click to enlarge)

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

The BRT grant is an interesting one because the Nostrand Ave. corridor has been subject to some car-based politicking. Local business owners who will lose their personal parking spots are not too happy about the project, and the vocal minority voices often tend to trump the silent majority who stand to benefit from faster surface transportation and a less congestion business area. While 19 elected officials have support the 1st and 2nd Ave. Select Bus Service plan without federal funding, politicians who represent the Nostrand Ave. neighborhoods have yet to speak out in favor of the Brooklyn-based plan despite the obvious need to speed up the painfully slow B44. Noah Kazis hopes that federal funds will change that anti-transit attitude. Either way, these grants are good news for some of the city’s cash-strapped projects.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

Meet the latest addition to New York City’s extensive bus fleet. The Nova Bus LFS, which debuted in mid-January along the Bx12, is being called the bus of the future by New York City Transit. First announced last June, these articulated buses feature three doors, low floors and clean engine technology. Better still, this vehicle was built by workers in Plattsburgh, New York, and it truly is a product of the MTA’s state-wide impact.

Right now, the bus above is one of the 90 Transit expect to receive. These new buses will run along the city’s Select Bus Service corridors and these buses were designed with an eye toward speeding up bus service. “This is the perfect operation for a low-floor bus with three wide entry/exit doors,” Joseph Smith, Transit’s senior vice president at the Department of Buses, said. “Our SBS service is designed to move large numbers of people quickly and efficiently. Adding one door and subtracting two steps helps to accomplish that.”

The MTA recently provided a fact sheet about the new bus model, and it seems to be a nice one. The LFS is 62 feet long — or slightly longer than the standard subway cars on the lettered lines. It can fit 54 seated customers and another 58 standees for a total capacity of 112. “Boasting corrosion-free outer skin panels and frame along with improved fuel economy from its clean diesel engine and smart transmission, this technically advanced bus is expected to cost less to operate and maintain during the course of its service life,” Transit’s release said. It also features a rear window — a relic of buses from decades past when the engine components did not block the back.

With the addition of this bus to the fleet, the MTA is moving ahead with its plans to support the bus system and make it more than the inconvenient transit step child. The low floors allow for faster street-level boarding and combined with the pre-boarding fare payment systems, should help speed up what can be painfully slow bus service. Now if only the city would propose those physically-separated bus lanes.

After the jump, a view of the inside of the Nova Bus LFS with the rear window barely visible in the back. All photos courtesy of New York City Transit.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

The M10 is one of numerous city buses to see its route altered. (Source: New York City Transit)

In the overall scheme of the New York City public transportation landscape, buses are often considered the forgotten step child of the transit network. Because of long-standing stereotypes that unfairly label buses as an inferior means of travel that only those of the lower class use, buses have not earned much respect in New York City. We see that in the way Select Bus Service plans do not include separated routes, and we see that in the way Albany has yet to approve camera enforcement measures for bus lanes in the city. They don’t get no respect.

Yet, buses are a key component to life in New York City. Every weekday, 2.324 million New Yorkers ride the bus. Some are the elderly or handicapped, and the subway infrastructure is simply not an option. Others ride buses for the direct connections they provide between adjacent neighborhoods; others use buses to get to subway lines; and still others resort to buses because they simply have too many grocery bags to haul down to the subway and the bus is right there. A third of New York City Transit’s passengers can’t be wrong.

The bus though remain shrouded in mystery. The borough’s maps are incomprehensible. Bus routes overlap in weird and inexplicable ways, and the schedules published on bus stops are oftentimes simply wrong. If anything is indicative of the way the MTA simply sucked up private transit companies, the buses are it. And now, many of the buses are on the chopping block.

When the MTA unveiled its revised package of subway cuts on Friday afternoon, I focused on the subway service changes. Those are, after all, the sexy part of the package of cuts. Everyone likes to hear about the Chrystie St. Cut, and few really care if a bus route they’ll never ride in Eastern Queens is combined with another route they’ll never ride. Yet, the buses are bearing the brunt of the Transit cuts.

New York City Transit is cutting $77.6 million from its budget via service cuts. The subway changes we discussed on Friday will account for just $17.6 million of that savings, and changes to the city’s bus routes will account for the remaining $60 million. No borough is spared an extensive restructuring of the bus cuts, and 14 routes in total will be eliminated. Another eight routes — including Manhattan’s M8 route, subject of multiple protests in 2009 — will be cut during the weekend. In total, 41 weekday routes and 32 weekend bus lines will be partially discontinued or restructured in such a way that other bus routes will be extended to cover the same territory.

