So here's the thing (and I'm sure plenty of people disagree with me), I actually think that a lot of the concepts the MTA came up with in the redesign were actually sound. It was the execution of it that was terrible. Releasing the spans and frequencies from the beginning was key: People see that there's fewer routes and that those routes are truncated, and the first thing they think is "Service cuts". By releasing the spans and frequencies earlier in the planning process, the MTA could've covered itself and maybe got a few more aspects of the plan implemented (of course, it would've had to hold up its end of the bargain and implement those aspects properly).
Here's something to consider: If you look through the list of changes made to the plan through the process, you'll notice that they added two routes (the SIM7 & SIM33...not sure how you want to count the SIM9 since that was added after the plan was implemented) and they also extended the SIM10 to the ETC. Supposedly, if the whole thing was intended to be cost-neutral, then the service provided on the SIM7 & SIM33 came at the expense of other routes. The SIM33 service was definitely at the expense of the SIM32 (and possibly the SIM34, since as I've heard it referred to as a "modified X12" even though the core ridership base was along Watchogue Road & Victory Blvd. As a matter of fact, I think the reason why the SIM34 had overcrowding issues initially was because they considered the SIM33 to represent the 23rd Street short-turns cut back to 14th Street while the SIM34 represented the full-length X12 buses cut back to Worth Street). The SIM7, I guess they took a few buses that would've otherwise run on the SIM1 (and sadly I do mean a few, since we all remember how ridiculously inadequate the initial schedule was)
Anyway, onto the actual logic: The thing about express routes that makes them inefficient to operate is that they have a pickup-only portion, then a long nonstop portion, and then a drop-off only portion, compared to a local route which is constantly picking up and dropping off people throughout the route (so the same seat might carry 2-3 different passengers throughout the course of a single trip, which is likely shorter on average than a typical express trip, though there are some long local routes out there as well, which likely have longer average passenger trips). At the extreme, you have the M86 which on a weekday, carries 189 passengers per revenue hour, because it's constantly picking up and dropping off people. The cumulative average efficiency of the local system by this metric was 68.7 passengers per revenue hour). My source is an Excel sheet from the route profiles released by the NYC Comptroller, combined with data pulled from the GTFS data feed by Subchat user Stephen Bauman. The thread is available here for reference.
Let's take a look at the express routes. The busiest one by this metric was the X11 at 26.7 passengers per revenue hour, followed closely by the QM24/44 at 26.6 passengers per revenue hour, followed by the X21 at 25.9 passengers per revenue hour. The X11 & QM24/44 are relatively short express routes, and the X21 is a long route, but has a long nonstop portion and also only operated at the height of rush hour, so it didn't have the lighter passenger loads at the beginning and end of rush hour bringing down the average. The cumulative efficiency of the express system is 24.3 passengers per revenue hour)
So the way I see it (and I'm sure the MTA sees it), the higher fares charged on the express bus are to make up for the inefficiency of the express bus system. You can have an operator drive a local route for an hour and expect to pick up around 69 people, or you can put the operator on an express route for an hour and expect to pick up around 24 people. Of course, these are averages, but the point is the same. The higher fare isn't to provide a one-seat ride or to guarantee a seat.
Now granted, the MTA does (in theory) schedule its express buses to avoid standees. They understand that, on average trips are much longer than on the local bus or subway (even if you're standing, there's a good chance that if your trip is long enough, you'll find a seat at some point along the way. It isn't always the case, but it's the case often enough. The other obvious thing is that local buses and subway cars are better designed in terms of accommodating standees, whereas express buses just have one long, narrow aisle).
The other thing to consider is that these figures are passengers per revenue hour. Express buses have a lot of deadheading involved, due to the peaky ridership patterns (a line might have enough demand to justify 15 buses per hour in the peak direction, but only 1-2 buses in the reverse-peak direction, and many lines have no reverse-peak service at all). There's obviously deadheading involved on the local buses as well, but not to the extreme extent of the express buses. An express operator might do an inbound trip, deadhead back to the start point, do another inbound trip, deadhead back to the depot, take a few hours of break time (at half-pay, which is another added cost, but one that's completely understandable, because the operator isn't free for the rest of the day, they still have to make sure to report back on-time for the second half of their shift) and then deadhead to Manhattan again, and do an outbound trip before clocking out for the day. So for 3 trips worth of people, you needed to pay the costs of a bus and operator for an entire day. On local peak runs, the operator is likely doing at least 3 trips in just half of the shift (e.g. A PM piece with say, an S44 short-turn to Jewett, deadhead back to St. George, second S44 short-turn to Jewett, deadhead back, and do a full S44 or S94 trip to Yukon Avenue).
Off-peak is generally more efficient because there's less deadheading in the case of both local and express runs ("What goes up must come down"). Generally frequencies are similar in both directions.
That being said, there's a few ways to increase the efficiency of the express bus system. You can have a peak/off-peak fare structure where off-peak trips are cheaper than peak trips, so it encourages some people to shift their travel patterns so that they can be accommodated in the off-peak periods where there's less deadheading (or ideally in the reverse-peak periods, where all you have to do is convert a few deadhead trips to revenue trips). Another method is to have the express buses allow intra-borough riders (which is what we're starting to see more of with this new express system, with people transferring between express buses). New Jersey Transit has its express routes allow intrastate passengers in place of actually running dedicated local routes in certain areas. I'm not really too fond of that setup (for example, try getting from an area like Weehawken or Union City out to Bergen County during the PM rush hour). The other issue is that any delay out of Manhattan affects the intrastate travelers. I can't imagine the chaos that would happen if they tried using the Hylan express routes to replace the S79 (**shudders**)
But that being said, one of the goals of the redesign was to shorten the amount of time required for the buses to fill up with their passengers. Instead of filling all 57 seats by traveling all the way from Midtown and through Downtown, the idea was to fill the buses up as quickly as possible, and have them fill up in Downtown-only or Midtown-only (and later in the plan, Greenwich Village/West Street). The old X7/9 were scheduled to take a little under an hour to fill up with passengers from Central Park South to Vesey Street, whereas the X2/5 took 20-25 minutes to fill up with passengers (even counting the portion along the FDR Drive, they still generally got out of Manhattan faster than the X7/9, though of course, I'm sure there were days where the FDR was backed up and it was quicker to go down Broadway and West Street). Then you have separate buses for Downtown, which are (scheduled) to take about 10-15 minutes to fill up with passengers and get out of Manhattan, and then the Greenwich Village buses, which are scheduled for about 30 minutes of runtime to fill up. Of course, real-life conditions can increase that greatly, as I'm sure anybody who's been caught in that Battery Place mess can attest to.
So it's for this reason that the MTA seems to be adamant about not allowing any form of a Downtown-Midtown route during peak hours, even if it's a "one stop Downtown" type of deal. Think about it, the bus comes into Manhattan with 57 people, but 19 people get off at the single stop Downtown, and now the bus isn't full anymore. Over the course of 3 busloads of people, you could've had one of those buses cut back Downtown (57*3 = 171, but 19*3 = 57). But you can't just randomly cut one bus back to Downtown, because then the remaining buses would be overcrowded. You would have to have the other 2 buses bypass Downtown. The other issue is of course, that you lose flexibility in detours (since if you bypass Downtown, you screw all the riders who were expecting to catch the bus there), and Downtown buses get affected by Midtown traffic (and vice versa in the morning).
Now on to the topic of consolidating routes. Round and round in circles we go. We have this canned line "By offering fewer flavors of service, we'll be able to offer more frequent trips on the remaining lines", and on the other side, we hear "You're taking away our options" and both sides keep going back and forth. Both sides have their point, and I will elaborate.
From the MTA's perspective, each route is scheduled independently from other routes, so it makes it hard to balance the headway. I was thinking of this as I was on an S44 which came a couple of minutes before the S59 last night. At that time, the S44 is scheduled every 20 minutes, while the S59 is scheduled every 30 minutes. So in total, that's 5 buses per hour down the northern part of Richmond Avenue, but they're not evenly spaced. Say the S44 comes at :00, :20, and :40 past the hour, and the S59 comes at :00 and :30 past the hour. So that means you have a headway of 20 minutes, two 10 minute headways, and another 20 minute headway (and there's always bunching at the top of the hour). You could have the buses scheduled every 24 minutes individually (12 minutes combined), but then on top of that schedule being hard to memorize, you're overscheduling one route and underscheduling the other route.
The other issue is that when riders switch off, it does in fact make it harder to determine which route they would've actually preferred. My motto is "When you start having to resort to your backup option every day, it's not really much of a backup, now it's your main option". So one of the examples given was why the SIM7/9/33 start at 14th Street while the SIM3/10/31 stop along 23rd Street (so riders can't easily use the SIM7/9 if there is a delay on the SIM10, and can't easily use the SIM33 if there's a delay on the SIM3/31). So by separating the routes, it makes it easier to determine who actually needs what route (and it also comes back to the issue of containing delays instead of spreading them through the system. If there's a delay on the SIM10 and the next SIM7 gets swarmed with people at 23rd Street, you just took a Midtown problem and spread it to Downtown, because the route was originally only scheduled to have enough seats for the people Downtown).
They key is that the MTA has to follow through on its promise on their end and take care of the delays....if there is a gap forming in SIM10 service and it looks like there won't be enough room for riders along 23rd Street, have a bus available to pick up those people along 23rd Street. If it's a regular occurrence, maybe schedule a few buses to start at 23rd Street, or put more standby buses near there.
