BusTalk

[Q65A]

This document describes in detail the NYCT service cuts currently under consideration:

http://mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/100125_1031_service2010-nyct.pdf

What I found particularly interesting were the stats on actual costs per passenger for various NYCT bus routes.
With very few exceptions, $2.25/rider just does not cover operating costs.

[N4 Jamaica]

I hope someone other than me comments on the cost-per-ride figures, which I have been unable to digest.
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Allow me to focus on one service change: In the 1940's I rode the Webster and White Plains Road streetcar, which carried the letter W. It was one of the heaviest routes in The Bronx, and it remained so as Bx41. The route from the Hub to Wakefield might be almost a century old. NYCT has decided to remove the 18-minute section north of Gun Hill Road and tack that stretch onto the Bx39, the stated purpose being to replace the more frequent Bx41 with the less frequent Bx39. NYCT in your link then makes the unrealistic claim that the required transfer would add two or three minutes to the passenger's trip. The scheduled headway on Bx39 midday is 12 minutes, so the transfer time is "up to 12 minutes if the connecting bus is on schedule," not 2 or 3 minutes.
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Back to Bx41: A shorter run should help the Bx41 maintain proper schedule, but I would not count on it. About 1 p.m. today, a friend waited for a southbound Bx41 at Bedford Park Blvd. After 25 minutes, three arrived! The schedule says the Bx41 passes Gun Hill Road seven times an hour.
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The Bx39's new length will be about 5 minutes shorter than the current length of the Bx41.

[timecruncher]

Believe it, people. Farebox revenues come nowhere near covering total operating costs, even on the heaviest routes.

Even out-of-pocket costs are generally above what fares cover because so many people are riding on reduced-fare media of some sort -- students, seniors, the disabled.

Add in the fixed overhead costs such as risk management, service yards and maintenance, exhorbitant fuel, parts and wage/benefits costs, and you'll find that the cost per hour to run a bus is probably close to $125.

As for trips bunching up, well that is a function of too much traffic, throw a couple of wheelchairs in on the first bus and watch buses bunch up. Often as not, there are no route supervisors any more to help get them back on schedule, so the buses simply continue to get later. Happens in smaller cities as well as bigger places like New York.

timecruncher

[smokiecat]

MTA

NYCT

LI Bus

etc


Steve
NYC FDNY