Where’s the bus? That common question among Queens commuters will be answered with countdown clocks set to be installed at the borough’s 10 busiest bus stops within the next two years.
Borough President Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday she allocated $200,000 in the city’s 2016 fiscal year budget to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) for the purchase and installation of the real-time devices that track the estimated time of arrival for buses.
While the MTA oversees the bus system, the DOT is responsible for the countdown clocks and other bus-related infrastructure such as signage and shelters.
The DOT, through analyzing data such as ridership levels, commuter transfers, proximity to prominent facilities and dependency of bus service, will recommend to the MTA and Katz which 10 locations will receive the countdown clocks. The final locations will be determined through conversations among Katz, the DOT and the MTA.
10 comments:
These are a waste of money! They will break down and sit useless until someone gets around to repairing them. They will never work on slow moving Queens Blvd. Better off walking.
Anon No. 1:
Where do you see the existing ones breaking down? And they will work very well on Queens Boulevard, regardless of how slow the traffic is.
It is somewhat a waste, and somewhat not a waste. There are apps that can easily check the time of arrival (although sometimes it could be inaccurate)I guess it helps those decide whether or not to take another route or to wait it out, otherwise it is just like looking down the station in hopes of a train coming. It doesn't hurt to have these.
It is a waste of money since the money can be used for something better and the MTA is always late be it a bus or subway train. These really do not make anyone's lives that much better. In this day of the internet and apps, you can always get that information.
All it takes is one double parked car or one bus operator not showing up to completely screw up one bus line.
When I used to ride buses in NYC I found the best way to make one appear was to light a cigarette. Usually just as it as lit the bus would show up.
For buses and routes with GPS transponders, there are already smart phone apps that function as countdown clocks. Putting these fragile, expensive countdown clocks at stops is a waste of money.
Anon No. 7: all buses and routes have GPS transponders. Not everyone has smart phones, though.
Only 10 for the entire borough? Once again, Queens doesn't rate.
Big deal! With all of the overdevelopment reaching into every corner of Queens what is needed is a vastly improved transportation network.
Also, more schools, more hospitals, more firehouses, more police precincts, more of a lot of other things.
Count down clocks ? Why? To tell me that my bus is late and overcrowded when it eventually arrives? Pass out some Vallium instead to calm my shattered nerves.
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