The article below is good but does not address the pathetic Westchester County Bee Line bus system, which moves poor people around to provide services for rich people. See many previous posts on how empty the Bee Line buses are. It might well be more cost effective to provide free and/or discounted Uber rides to the poor people, rather than having them wait in unpleasant locations for Bee Line buses.
Uber's technically not legal here, but it may be soon
by Mark Lungariello, mlungariel@lohud.com 7:48 a.m. EDT March 25, 2016
State insurance laws are a stumbling block for ride-booking services outside of New York City.
Ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft are prohibited in the state outside of New York City due to existing insurance laws. Uber operates in Westchester, but under the county’s current laws regulating taxis and limousines, the company’s drivers are only allowed to give rides if the pick-up or drop-off location is within one of the five boroughs.
It’s a poorly-kept secret that you can take an Uber within Westchester County even though the services aren’t licensed to operate here ...
Yonkers, White Plains and New Rochelle license their own taxis and collect revenue from permit fees or selling medallions.
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Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Apply HOV to EMPTY buses.
High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV): "vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers"
Applying that concept to Westchester County Bee Line buses as well as regional and corporate buses should eliminate a significant percentage of them from downtown streets.
A VERY high percentage of Bee Line buses are "not in service", so they're gone. MANY private buses have zero passengers. Eliminate them, too.
That could eliminate the majority of buses from downtown. What's the data on EMPTY buses impacting the quality of life in downtown White Plains?
Applying that concept to Westchester County Bee Line buses as well as regional and corporate buses should eliminate a significant percentage of them from downtown streets.
A VERY high percentage of Bee Line buses are "not in service", so they're gone. MANY private buses have zero passengers. Eliminate them, too.
That could eliminate the majority of buses from downtown. What's the data on EMPTY buses impacting the quality of life in downtown White Plains?
Buses parked illegally: a White Plains tradition.
There's an area with painted striped lines indicating that vehicles are not to be parked there near the hideously embarrassing mini-mall at the triangular intersection of the ever confusingly named (South Lexington Avenue)/(Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.) and (Barker Avenue)/(Water Street).
Those really big regional buses have established a tradition of parking there for long rests and/or short vacations. The City of White Plains ignores this. Otherwise, those regionals might need to park illegally on Hamilton Avenue near Walmart with all those Westchester County Bee Line buses.
I guess those buses need to be parked somewhere. But why are they in downtown in the first place? They are almost always almost completely empty.
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| May 16, 2016 mid day |
I guess those buses need to be parked somewhere. But why are they in downtown in the first place? They are almost always almost completely empty.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Buses in your face.
The thing is, once you start to notice the oppressiveness of so many buses used so inefficiently, you cannot stop noticing. It's as though the buses are in your face. Right now it's just one person but it could become more. You never know.
The absurdity of a DOUBLE Bee Line bus on North Broadway at 6 PM on a Sunday is compounded by the fact that its sign was the ever present "not in service". Just how many passengers does the county expect to board that DOUBLE bus this evening, if and when, it actually goes into service? What percent of miles traveled by Bee Line buses, including to/from staging areas, are "not in service"?
How much Westchester county tax money is being wasted on the Bee Line, whose not "not in service" buses in White Plains never seem to have more than a few passengers?
Email sent:
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The absurdity of a DOUBLE Bee Line bus on North Broadway at 6 PM on a Sunday is compounded by the fact that its sign was the ever present "not in service". Just how many passengers does the county expect to board that DOUBLE bus this evening, if and when, it actually goes into service? What percent of miles traveled by Bee Line buses, including to/from staging areas, are "not in service"?
How much Westchester county tax money is being wasted on the Bee Line, whose not "not in service" buses in White Plains never seem to have more than a few passengers?
Email sent:
| from: | Ken | ||
| to: | Downtown White Plains Transit District | ||
| cc: | Rob Astorino | ||
| date: | Sun, May 15, 2016 at 6:07 PM | ||
| subject: | Bee Line double not in service. |
Is this a joke? Isn't anyone embarrassed or upset?
