Friday, January 29, 2010

End of the road for the Q79

From the NY Post:

They're in the no man's land of MTA budget cuts.

But riders of the little-used Q79 bus route in Floral Park, Queens, and the S60 route in Grymes Hill, on Staten Island, said they'll suffer -- facing long treks or the addition of 30 minutes in transfer time -- if the MTA, as planned, eliminates their lines.

Student Nicholas Mancuso said he'd have to "take another bus the wrong way and take it all the way back around to get home" from school if the Q79 is cut.

MTA officials said they targeted the two routes because they have the lowest ridership levels in the system. The S60 carries 210 people per day, and the Q79 about 650.

The move would bring about $1.1 million in savings to a $400 million budget gap.

18 comments:

.. said...

Funny, 650 riders a day on the Q79 seems like enough riders to maintain a bus that only shows up once or twice an hour.

Its timetable is a fat lie.

Anonymous said...

Soon the NYC Bus system will become just like the LI Bus system, an afterthought. You will need to coordinate your schedule with the bus schedule, or else you'll wait at a deserted bus stop for hours.

The Q79 can be operated more efficiently by vans serving all the existing stops. If the MTA won't operate the line with vans, a van company can do it.

Kevin Walsh said...

Ollie's Cab Service had a champaigne party

www.forgotten-ny.com

Kevin Walsh said...

Jeez, how am I going to get to 5 Guys now?

www.forgotten-ny.com

Anonymous said...

Floral Park, NY aka Bubblefuck QUeens.

Queens Crapper said...

Actually, it's mostly in Little Neck and Glen Oaks.

Anonymous said...

650 on the Q79!! I'm shocked. I thought it was more like 65. I'm surprised there is a bus on this route at all.

Anonymous said...

It's funny, because buses like the Q13 and the Q28 are packed beyond belief and this bus only carries 650 a day in comparison to the Northern Boulevard buses which carry about 2,000 3rd worlders a day.

The Q79 goes from one boondock to the other. Remove this route immediately

Anony2 said...

I live by Franny Lew and I wish the Q28 & Q13 would get cut,
the 3rd worlders are starting to find my neighborhood. I take the LIRR to go 1 stop and walk, I'm done with those buses!

But, I digress - if there really are 650 people who use that route, how come it can't run once or twice an hour in each direction? I bet the majority of people who use this bus are elderly, and/or students. How sad.

Queens Crapper said...

It DOES run once an hour. No more than that.

Kevin Walsh said...

>>The Q79 goes from one boondock to the other. <<

Hey, I resemble that remark!

www.forgotten-ny.com

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised by the low ridership on the Q79. Its last stop is right at the Little Neck LIRR station, which is in the NYC fare zone, and yet people do not use the Q79 to commute to/from Manhattan? Not to mention that the Floral Park terminal is within walking distance from the Bellerose and Floral Park stations.

Can somebody explain this?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I'm surprised by the low ridership on the Q79. Its last stop is right at the Little Neck LIRR station, which is in the NYC fare zone, and yet people do not use the Q79 to commute to/from Manhattan? Not to mention that the Floral Park terminal is within walking distance from the Bellerose and Floral Park stations.

Can somebody explain this?

Friday, January 29, 2010
------------------------------------

The MTA wanted to run the Q79 to the LIRR station; the town of Floral Park had a fit and blocked it.

Anonymous said...

This is a god idea Why not operate with Half size buses

I see lots of buses with very few people on them at night so wouldn't smaller buses save some money? Why haven't they even tried this idea?

--------------------------------
The Q79 can be operated more efficiently by vans serving all the existing stops. If the MTA won't operate the line with vans, a van company can do it.

Anonymous said...

Southeast Queens buses are supplemented by private vans, the Q23 route has gypsy cabs to pick up the slack.

The same can be done on the Q79 route.

Anonymous said...

There would probably be more riders per day if the drivers didn't just leave the people hanging if the LIRR is 2 minutes late especially during peak times..

Often during off peak hours while the train is on time, if you don't get off at the end of the train and SPRINT to the bus, you will find that it would have left with no riders on boards.

Daniel Savitz said...

This really sucks. I don't even have a new route to take for next year!

gc said...

This bus takes me back. It used to be known as the Q12A back in the 1980's. I would often take this bus from Floral Park to Little Neck to get to Flushing from Floral park. There were very few riders at all times on this bus route even back in the 1980's.