Monday, August 3, 2009

Bloomberg wants free buses - for Manhattan only

From the NY Times:

Manhattan’s notoriously slow crosstown buses — like the M34, M42 and M50 — move at such a snail’s pace that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should stop collecting fares on them so that the buses can load riders and take off more quickly, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed on Monday afternoon as part of what his re-election campaign called a bold plan for reforming mass transit.

“Plain and simple: the M.T.A. needs to do more. Much more,” the mayor said at a campaign event at West 34th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. “Our mass transit system is far behind.”


This guy is such a dweeb. One of the slowest buses in the entire city is the Q58. You can take a subway from the east side to the west side but you can't take one from Ridgewood to Flushing. Why not make that bus free?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess if he gives his people in Manhattan a free ride, he will get their votes. Once he's elected, he'll start collecting the fare again. This guy is starting to panic about his re-election. Please vote him out. He is the worst.

Anonymous said...

forget service btw brooklyn and queens...who needs it!!

i've out wheelchaired a crosstown bus.

Anonymous said...

I'm leaving NYC. Seriously, I've had enough.

Taxpayer said...

The Commissar will see to it that he buys votes from Manhattan bus riders and then demands that rates go up in Queens, Brooklyn, SI and The Bronx.

His hated for the middle class is without limit.

Let's hate him back. On election day, lets give him bus fare to Boston. One way!

Queens Crapper said...

He also wants to reopen the Glendale, Richmond Hill and Elmhurst LIRR stations.

Glendale doesn't have a platform, I don't know what condition Richmond Hill is in and Elmhurst's steps and platform were removed years ago. Both the City and the MTA claim they're broke, so these reopenings wouldn't happen anytime soon.

James said...

Why won't Bloomie make Queens buses free, you ask?

Because he doesn't give a crap about anything outside of a 1/4 mile radius from midtown or Wall Street.

Anonymous said...

Most people using crosstown buses transfer for free to the subway anyway. In Queens a good deal of people take buses from point A to point B without transferring to the subway. That would be a serious loss of revenue. I would love Queens buses to be free, but it doesn't make economical sense. Build more subway lines in Queens and then maybe buses could be free.

Queens Crapper said...

So people are taking the M42, which takes the same route as the 7 and S, and then switching to a subway? (similar to M50 & E or R)

I think not.

Gary the Agnostic said...

He makes these suggestions without saying how he would provide one cent in funding to pay for them.

Anonymous said...

"This guy is starting to panic about his re-election."

I totally agree. He knows he's really unpopular. And I think a third term would be a disaster for him.

Why is it always about Manhattan with this prick?

Anonymous said...

Crapper,

People who live or work at 1st Ave and 42nd St take the M42 to catch the subway 4+ avenues away. The bus only reduplicates 7 service between Park and 7th Aves. Crosstown buses are meant to feed North-South subway routes, not reduplicate crosstown subway service. Besides, only 53rd, 42nd, and 14th have crosstown subways.

Sergey Kadinsky said...

Perhaps the mayor can focus on bus proposals that are actually needed, like a Q73 that I proposed a few months ago for 73rd Avenue.

Anonymous said...

There's a Grand Central 7 train entrance near 3rd Ave which leads you directly onto the platform.

Anonymous said...

A large problem is people who take buses for about a stop or two. Usually the elderly who have a bus pass.


What they need here is a European style system. Buses have up to 3 doors, all of which are enter/exit. You then swipe/stamp your card/ticket at any of several machines on the bus.

It is on an honor-system, but it does work well. They do spot-checks fairly often, and if you try to skip paying, they fine you on the spot.

Anonymous said...

you are describing the BRT Bx12.

Anonymous said...

No Bloomie...the root problem is over development.

Put more people in NYC with the same old inadequate services and you get a transportation bottleneck...among other things!

How about building bus lanes in the sky (ha, ha) instead of those patronizing bike lanes?

Yeah....a new transportation high line (yuck, yuck)!

The real estate industry is choking NYC to death and Bloomberg is their commander in chief!

Anonymous said...

Them boys in Bayside are the most dangerous and backwards of all. The city should toughen inspections for medical, psychiatric and vehicle reasons to cut down the number of congestion. This way, we will also get the voters against congestion pricing, who live in Bayside and Staten Island, to move away. Free health care means psychiatric care for all those angry talk radio white males! They are all overweight from driving around too much, burdening the city health system!