So here are the revised changes to the express system. They distinguished between peak and off-peak service, and also assigned some (rather clunky) route numbers: http://nymta.civicconnect.com/content/together-let’s-make-commuting-faster-staten-island-express-bus-riders
The main distinction is that they added some "trunk lines" in Manhattan. In addition to "Downtown", "Midtown via NJ", and "Midtown via FDR", there's also "Midtown/6th Avenue via FDR", "Downtown/Water Street", and "Union Square via West Street". This is how they assigned the routes:
A few general notes:
* On the Downtown via Church/Worth routes, the buses are shown to end at the northern edge of City Hall, which is presumed to be Worth Street (you can sort of make out the red 2/3 subway lines at Park Place a few blocks south).
* All "via NJ buses" travel via 42nd Street and Madison Avenue inbound, and 5th Avenue & 34th Street outbound (to SI)
* No SI express buses run crosstown on 57th Street to East/West Midtown, so keep that in mind when I refer to routes as "resembling (**insert current route**)
SIM1: A short-turned X1 that operates between the Eltingville Transit Center (ETC) and City Hall during rush hour, and is extended to 57th Street & 6th Avenue off-peak.
SIM2: A restructured X19 that operates between City Hall and Tottenville (Hylan & Craig) via Arden Heights (it attempts to cover both the Arden Avenue and Huguenot Avenue corridors in one shot). This route will receive off-peak service to compensate for the X17 being cut back to Annadale,
SIM3: A restructured X42 that operates to Port Richmond instead of Mariners Harbor. During off-peak hours, it travels via Church Street/6th Avenue/Broadway as opposed to the FDR Drive.
SIM4: The X17A. Some buses will be labeled SIM4X and will operate nonstop between the SI Mall and Downtown Manhattan. Off-peak, buses will operate via Gannon Avenue to compensate for the SIM31/32/33 not operating off-peak. Unfortunately this means that riders along Richmond Avenue will have to deal with a longer ride. (Buses will not operate via Narrows Road, so riders from Concord will have to make their way to Hylan & Narrows for the SIM1)
SIM5: The X8 (but PM trips start at Frankfort Street instead of Trinity & Rector). Some buses will operate as SIM5X buses nonstop between Manhattan and the South Beach Park-and-Ride.
SIM6: A combination of the X5 and X7, which operates via the X7 route on Staten Island, and the X5 route in Manhattan (except it returns to Staten Island via 5th Avenue instead of Lexington Avenue). Unfortunately, there will be no off-peak service on this line, even though the X5 and X7 are quite busy on their own, let alone combined. Similar to the SIM5, some buses will operate as SIM6X buses nonstop between Manhattan and the South Beach Park-and-Ride.
SIM7: A restructured X7 that operates the old X6 route on Staten Island (via Richmond Avenue instead of via Great Kills), and terminates at Union Square (or 14th Street & 6th Avenue, they didn't specify which one on the map)
SIM8: Operates the current X17A route on Staten Island, and the X17J route in Manhattan (with the eastbound and westbound directions reversed). Similar to the SIM4, some buses will be labeled SIM8X and will operate nonstop between the SI Mall and Midtown Manhattan
SIM10: A combination of the current X5 and X9. It starts from the ETC, runs down Richmond Avenue and Hylan Blvd, and then takes the FDR Drive to 6th Avenue instead of Madison Avenue. Like the SIM6, it returns to Staten Island via 5th Avenue.
SIM15: The X15, but restructured to operate down Water Street in both directions.
SIM22: A restructured X21 that operates to 57th & Madison as opposed to the United Nations (42nd & 1st), that is extended to Hylan Blvd & Woods of Arden Road in Southeast Annadale.
SIM23: A restructured X24 that operates straight down Arden Avenue and terminates at Hylan & Barclay.
SIM24: A combination of the Huguenot portions of the X17J, X23, and X24.
SIM25: A combination of the Rossville Avenue and Hylan Blvd portions of the X22, and the Seguine Avenue/Foster Road portion of the X23. Provides brand-new express service to Hylan Blvd in Richmond Valley.
SIM26: A restructured X22A that operates straight down Bloomingdale Road, bypasses Arthur Kill Road, and stops in Travis.
SIM30: The X30, but restructured on the Manhattan end to travel via 34th Street westbound.
SIM31: The X31, but restructured to make additional stops along Gannon Avenue/Schmidts Lane to provide Midtown service to that section of Castleton Corners, likely because the entrance/exit to the HOV Lane is at Slosson, not Bradley. On the Manhattan end, operates to Midtown via the FDR Drive, 23rd Street, and 5th/Madison Avenue.
SIM32: The X11.
SIM33: The X10B, but restructured to operate to Mariners Harbor instead of Port Richmond. On the Manhattan end, it is truncated at 14th Street with the SIM7. Also takes a shortcut to bypass Richmond & Victory (and the associated traffic) down Christopher Lane inbound and Morani Street outbound.
SIM34: The X12, truncated to City Hall.
SIM35: The X14, truncated to Water Street & Frankfort Street. For Midtown service, use the SIM30 or make your way to the SIM3.
I would've personally preferred the SIM15/35 (X14/15) run via Church/Broadway instead of Water Street, since they offer more subway connections. Battery Place does offer both East and West Side subway access (the 4/5 at Bowling Green, and the 1/R/W at either Rector Street or South Ferry, depending on which direction you walk), but it misses the A/C and 2/3, which are express. Personally, for my commute to CCNY I usually prefer to ride it out to Park Place to catch those lines, though of course, if traffic is bad I'll get off at Battery Place and either take the 4/5 to the A/C or just take the 1 train and switch back and forth to/from the 2/3 at Chambers Street & 96th Street).
Also, the SIM6 and SIM10 both running down 5th Avenue is pointless. You might as well just have the SIM10 run down Lexington, so that it can be the "East Side" FDR route (Madison/Lexington), and the SIM6 can be the "West Side" FDR route (5th/6th).
Off-peak, I would've preferred they sacrifice some Manhattan coverage in exchange for more Staten Island coverage (since there's fewer alternatives on Staten Island than Manhattan). I would personally run the SIM1, SIM2, SIM4, SIM10, SIM32, and SIM34 off-peak. On the weekends (Sundays especially), buses can be delayed, and end up bunching on 20-30 minute headways, resulting of waits of 1 hour or more. By keeping the buses isolated to Downtown, it avoids the issue of Midtown parades causing delays for Downtown riders.
Also, the span and frequency of the routes aren't given (aside from the SIM1 which will continue to operate 24/7). Hopefully they are more frequent and the span is longer than the routes on the current system.
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