Now, with that being said, there is a point to be made about schedule coordination: When the routes are frequent enough, it doesn't matter as much. So for example, let's say that the MTA restructured the SIM1 to operate from New Dorp to Downtown via Hylan Blvd, and created a rush hour SIM1X that operated from the Eltingville Transit Center to Downtown via Father Capodanno Blvd. And let's say the SIM1X operates on 7.5 minute headways (8 buses per hour) and you have the SIM5 operate every 10 minutes (6 buses per hour). So in a worse-case scenario, the schedule will have a SIM1X bunched together with a SIM5, and then a 7.5 minute gap until the next SIM1X.....7.5 minute headways are still reasonably frequent service. For better or for worse, buses don't always follow the exact schedule anyway, so maybe the SIM5 driver will be 2 minutes behind schedule and it will be a 5.5 minute gap in service. As it is, there's bunching on routes with 4-5 minute headways anyway. Worse-case scenario, let's say a SIM5 becomes overcrowded and has to bypass the last few stops....the Battery Place-bound riders at those stops will be able to take the next SIM1X, and the Water Street passengers who are in a hurry will just walk a little further or transfer to a SIM5 or SIM35 at Battery Place (which is why it's crucial that a universal 3-legged transfer policy be in place, to allow express bus riders to choose the next mode available without having to worry about paying an extra fare).
On a route like the SIM23/24 where the service is less frequent....sure, all buses need to go to either 34th Street or 42nd Street because otherwise you'll end up with 20-30 minute headways on each individual branch (which is especially bad in the PM rush when reliability is worse because of Manhattan traffic, compared to Staten Island traffic in the AM). Same reason why Gannon Avenue west of Bradley has no direct Midtown route during rush hour....if you try to branch the SIM31 (and have the Forest Hill Road branch and a Gannon branch), the headways will be wider on the individual branches.
Now the final topic.....probably one of the most controversial, but one that warrants a deep discussion.....the concept of Staten Island coverage vs. Manhattan coverage off-peak. During rush hour, there's sufficient volume of people that you can fill up routes that travel between many portions of Staten Island, and many portions of the Central Business District. Off-peak is a different story, and coverage on Staten Island is limited, but the neighborhoods that have off-peak express service are generally served by Downtown/Midtown combination routes (the old X1/10/17 were like that, the current system has the SIM1C/3C/4C and the Downtown-only SIM2, and the January 2019 system will have the SIM1C/3C/4C/33C).
To me, the concept of "Everything on Hylan Blvd, Gannon Avenue, or Richmond Avenue" for off-peak service is even stupider than the idea of "Everything on 5th Avenue or Church Street/Broadway". My reasoning is simple: Manhattan has more alternatives available than Staten Island overall, so transfers should be done on the Manhattan end where possible. I'd rather see a network of say, 6-7 off-peak express lines with Downtown-only or Midtown-only service, compared to a network with 3-4 off-peak express lines all running the Downtown/Midtown combination route.
Think about it this way: Even during off-peak hours, subway lines generally operate every 10 minutes (and if you have multiple lines along a trunk, then the headways become even shorter). I know off-peak (especially weekends, and now even late evenings with FastTrack being more prevalent) there's track work and shutdowns, but between SubwayTime and the MTA website that lists detours and delays, you can usually find some quick route to get to where you need to go. Now let's compare that to the local buses out here, which generally operate every 20-30 minutes. Let's say somebody lives along the Hylan Blvd portion of the SIM2 (which is about to have off-peak service eliminated in January 2019)....do you think they would prefer to take the S78 to the SIM1C or the SIM2 to the subway if their destination was Midtown? Keep in mind that the S78 is the longest local bus route in the city, and has many reliability issues due to it, so those 30 minute weekend headways can easily become 45-60 minutes. (Also keep in mind that if their destination is Downtown, then they don't have to transfer at all if they can catch the SIM2)
I would gladly give up Midtown off-peak service on all the routes in my neighborhood if it meant that other neighborhoods can have some form of off-peak express bus service (and as mentioned above, by running a shorter route, it's less prone to delays, so honestly I would want that anyway. The amount of times I've waited 30-40 minutes just to catch an X10 or X17 off-peak when Downtown traffic was moving perfectly fine, but buses were caught in a detour for some Midtown parade and ended up coming 2-3 at a time.....ugh makes me cringe....and I can see by the bunching on the SIM3C on 30 minute headways that the issue has not been resolved).
That being said, I believe there should still be a few Midtown-only routes during off-peak hours. I would run the SIM1, SIM2, SIM4, SIM6, SIM26, SIM32, and SIM34 (with a branch to Port Richmond) off-peak. Maybe extend the SIM1 to 23rd Street off-peak so that there's something going to the Greenwich Village area. So that way if you live near a Downtown-only route and you don't want to transfer, you can drive over to the SIM6 or SIM26 (or SIM1 to 23rd Street) and catch the bus there. I would have the off-peak SIM26 run up South Avenue and Forest Avenue to the Goethals Bridge to provide a little more coverage on Staten Island (and of course, stop at Arthur Kill Road). The way I see it, if you don't have a car (like myself) then you're already used to taking the local bus and subway, and if you do have a car, you can just drive to a route that goes to the portion of Manhattan you're seeking. Somebody is probably going to bring up the seniors or disabled.....keep in mind that there's seniors and disabled who currently have no off-peak express bus service whatsoever right now, and having some form of off-peak service would help them. Routes on the Manhattan end like the M55 (which runs up 6th Avenue and down 5th Avenue & Broadway) should probably be prioritized for increased frequency so that those who cannot use the subway have a good local bus alternative on the Manhattan end. I would also run an equivalent of the SIM4C during overnight hours (Downtown-Annadale via Gannon Avenue & Richmond Avenue).
You may be thinking "Why not just serve all of those corridors with Downtown/Midtown combination routes?" Again, on top of the reliability factor, there is also the unfortunate reality that the MTA has a budget to work within....and with all of the issues with the Staten Island local buses, I don't think it would be fair to keep throwing money at the express system while the local system is left to rot. There's so many corridors with poor local service or no local service that it's ridiculous (and again, a lot of those corridors have senior citizens that are left stranded). Corridors like Mosel Avenue, Huguenot Avenue, and Goethals Road North/Fahy Avenue need a good local route, and areas along routes like the S42/54/55/56/66 need weekend service. We need better connections to New Jersey besides just the S89 (we need routes over the Goethals Bridge & Outerbridge Crossing, and they need to be full-time routes, not just rush hour routes).
Of course, if congestion pricing ever comes to pass, hopefully we can give everybody more options: Run even more of the peak express routes during off-peak hours, and give good, frequent local service 7 days a week to all of the corridors that need it. But for now, the MTA has to work within the budget it has, and those are the tradeoffs they face.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Summary of Changes to the Staten Island Express Bus Restructuring Plan Since June 2017
So when the October 2017 rendition of the express bus restructuring proposal was released, I created a post summarizing the changes, using the "X" numbers that were in place at the time. Just for the fun of it, I'm going to summarize the changes to the routes using the SIM numbers currently in place:
Now here's the fun part, comparing the SIM routes to the X routes. Now apparently, the MTA and I differ on our opinions of which SIM routes are most representative of their old "X" counterparts. Here's my understanding of how the MTA defined the SIM routes (based off how some operators defined them from what they were told in their run booklets)
SIM1: Old X1 (Well, the SIM1C is definitely the full X1 route. The SIM1 is arguably a truncated X1, especially with the service levels the MTA provides on it)
SIM2: Old X19 (Agree)
SIM3: Old X10 (Highly disagree. To me, this is clearly a beefed up X42 rerouted to Port Richmond, and the SIM3C is the X12 with off-peak service. Another interesting thing I've heard is this is the old X14, since it starts in Port Richmond and runs up the FDR to West Midtown. It actually has a good amount of X14 riders as well who don't want to deal with the SIM35-SIM10 transfer)
SIM4: Old X17A (Agree)
SIM4C: Modified X17C (Disagree, since it combines a huge portion of the X10 ridership base. To me, this is a 50/50 split of the X10 and X17. To me, the only reasoning you can say for this being the X17 is if you agree with the SIM3C being the X10)
SIM5: Old X8 (Agree)
SIM6: Modified X7 (Disagree. To me, this is the X5 routed via Great Kills, especially now that it runs down Lexington Avenue in the PM rush. It was likely the Great Kills portion that caused them to label it as the X7).
SIM7: Extended X9 (I know it has the number 7, but to me, this is the X9 since it runs up the central part of Hylan Blvd)
SIM8: Old X17J (Agree)
SIM9: This was created in October 2018, so I think by that point, the MTA didn't bother with any internal renumberings. But if it resembles anything, I'd say it resembles the X7 more than the X9.
SIM10: Old X5 (Disagree. To me, this is an extended X2. It was likely the Richmond Avenue portion that caused them to label it as the X5)
SIM15: Old X15 (Agree)
SIM22: Old X21 (Agree)
SIM23: This is an old Academy route (so the MTA doesn't really internally relabel it), but even though I've heard a lot of people say it's "the old X23", I'd say it resembles the old X24 down Arden more moreso than the X23, which looped around the South Shore.
