Thursday, May 19, 2011
Dear Mayor Bloomberg: you owe me $15
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Third Avenue, bus-wise, is probably the worst served North-to-South thoroughfare in Manhattan, in terms of local traffic, particularly between 14th and 23rd streets. If you are at the express stops, no problem, but local stop riders, beware.
There are three bus lines servicing Third Ave, starting with M101, which is strictly express, all the way to 195th Street and St. Nicholas Ave... You will see several of the lofty express vehicles passing your local stop. M102, ending at 147th and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, is local and should be coming through every 12 minutes – I am talking weekday noontime schedule. M103, City. Hall to 125th Street, the one I have taken, should be sailing by every 15 minutes. Thus, theoretically, it should take 7 min. minimum, 15 min. maximum to get on board.
Alas, that’s the schedule. In actuality it takes closer to half an hour. How do I know? Well, when you reach a certain age, you have to visit uptown MDs with increasing frequency. Strategic travel planning is required - if the objective is to the east of Third Avenue, it may be better to do some extra walking, going to First Avenue and taking an M15 local, which run more frequently. Why is that so? Well, for one, M15 is a Select line, which means that local and express (i.e. Select) stops are different, although they will be within the same block. Local clients must be served frequently, since the Select has its own sidewalk ticket wending machines, and the efficient MTA does not want confused cash or Metro card customers board the elite buses and cause confusion, and vice versa. The other reason, to me, is the fact that when three lines serve one venue, e.g. Third Ave., one suspects some degree of negligence, such as expectation that “Charlie will take care of it.”
Using the M15 on Second Ave return trips is a misery, because of frequent construction. In the low 70s and high 60s, the east sidewalks are tied up with construction, and 2-3 story high super heavy street-wide steel girder frames are sitting on the side, presumably waiting for the giant worm to open up the street so that the girders can disappear underground, a really scary apparition, reminding one of childhood storybook nightmares. Living in those expensive condos must be very demanding. However, that’s progress, population growth must be provided for and not be controlled, Nearly all the conservative presidential candidates have made abortion repeal the central issue, temporarily abandoning jobs, budgets and Afghanistan,
I have great expectations of the Bloomberg administration, for the greening of our fair city. After all, the great subway enthusiast has created bicycle lanes, with separators or medians, so that neither parked cars nor traffic lanes endanger the bikers. In Brooklyn, the wide Prospect Park West is down to two traffic lanes, with an extra mid-road parking lane and a bike lane and medians added. It actually works, as noted in non-rush hours. Further, the closed playstreets along Broadway – Union Square, around Madison Square and Times Square- seem to operate securely, although driving has become more complex. But, maybe the extra fresh air is worth the extra exhaust emissions and the driver ire.
So why I, apparently a Bloomberg supporter, am claiming that he owes me a debt? Well, that goes back to the Third Avenue local bus, or absence thereof. It is symbolic, and stands for wasted money. I have not always been so free with my time to wait for a M103, or do the extra walk to First Ave for an M15, and have had to grab an occasional yellow cab to the upper Eastside MDs. Cabs, as you will note from their door stickers, cost $3 per flag drop, not just $2.50. It includes just that little extra $.50 to the right of the fare box, and represents the state surcharge. Surcharge increases by another $.50 for 8PM to 6AM, and, yet one more, during weekday 4PM to 8 PM rush period. Distance charges are $.40 per 1/5 mile, and a charge per minute whenever speed drops below 12 miles an hour.This may or may not explain the cabfare mysteries. Expect another increase, the paper work is in the tube: one driver tells me that his daily gas cost is $50, up $15 since the crisis. Taxi driver tips, already down to around 10 percent since the last increase, will probably take another hit. Meanwhile, live healthily and shop locally.
Third Avenue, bus-wise, is probably the worst served North-to-South thoroughfare in Manhattan, in terms of local traffic, particularly between 14th and 23rd streets. If you are at the express stops, no problem, but local stop riders, beware.
There are three bus lines servicing Third Ave, starting with M101, which is strictly express, all the way to 195th Street and St. Nicholas Ave... You will see several of the lofty express vehicles passing your local stop. M102, ending at 147th and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, is local and should be coming through every 12 minutes – I am talking weekday noontime schedule. M103, City. Hall to 125th Street, the one I have taken, should be sailing by every 15 minutes. Thus, theoretically, it should take 7 min. minimum, 15 min. maximum to get on board.
Alas, that’s the schedule. In actuality it takes closer to half an hour. How do I know? Well, when you reach a certain age, you have to visit uptown MDs with increasing frequency. Strategic travel planning is required - if the objective is to the east of Third Avenue, it may be better to do some extra walking, going to First Avenue and taking an M15 local, which run more frequently. Why is that so? Well, for one, M15 is a Select line, which means that local and express (i.e. Select) stops are different, although they will be within the same block. Local clients must be served frequently, since the Select has its own sidewalk ticket wending machines, and the efficient MTA does not want confused cash or Metro card customers board the elite buses and cause confusion, and vice versa. The other reason, to me, is the fact that when three lines serve one venue, e.g. Third Ave., one suspects some degree of negligence, such as expectation that “Charlie will take care of it.”
Using the M15 on Second Ave return trips is a misery, because of frequent construction. In the low 70s and high 60s, the east sidewalks are tied up with construction, and 2-3 story high super heavy street-wide steel girder frames are sitting on the side, presumably waiting for the giant worm to open up the street so that the girders can disappear underground, a really scary apparition, reminding one of childhood storybook nightmares. Living in those expensive condos must be very demanding. However, that’s progress, population growth must be provided for and not be controlled, Nearly all the conservative presidential candidates have made abortion repeal the central issue, temporarily abandoning jobs, budgets and Afghanistan,
I have great expectations of the Bloomberg administration, for the greening of our fair city. After all, the great subway enthusiast has created bicycle lanes, with separators or medians, so that neither parked cars nor traffic lanes endanger the bikers. In Brooklyn, the wide Prospect Park West is down to two traffic lanes, with an extra mid-road parking lane and a bike lane and medians added. It actually works, as noted in non-rush hours. Further, the closed playstreets along Broadway – Union Square, around Madison Square and Times Square- seem to operate securely, although driving has become more complex. But, maybe the extra fresh air is worth the extra exhaust emissions and the driver ire.
So why I, apparently a Bloomberg supporter, am claiming that he owes me a debt? Well, that goes back to the Third Avenue local bus, or absence thereof. It is symbolic, and stands for wasted money. I have not always been so free with my time to wait for a M103, or do the extra walk to First Ave for an M15, and have had to grab an occasional yellow cab to the upper Eastside MDs. Cabs, as you will note from their door stickers, cost $3 per flag drop, not just $2.50. It includes just that little extra $.50 to the right of the fare box, and represents the state surcharge. Surcharge increases by another $.50 for 8PM to 6AM, and, yet one more, during weekday 4PM to 8 PM rush period. Distance charges are $.40 per 1/5 mile, and a charge per minute whenever speed drops below 12 miles an hour.This may or may not explain the cabfare mysteries. Expect another increase, the paper work is in the tube: one driver tells me that his daily gas cost is $50, up $15 since the crisis. Taxi driver tips, already down to around 10 percent since the last increase, will probably take another hit. Meanwhile, live healthily and shop locally.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 8:54 AM 
