The B61 Bus is a Disgrace
Late Sunday afternoon we got off at Court Square after coming back from visiting my sister in Astoria. According to the timetable, we had missed the previous bus by 4 minutes and had 13 minutes to go until the next bus.
I realize the B61 timetables are a joke. You can always tell if someone isn’t from the neighborhood by the fact that they bother to look at the timetable. That in itself is inexcusable, but it’s just how things were.
With the opening of Ikea, however, the B61 was a brave new world. Drivers had their timetables prominently affixed to their dashboards. Drivers were *hustling*. No more of that lackadaisical meandering down Manhattan Ave. They actually tried to make time.
Back to Sunday. We opt to wait for the bus instead of getting on the G most of the time since the bus brings us to our corner while the G involves more of a wait/walk. When the weather is nice, especially, it doesn’t seem to make sense to go downstairs to the G, which is only slightly more reliable than the 61.
We waited. And we waited.
A bus approached. As it got closer, we saw it read NOT IN SERVICE.
One bus out of service, trying to get to the front of the line, makes some sense. Okay. We were still waiting.
A second bus approached. NOT IN SERVICE.
Not long after that, two buses approached from the opposite direction. Let’s remember that the B61 terminates at Queensboro Plaza. So if you’re waiting at Court Square, you’re two stops from the origination point. If a bus is heading towards Queensboro, either it’s turning around when it gets to the end or another one is about to start.
Except that’s not what happened. Both of those buses shortly thereafter passed us at Court Square with NOT IN SERVICE again displayed.
At this point we had been waiting for half an hour. No bus had passed us on the way to Queensboro and we couldn’t see a bus approaching. So we headed for the G.
Even with walking down to the train and waiting a few minutes for the train to leave, when we got off at Norman, what did I see? A B61. I am reasonably certain that that was the first bus to have come in at least FORTY-FIVE MINUTES.
Obviously, the buses that passed us were all heading for Ikea. Because the buses were late. And they need to stay on schedule for the rich white people waiting at Ikea with their Flarkes and Didriks and Billy bookcases, whereas the people who depend on the B61 to get them home - well, they can wait, can’t they? What are they going to do, complain or something? And if you tell me that’s not it, then I want some kind of rational explanation for a 45 minute wait for a bus and why four perfectly good, empty buses passed us.
We took down all the bus serial numbers so a letter to the MTA is forthcoming.
UPDATE: Lost City has visual proof!
camille said,
August 18, 2008 @ 10:43 am
wow, from bad to worse. what an absolute shame.
Jay said,
August 18, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
I catch the B61 at Court Square to head home to Greenpoint most days sometime around 8 or 9 pm. After seeing a personal record FOUR B61s heading one after the other (that is, no cars or other vehicles between them, just four buses) going to other way towards Queensboro Plaza convinced me I should do some research and tracking.
That day, the first three of those buses came back and passed my stop (with a growing number of people waiting) without stopping. By that time the fourth bus stopped, two more had gone the other way.
Now my plan is to create a log: time I arrive at the stop, when the most recent bus was scheduled, when the next bus is scheduled, what time a bus actually stops, and how many passed by without stopping in the meantime.
But… one thing I think we all should know. That commenter in the linked Gowanus Lounge post mentioned that he carries the direct number to MTA in his wallet. However, he didn’t pass it on. Anyone have it?
Seems like something everyone along the B61 route should have at hand.
(Interestingly, by the way, I was on Long Island last weekend and noticed that both LI Bus in Nassau County and Suffolk County Transit have their respective agency numbers posted at each bus stop. A rider can actually call to get schedule and route information.)
andres said,
August 18, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
puerto rican and black new yorkers go to ikea too. i’m white, i go to ikea, and i’m flat broke.
admin said,
August 18, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
andres,
i know that. but i guarantee you that the city doesn’t care about how long minorities have to wait for the bus. and they’re not going to call the MTA and complain. bobby yuppie who just bought a condo in w’burg is going to get in a huff if he has to wait for a bus (although you could argue that he probably has a car, or he’d take car service…)
i realize the store serves all new yorkers. but the administration tends to not notice until white people yell.
pazzia said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:29 am
if you can get and publish that direct MTA number, i will raise holy hell every single time a bus screws me (and all other riders waiting me with me) over. <– white person
Neighborhood Threat » THE MTA RESPONDS. said,
August 19, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
[...] sent email yesterday, complaining about last Sunday’s B61 debacle. Today, to my amazement, I received this response, for what it’s worth: MTA New York City [...]
diana said,
August 22, 2008 @ 7:24 pm
I gave up on the B61 a while ago. It’s faster to walk the near mile to the L than wait for the bus.
rowan said,
August 28, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
@ diana: is the G not closer? guaranteed, it is the G but it’s actually not all that bad. i use it daily to commute from work and find that its appears regularly, always around the same time. the L seems horribly overcrowded to me, whereas if you can overlook the G’s quirks, you’ll have a quick trip to the Court Square/23rd-Ely hub.
R said,
December 23, 2008 @ 8:04 am
I found this by googling “B61 Bus Schedule.”
I have long hated the B61. One Sunday morning I waited over 45 minutes in Williamsburg for one to take me to Long Island City. It never did. However, one did fly past me which said “Not in Service.” I saw it stop a few blocks up ahead and let people off.
I was so annoyed I called 311. They informed me the MTA does not take complaints on the weekends. Fitting.
I did call on Monday. I guess if you call and complain enough you can get results. I’ve had pretty good luck recently with it sticking to its schedule.