SIM24: I'd say this is also the old X24 since it goes down Huguenot (It's a mix of the X24, X17J, and X23, but from what I understand, even some of the X17J riders getting on at the Huguenot SIR station would transfer to the X24 at Arden Avenue because it took a more direct route to the West Shore Expressway).
SIM25: Modified X22 (Agree. Though if you had to assign the X23 to a SIM route, I'd say the SIM25 would be it since it covers Foster/Seguine).
SIM26: Old X22 (Agree, though if you consider the X22A to be a separate route, you could also make the case for this being an extremely beefed up X22A)
SIM30: Old X30 (Agree)
SIM31: Old X31 (Agree....but I think this ignores the large portion of X10B riders it picked up)
SIM32: Old X11 (Agree)
SIM33: Modified X12 (Highly disagree. To me, this is very clearly the X10B truncated to 14th Street and rerouted to Mariners Harbor. The majority of riders are still emanating from the Gannon corridor)
SIM34: Old X12 (Agree)
SIM35: Old X14 (Agree)
SIM1: This route essentially stayed the same throughout the planning process. Ever since June 2017, it was always proposed to be an ETC-Downtown route via Hylan Blvd and Church Street/Broadway.
SIM2: In June 2017, this route was originally supposed to run straight down Huguenot Avenue and end at Hylan Blvd. In October 2017, it was revised to be extended to Tottenville (down Hylan Blvd to Craig Avenue), and in March 2018, it was revised to swing over to Arden Avenue north of Woodrow Road to provide additional Downtown coverage).
SIM3: In June 2017, this route was originally supposed to terminate at the local bus terminal at Port Richmond Avenue & Richmond Terrace, and the northbound route was via Madison Avenue as opposed to 6th Avenue. In October 2017, the Staten Island terminal was changed back to Castleton Avenue & Jewett Avenue, and in March 2018, the Manhattan routing was changed to via 6th Avenue as opposed to Madison Avenue.
SIM4: The June 2017 proposal had it cut back to the Eltingville Transit Center. In October 2017, they changed it back to the X17A terminal at Annadale Road & Drumgoole Road West (so basically, at that point, they kept the entire X17A route)
SIM5: In June 2017, and October 2017, this route ran straight up Giffords Lane (without the turns up Leverett & Armstrong) and via Church/Broadway in Manhattan as opposed to Water Street. In March 2018, the Leverett/Armstrong routing was restored, and the route ran up Water Street in Manhattan.
SIM6: In June 2017, and October 2017, this route ran straight up Giffords Lane (without the turns up Leverett & Armstrong). In March 2018, the Leverett/Armstrong routing was restored. After implementation, the Manhattan outbound routing was changed to via Lexington Avenue instead of 5th Avenue.
SIM7: This route wasn't created until the March 2018 proposal. It originally ran along Father Capodanno Blvd, but was moved to Hylan Blvd in May 2018.
SIM8: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush (It was also truncated to the Eltingville Transit Center). In October 2017, it was extended to the X17A terminal at Annadale Road & Drumgoole Road West (with the Manhattan routing being via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound, and in May 2018, the route was extended down Woodrow Road to Huguenot Avenue to accommodate X23 riders who were too far from the SIM22/23/24 (with the Manhattan routing being via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue)
SIM9: This route was created after the proposal was implemented, in October 2018. (Hylan & Richmond to 14th Street via Father Capodanno Blvd & West Street)
SIM10: The June 2017 & October 2017 proposals had this route terminate at Hylan Blvd & Richmond Avenue and run via 5th/Madison Avenue in Manhattan. In March 2018, it was extended up Richmond Avenue to the ETC (to provide a "via Hylan/via Brooklyn" alternative to the SIM22) and rerouted via 6th Avenue instead of Madison Avenue.
SIM15: The June 2017 proposal had it bypassing Richmondtown (just running straight via Richmond Road like the S74 as opposed to looping up Wilder, Clarke & Amboy), with the Manhattan routing being via Church/Broadway. In October 2017, the Richmondtown routing was restored, and in March 2018, the Manhattan routing was changed to operate via Water Street. In June 2018 (after the public hearing) it was changed to operate the full Downtown Loop.
SIM22: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush (and was also proposed to start at Hylan & Richmond like the X21). In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound (and the route was extended a few blocks to Hylan Blvd & Woods of Arden Road), and in May 2018, the Manhattan routing was via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue). After implementation, the Manhattan outbound routing was changed to via Lexington Avenue instead of 5th Avenue.
SIM23: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush. In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound, and in May 2018, the Manhattan routing was via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue)
SIM24: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush. In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound (and the terminal was shifted a few blocks west to Hylan & Luten instead of Hylan & Huguenot), and in May 2018, the Manhattan routing was via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue)
SIM25: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush (and the original terminal was Hylan & Woodvale). In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue, with the route extended on the Staten Island end to Hylan & Craig (along with the SIM2). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound, and in May 2018, the Manhattan routing was via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue)
SIM26: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush. In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue), with the Staten Island terminal cut back to Hylan & Craig (since the SIM2/25 covered the Hylan Blvd portion in Tottenville). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound (and the terminal was shifted a few blocks west to Hylan & Luten instead of Hylan & Huguenot), and in May 2018, the Manhattan routing was via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue), with the Staten Island terminal being shifted to Hylan & Page (I guess they figured buses had to go back down Hylan to reach Page to head up to the Charleston Depot)
SIM30: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush, with the Staten Island terminal cut back to Forest & Brighton. In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue), with the Staten Island terminal extended slightly to Forest & Victory. In March 2018, the Manhattan routing changed to 42nd Street inbound and 34th Street outbound (and the terminal was shifted back to Victory & Clove), and in May 2018, the Manhattan routing was via 42nd Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue). In June 2018 the pilot branch to Rosebank was added.
SIM31: In June 2017, this route was proposed to take 42nd Street to 6th Avenue in the AM, and 5th Avenue to 42nd Street in the PM rush, with the Staten Island terminal extended to the X17A terminal at Annadale Road & Drumgoole Road. In October 2017, the Manhattan routing was via 34th Street in both directions, and 5th/Madison Avenue), with the Staten Island terminal placed back at the ETC. In March 2018, the routing changed to accommodate X10B riders (so it was routed via Brooklyn in both directions, adding the stops along the service road, and routed up the FDR Drive in Manhattan).
SIM32: This route has basically been the X11 throughout the whole process.
SIM33: This route was created in March 2018 to maintain service from the North Shore to the West Street & Greenwich Village areas of Manhattan.
SIM34: This route has basically been a short-turned X12 (cut back to Worth Street via Church/Broadway) throughout the whole process.
SIM35: In June 2017, this route was originally supposed to terminate at the local bus terminal at Port Richmond Avenue & Richmond Terrace. In October 2017, the Staten Island terminal was changed back to Castleton Avenue & Jewett Avenue. (In both 2017 proposals, it bypassed Narrows Road and entered the SIE at Clove Road). In March 2018, the Manhattan routing was changed to operate via Water Street and the Narrows Road stops were added back (so riders can transfer to the SIM1/7/10 to access other portions of Manhattan, particularly the SIM10 for Midtown access).
Now here's the fun part, comparing the SIM routes to the X routes. Now apparently, the MTA and I differ on our opinions of which SIM routes are most representative of their old "X" counterparts. Here's my understanding of how the MTA defined the SIM routes (based off how some operators defined them from what they were told in their run booklets)
SIM1: Old X1 (Well, the SIM1C is definitely the full X1 route. The SIM1 is arguably a truncated X1, especially with the service levels the MTA provides on it)
SIM2: Old X19 (Agree)
SIM3: Old X10 (Highly disagree. To me, this is clearly a beefed up X42 rerouted to Port Richmond, and the SIM3C is the X12 with off-peak service. Another interesting thing I've heard is this is the old X14, since it starts in Port Richmond and runs up the FDR to West Midtown. It actually has a good amount of X14 riders as well who don't want to deal with the SIM35-SIM10 transfer)
SIM4: Old X17A (Agree)
SIM4C: Modified X17C (Disagree, since it combines a huge portion of the X10 ridership base. To me, this is a 50/50 split of the X10 and X17. To me, the only reasoning you can say for this being the X17 is if you agree with the SIM3C being the X10)
SIM5: Old X8 (Agree)
SIM6: Modified X7 (Disagree. To me, this is the X5 routed via Great Kills, especially now that it runs down Lexington Avenue in the PM rush. It was likely the Great Kills portion that caused them to label it as the X7).
SIM7: Extended X9 (I know it has the number 7, but to me, this is the X9 since it runs up the central part of Hylan Blvd)
SIM8: Old X17J (Agree)
SIM9: This was created in October 2018, so I think by that point, the MTA didn't bother with any internal renumberings. But if it resembles anything, I'd say it resembles the X7 more than the X9.
SIM10: Old X5 (Disagree. To me, this is an extended X2. It was likely the Richmond Avenue portion that caused them to label it as the X5)
SIM15: Old X15 (Agree)
SIM22: Old X21 (Agree)
SIM23: This is an old Academy route (so the MTA doesn't really internally relabel it), but even though I've heard a lot of people say it's "the old X23", I'd say it resembles the old X24 down Arden more moreso than the X23, which looped around the South Shore.
