For those of you who take the M14 A/D SBS ... starting today (Nov. 7), the DOT and MTA will start putting in new bus-boarding platforms as part of the 14th Street Transit & Truck Priority Pilot, which launched in early October.
The DOT has installed these platforms at other locations throughout the city "to make it easier for customers to get on and off buses, give more room for pedestrians on the sidewalk, and help buses move faster as there’s no need to pull over to the curb saving up to a minute per stop."
Today we announced w/@MTA that bus boarding platforms will be installed at seven M14 A/D #SelectBusService stops to further improve bus speeds on 14th St. These platforms provide a dedicated space for riders to board, making access easier & safer. More: https://t.co/lJFltmCTun pic.twitter.com/kRufC0JhQ8
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) November 6, 2019
This MTA link has details on what to expect in the next few weeks as workers install the platforms along 14th Street, from Irving Place over to Eighth Avenue.
Oh, f$@%^ that…bring back the M14A and D local buses already; anyone who wants to get somewhere fast can take the subway—which is continually adding accessibility features, including a new elevator at the 14th and 1st stop. (Note: "select" buses make the same stops as the local subway, and are prone to stopping in traffic.)
ReplyDeleteThe city is getting serious about improving bus service. I wonder if that guy on 12th Street will bring another lawsuit?
ReplyDeleteBring back the M14C and M9 as the Avenue B bus that it used to be, that will speed things up as well. One reason the M14Ds are always so crowded, with people having to wait at stops during rush hour while buses filled to the brim go by is because they are crammed with the folks who live on both D and C. It was an idiot decision to remove the Avenue C bus when first made, and continues to be so. And the M9 - where does it even go?
ReplyDeleteThe real question is -- how much has this improved travel times on the M14? Shutting down traffic to cars on 14th has caused side streets (from 10th up to 18th) to be a mess, especially during rush hour. Car traffic moves at a snail's pace and are very aggressive to try to get across streets, putting pedestrians in harm's way.
ReplyDeleteI think I read a report that travel times were only expected to improve by 5 minutes. You'll never get around the traffic lights. Is this all really necessary once the L is up and running on normal service? I'm all for shutting down car traffic in favor of public transportation, but not if it does more harm than good.
The MTA wants to help ?
ReplyDeleteHow about bringing back local service.
How much of the traffic congestion is caused by Uber? And the aggressive drivers on the side streets honking, jumping lights and threatening pedestrians? Uber drivers...probably half of the city’s traffic problems could be avoided if the city had limited the number of Uber drivers. Putting 60,000 to 80,000 more drivers on the road was not a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThis feature is deployed in many cities around the world and is a smart idea. Things don't always have to be "yeah, but what about...".
ReplyDeleteThe 14th St. busway is a nonsense idea that only exists when enforced by paying for traffic agents at every single intersection. The rest of the time it's a free-for-all.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the boast about faster bus times is fake, and the stats for that have been created by removing bus stops in Alphabet City on the M14A and M14D routes. Poorer service, faster times; do you think the MTA cares who got screwed to make the 'busway' a big "success"? (Hey, if the MTA just eliminated half the bus stops city-wide, bus times would improve city-wide!)
Meanwhile, in front of the Con Edison building with its seemingly-permanent scaffolding, good luck running the obstacle course of to get to a bus. And you'll need even better luck when the bus is *right there* and pulls away while you're putting your metrocard into the effin' unnecessary machine that spits out pieces of paper to litter the city with. Environmentally friendly? I think not!
Hats off to the MTA for lying to everyone AND becoming less environmentally friendly while AT THE SAME TIME making bus service all about the stats instead of being all about getting passengers where they need to go. Only the MTA could pull off such a shit-show and then claim 'improvement'!
BRING BACK THE RED BUS LINE ON AVENUE B!
ReplyDeleteGojira wrote:
ReplyDeleteAnd the M9 - where does it even go?
The MTA, in its infinite wisdom, decided to combine the M9 and M21 routes—the current M21 is just a stub—so that the M9 goes way up to the NYU School of Dentistry before coming back downtown and going over to Tribeca.
The previous M9 was apparently not ambitious enough, and the previous M21 wasn't lame enough.
At 7:36 PM, Anonymous wrote:
BRING BACK THE RED BUS LINE ON AVENUE B!
That's right; the M9 was called the "Avenue B bus" and started in the 60s as a "Red & Tan" bus; two people have corroborated this for me.
Thanks, @Scuba Diva!
ReplyDelete