N6 Limited

The Q44 was annoying to me because it was supposed to be a "Limited" bus, but it stopped every other local stop. 

It's funny how people say "use LIRR" as an alternative when it's more expensive, can't get free transfers to the bus, can't use an unlimited metrocard, the stations at least a mile a part, the trains are infrequent and the stations aren't really near anything.

Because this whole setup is hilarious, right? Imagine if they split up your n6 and you had to wait somewhere in the middle of the route for some dumb amount of time with the promise your trip would be faster. Amazing how some people swallow that bulls**t. NICE sucks.

No need for NICE examples.

I remember when they created the n6x, the express would carry "all the riders" between Hempstead and 179th Street and so that would "leave room" on the local buses for everyone else. And what happened was that the X in n6x meant "no passengers" because the locals and rush hour n1s were PACKED and FLAGGING and the Expresses were Empty, since NICE clearly had no clue about the route's ridership.

Then for whatever reason they slowly added stops in the least busiest order. Meacham Ave, then Westminster Rd, then Franklin Ave? LMAO, THEN Elmont Rd/Springfield Blvd? (I forgot which order between those two) And they still left out Locustwood Blvd and Hillside & Francis Lewis.

Springfield Blvd, Elmont Rd and Franklin Ave were the busiest intermediate stops on the N6L (Not including the subway).

It is certainly NO surprise why ridership dropped.

n20G will miss connection during Chinese Lunar New Year Parade, Fung La Gong Parade-Flushing, and Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade.

But it won't affect the n20H and n21 which is the point.

Post on Nice facebook tonight:

See, their split is being tested already

I also took 18:35 n20H Great Neck from Jericho Whole Food on #1927, no sign working and made to 7:40pm n20G Flushing #1839 connection, well as A1 Message was 6:53pm n21 Great Neck also made to same connection, resulting STANDING ROOM ONLY on n20G.

 

 

 

Standing room only on the N20G is no big deal since, the bus will be in Queens within 10 mins and will be drop-off only at that point.

^^^

Not surprising, not just for NICE.

 

I'd imagine many customers told operator, and the reaction was just a shrug of the shoulders -- i.e. "Not my problem."  Plus a healthy dose of attitude at every stop made when customers inquire about which bus/destination it was.  Too hard to pull ass off seat, walk outside and look, and then call dispatch.  Or put marker to paper and post route number in corner of windshield.

Wouldn't they be able to see that from the inside code selector thing?

How many people will complain tomorrow and Tues that their eliminated bus route didn't show up?

The MTA should have signs at West4th street to easily say which trains are on which level and where they're going. So many confused people there.

I don't remember seeing this before:

-the n25/n26 stop has been moved from the south side of Great Neck LIRR to the north side.  

Is anyone checking out the N20G/H today? 

R.I.P. all 11 NICE Bus routes and n19 service to Babylon. We're 11 routes closer to the full elimination of NICE Bus service now!

I wasn't relating, referring, or even considering trains in my statement. That is out of the question. You're also comparing city routes to county routes which are streamlined differently than routes you see in deep Queens or Manhattan. I was also referring to rush hours only since that's the only time NICE/LIB runs/ran EXPRESS/LIMITED buses.

Limited/Express buses provide more service with less buses since their runs are quicker. At one point LIB got rid of the PM N6 Limited and replaced it with short turns at 179th st, probably to do so at no additional cost. They wound up reinstating it. 

The unique issue with the route is that everyone going to the subway gets off at 179th st and the rest are going to the bus terminal, but most boarding in Jamaica happens at the Bus Terminal and 169th because people want to be able to board and to get a seat, so turning at 179th street causes a major load imbalance.

Today is the last weekday before the changes. A few of the routes don't have weekend service, many don't have Sunday Service, today and tomorrow will be the last runs.

If NICE has any brains at all left and they still need more money later this year (which will likely happen), they shouldn't remove the express/limited runs of the major Nassau-Queens routes that get them a good chunk of overall ridership. Then again, NICE is somewhat dumb. The January 17th set of cuts were done to close a $7.5 million deficit. Should the person who runs NICE's social media including their Facebook page (who deletes a lot of comments made on the page and censors a lot of public complaints; could be Latoya Pippins but I don't know) be correct and there is a $3 million dollar deficit, these should cover it. The next routes that I see most likely up for elimination (smart elimination) that I see happening are the n45 (There goes PinePowerLI's fun trips to Bellmore), the possible elimination of the n88 because they can't seem to get the damn scheduling right or run concert service correctly, elimination of the n57 (I can't tell you how many times I've been at that bus stop in Great Neck and people opt for a cab instead of the bus), and possibly more reductions on the n19. You gotta remember ridership is down systemwide. I don't see the n21 being eliminated or touched, one of the many misconceptions NICE believes in.