SIM24: I'd say this is also the old X24 since it goes down Huguenot (It's a mix of the X24, X17J, and X23, but from what I understand, even some of the X17J riders getting on at the Huguenot SIR station would transfer to the X24 at Arden Avenue because it took a more direct route to the West Shore Expressway).
SIM25: Modified X22 (Agree. Though if you had to assign the X23 to a SIM route, I'd say the SIM25 would be it since it covers Foster/Seguine).
SIM26: Old X22 (Agree, though if you consider the X22A to be a separate route, you could also make the case for this being an extremely beefed up X22A)
SIM30: Old X30 (Agree)
SIM31: Old X31 (Agree....but I think this ignores the large portion of X10B riders it picked up)
SIM32: Old X11 (Agree)
SIM33: Modified X12 (Highly disagree. To me, this is very clearly the X10B truncated to 14th Street and rerouted to Mariners Harbor. The majority of riders are still emanating from the Gannon corridor)
SIM34: Old X12 (Agree)
SIM35: Old X14 (Agree)
Friday, October 26, 2018
October 7th Changes - Detailed
SIM1:
2 trips added between 5:35am and 5:45am
8:50am and 9:05am trips replaced with 8:45am, 8:55am, 9:07am trips
2:40pm trip extended to start at CPS/6th at 2pm as a SIM1C
1 trip removed between 3:38pm and 4:10pm
1 trip removed between 4:20pm and 4:40pm
Trips adjusted between 4:40pm and 4:54pm (no additions/removals)
2 trips added between 4:54pm and 5:20pm
1 trip added between 5:20pm and 6:00pm
2 trips added between 6:00pm and 6:50pm
2 trips added between 6:50pm and 7:50pm
8:05pm and 8:20pm trips replaced with 7:58pm, 8:14pm, and 8:30pm trips
SIM1C:
7:24pm and 7:44pm trips added from CPS/6th
SIM2:
2 trips removed between 4:35am and 5:35am
2 trips added between 7:10am and 8:30am
1 trip added between 2:50pm and 4pm
1 trip added between 6pm and 6:30pm
SIM3:
1 trip added between 5:20am and 6am
1 trip removed between 7:20am and 8am
5 SIM3 trips between 2pm and 3:40pm replaced by 4 SIM3C trips and 2 SIM3 trips
1 trip added between 4:25pm and 4:55pm
1 trip added between 4:55pm and 5:46pm
8 SIM3 trips after 6:10pm replaced with 5 SIM3C trips
SIM4:
2 trips added between 5:30am and 6:48am
2 trips removed between 6:48am and 8:05am
8:35am, 8:50am, and 9:05am SIM4 trips replaced with 8:35am, 8:50am, and 9:10am SIM4C trips
3:00pm, 3:20pm, 3:40pm, and 4:00pm trips replaced with 3:58pm and 4:07pm trips, as well as 3:24pm, 3:36pm, and 3:48pm SIM4C trips from Chambers Street
1 trip added between 4:46pm and 5:07pm
6:30pm trip replaced with 6:25pm and 6:35pm trip
7:00pm and 7:15pm trips replaced with 6:55pm, 7:05pm, 7:15pm SIM4C trips
SIM4C:
Outbound reverse-peak trips added at 9:50am and 10:50am
Outbound trips between 11:20am and 2:20pm pushed back 10 minutes
Inbound trips between 9:20am and 10:20am pushed back 10 minutes
Inbound trips at 11:20am and 12:20pm pushed back 10 minutes
7:27pm SIM4C trip added from Chambers Street
10 outbound trips between 7:00pm and 11:30pm replaced with 16 trips (starting from 6:52pm instead of 7pm). Basically, they copy-pasted an additional section of the X17 schedule.
SIM5:
4 trips removed between 4:55am and 7:28am (plus the 7 SIM5X trips)
1 trip removed between 3:00pm and 3:55pm
1 trip removed between 3:55pm and 4:15pm
6 trips removed between 4:15pm and 6:00pm
SIM6:
8 trips removed between 5:46am and 8:50am (plus the 7 SIM6X trips)
2 trips removed between 2:35pm and 3:55pm
1 trip removed between 4:05pm and 4:25pm
4 trips removed between 4:25pm and 5:13pm
4 trips added between 5:25pm and 7:50pm
SIM7:
7:15pm and 7:30pm trips added (first time around, they added the 7:18pm trip and then split it into 2 trips)
SIM8:
4:15am trip added
6 trips removed between 6:35am and 8:30am
3 trips removed between 5:05pm and 6:40pm
SIM9:
New route with 19 AM trips and 21 PM trips
SIM10:
2 trips added between 4:41am and 5:19am
2 trips added between 5:58am and 6:38am
3 trips removed between 6:38am and 7:50am
3 trips removed between 7:50am and 8:40am
8:50am and 9:02am trips replaced with 8:55am and 9:10am trips
1 trip removed between 2:10pm and 2:30pm
4 trips removed between 3:40pm and 5:56pm
3 trips removed between 6:26pm and 7:56pm
SIM15:
1 trip added between 5:40pm and 7:20pm
SIM22:
2 trips added between 5:40am and 7:45am
1 trip removed between 8am and 9am
1 trip added between 4pm and 4:40pm
1 trip added between 4:40pm and 5:20pm
1 trip removed between 6:00pm and 7:00pm
SIM25:
1 trip added between 7:35am and 8:00am
1 trip removed between 6pm and 7pm
SIM26:
1 trip removed between 4:35am and 5:35am
1 trip removed between 6:35am and 7:17am
SIM31:
5:00am trip added
2 trips added between 5:15am and 6:05am
3 trips added between 6:05am and 7:40am
3:40pm trip added
SIM32:
6:15am trip broken up into 6:05am and 6:20am trip
6:50am trip broken up into 6:45am and 6:55am trip
8:10am & 8:30am trips replaced by 8:05am, 8:20am, and 8:35am trips
SIM33:
2:40pm trip added
SIM34:
2 trips added between 6am and 7am
3 trips added between 7am and 8am
1 trip added between 4:45pm and 5pm
SIM35:
1 trip removed between 5:15am and 6:03am
1 trip removed between 7:30am and 8:10am
1 trip removed between 4:45pm and 5:15pm
6:35pm and 7:05pm trips were added earlier in August
2 trips added between 5:35am and 5:45am
8:50am and 9:05am trips replaced with 8:45am, 8:55am, 9:07am trips
2:40pm trip extended to start at CPS/6th at 2pm as a SIM1C
1 trip removed between 3:38pm and 4:10pm
1 trip removed between 4:20pm and 4:40pm
Trips adjusted between 4:40pm and 4:54pm (no additions/removals)
2 trips added between 4:54pm and 5:20pm
1 trip added between 5:20pm and 6:00pm
2 trips added between 6:00pm and 6:50pm
2 trips added between 6:50pm and 7:50pm
8:05pm and 8:20pm trips replaced with 7:58pm, 8:14pm, and 8:30pm trips
SIM1C:
7:24pm and 7:44pm trips added from CPS/6th
SIM2:
2 trips removed between 4:35am and 5:35am
2 trips added between 7:10am and 8:30am
1 trip added between 2:50pm and 4pm
1 trip added between 6pm and 6:30pm
SIM3:
1 trip added between 5:20am and 6am
1 trip removed between 7:20am and 8am
5 SIM3 trips between 2pm and 3:40pm replaced by 4 SIM3C trips and 2 SIM3 trips
1 trip added between 4:25pm and 4:55pm
1 trip added between 4:55pm and 5:46pm
8 SIM3 trips after 6:10pm replaced with 5 SIM3C trips
SIM4:
2 trips added between 5:30am and 6:48am
2 trips removed between 6:48am and 8:05am
8:35am, 8:50am, and 9:05am SIM4 trips replaced with 8:35am, 8:50am, and 9:10am SIM4C trips
3:00pm, 3:20pm, 3:40pm, and 4:00pm trips replaced with 3:58pm and 4:07pm trips, as well as 3:24pm, 3:36pm, and 3:48pm SIM4C trips from Chambers Street
1 trip added between 4:46pm and 5:07pm
6:30pm trip replaced with 6:25pm and 6:35pm trip
7:00pm and 7:15pm trips replaced with 6:55pm, 7:05pm, 7:15pm SIM4C trips
SIM4C:
Outbound reverse-peak trips added at 9:50am and 10:50am
Outbound trips between 11:20am and 2:20pm pushed back 10 minutes
Inbound trips between 9:20am and 10:20am pushed back 10 minutes
Inbound trips at 11:20am and 12:20pm pushed back 10 minutes
7:27pm SIM4C trip added from Chambers Street
10 outbound trips between 7:00pm and 11:30pm replaced with 16 trips (starting from 6:52pm instead of 7pm). Basically, they copy-pasted an additional section of the X17 schedule.