On paper, it’s hard to make sense of all of the changes. I can’t do justice to the $60 million in discontinuations, restructuring and replacements simply because I’m not as conversant in the ins and outs of the city’s rather inefficient bus map. Instead, as an example of Transit’s approach to these cuts, let’s explore how my neighborhood — Brownstone Brooklyn — will be impacted by the cuts. For those who want to see the city-wide impact, Transit’s PDF of the service changes delves in depth, and I’ll conclude this piece with some thoughts on the bus changes.

This map shows Transit’s first approach toward addressing bus redundancy issues. The agency plans to eliminate the B75 and extend the B57 to a turnaround at Smith-9th Sts. This will provide a more streamlined bus route from Carroll Gardens into Downtown Brooklyn and beyond while shuttling passengers to and from the subway. Meanwhile, the B61 will be extended from Red Hook to Windsor Terrace, replacing the B77 and parts of the B75. Generally, these shifts will improve dwell times, provide for more efficient turnarounds and better direct service. Bus frequency should remain the same as well, but fewer drivers will be needed to man the routes.

Next, Transit is looking to eliminate routes with low ridership that aren’t far from more well-traveled neighborhoods. As part of its study in Brooklyn, Transit determined that most of the riders on the B69, a route that current runs to and from Windsor Terrace along 8th Ave. and Prospect Park West are bound for the B/Q subway stop at 7th Ave. Furthermore, with just 2510 riders per weekday, this route is among the city’s lowest utilized bus.

To maintain service from Windsor Terrace to the 7th Ave. subway stop, this bus will be rerouted along 7th Ave. from Windsor Terrace to Flatbush Ave. North of the subway stop, the B69 will continue to run via Grand Army Plaza and Vanderbilt Ave. to Fort Greene while the B67 will continue to travel to Downtown Brooklyn via Flatbush Ave. Passengers along 8th Ave. and Prospect Park West will have longer walks, but those subway-bound riders will have a more direct trip with less walking on the other end.

The final approach, seen in cuts throughout the city, involves the whole-scale elimination of entire bus routes. In Brownstone Brooklyn, the B71, a bus that connects Crown Heights with Park Slope and Carroll Gardens will be eliminated, and the B37 and B71, routes that run north and south along 3rd Ave., will be discontinued as well. In Bay Ridge, other buses will replace the B37. For Transit, these cuts are simply a matter of economics. The B37 sees 3280 riders per day and costs Transit $5.29 per rider to operate. The B71 sees just 1080 riders per weekday. With other routes nearby, these extreme money-losing routes simply cannot be support in lean economic times.

For many people, these bus cuts will be devastating. It will take longer to travel from Point A to Point B, and trips will involve more walking on both ends. Residents in neighborhoods long used to the convenience of bus cuts will have to change the way they travel. But the MTA has its back to the wall. The agency has to save a lot of money, and eliminating redundant and underutilized service is the way to go.

In the end, everyone in densely-populated areas of the city will be no more than a quarter of a mile away from a transit route, and those in the eastern reaches of Queens and less densely-populated regions will be no more than a half a mile away. Furthermore, many of these bus cuts optimize bus routes, eliminate unnecessary overlap and provide more one-seat rides through some neighborhoods. Still, cuts are cuts are cuts. No one in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn or Staten Island wants to suffer through changes in their commutes, and with money tight, these changes will come. Transit should be praised for trying to minimize the pain, but when $60 million in service will disappear at the end of June, the buses will become less convenient for those 2.3 million people who ride them.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

Here come the Select Bus Service route plans. Here comes the BRT controversy. As MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder pledges to speed up the city’s buses, the two transportation agencies have seemingly settled on a design that, while progressive for New York City, leaves much to be desired.

DOT unveiled the new plans last night at a meeting of the First Avenue/Second Avenue SBS Community Advisory Committee, and the agency’s presentation is available here as a PDF. The story I want to tell is best express through the liberal use of pictures and excerpts from the slides. Click any picture for a larger image. Let’s dive in.

The basic premise of the 1st Ave./2nd Ave. Select Bus Service is one of adaptation to changing neighborhoods. The route starts in the cramped and densely populated Lower Manhattan area, shoots up past residential neighborhoods in the East Village and Murray Hill, navigates its way through an overly congestion midtown and settles in for a ride up through the Upper East Side and Harlem. Along the way down Second Ave., it must also contend with some massive subway construction efforts, and DOT has included bike lanes in any street overhaul as well.

To combat these problems, the simple and best solution would involve physically separated bus and bike lanes from South Ferry to 125th St. Cars would lose a lane, and businesses would have to get creative with deliveries. But travel times would be markedly improved, and buses would no longer be subject to the whims of surface traffic and dense midtown congestion. Instead, DOT and the MTA have proposed three different alignments for the various neighborhoods, and each will require major enforcement efforts to keep bus lanes free and buses moving.

