Showing posts with label buses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buses. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Lean on me

EVG contributor Stacie Joy noticed the arrival of a new leaning bar at the M9 stop on Avenue C and Sixth Street...
These have been in circulation citywide, dating to at least 2016. Per the MTA, "Leaning bars offer a place to rest at bus stops while accommodating people who have difficulty sitting and standing up from a lower bench." 

We are trying to remember seeing any other leaning bars around the neighborhood. (They were promised with the new M14 SBS service.)

As Bloomberg noted in 2017 when they arrived at a few subway stations: "some New Yorkers saw the bar as the latest salvo in what could be called the 'War on Sitting.'"

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Good news from 1st Avenue



EVIL is Not In Service.

Thanks to Simon Dumenco for the update!

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

The vintage bus stops here



Derek Berg spotted one of the MTA's vintage buses that have been in circulation this holiday season on Fourth Avenue near 14th Street.

Here's more about this ride via the MTA:

Bus Number 3100 (1956) was the first air-conditioned bus in the United States used for public transportation. The bus was designed and built as an experiment, with this single example was purchased by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company about a year after its manufacture.

It has other features first introduced in the 1950s: a push‑type rear exit door, wrap-around seating in the rear portion, soft seating, and fluorescent lighting. After two decades of passenger service, this vehicle was assigned to the Transit Police; it was retired from all service in the mid-1970s.

Sounds luxurious, though there's no WiFi or those soothing repeat "Caution bus is turning" messages.

The buses — 11 models in total — are scheduled to be here for boarding though Dec. 21.

And you can also ride the Nostalgia Train on Sundays starting at 10 a.m. through Dec. 30 at the Second Avenue F stop. This link has the schedule and more info.

Anyway, a feel-good moment for the MTA with a tumultuous budgeting process underway.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

More signs of the 14th Street SBS lanes



The city continues to prep 14th Street for its expanded role during the L-train closure next spring. Last week the markings went down for the eastbound Select Bus Service (SBS) lane between First Avenue and Third Avenue...







The westbound lanes are already in place (as noted here).

Here are more details, per the MTA:

The M14 SBS will supplement existing M14A and M14D local bus service on 14th Street, making five stops in each direction between First and Tenth Avenues ... Just before the L train tunnel reconstruction project begins, the M14 SBS route will be extended east to the planned Stuyvesant Cove ferry terminal on the East River to accommodate ferry customers from Brooklyn. Once M14 SBS is implemented, combined with the existing 14th Street local bus service and daily high-occupancy vehicle restrictions on most of 14th Street from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., crosstown buses will be scheduled no more than two minutes apart during peak hours.

This SBS service launches on Sunday, April 21.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

1st signs of the 14th Street SBS lane

Monday, November 5, 2018

1st signs of the 14th Street SBS lane



Back on Thursday, the city began to mark the westbound Select Bus Service (SBS) lane on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Thanks to KT and Pinch for the tip on Thursday!)

This work is happening ahead of the L-train closure that officially starts now on April 27.

As the MTA and DOT announced last week, this SBS service launches on Sunday, April 21 "to allow for customers to sample and become acclimated to new travel options."

"With DOT crews now putting down new street markings for bus lanes and bike lanes, we are deeply committed to having our streets ready for the tunnel closure next April," DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in a statement issued last week. "From a ‘bus bridge’ over the Williamsburg Bridge to the 14th Street Busway, from more Citi Bikes to expanded pedestrian space for displaced train commuters, we and our MTA partners are up for this enormous challenge."

The SBS route was originally set to start on Jan. 6. Officials haven't offered a reason why the start date was pushed back to April 21.

Here are more details, per the MTA news release in July announcing the new SBS service:

The M14 SBS will supplement existing M14A and M14D local bus service on 14th Street, making five stops in each direction between First and Tenth Avenues ... Just before the L train tunnel reconstruction project begins, the M14 SBS route will be extended east to the planned Stuyvesant Cove ferry terminal on the East River to accommodate ferry customers from Brooklyn. Once M14 SBS is implemented, combined with the existing 14th Street local bus service and daily high-occupancy vehicle restrictions on most of 14th Street from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., crosstown buses will be scheduled no more than two minutes apart during peak hours.