SIM5:
4 trips removed between 4:55am and 7:28am (plus the 7 SIM5X trips)
1 trip removed between 3:00pm and 3:55pm
1 trip removed between 3:55pm and 4:15pm
6 trips removed between 4:15pm and 6:00pm
SIM6:
8 trips removed between 5:46am and 8:50am (plus the 7 SIM6X trips)
2 trips removed between 2:35pm and 3:55pm
1 trip removed between 4:05pm and 4:25pm
4 trips removed between 4:25pm and 5:13pm
4 trips added between 5:25pm and 7:50pm
SIM7:
7:15pm and 7:30pm trips added (first time around, they added the 7:18pm trip and then split it into 2 trips)
SIM8:
4:15am trip added
6 trips removed between 6:35am and 8:30am
3 trips removed between 5:05pm and 6:40pm
SIM9:
New route with 19 AM trips and 21 PM trips
SIM10:
2 trips added between 4:41am and 5:19am
2 trips added between 5:58am and 6:38am
3 trips removed between 6:38am and 7:50am
3 trips removed between 7:50am and 8:40am
8:50am and 9:02am trips replaced with 8:55am and 9:10am trips
1 trip removed between 2:10pm and 2:30pm
4 trips removed between 3:40pm and 5:56pm
3 trips removed between 6:26pm and 7:56pm
SIM15:
1 trip added between 5:40pm and 7:20pm
SIM22:
2 trips added between 5:40am and 7:45am
1 trip removed between 8am and 9am
1 trip added between 4pm and 4:40pm
1 trip added between 4:40pm and 5:20pm
1 trip removed between 6:00pm and 7:00pm
SIM25:
1 trip added between 7:35am and 8:00am
1 trip removed between 6pm and 7pm
SIM26:
1 trip removed between 4:35am and 5:35am
1 trip removed between 6:35am and 7:17am
SIM31:
5:00am trip added
2 trips added between 5:15am and 6:05am
3 trips added between 6:05am and 7:40am
3:40pm trip added
SIM32:
6:15am trip broken up into 6:05am and 6:20am trip
6:50am trip broken up into 6:45am and 6:55am trip
8:10am & 8:30am trips replaced by 8:05am, 8:20am, and 8:35am trips
SIM33:
2:40pm trip added
SIM34:
2 trips added between 6am and 7am
3 trips added between 7am and 8am
1 trip added between 4:45pm and 5pm
SIM35:
1 trip removed between 5:15am and 6:03am
1 trip removed between 7:30am and 8:10am
1 trip removed between 4:45pm and 5:15pm
6:35pm and 7:05pm trips were added earlier in August
Monday, October 1, 2018
Spans & Frequencies (Effective October 7th, 2018)
SIM1:
Inbound: 5:05am - 9:07am, every 4-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:55pm - 8:30pm, every 4-8 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-16 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM1C:
Weekday Inbound: 12:00am - 4:50am, 9:20am - 11:00pm, similar to today's X1.
Weekday Outbound: 1:30am - 2:00pm, 7:24pm - 1:15am similar to today's X1.
Saturday Inbound: Similar to today's X1
Saturday Outbound: Similar to today's X1
Sunday Inbound: Similar to today's X1
Sunday Outbound: Similar to today's X1
SIM2:
Weekday Inbound: 4:35am - 7:00pm, every 10-15 minutes rush hour, 30 minutes off-peak
Weekday Outbound: 8:20am - 8:15pm, every 10-15 minutes rush hour, 30 minutes off-peak
Saturday Inbound: 4:30am - 7:00pm, every 30 minutes
Saturday Outbound: 5:45am - 8:15pm, every 30 minutes
Sunday Inbound: 4:30am - 7:00pm, every 30 minutes
Sunday Outbound: 5:45am - 8:15pm, every 30 minutes
SIM3:
Inbound: 5:00am - 9:15am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:10pm - 6:10pm, every 10-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM3C (Off-Peak)
Weekday Inbound: 9:35am - 10:00pm, every 20-60 minutes
Weekday Outbound: 7:10am - 3:00pm, 6:25pm - 1:15pm, every 20-60 minutes
Saturday Inbound: 5:30am - 9:00pm, every 20-30 minutes
Saturday Outbound: 7:15am - 12:00am, every 20-30 minutes
Sunday Inbound: 6:30am - 9:00pm, every 30 minutes until 4:00pm, then every hour until 9:00pm
Sunday Outbound: 7:55am - 10:20pm, every 30-60 minutes
SIM4:
Inbound: 5:15am - 8:25am, every 6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:58pm - 6:45pm, every 7-10 minutes at the height of rush hour
SIM4X:
Inbound: 6:10am - 8:10am, every 20 minutes
Outbound: 4:10pm - 6:30pm, every 20 minutes
SIM4C (Off-Peak)
Weekday Inbound: 4:00am - 5:00am, and 9:20am - 7:00pm, every 20-30 minutes
Weekday Outbound: 7:20am - 2:30pm (every 20-60 minutes), 6:52pm - 12:00am, every 12-30 minutes (with short-turns departing Chambers Street every 12 minutes between 3:24pm and 3:48pm and between 6:55pm and 7:27pm, every 12 minutes)
Saturday Inbound: 4:30am - 7:00pm, every 20-30 minutes
Saturday Outbound: 6:30am - 8:50pm, every 20-30 minutes
Sunday Inbound: 5:00am - 6:50pm, every 30-60 minutes
Sunday Outbound: 6:30am - 8:30pm, every 30-60 minutes
SIM5:
Inbound: 4:55am - 9:00am, every 6-8 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:00pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM6:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:50am, every 4-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:35pm - 7:50pm, every 8-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM7:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:30am, every 8-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:30pm - 7:30pm, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM8:
Inbound: 4:15am - 9:00am, every 5-8 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 1:55pm - 9:00pm, every 6-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM8X:
Inbound: 6:00am - 8:00am, every 20 minutes
Outbound: 4:00pm - 7:00pm, every 20 minutes
SIM9:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:30am, every 8-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:45pm - 7:37pm, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM10:
Inbound: 4:10am - 9:10am, every 4-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:00pm - 7:56pm, every 5-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM15:
Inbound: 4:59am - 9:20am, every 8-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:20pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM22:
Inbound: 5:00am - 9:00am, every 12-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:00pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM23 Inbound: 5:10am - 8:35am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes during shoulder periods.
SIM23 Outbound: 2:30pm - 7:30pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes during shoulder periods.
SIM24 Inbound: 5:00am - 8:30am, every 7-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes during shoulder periods.
SIM24 Outbound: 2:45pm - 7:30pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes during shoulder periods
SIM25:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:40am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:10pm - 7:00pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM26:
Inbound: 4:35am - 9:05am, every 10-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:10pm - 8:15pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM30:
Inbound: 5:23am - 8:05am, every 7-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods (at height of rush hour, buses alternate between Sunnyside & Rosebank, resulting in 20-30 minute headways for each branch. During shoulder periods, all service runs to Sunnyside)
Outbound: 3:50pm - 7:00pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods (at height of rush hour, buses alternate between Sunnyside & Rosebank, resulting in 20 minute headways for each branch. During shoulder periods, all service runs to Sunnyside)
SIM31:
Inbound: 5:15am - 8:30am, every 8-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 4:00pm - 7:15pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM32:
Inbound: 6:05am - 8:35am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:55pm - 6:45pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM33:
Inbound: 5:00am - 9:00am, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:40pm - 7:00pm, every 15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM34:
Inbound: 4:40am - 9:00am, every 8-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:00pm, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM35:
Inbound: 5:15am - 9:00am, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:20pm - 7:05pm, every 15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
ISSUES
Weekend/Off-Peak Service Spans
So right away, the main issue is that weekend service wasn't addressed, especially for the ridership bases that compose the present-day SIM4C. Here's the span of the routes for a comparison (I chose Battery Place and Slosson Avenue as reference points because those were the two timepoints the SIM4C & X10 schedules had in common. Travel time from Midtown to Battery Place or Richmond & Victory to Schmidts & Slosson is comparable with both the SIM4C & X10. I know the SIM4C is technically around the corner at Broadway & Morris Street, but you get the point: The last outbound stop and the absolute last chance for somebody to take a subway train, taxi, or local bus to catch it).
X10 Saturdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:55am - 9:24pm
X10 Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 8:05am - 12:49am
X10 Sundays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 6:52am - 9:29pm
X10 Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 9:07am - 11:01pm
SIM4C Saturdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:01am - 7:32pm
SIM4C Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:00am - 9:28pm
SIM4C Sundays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:31am - 7:32pm
SIM4C Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:00am - 9:08pm
As you can see, they added some service in the early morning (only because, by chance, the X17 happened to start earlier than the X10 on the weekends), but the SIM4C ends about 2-3 hours earlier than the X10 did.
Weekdays, the issue was supposed to be addressed in the outbound direction at least (with the extension of the SIM4C span to 2:15am, presumably departing Midtown at that time and reaching Battery Place around 30-35 minutes later). For reference, here's the spans of the X10 compared to the SIM4C (and yes, I know that peak service results in the X10 being broken up into the X10B/X11 and the SIM4C being broken up into the SIM4, SIM8, SIM31, SIM32, and SIM33 for a few hours).