The first design runs into a parking problem. On one side of the street, bicyclists would enjoy a fully separated and protected lane while buses would get their own dedicated lane on the other side of the street. Cars would still be able to cut off buses to access parking, and those trying to parallel park would end up blocking the bus lanes as well. But bulbs would provide for easy access points, and the buses would, ideally, be able to travel in straight lines. BRT buses, though, would wind up stuck behind local buses.

Design B is probably the best of the bunch. Bikes would still enjoy protected lanes on the left-hand side of the street, and buses would would receive a dedicated lane next to the curb on the right. The problem again is that the bus lane is not a physically separated one. Without increased enforcement, delivery trucks would surely block the lane, and businesses will cry foul about their missing parking spots. Upper Green Side, an attendee at last night’s meeting, reveals that off-peak lane use might even allow for delivery trucks and metered parking.

Design C would leave the curb-side bus lane in place, but bikes would be thrust into a shared lane automobiles. This one runs into the same problem with buses as Design B and would also, in the words of Upper Green Side, “accommodate off-peak deliveries and metered parking.”

With these three designs, DOT and the MTA have also proposed where along the avenues each design would be employed. The results are the following map:

Basically, it appears as though Select Bus Service would not start until Houston St. and that the midtown area — right now, the worst for cyclists — would not see the luxury of physically separated lanes. For bikers, this is the least optimal design DOT and the MTA could have produced.

As one might imagine, reaction to this plan has not been favorable. Upper Green Side accuses the city of missing some golden opportunities for bikes and buses while Streetsblog’s commenters were more critical.

In the end, I’m left with the same questions I’ve always had for DOT and the MTA. What is the point of this project without physically separated bus lanes? If the goal is to markedly improve transit speeds up and down these avenues, that can be accomplished only through physically separated lanes. Buses cannot wait for delivery vans to move or for cars to finish parking. They shouldn’t have to wait for taxis to load and unload. The local bus problems remain as well.

For now, DOT and the MTA deserve our recognition for trying to bring faster bus service to New York, but this plan is a far cry from true Bus Rapid Transit. It’s questionable how, outside of pre-boarding fare payment plans, it’s even that much more efficient than the current Limited bus service that now runs up and down 1st and 2nd Aves.

But this is plan for now. The agencies will hold a public open house and some workshops in February before convening the CAC again in April. Maybe by then, physically separated lanes will be a part of the equation.

Addendum (4:26 p.m.): While I was writing this, Streetsblog’s Ben Fried tracked down the reactions from a bunch of the East Side’s elected officials. They praised the plans for DOT’s willingness to push the NYC-centric envelope but worry, as I do, that the proposal does not go far enough. Fried reported:

Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh…took issue with the contention of the MTA’s Ted Orosz, who postulated that illegally parked trucks would disrupt bus service in separated lanes. “Other cities, and certainly New York, can figure out how to prevent a Snapple truck from parking in a bus lane,” he said. “There are certainly ways to configure this that would reduce the chance that traffic’s going to block it.”

City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents East Harlem and parts of the Bronx, called the plan “a great start” in an email to Streetsblog, while also calling on the MTA and NYCDOT to “move forward with an even better plan.”

“I am particularly encouraged by the proposed creation of protected bike lanes, which will go a long way to promote the use of bicycles,” she said. “However, I urge the MTA and NYCDOT to consider including separated bus lanes into their plan for the East Side. Many of my constituents depend on the First and Second Avenue buses to get around, and separated bus lanes will make their everyday trips both quicker and safer.”

Well said.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

Kicking and screaming, the New York City bus network will be dragged into, well, the present. The 34th St. route features countdown clocks for buses, and the MTA and the city’s Department of Transportation are working together to plot the rollout of Select Bus Service throughout the five boroughs. None of this will work, though, without proper bus lane enforcement.

Last week, while speaking with Richard Brodsky and the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder started beating the drum again for bus lane enforcement. In interviews shortly after he received the MTA nomination, Walder stressed the need for these cameras, and he was at it again last week.

“I simply don’t think that the MTA ever made bus lane cameras a priority. In fact, I don’t think the MTA has made buses a priority quite the way that we’re doing today,” he said. “One of the things that I’ve tried to say from day one is that buses are an under-utilized, untapped resource in New York. We can do much more with it, and we’re making it our priority to do that.”

Of course, the State Assembly has long been a reason why the city has not yet implemented bus lane cameras. Back in 2008, David Gantt, a Rochester Democrat, torpedoed a home rule measure that would have allowed the city to use cameras to enforce the bus lanes. Since then, however, the Assembly has ceded ground on red-light cameras, among others, and Walder is optimistic that they will allow for proper bus lane enforcement as well. “I recognize the issues about privacy,” Walder said. “The Assembly, the legislature, has gotten over those issues with red light cameras. There’s no reason why we can’t get over those issues with the bus lane enforcement cameras.”