And and a few more photos from Saturday ... heading west on 14th Street (already identifying one potential SBS lane issue in front of the USPS retail storefront) ...







The L tunnel reconstruction website has more background and FAQs.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Bus stop



The Abracadabra Field Trip Mobile music jam bus was back on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place late this afternoon... EVG reader Aaron Wilson shared these first two photos...



... and via Derek Berg...



Thursday, February 15, 2018

Bus drama on 9th Street



Earlier this evening, a USPS truck broke down on Ninth Street just west of Avenue A (top photo).

Meanwhile, a westbound M8 made the the turn onto Ninth Street... the bus driver determined that she couldn't make it through the space without hitting either the postal truck or the parked cars...



This was despite the fact that bystanders figured there was plenty of space to squeeze through... and so the bus sat there while the bus driver waited for someone from the MTA to show up to assist...



Some 45 minutes later, the MTA employee who arrived on the scene successfully navigated the tight space... and everyone was on their way again...



All the while, a resident who lives on the block directed traffic ... to keep vehicles from turning onto Ninth Street and getting stuck behind the bus.

Thanks to Steven for the photos and background!

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Report: The SBS15 has the worst on-time arrival in the MTA fleet


[Old EVG photo]

Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office released details back on Friday on the city's slowest and most chronically late bus routes.

A familiar route is atop one of the lists. As the Post reported, the analysis tagged the SBS15, which goes between East Harlem and South Ferry via First or Second Avenue, with the worst on-time performance: 34 percent.

You can read Stringer's full report here.

Monday, July 10, 2017

CB3 and Sen. Squadron to address frequency and reliability of M14A bus service



Speaking of the MTA and the M14A... During CB3's Transportation, Public Safety & Environment Committee meeting tomorrow night, State Sen. Daniel Squadron's office will provide an update on requests for improved M14A service — specifically the frequency of the buses.

This is also a chance for residents to speak out about the issue. CB3 tweeted last week: "Concerned about frequency & reliability of M14A bus in your neighborhood? We need 2 hear from u!"

Upon continuing to hear complaints about the frequency of the M14A, Squadron took another crack at improving service late last year. Per The Lo-Down last November:

In a letter to Veronique Hakim, president of New York City Transit, he explained, “M14A and M14D bus service is critical to the Lower East Side community. These lines provide much needed public transportation to a transit-starved area. My office receives complaints about long wait times for buses, bus bunching, and unexpected scheduling of the two lines.”



In 2014, the MTA dismissed requests from residents for more frequent 14A service.

Cooperatively Yours, the LES-based blog for tenants, had this to say about the situation the other day:

It’s happened to all of us: waiting 30 minutes or more for the M14A at Union Square while watching bus after bus after bus marked M14D pick up passengers. The MTA says there’s a 3-to-1 ratio. The question is, why the disparity?

The MTA then reviewed ridership and decided that the frequency of buses was consistent with the count of riders. Advocates ... said those counts were flawed because of how many people at Union Square just give up on getting an M14A and hop on the M14D instead.

The committee meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday!) night at 6:45 at Downtown Art, 1st Floor Theater, 70 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. This is the third item on the meeting docket.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Today in photos of police-escorted charter buses on Avenue A



EVG reader Paul Dougherty shares this photo from 9:30 a.m. on Avenue A at Sixth Street... NYPD cruiser (one in front and one in back) escorting three charter buses with tinted windows. The first bus was marked District of Columbia.

Jared Kushner in town checking on his East Village properties? Potential homeowners coming from Steiner East Village? Attendees going to a post-post Met Gala party? Anyone?

Friday, May 5, 2017

A look at the MTA's new @LinkNYC on wheels

Back on April 18, Gov. Cuomo announced that the first of 79 new buses equipped with Wi-Fi service and USB ports have arrived for service in Manhattan.

