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.
The M8 really needs to run more frequently as well, and go back to being a 24-hour bus.
ReplyDeleteThey should bring back the original M9. Since 9-11 the population of the EV has exploded, yet we've lost both the M9 and the M14C bus routes.
ReplyDeleteI'm really hoping 14th St is closed to private cars for the duration of L train repairs (and hopefully later too); that would do wonders to bus travel in the neighborhood. It wouldn't solve the problem entirely of course, but it's a big step.
ReplyDeleteThey should put in some digital signage at these stations with updated "bus time" information. I use the M14A a lot, but am able to know exactly when it will be there because I know how to use the bus time information on mta.info. I bet a lot of the older and poorer population that use those routes don't know how to find that information
ReplyDeleteCan't understand why they turned M23 and M34 into SBS but not M14A/M14D. It's made the 23rd St crosstown so much faster.
ReplyDeleteI've had pretty good luck with the M14A, terrrible nightmares with the M9. The M15 is also mostly a disaster. Forget the SBS, which is always crowded and impossible in the mornings. The local goes AWOL, I often wait 20-25 min. Oh, you want to go all the way to South Ferry? Too bad! We're turning this M15 around at Madison St. It's better to walk, assuming you're not handicapped. The entire bus system needs to be overhauled.
ReplyDelete@10:00am: If they close 14th St. to cars, with 23rd St. effectively closed to most cars (and same is true of 34th and 42nd and 57th Sts.), where do you think cars going crosstown will go? They're not going to disappear off the face of the earth. In the case of 14th St., it'll just lead to overloading n 12th & 13th Streets.
ReplyDeleteNYC has ruined the ability to get around, IMO. There are more people than ever, and an aging population, but so much is predicated on being willing & able to ride a BIKE around at all times. Not realistic for a huge number of us. I wouldn't ride a bike in this city now for love nor money; my life is worth more than that (even though, as a senior citizen pedestrian, my life is also very much at risk from distracted "drivers" of all kinds, including bike riders who are on their phones).
Whatever happened to the bus that used to run down Avenue B? I miss that one, used it often as an alternative to the M14A.
ReplyDelete