Meanwhile, a City Council measure could slow down the DOT/MTA bus lane efforts as well. At the end of the year, according to a recent Streetsblog report, the City Council passed a bill mandated a 65-day review period for all “‘major realignments of the roadway,’ particularly the addition or removal of a lane of traffic or parking on more than four blocks or ‘1,000 consecutive feet of street.’”

This move is one designed to allow for more community input in DOT roadway planning, but DOT is not bound to alter plans in the face of community reaction. On the one hand, this law should eliminate any sense of paternalism that may stem from DOT unilaterally deciding how the streets should be laid out without consulting businesses and community boards. On the other, vocal minorities who seem to obsess more about parking than they should may earn too much of a say in the process. Streetsblog isn’t concerned that this measure will materially impact too many DOT plans.

In the end, these two efforts — camera enforcement and the need for dedicated lanes — highlight what is missing from the Select Bus Service plan and what the city needs to have a truly effective higher-speed bus network. I’ve seen cars driving down the 34th St. in the new bus-only lanes, and I’ve seen buses stall traffic when they have to navigate around double-parkers and other vehicles idling in bus lanes. Without dedicated lanes and without an effective enforcement means for those lanes, buses will be subject to the whims of New York City’s painfully slow surface traffic.

Walder knows that better bus service is both cheaper and more immediate than building out new subway lines. He knows that buses can be deployed to bring people into the city’s central business districts or to subway hubs. Right now, we view the buses are an inconvenience that can sometimes get us where we need to go but are mostly utilized by the aged and infirm who can’t negotiate subway staircases. In a few years, buses can be an accepted part of the city’s transit network, and with true bus lanes and enforcement measures, that vision could be one step closer to reality.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

New plexiglass partitions will protect Bus Operators from out-of-control passengers. (Photo courtesy of New York City Transit)

When a New York City Transit bus driver was murdered by an irate passenger in Dec. 2008, the MTA promised a bus partition pilot program aimed at keeping drivers safer. Late last week, that pilot program debuted in Bus 5052 along the B46, the same route that played host to Edwin Thomas’ murder.

The partition is a step up in the world of bus driver safety but it is not without its problems. The divider is made of a piece of plexiglass one inch thick and with non-glare coating, and it nearly isolates the driver from his riders. It does not, however, fully enclose the driver. There is an opening at the top and side so that the driver can access the fare box.

“It’s difficult to come up with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to this simply because our Bus Operators aren’t one size,” Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said. “Each has to position the wheel, seat, mirrors to their preference, and the same is true for something like a partition. They all have to be comfortable with the environment the partition creates as they drive. Our overriding goal here is to provide both a safe and comfortable environment for our Bus Operators.”

Right now, Transit plans to order 100 partitions for one model of the RTS buses similar to those in use along the B46, and according to the Daily News, that is so far the only model approved by the union. Transit and the TWU are working to develop partitions for other bus models as well.

It’s tough to speak out against bus partitions. After all, bus operators in 2008 reported over 235 assaults, and Thomas’ murder, the first of a bus driver since 1981, certainly highlighted the extremes of driver safety. Because cops do not often patrol buses, drivers are often left to fend for themselves. As long as the operators can still assist disabled riders and can still interact with passengers when they have to, Transit and the union should do all they can to ensure driver safety.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.

“After careful study, we are dividing one long, cumbersome route into two shorter routes which will be easier to supervise and more manageable to operate,” Transit President Thomas Prendergast said in a statement this afternoon. “We made this decision in response to concerns from customers and community organizations who have long complained about this route’s lack of reliability. Both of the new services are projected to be more reliable than the single route they are replacing.”

The change, originally announced in July, will see the 9.7-mile route linking Red Hook to Queens Plaza split in Downtown Brooklyn. The B61 will run from Ikea to Smith and Livingston Sts. in Downtown Brooklyn while the B62 will run from Boerum Place and Livingston St. to Queens Plaza via the Williamsburge Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal. Transit says the new route will allow a dispatcher to better monitor the popular route.

“We recognize that there are rapidly growing new residential areas along the Williamsburg waterfront,” added Prendergast. “The B62 will also provide convenient bus and subway connections for these customers to the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza transit hub which is served by six bus routes and the Marcy Avenue subway station.”

The B61 in its current incarnation serves approximately 18,500 riders on weekdays, 10,800 on Saturdays and 7400 on Sundays. The new routing should help the bus avoid the heavy congestion in Downtown Brooklyn that often slows the bus to a crawl.

©2010 Second Ave. Sagas. All Rights Reserved.