Based on the below statistics it appears that Roosevelt Island residents have not been taking advantage of or see the benefit of taking the Red Bus during the morning rush hour periods, to Queens Plaza or during non-rush periods into Manhattan directly. I would expect that this weekend the numbers will spike higher as I recall weekends being a pretty high usage rate during the Summer of 2006 when the Tram was out and during Subway disruption weekends. But we shall see what happens.
Looking at these stats it would appear that RIOC may decide that the Red Bus option should not be repeated during the planned 2009 outage as they are using this outage as a gauge torwards resident usage for that later period.
My only thoughts are that I wonder if greater use would be made of this option if the Red Bus would to first loop around the Island as the Q102 does before it leaves the Island. Could it be that for many residets the added time to first get themselves to Gristedes is an added impediment to the use of this option?
A good question asked of Mr. Shane by Patrick Stewart, a member of the RIOC Board of Directors, is of the stats provided how many riders were seniors or disabled for whom the subway stairs / escalators / elevators may prove challenging. Mr. Shane has not responded to that question or may not have thta level of detail availabel to him if it was even captured at all.
I will admit for my purposes taking the bus to Queens Plaza puts me further away from my commuting goals distance wise and it makes no sense for me during rush our periods. If the subway goes out though this option will be imperative for all residents wishing to head off the island.
-----Original Message-----
From: "Stephen Shane"
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:32:23
Subject: Red Bus Ridership during Tram outage - Stats for 6/11/08:
From: "Stephen Shane"
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:32:23
Subject: Red Bus Ridership during Tram outage - Stats for 6/11/08:
From RI to Queens Plaza (6AM-9:30AM):
16 passengers 8 trips
From QP to RI (returns):
0 passengers 8 trips
From RI to Manhattan (10AM-2PM):
9 Passengers 5 trips
From Manhattan to RI (returns at 10:30 AM-2:30PM);\:
8 Passengers 5 trips
From RI to Manhattan (7PM-11PM)
9 Passengers 5 trips
From Manhattan to RI (returns at 7:30PM-11:30PM):
9 Passengers 5 trips
We shall see as the word spreads and/or sinks in. Hard to justify at this level! An experiment.
Steve
Stephen H. Shane
President & CEO
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.
16 passengers 8 trips
From QP to RI (returns):
0 passengers 8 trips
From RI to Manhattan (10AM-2PM):
9 Passengers 5 trips
From Manhattan to RI (returns at 10:30 AM-2:30PM);\:
8 Passengers 5 trips
From RI to Manhattan (7PM-11PM)
9 Passengers 5 trips
From Manhattan to RI (returns at 7:30PM-11:30PM):
9 Passengers 5 trips
We shall see as the word spreads and/or sinks in. Hard to justify at this level! An experiment.
Steve
Stephen H. Shane
President & CEO
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.
Posts
For me the Red Bus arrangement is great--the V and E get me much closer to my office, and despite the crowding I manage. But I guess everyone else is herding to the F.
ReplyDeleteIf Islanders want additional transportation they need to utilize it--or stop complaining!
Another thought--during the summer a lot of the UN people are not there--traveling or gone back to their respective countries.
ReplyDeleteSo this is not a 100% picture of real usage.
More publicity about the service would have been a good idea. On the first morning of the service, the only posting that I was aware of was in the Senior Bldg in Eastwood. There should have been large signs posted all over Roosevelt Island announcing the service! There were postings later that first day but it didn't seem like RIOC wanted this to work. This service will definately be needed in 2009. The service should also be expanded then so that children who go to school off the Island can take advantage of this, too. There will be alot more people on the Island then-the new development will be opened. I don't know what RIOC has planned for 2009, but we will need some type of replacement for the tram when it is down in 2009.
ReplyDelete