Express Bus Rider Report Card Results
I have to admit I did not do the express bus rider report card any justice in terms of coverage & for that I do apologize. I meant to post about the results on July 4th as I was writing the other entries but I got sidetracked. Anyhow lets get down to business by starting out with the press release issued by the MTA discussing the results:
With an eye toward replicating the information-gathering process that turned out to be so successful with the Subway Rider Report Card, MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus solicited the views of express bus customers in order to learn what aspects of their service they’d like to see improved.
Using the Express Bus Rider Report Card to evaluate everything about their daily commute from bus announcements to schedule adherence to seat availability per trip, riders who rely on MTA Bus and NYC Transit’s express bus service were asked to assign a lettered grade to 20 different service attributes.
The Express Bus Rider Report Card was distributed to riders during the week of November 13th, 2007. In total, 10,301 riders responded: 9,015 by mail and 1,286 via the internet. When the votes were tallied, riders gave the network of express bus routes an overall C grade.
“Given the number of riders who took the time to respond, it is clear our customers have strong feelings about the service they receive,” said NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts, Jr. “As we found with the subways, the Express Bus Rider Report Card will be a valuable tool in shaping service to the expectations of our customers,” added Roberts.
Brooklyn riders gave express bus service an overall C-minus grade, while riders in the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens graded service a C-plus. Staten Island service received the lowest grade from riders, a D-plus.
System-wide, riders graded “Clarity of bus destination signage,” “Courtesy of bus operators and dispatchers,” and “Ease of paying your fare” a B-minus. “Reasonable wait times between buses,” “Current schedule information at bus stop” and “Bus operates according to schedule” received a D-plus. “Seat availability,” “Smooth handling of bus” and “Cleanliness of buses” received a C-plus grade, while “Comfortable temperature in buses” and “Bus announcements routinely made” received a C grade. “Lack of graffiti on buses” and “Lack of scratchitti on buses” both received a B grade from riders, but “Bus Announcements that are informative” received a C-minus.
“With the integration of NYC Transit and MTA Bus, these report cards will help us ensure we provide quality and reliable service across the board in a seamless manner,” added Joseph J. Smith, Sr. Vice President of Buses at NYC Transit and President of MTA Bus.
Riders were also asked to rank in order of importance their top priorities for improving express bus service. For their first priority riders system-wide chose “Reasonable wait times between buses” followed by “Bus operates according to schedule,” while “Seat availability” was third on riders’ list of priorities. For their fourth priority, riders picked “Comfortable temperature in buses” while “Current schedule information at bus stops” ranked fifth.
Among the grades given to individual NYC Transit routes, Staten Island express bus riders gave the X5, X8 and X12/42 a grade of C-minus. Riders gave the X17 a D grade, while the X1 and X10 received D-plus grades. The X27/37 and the X38 received a C-minus grade from Brooklyn riders but the X28 received a C grade. Queens express bus riders gave the X68 a B and X63 a B-minus, while the X90 in Manhattan received a C-plus.
MTA Express Bus riders in the Bronx gave the BXM7 and BXM7A routes a B-minus, and the BXM1 and BXM10 routes a C-plus grade. The BM5 from Brooklyn was given a C-plus, while the BM1 and BM3 routes received a C grade. In Queens, the QM22 received the highest grade system wide from riders, scoring an A-minus. The QM24 and QM10 received a B-minus grade, while the QM1A, QM2 and QM2A routes were given C-plus grades.
The full list of grades and priorities for all routes can be found at www.mta.info
NYC Transit provides express service from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island to mid and Lower Manhattan on 36 routes. Average weekday ridership on NYC Transit’s network of express routes is 47,000 riders per day. MTA Bus operates express service from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens to mid and Lower Manhattan on 35 routes with an average weekday ridership of 41,000.
Normally I would breakdown the results line by line & offer line by line analysis as well. However in this case I will not be doing that due to all the results coming out at once. I also could not offer hands on analysis as I never rode any of the express bus routes. Here are the links to the results:
While I have never ridden any of these routes, I can’t say I am surprised by the results. In using regular bus service as a comparison point, it is easy to understand how the same issues that face that service would apply to express buses. The top 3 complaints by the majority of riders highlight what I & millions of others already knew about the issues facing bus riders in the tri-state area. I am curious to see if the results lead to any service changes as it did with some subway lines.
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I take the QM10 express bus and if I take the 4:20 I am menaced by a woman named Beverly who is very nasty and a very angry person. I discovered she has a reputation and has had issues with several riders on the bus. I had an incident with her In May and wrote to MTA about it and then again in August. The reason there are not more incidents is because I have been forced to avoid the 4:20 QM 10 6th av bus to avoid this person. I wish an MTA supervisor would come on the bus with me and speak to her because she cannot think she can just get away with her conduct.
the incident in August was as follows
August 12 at 4:20 PM I boarded the QM10 6th av express bus to go home to Queens from Manhattan. This was the 4:15 express bus. I do not have the badge number of the driver but he was an African American male. The driver is not the cause of the complaint but I was not satisfied with how this incident was handled. I boarded the bus at 5th avenue and 34 Street. I had taken an M34 to get to the bus form my job at 9th av. As is the case every day I walk and work and function in severe pain from 2 herniated disks and degenerative spinal stenosis of the lumbar spine. I will be seeing a neurosurgeon soon and may be undergoing back surgery. I boarded an empty bus and took the front seat on the right hand side the one opposite the driver facing the front window. I put my seat in a reclining position in the empty bus and clutched the cane with which I walk. Immediately behind me a black woman boarded the bus, a woman I had seen before and in fact the same woman about whom I had written the previous complaint. She is a strong and forceful sturdy woman. As soon as she boarded the bus she leaned over me and clutched the arm handle and pressed the button forcing my seat into an upright position. Not just for her to get in but she insisted my seat had to remain upright. I was outraged and I asked the driver to help me. I tried to put the seat back into a reclining position and I said she could sit in any other seat not directly behind me I was the first one on. She help the seat forward with both arms outstretched and forced my seat holding it and she was hurting me. I could not believe that she would act this way I again repeated I was the first one on and have a back problem and need the seat in a recline position and she could sit anywhere else. She said this was her regular seat.
I asked the driver to call the police or to get on the radio and request supervisory assistance. I wanted a formal complaint made about the woman this is not appropriate behavior of a passenger to other passengers on the bus. The driver only stopped a QM12 for me to get on. I am very upset and demoralized and not satisfied with handling the situation this way. This woman cannot feel she can control other people on the bus and get away with this behavior and treatment. She literally pushed the back of the seat into my back what if this happens after my surgery I cannot be in danger like this and cannot be forced to get on another bus and walk further to my home. I want this woman spoken to as she said she has that same seat behind the front right hand seat every day on the 4:15 6 av QM10 then she best be spoken to not to have this behavior allowed. I believe her name is Beverly she lives in Lefrak City she talks tough and loud and curses and she seems to have a racial attitude I do not think she would have pulled off this behavior against another Black person. I want a formal complaint against the driver as well that he did not handle the situation to my satisfaction. Next time I want the driver to also state this will not be tolerated and it is a first come first serve business you cant manipulate seat of someone who was seated first he should have insisted she move or that SHE board another bus and get the supervisor. I cant imagine what would happen if I tried to pull that and get on at later stop and try to yank someone out of “my” seat or force someone else to sit different it cant be tolerated.