Photo of parked bus taken at 6 PM Sunday May 15, 2016 North Broadway and Park Avenue.
About twenty minutes earlier a huge regional was speeding down Barker Avenue approaching the Church Street intersection heading towards the bus depot at the White Plains train station.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Bee Line: how about loops within White Plains?
The Bee Line (Bee-Line) County bus system has loops that go to Tarrytown, IBM headquarters in Armonk, corporate parks along Interstate 287 and others. I think they all go to the White Plains train station, which, of course, involves the absurd loopty loop in, through, around the county bus depot there. If that ever made sense, does it now?
Since the City of White Plains is incapable, unwilling, whatever of getting its own bus system, why not petition the county for intra-city bus loops?
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Empty mega bus on Park Ave. Would this be tolerated where Common Council members live?
Private bus on residential Park Ave. waiting to turn left onto North Broadway at 6:30 PM this evening. Sign on the bus: Pepsi to train station. It was empty, probably heading back to Purchase to pick up another couple of corporate passengers.
Why was this bus on Park Ave.? One reason is that Hamilton Ave., which has zero residential buildings, is ONE WAY in the wrong direction for use by the many empty and almost empty buses leaving the train station: private, regional, county Bee Line. Any casual observation during the day will show a VERY low percentage of seats occupied by passengers. It's impossible to see how this benefits the majority of White Plains residents who live in apartments downtown.
Would Common Council members tolerate this on the streets where they live? The commissioners? No way.
So how about the administration checking this out? Show some interest, even if I'm the only one making it an issue.
How about the media doing more than putting a camera on a tripod and covering yet another statement about something that impacts a very low percentage of White Plains residents. How about those who write for stuff that people read, checking it?
How about administration people joining me for random walk arounds to observe the obvious? It won't take long to see.
And the City wants many more mega buses to enter downtown White Plains from the new bridge over the Hudson? That would turn the area near the train station into a vast wasteland, maybe even worse than now.
Why was this bus on Park Ave.? One reason is that Hamilton Ave., which has zero residential buildings, is ONE WAY in the wrong direction for use by the many empty and almost empty buses leaving the train station: private, regional, county Bee Line. Any casual observation during the day will show a VERY low percentage of seats occupied by passengers. It's impossible to see how this benefits the majority of White Plains residents who live in apartments downtown.
Would Common Council members tolerate this on the streets where they live? The commissioners? No way.
So how about the administration checking this out? Show some interest, even if I'm the only one making it an issue.
How about the media doing more than putting a camera on a tripod and covering yet another statement about something that impacts a very low percentage of White Plains residents. How about those who write for stuff that people read, checking it?
How about administration people joining me for random walk arounds to observe the obvious? It won't take long to see.
And the City wants many more mega buses to enter downtown White Plains from the new bridge over the Hudson? That would turn the area near the train station into a vast wasteland, maybe even worse than now.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Dodge City. Busland. Pick your metaphor.
Traffic Laws. Thursday, December 4, 2008
WP is Dodge City. When it comes to moving violations there is no law.
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Buses, buses everywhere ... downtown. But why so many empty buses? Why so few riders? Why on residential streets? Why are bus depots at the train station? Why are so many Bee Line buses parked empty downtown, such as on Hamilton Avenue, adjacent to Walmart? Why so many Bee Line DOUBLE buses?
WP is Dodge City. When it comes to moving violations there is no law.
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Buses, buses everywhere ... downtown. But why so many empty buses? Why so few riders? Why on residential streets? Why are bus depots at the train station? Why are so many Bee Line buses parked empty downtown, such as on Hamilton Avenue, adjacent to Walmart? Why so many Bee Line DOUBLE buses?
Bee Line double buses even on Sunday morning.
What the heck?
Arriving at the Transmania bus depot at the White Plains train station.
Is anybody paying any attention?
Arriving at the Transmania bus depot at the White Plains train station.
Is anybody paying any attention?
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