X10 Weekdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:28am - 10:25pm
X10 Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:58am - 1:49am
SIM4C Weekdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 4:37am - 7:39pm
SIM4C Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:55am - 12:35am
Those late inbound trips were used by overnight workers, people going to Manhattan for entertainment, and the weekday trips were used by CSI students who had late classes. Again, the earlier service along Gannon definitely helps but it shouldn't have been at the expense of the evening service. The late outbound service was mostly used by local residents coming home late (and again, some of them were college students, retail workers, etc)
It should also be noted the SIM2 span compared to the X17 span for Arden Heights riders (I chose Hylan & Luten for the SIM2 since it's about the same runtime from the Huguenot SIR station as the X17 terminal at Huguenot & Woodrow, so it gives you an idea of when buses are passing through that part of Huguenot. Arden & Arthur Kill isn't a timepoint on the old X17 schedule unfortunately)
X17 Weekdays inbound (from Huguenot & Woodrow): 4:05am - 4:16pm
X17 Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 11:20am - 12:36am
X17 Saturdays inbound (from Huguenot & Woodrow): 4:30am - 7:00pm
X17 Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:20am - 9:31pm
X17 Sundays inbound (from Huguenot & Woodrow): 5:00am - 6:50pm
X17 Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:33am - 9:08pm
SIM2 Weekdays inbound (from Hylan & Luten): 4:43am - 7:10pm
SIM2 Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 8:35am - 8:24pm
SIM2 Saturdays inbound (from Hylan & Luten): 4:38am - 7:08pm
SIM2 Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 5:52am - 8:22pm
SIM2 Sundays inbound (from Hylan & Luten): 4:38am - 7:08pm
SIM2 Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 5:52am - 8:22pm
So for Arden Heights riders, they gained a little bit of later inbound service on weekdays (but also keep in mind that the express bus is their only transit service whatsoever, since the S56 stops running around 7pm, so arguably, the SIM2 should still run until 9pm or 10pm until that issue is rectified). Weekdays, the SIM4C was extended to have the trips until midnight serve Arden Heights (though they sneakily didn't bring back that 12:20am "as assigned" trip from Midtown). Weekends, they had their outbound service cut by about an hour (69 minutes Saturdays and 46 minutes Sundays to be exact). Again, the S56 doesn't run weekends, so those riders are literally stranded.
As mentioned previously, service seems to start a bit earlier and that's definitely a good thing and should be kept if possible. On the SIM2 it's because it's such a quick route, that whether you're deadheading from Downtown back to Tottenville (for another inbound trip) at 5:45am or running with passengers, it's mostly on highways anyway (and that stretch of Hylan from Huguenot to Page is pretty much like a highway anyway) so you might as well run the bus in-service and help whoever may need it at that time (possibly some overnight workers coming off their shifts, or some early-morning reverse-commuters)
It should be noted that the SIM1C experiences overcrowding on weekend nights, and extending the span of the SIM4C would provide additional capacity for riders heading to the Eltingville Transit Center (as opposed to adding the service to the SIM1C directly). It should also be noted that a lot of riders take the SIM1C but actually live on the North/West Shore, and either call a relative for a lift or call a taxi/car service/Uber to take them home from the SIM1C/X1.
SIM4 Reductions
So I see they fixed the gap between SIM4/32 peak service and SIM4C off-peak service. Unfortunately, the way they did that was by adding the Gannon stops back to a few SIM4 trips.
They moved the first SIM32 up a few minutes to close that gap in Gannon Avenue-Church Street service (it's still almost an hour from the 5:23am SIM4C at Victory & Richmond to the 6:19am SIM32, but at least the SIM33 runs at that time so riders can at least walk from West Street if necessary). Or make their way to the SIM4 i they're close enough to Richmond Avenue. At the end of the rush hour, the transition (at Victory & Richmond) is smooth from the SIM32 at 8:51am to the SIM4C at 9:00am, but unfortunately that means that SIM4 service (which gets directly into the HOV lane instead of making the extra Gannon stops) ends even earlier, at 8:25am (the original schedule had it end at 9:05am as a compromise to riders who took the regular X17. The original X17A ended at 8:45am)
In the PM rush, they added the Gannon stops to some more SIM4 trips (making them SIM4C trips from Chambers). That at least fills the gap between the SIM4C & SIM32, but again, elongates the ride for SIM4 riders. So the span was shortened from 3:00pm-7:15pm to 3:58pm-6:45pm (and again, that 3:00pm-7:15pm was supposed to be a compromise for regular X17 riders)
They also reduced the headway at the height of the AM rush from every 6 minutes to every 8 minutes, while people were complaining about overcrowded buses. People are scrambling to get the quicker SIM4 to avoid the slower SIM4C, resulting in overcrowded buses at the height of rush hour and they cut the service. I know with the super-express buses, it's still technically about 10 buses per hour heading down Richmond Avenue, but rush hour is now that much more concentrated because people don't want to make all those extra stops on Gannon, so the 6 minute headway is necessary.
And to top it all off, the SIM4C still runs hourly outbound in the midday period, while the SIM3C runs every 30 minutes. They slightly closed the gap between the 2:20pm SIM4C and 4pm SIM31 from Midtown by pushing the SIM4C buses back to leave at :30 past the hour and adding an extra SIM31 trip. So now the gap only extends from 2:30pm to 3:40pm from their respective terminals (which is another thing: Why does the SIM4C terminate at Central Park South when both the X10 & X17 terminated at 57th & 3rd)? That's a backtrack since it heads east from 6th Avenue to reach Madison and then heads west back to 6th, and this system is supposed to be more direct).
Excess Watchogue Road Service
It's very clear that they're trying to make Watchogue Road the primary North Shore corridor for whatever reason, and they have no problem screwing over Gannon Avenue, Richmond Avenue, or even Mariners Harbor to do so.
They closed the gap between the SIM3C & SIM34. I'll give them credit on that. But now there's a ridiculous amount of overlap in the schedules. The first SIM34 of the afternoon leaves Chambers Street at 3pm. Meanwhile, the last midday SIM3C leaves Midtown at 3pm and gets to Worth Street at 3:42pm. So already, you're talking about 45 minutes of overlap between the SIM34 and SIM3C, and about 25 minutes of overlap between the SIM35 & SIM3C at Battery Place. For that matter, even the SIM33 starts running at 2:40pm from Union Square, so virtually all ridership bases are covered at that time. All trips after the 2pm trip should run as SIM3 buses via the FDR and if they don't think they can fill them up with just Midtown riders, they should cut the frequency back to every 30 minutes instead of every 20 minutes and use that spare bus to extend the span of the SIM35 to start at 2:50pm from Frankfort Street to cover the small 35 minute gap that would result in service to Concord & Port Richmond (as well as provide earlier service to the Clove Road & Forest Avenue corridor. It should be noted that the SIM30 doesn't start until 3:50pm from Midtown, so if a worker can take the SIM10 (or the subway) and catch that earlier SIM35 it would be quicker than waiting for the SIM30 to start running, though that should have a few earlier trips anyway)
At the end of rush hour, they coordinated the 7pm SIM34 from Chambers with the 6:25pm SIM3C from Midtown (which arrives at Worth Street at 7:11pm). Good for Watchogue riders....but they quietly removed the direct bus to Mariners Harbor. The last X12 used to leave Worth Street at 8:31pm, and now the SIM34 leaves Chambers Street at 7:00pm. Granted, the S48/98 is a decent route by Staten Island standards (for those transferring from the SIM3C) but still...why should those last trips be cut when this restructuring is about improving service and they promised longer spans even for the rush hour-only routes. At least the SIM30 runs a little bit later for Midtown riders, but still, if you depended on catching those last 3 X12 trips (leaving Worth Street at 7:41pm, 8:05pm, and 8:31pm....I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt and say that for the 7:16pm trip you could catch the SIM33 at Vesey Street or the last SIM30 depending on where you're coming from), they quietly took the service away, and all just to steer North Shore riders towards Watchogue Road.
Hylan Blvd
So Hylan Blvd definitely saw an improvement compared to the horrendous schedules that they originally had. The SIM7 had a boost in service, and the SIM9 was created to provide service between the Father Capodanno corridor and the West Street/Greenwich Village corridor/neighborhood. But again, there is overlap, and with all the service issues that still remain, that overlap shouldn't exist.
Basically, that 2pm SIM1C out of Central Park South overlaps in Midtown with the SIM10 (which starts at 2pm), the SIM7 (which starts at 2:30pm), and really only helps SIM1 riders (basically, they took that 2:40pm SIM1 and extended it all the way to Central Park South for no reason). In the evening, the SIM7 & SIM9 work to provide later evening service along West Street (the last X7/9 was 7:42pm from Vesey Street. Now the last SIM7 is at 8:01pm from Vesey Street with the last SIM9 being at 8:08pm from Vesey Street). The 7:24pm and 7:44pm SIM1C trips overlap with the SIM10 and should be truncated to Union Square.
South Shore-Midtown Service
Inbound: 5:05am - 9:07am, every 4-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:55pm - 8:30pm, every 4-8 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-16 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM1C:
Weekday Inbound: 12:00am - 4:50am, 9:20am - 11:00pm, similar to today's X1.
Weekday Outbound: 1:30am - 2:00pm, 7:24pm - 1:15am similar to today's X1.