Remember that the actual decisions are made by a board appointed by Ed Mangano. If that board eventually wants to kill the N4X, then the N4X will go bye-bye.

But don't limited/express buses actually save money? They have quicker runs and carry more people, so they can provide more service with less buses. This is why the MTA runs Limited service usually.

There are massive pockets of the county that rarely or refused to ride a bus even in the MSBA days.  I don't get why keeping service around when there aren't even enough riders to fill half a bus is such a hot topic.

Exactly. Even certain runs. If NICE (Or any other bus company) eliminates runs which are typically empty then what is the big deal?

I don't know what to do with the n35, except restore midday service to Westbury, or extend midday trips from HTC to Roosevelt Field. There's lots of people who use the n35 Westbury trips to get to the mall or the college.

I think there is a lul in riders that are going to NCC midday. They can use the N16 from Hempstead and the n16 or n43 from the Mall at those times for NCC. If they want the Mall from Hempstead, the n15 follows the n35 route during those times.

Service Change  Posted: 01/14/2016  1:25PM 
 

Due to a rail condition at 7 Av, the following service changes are in effect:

 trains are operating between Brighton Beach and DeKalb Av, then via the  line to Whitehall St and terminate.

Southbound  trains are running via the  line from 59 St-Columbus Circle to W 4 St-Washington Sq then via the  line to 2 Av and terminate.

Some northbound  trains are terminating at 42 St-Bryant Park.

Allow additional travel time.

Delays  Posted: 01/14/2016 12:01PM 

Due to signal problems at 36 St (Bklyn), northbound  trains are running with delays.

Allow additional travel time. 

Planned Work 
 Brighton Beach-bound trains run local from Prospect Park to Kings Hwy

___________________________________________________________________

I saw a southbound at Canal St I guess it's going along the to Coney Island

the exits would have to be in the middle of the intersection which would be the problem.

Not the stations with Mezzanines

Some sort of restructuring of the Nassau Hub area might be in order in terms of which routes serve which of the 4 centers.

 

How does the n1 do south of Green Acres? I can't imagine it doing terribly well.

The n1 generally runs light south of Green Acres, but it also connects to the n31/n32.

This one also

 

 

Nassau Inter-County Express / NICE Bus Matt, the last thing we want to do is cut service, but we are currently running a 7.5 million dollar deficit for 2016 and are contractually obligated to stay with this budget. As a result, the Nassau County Bus Transit Committee decided in November to cut 11 of our least used, and most expensive to run routes, in an effort close this budget gap. This was done to affect the smallest number of customers possible. For example, the n51 carries only 2 percent of the total number of NCC students that NICE takes to and from the school every day. While, we realize that these buses are vital to the small number of riders that use them, the County simply can't afford to run empty or near empty buses.

I guess they have a point.

Someone asked about getting to school at Barricliffe College. They're going to have to walk to/from the n78/79 on Old Country Road.

Nice made this reply to someone on their facebook page regarding the changes for 01/17/2016:

Nassau Inter-County Express / NICE Bus new timetables will be posted on the website and distributed by Wednesday. We will not be producing new bus maps until June

 

Interesting isn't it?

Also:

Nassau Inter-County Express / NICE Bus  a free transfer between the n20G/H and n21 in Great Neck has been built in, so that it will not be used as one of the 2 system transfers we offer

Nassau Inter-County Express / NICE Bus actually....most trip times will be very similiar to the current n20 schedule......in reality, because we expect both legs to run much more efficiently than the currenty n20....the overall travel time to/from Flushing could become shorter

 

Would it have cost less money had the express tracks been on the outside of 4 track lines and the local on the inside for the subway lines with Mezzanines?

Each express station would have two island platforms as they do now, but the local stations would just have one island platform, less stairs needed, less signs, passenger cross overs would not be necessary.

What do you think?

I was simply stating, after reading the thread on the other forum and from his previous posts here, PInePower complains about NICE and wants the MTA to return to Nassau as the contract carrier, but he constantly complained about LIB and still complains about LIRR.

57th st on the ? Its fine

It's reasonable to ask for a connection to the last bus for the night. Also , when transit agencies make connections easier, ridership increases.

He hated the , too... I used to watch his old bus vids but that meant actually clicking on his other videos.  I wouldn't wish that on a death row inmate.

Haha yep, he hated LIB also, then ( and even now) says he's going to use LIRR instead, then rants about LIRR. It's all a cycle.