Per the MTA news advisory on this:

After the initial delivery of 3 buses this week, units will arrive at a rate of approximately 3 to 5 buses per week. All 79 buses will be in service by the end of this year and will be based at the MTA’s Tuskegee Depot, running on the M14, M15, M101, M102 and M103.

Anyway, I finally saw one out in the wilds ... on Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place... Go Big Blue!





Per the MTA:

The addition of Wi-Fi provides a new level of connectivity to New Yorkers, bringing ease and convenience to those working, reading emails, or checking in on their social media accounts without impacting their cellular data plans. The number of USB ports on buses will range from 35-55, depending on the make and model, and will be conveniently located throughout the bus.

As for the non-blue-and-gold buses, the MTA is retrofitting the existing fleet with the same "digital-age amenities" as the new ones.

Hopefully Cuomo and Co. will come to their senses and bring back the two-tone green ones...


[Image via the MTA]

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Noted



EVG reader Michael spotted this on the 14D today...

"Movies & Movie Stars Have Totally Ruined Us."

And someone added an arrow and a comment to this statement...

Feel free to discuss: Have movies and movie stars ruined us?

I blame Harold Lloyd.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Feel the need for speed? Then think twice about taking the M101/102/103

A few bus lines that East Village residents may — or more likely, may not — depend on have been recognized. And not really in a good way.

The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives have handed out their annual awards highlighting poor bus service in NYC.

To the news release!

The “winner” of the 2015 Schleppie is ... a tie! The 2015 Schleppie goes to the M1 and the combined M101/102/103, both with a dismal 37 percent of buses arriving with big gaps in service or bunched together.

New York City Transit calculates “wait assessments” for “42 high-volume routes,” the same routes first chosen by Transit two decades ago. Wait assessment measures how closely a line sticks to scheduled intervals for arrival. Wait assessment becomes poorer the more buses arrive in bunches or with major gaps in service.

“In the realm of unreliable bus service, the M1 is the king, and the local M101/102/103 is the queen," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "Their unhappy subjects, the riders, must endure the tyranny of frequent and long waits, followed by a parade of buses that pass by in bunches, like a herd of lumbering elephants."

In addition, the M14A was named the fourth-slowest bus in the system, according to this report, with an average speed of 3.9 MPH at noon on a weekday. (Topping the list was the M66 crosstown at 3.1 MPH.)

Still not too late to ask for a hoverboard for xmas.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

With Avenue A closed today, mind the sightseeing buses!

Avenue A is closed today and tomorrow so we can take photos of large cranes (plus Con Ed is putting in a new transformer at the substation between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street)…

So the alternate route is in effect… traffic personnel are redirecting, uh, traffic down East Fourth Street … north on Avenue B … and west on Seventh Street… which means sightseeing buses might start stalking you… Wait, no McSorley's is the other way! Stop!



Sunday, June 16, 2013

Burnt bus in tow



This morning, we noted that an idling MTA bus caught fire on Astor Place... Bobby Williams happened by when the stricken vehicle was going off to the burnt bus farm... Mind the skateboarders!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Even Zarkana can't magically fix this stalled tourist bus


On First Avenue near Seventh Street... Where do you suppose the tourists wandered off to?

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Sunday, May 1, 2011

'Tis the season



Or maybe it's always the season around here... photos from this morning...

Monday, December 27, 2010

Why you won't be getting anywhere by bus today



Samo sends along a photo of another stuck bus — this one on Avenue A at Third Street. Samo notes the driver is inside reading a book.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Avenue A now an M14 graveyard

Avenue A now an M14 graveyard

There are currently two M14 buses stranded on Avenue A — one at Ninth Street the other at 10th Street...







The bus at Ninth Street appears to be empty... but the driver is still in his bus at 10th Street... A reader said that he has been there now for 12 hours, stuck, waiting for help. The reader brought the driver a protein bar and apple. Another resident brought the driver coffee.

Updated: A reader says there's another bus stranded on 14th Street and First Avenue.

Friday, September 24, 2010