Saturday Inbound: Similar to today's X1
Saturday Outbound: Similar to today's X1
Sunday Inbound: Similar to today's X1
Sunday Outbound: Similar to today's X1
SIM2:
Weekday Inbound: 4:35am - 7:00pm, every 10-15 minutes rush hour, 30 minutes off-peak
Weekday Outbound: 8:20am - 8:15pm, every 10-15 minutes rush hour, 30 minutes off-peak
Saturday Inbound: 4:30am - 7:00pm, every 30 minutes
Saturday Outbound: 5:45am - 8:15pm, every 30 minutes
Sunday Inbound: 4:30am - 7:00pm, every 30 minutes
Sunday Outbound: 5:45am - 8:15pm, every 30 minutes
SIM3:
Inbound: 5:00am - 9:15am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:10pm - 6:10pm, every 10-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM3C (Off-Peak)
Weekday Inbound: 9:35am - 10:00pm, every 20-60 minutes
Weekday Outbound: 7:10am - 3:00pm, 6:25pm - 1:15pm, every 20-60 minutes
Saturday Inbound: 5:30am - 9:00pm, every 20-30 minutes
Saturday Outbound: 7:15am - 12:00am, every 20-30 minutes
Sunday Inbound: 6:30am - 9:00pm, every 30 minutes until 4:00pm, then every hour until 9:00pm
Sunday Outbound: 7:55am - 10:20pm, every 30-60 minutes
SIM4:
Inbound: 5:15am - 8:25am, every 6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:58pm - 6:45pm, every 7-10 minutes at the height of rush hour
SIM4X:
Inbound: 6:10am - 8:10am, every 20 minutes
Outbound: 4:10pm - 6:30pm, every 20 minutes
SIM4C (Off-Peak)
Weekday Inbound: 4:00am - 5:00am, and 9:20am - 7:00pm, every 20-30 minutes
Weekday Outbound: 7:20am - 2:30pm (every 20-60 minutes), 6:52pm - 12:00am, every 12-30 minutes (with short-turns departing Chambers Street every 12 minutes between 3:24pm and 3:48pm and between 6:55pm and 7:27pm, every 12 minutes)
Saturday Inbound: 4:30am - 7:00pm, every 20-30 minutes
Saturday Outbound: 6:30am - 8:50pm, every 20-30 minutes
Sunday Inbound: 5:00am - 6:50pm, every 30-60 minutes
Sunday Outbound: 6:30am - 8:30pm, every 30-60 minutes
SIM5:
Inbound: 4:55am - 9:00am, every 6-8 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:00pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM6:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:50am, every 4-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:35pm - 7:50pm, every 8-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM7:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:30am, every 8-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:30pm - 7:30pm, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM8:
Inbound: 4:15am - 9:00am, every 5-8 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 1:55pm - 9:00pm, every 6-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM8X:
Inbound: 6:00am - 8:00am, every 20 minutes
Outbound: 4:00pm - 7:00pm, every 20 minutes
SIM9:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:30am, every 8-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:45pm - 7:37pm, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM10:
Inbound: 4:10am - 9:10am, every 4-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10-15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:00pm - 7:56pm, every 5-6 minutes at the height of rush hour, 10 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM15:
Inbound: 4:59am - 9:20am, every 8-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:20pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM22:
Inbound: 5:00am - 9:00am, every 12-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:00pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM23 Inbound: 5:10am - 8:35am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes during shoulder periods.
SIM23 Outbound: 2:30pm - 7:30pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes during shoulder periods.
SIM24 Inbound: 5:00am - 8:30am, every 7-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes during shoulder periods.
SIM24 Outbound: 2:45pm - 7:30pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes during shoulder periods
SIM25:
Inbound: 5:00am - 8:40am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:10pm - 7:00pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM26:
Inbound: 4:35am - 9:05am, every 10-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:10pm - 8:15pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM30:
Inbound: 5:23am - 8:05am, every 7-10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods (at height of rush hour, buses alternate between Sunnyside & Rosebank, resulting in 20-30 minute headways for each branch. During shoulder periods, all service runs to Sunnyside)
Outbound: 3:50pm - 7:00pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods (at height of rush hour, buses alternate between Sunnyside & Rosebank, resulting in 20 minute headways for each branch. During shoulder periods, all service runs to Sunnyside)
SIM31:
Inbound: 5:15am - 8:30am, every 8-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 4:00pm - 7:15pm, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM32:
Inbound: 6:05am - 8:35am, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:55pm - 6:45pm, every 10 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM33:
Inbound: 5:00am - 9:00am, every 10-15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 2:40pm - 7:00pm, every 15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM34:
Inbound: 4:40am - 9:00am, every 8-12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:00pm - 7:00pm, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15 minutes at shoulder periods
SIM35:
Inbound: 5:15am - 9:00am, every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, 15-20 minutes at shoulder periods
Outbound: 3:20pm - 7:05pm, every 15 minutes at the height of rush hour, 20-30 minutes at shoulder periods
ISSUES
Weekend/Off-Peak Service Spans
So right away, the main issue is that weekend service wasn't addressed, especially for the ridership bases that compose the present-day SIM4C. Here's the span of the routes for a comparison (I chose Battery Place and Slosson Avenue as reference points because those were the two timepoints the SIM4C & X10 schedules had in common. Travel time from Midtown to Battery Place or Richmond & Victory to Schmidts & Slosson is comparable with both the SIM4C & X10. I know the SIM4C is technically around the corner at Broadway & Morris Street, but you get the point: The last outbound stop and the absolute last chance for somebody to take a subway train, taxi, or local bus to catch it).
X10 Saturdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:55am - 9:24pm
X10 Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 8:05am - 12:49am
X10 Sundays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 6:52am - 9:29pm
X10 Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 9:07am - 11:01pm
SIM4C Saturdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:01am - 7:32pm
SIM4C Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:00am - 9:28pm
SIM4C Sundays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:31am - 7:32pm
SIM4C Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:00am - 9:08pm
As you can see, they added some service in the early morning (only because, by chance, the X17 happened to start earlier than the X10 on the weekends), but the SIM4C ends about 2-3 hours earlier than the X10 did.
Weekdays, the issue was supposed to be addressed in the outbound direction at least (with the extension of the SIM4C span to 2:15am, presumably departing Midtown at that time and reaching Battery Place around 30-35 minutes later). For reference, here's the spans of the X10 compared to the SIM4C (and yes, I know that peak service results in the X10 being broken up into the X10B/X11 and the SIM4C being broken up into the SIM4, SIM8, SIM31, SIM32, and SIM33 for a few hours).
X10 Weekdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 5:28am - 10:25pm
X10 Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:58am - 1:49am
SIM4C Weekdays inbound (from Slosson Avenue): 4:37am - 7:39pm
SIM4C Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:55am - 12:35am
Those late inbound trips were used by overnight workers, people going to Manhattan for entertainment, and the weekday trips were used by CSI students who had late classes. Again, the earlier service along Gannon definitely helps but it shouldn't have been at the expense of the evening service. The late outbound service was mostly used by local residents coming home late (and again, some of them were college students, retail workers, etc)
It should also be noted the SIM2 span compared to the X17 span for Arden Heights riders (I chose Hylan & Luten for the SIM2 since it's about the same runtime from the Huguenot SIR station as the X17 terminal at Huguenot & Woodrow, so it gives you an idea of when buses are passing through that part of Huguenot. Arden & Arthur Kill isn't a timepoint on the old X17 schedule unfortunately)
X17 Weekdays inbound (from Huguenot & Woodrow): 4:05am - 4:16pm
X17 Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 11:20am - 12:36am
X17 Saturdays inbound (from Huguenot & Woodrow): 4:30am - 7:00pm
X17 Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:20am - 9:31pm
X17 Sundays inbound (from Huguenot & Woodrow): 5:00am - 6:50pm
X17 Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 7:33am - 9:08pm
SIM2 Weekdays inbound (from Hylan & Luten): 4:43am - 7:10pm
SIM2 Weekdays outbound (from Battery Place): 8:35am - 8:24pm
SIM2 Saturdays inbound (from Hylan & Luten): 4:38am - 7:08pm
SIM2 Saturdays outbound (from Battery Place): 5:52am - 8:22pm
SIM2 Sundays inbound (from Hylan & Luten): 4:38am - 7:08pm
SIM2 Sundays outbound (from Battery Place): 5:52am - 8:22pm
So for Arden Heights riders, they gained a little bit of later inbound service on weekdays (but also keep in mind that the express bus is their only transit service whatsoever, since the S56 stops running around 7pm, so arguably, the SIM2 should still run until 9pm or 10pm until that issue is rectified). Weekdays, the SIM4C was extended to have the trips until midnight serve Arden Heights (though they sneakily didn't bring back that 12:20am "as assigned" trip from Midtown). Weekends, they had their outbound service cut by about an hour (69 minutes Saturdays and 46 minutes Sundays to be exact). Again, the S56 doesn't run weekends, so those riders are literally stranded.
As mentioned previously, service seems to start a bit earlier and that's definitely a good thing and should be kept if possible. On the SIM2 it's because it's such a quick route, that whether you're deadheading from Downtown back to Tottenville (for another inbound trip) at 5:45am or running with passengers, it's mostly on highways anyway (and that stretch of Hylan from Huguenot to Page is pretty much like a highway anyway) so you might as well run the bus in-service and help whoever may need it at that time (possibly some overnight workers coming off their shifts, or some early-morning reverse-commuters)
It should be noted that the SIM1C experiences overcrowding on weekend nights, and extending the span of the SIM4C would provide additional capacity for riders heading to the Eltingville Transit Center (as opposed to adding the service to the SIM1C directly). It should also be noted that a lot of riders take the SIM1C but actually live on the North/West Shore, and either call a relative for a lift or call a taxi/car service/Uber to take them home from the SIM1C/X1.
SIM4 Reductions
So I see they fixed the gap between SIM4/32 peak service and SIM4C off-peak service. Unfortunately, the way they did that was by adding the Gannon stops back to a few SIM4 trips.
They moved the first SIM32 up a few minutes to close that gap in Gannon Avenue-Church Street service (it's still almost an hour from the 5:23am SIM4C at Victory & Richmond to the 6:19am SIM32, but at least the SIM33 runs at that time so riders can at least walk from West Street if necessary). Or make their way to the SIM4 i they're close enough to Richmond Avenue. At the end of the rush hour, the transition (at Victory & Richmond) is smooth from the SIM32 at 8:51am to the SIM4C at 9:00am, but unfortunately that means that SIM4 service (which gets directly into the HOV lane instead of making the extra Gannon stops) ends even earlier, at 8:25am (the original schedule had it end at 9:05am as a compromise to riders who took the regular X17. The original X17A ended at 8:45am)
In the PM rush, they added the Gannon stops to some more SIM4 trips (making them SIM4C trips from Chambers). That at least fills the gap between the SIM4C & SIM32, but again, elongates the ride for SIM4 riders. So the span was shortened from 3:00pm-7:15pm to 3:58pm-6:45pm (and again, that 3:00pm-7:15pm was supposed to be a compromise for regular X17 riders)
They also reduced the headway at the height of the AM rush from every 6 minutes to every 8 minutes, while people were complaining about overcrowded buses. People are scrambling to get the quicker SIM4 to avoid the slower SIM4C, resulting in overcrowded buses at the height of rush hour and they cut the service. I know with the super-express buses, it's still technically about 10 buses per hour heading down Richmond Avenue, but rush hour is now that much more concentrated because people don't want to make all those extra stops on Gannon, so the 6 minute headway is necessary.
And to top it all off, the SIM4C still runs hourly outbound in the midday period, while the SIM3C runs every 30 minutes. They slightly closed the gap between the 2:20pm SIM4C and 4pm SIM31 from Midtown by pushing the SIM4C buses back to leave at :30 past the hour and adding an extra SIM31 trip. So now the gap only extends from 2:30pm to 3:40pm from their respective terminals (which is another thing: Why does the SIM4C terminate at Central Park South when both the X10 & X17 terminated at 57th & 3rd)? That's a backtrack since it heads east from 6th Avenue to reach Madison and then heads west back to 6th, and this system is supposed to be more direct).
Excess Watchogue Road Service
It's very clear that they're trying to make Watchogue Road the primary North Shore corridor for whatever reason, and they have no problem screwing over Gannon Avenue, Richmond Avenue, or even Mariners Harbor to do so.
They closed the gap between the SIM3C & SIM34. I'll give them credit on that. But now there's a ridiculous amount of overlap in the schedules. The first SIM34 of the afternoon leaves Chambers Street at 3pm. Meanwhile, the last midday SIM3C leaves Midtown at 3pm and gets to Worth Street at 3:42pm. So already, you're talking about 45 minutes of overlap between the SIM34 and SIM3C, and about 25 minutes of overlap between the SIM35 & SIM3C at Battery Place. For that matter, even the SIM33 starts running at 2:40pm from Union Square, so virtually all ridership bases are covered at that time. All trips after the 2pm trip should run as SIM3 buses via the FDR and if they don't think they can fill them up with just Midtown riders, they should cut the frequency back to every 30 minutes instead of every 20 minutes and use that spare bus to extend the span of the SIM35 to start at 2:50pm from Frankfort Street to cover the small 35 minute gap that would result in service to Concord & Port Richmond (as well as provide earlier service to the Clove Road & Forest Avenue corridor. It should be noted that the SIM30 doesn't start until 3:50pm from Midtown, so if a worker can take the SIM10 (or the subway) and catch that earlier SIM35 it would be quicker than waiting for the SIM30 to start running, though that should have a few earlier trips anyway)
At the end of rush hour, they coordinated the 7pm SIM34 from Chambers with the 6:25pm SIM3C from Midtown (which arrives at Worth Street at 7:11pm). Good for Watchogue riders....but they quietly removed the direct bus to Mariners Harbor. The last X12 used to leave Worth Street at 8:31pm, and now the SIM34 leaves Chambers Street at 7:00pm. Granted, the S48/98 is a decent route by Staten Island standards (for those transferring from the SIM3C) but still...why should those last trips be cut when this restructuring is about improving service and they promised longer spans even for the rush hour-only routes. At least the SIM30 runs a little bit later for Midtown riders, but still, if you depended on catching those last 3 X12 trips (leaving Worth Street at 7:41pm, 8:05pm, and 8:31pm....I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt and say that for the 7:16pm trip you could catch the SIM33 at Vesey Street or the last SIM30 depending on where you're coming from), they quietly took the service away, and all just to steer North Shore riders towards Watchogue Road.
Hylan Blvd
So Hylan Blvd definitely saw an improvement compared to the horrendous schedules that they originally had. The SIM7 had a boost in service, and the SIM9 was created to provide service between the Father Capodanno corridor and the West Street/Greenwich Village corridor/neighborhood. But again, there is overlap, and with all the service issues that still remain, that overlap shouldn't exist.
Basically, that 2pm SIM1C out of Central Park South overlaps in Midtown with the SIM10 (which starts at 2pm), the SIM7 (which starts at 2:30pm), and really only helps SIM1 riders (basically, they took that 2:40pm SIM1 and extended it all the way to Central Park South for no reason). In the evening, the SIM7 & SIM9 work to provide later evening service along West Street (the last X7/9 was 7:42pm from Vesey Street. Now the last SIM7 is at 8:01pm from Vesey Street with the last SIM9 being at 8:08pm from Vesey Street). The 7:24pm and 7:44pm SIM1C trips overlap with the SIM10 and should be truncated to Union Square.
South Shore-Midtown Service
The X22 had the longest span out of all of the South Shore-Midtown buses, and if you need to get to/from Arthur Kill Road at the beginning or end of the AM or PM rush, you're stuck, so this is a crucial issue that could easily be rectified.
At the minimum, the first 2 AM SIM26 trips (4:35am and 4:50am from Tottenville) and the last AM trip (9:05am from Tottenville) should make the Arthur Kill Road stop. Additionally, on the return trip, the first PM trip (2:10pm from 57th & Lexington) and the last 2 PM trips (7:45pm and 8:15pm from 57th & Lexington) should make the Arthur Kill Road stop. The SIM22/23/24/25 do not operate at those times. There is no other alternative except taking the SIM26 to Bloomingdale Road and waiting for an infrequent (and often unreliable) S74 to loop back to the "Checkpoint" stop (especially since the SIM2 ends early at 8:15pm Downtown)
Additionally, the SIM25 should at least match the span of the old X23 for Foster Road/Seguine Avenue riders (especially since the S56 doesn't run in the evening). I know the intention is to serve Rossville Avenue passengers through Bloomingdale Road (which I'm not too crazy about), but Foster Road needs its service back. The X23 ran from 2:45pm to 7:30pm and the SIM25 still runs from 3:10pm to 7pm. One solution to this would be to have the SIM25 & SIM26 alternate at the beginning of rush hour, adding one bus per hour during that 2-3pm timeframe. So for example, have the SIM26 depart 57th & Lexington at 2:10pm and 2:40pm, and the SIM25 at 2:25pm and 2:55pm. Maybe push the 3:10pm SIM25 back to 3:15pm and the 3:30pm SIM25 back to 3:35pm so that buses are a bit spaced out from the SIM26 so that riders who can use either one (in Rossville or Tottenville) don't have 2 buses back to back and then a whole 20 minute wait for the next pair.
At the end of the PM rush, you can push the 7pm SIM25 (from 57th & Lexington) back to 7:10pm (again, offset slightly from the SIM26 which also leaves at 7:00pm). Then you can add a 7:40pm SIM25 from 57th & Lexington, and push back the 7:45pm SIM26 to 7:50pm.
General Span/Frequency Issues
The SIM1 definitely saw a boost, but it's still not as much as it should've seen. Service between 5pm & 5:30pm from Chambers Street was boosted to every 4 minutes, but after 5:30pm it is still every 8-10 minutes whereas there were 15 buses per hour going down Broadway between the X1, X3, and X4 combined. Some of the riders may shift to the SIM7/9 (which seem to have enough frequency/capacity to handle the riders) but it's still a net reduction in Downtown-Hylan Blvd service.
I don't see any real boost in SIM2 AM service despite the complaints of overcrowding.
Also a quick tip, if you used the earlier or later (2-3pm or 6:30-7:45pm) SIM3 buses as a quick route out of Midtown, you can still take the SIM10 to Fingerboard Road and transfer to the SIM3C there (you don't get to ride the HOV lane out to Slosson, but at least you get to bypass Downtown).
SIM3C service technically ends 10 minutes earlier on Saturday & Sunday (outbound) compared to the X10 (while I can't stand it when people refer to it as "the old X10", it did still serve Port Richmond and provide a connection to the S48 for Mariners Harbor residents, which the SIM4C doesn't provide).
SIM8 service saw a slight reduction, but I think it can handle it, since the SIM22/23/24 and the SIM8X take a lot o riders from the regular SIM8. Same thing for the SIM5/6 (which had service reduced to boost service on the SIM1/7/10 and add the SIM9)
SIM22 service (in both rush hours) is adjusted to run more frequently at the beginning & middle of rush hour and less frequently towards the end.
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