Two points:
1. Cutting public transit is the most economically harmful action that NYC can take against itself. Making it harder and costlier for people to work in NYC drives away employers as well as employees; it's a disaster.
2. There is no way that a secretive, in-group and publicly unaccountable body like the MTA CANNOT be thoroughly corrupt, especially given its performance of late. We need a high level Attorney General investigation of this organization.

I think dollar vans are a great idea and encourage these entrepreneurs. I took dollar vans in South Africa, if one can survive that they can survive anything!

A question: do the dollar van companies carry insurance?

What about the 700 bus drivers who were laid off as these cuts have gone into effect? The driver on my route mentioned this yesterday, and I recall hearing so little about this - everyone's just focusing on the routes and the commuters.

What about the 700 bus drivers who were laid off as these cuts have gone into effect? The driver on my route mentioned this yesterday, and I recall hearing so little about this - everyone's just focusing on the routes and the commuters.

put light rails in tunnels. increase comerce,make emergencies easier to reach,decrease ALL forms of polluion,make city streets for people. not allow people to use a car to transport their bodies and nothing else[unles they absolutely need a vehicle for their work]. have more air to breathe,eliminate traffic jams. retrain cabbies,and greatly reduce their fleets. bikes and sanity. is it too utopic for ya!

Gene, tell us about the salaries

there was a list of discontinued buses on the inside of teh bus it said this list continues on another poster! fire the mta

tell your laws makers you want a modern transit system

if there are so many lesser used routes, let's get rid of some lesser used executives

Man, the dollar vans are a menace. The city really, really, really, needs to get a handle on them. I know some of them are legal, and hopefully they operate more safely than the illegal ones, but I can't tell the difference.

I see them blow through stop signs on a regular basis (I live near Flatbush Ave). They constantly honk their horns to attract business, they drive extremely aggressively.

Does ANYone enforce traffic laws? Several people have been killed on Flatbush lately and so far, I don't see any serious increase in enforcement, and the dollar vans are a serious contributer to chaos on Flatbush...

the MTA sucks. stop torturing the people

Shame on the city that isn't willing to implement a millionaire's tax, but is willing to inconvenience thousands of its citizens without putting up a fight.

The B71 ran ever 30 minutes, and was pretty reliable. It had very predictable usage. Very light in off-hours, very heavy in rush hours. Surely the city could find some way to make allowance for variations in ridership.

I took the M train in from Ridgewood today. I expected it to be crowded but it was a quiet pleasant ride to 42nd street.

I also noticed the ticket booth at a nearby L train station is boarded it up. Now two police patrol the area. What costs more police or ticket booth attendants? Seems like they are passing the buck.

Increase the Tunnel fees for cars and trucks.
Put a toll on cars entering mid-down town.

Increase the parking tax.

These will help fix the public trasport issues.

Shut down more streets in mid-town and make the city more "people" friendly vs car.

I live on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. I will pick up my kids from school in Carroll Gardens. So instead of one great bus, I have two trains and a walk between them.

The B71 bus has seen some of the highest increases in usage of any bus route in the city. There is no great alternative.

Brian,

Maybe your other listeners can explain:

Not a eulogy, but a complaint. The MTA completely does not understand transit needs. The B41 which services most of Flatbush avenue comes every three minutes and is sort of redundant because most of Flatbush is serviced by subways and dollar vans. However, there are lines like the B69 and B71 which do not have duplication with subways are being cut. The MTA's numbers are fixed with these cut lines because they would conly come once every 30 minutes, hence fewer passengers.

the first accident on a dollar van and sueing the city it's all over and the buses are back

A lot of peoplein Bklyn are talking about the demise of B line buses. This is shopping crucial transportation. how about fireing some beurocrats lowering the fare and leaving the infrastructure of transport alone

For the past 4 years, I have anticipated the end of the B23 line in Brooklyn, which ran on Cortelyou Road. The B23 buses were rarely full of passengers. It rarely stopped and waited for at least 2 minutes for potential passengers coming from the Cortelyou Road train station. Many times, I ran after the B23 after exiting the train station with my baby, baby stroller and bags in tow. The B23 would stop to let someone off and immediately close its door - 1 minute flat and I would miss the bus. I always thought it was a waste of a bus line and parking space.

As for the elderly and youth that rely on this line, I feel for them. The service was horrible 75% of the time, so I guess they will not miss much. They can always take the B103 and get off on Coney Island Avenue. There are alternate routes.

Now, I am looking forward to desparately needed parking space in the Flatbush/ Ditmas Park area that the B23 took up. (After many years of horrible experience on public transportation, especially with a baby in tow, I purchased a car and I do not regret it.)

The focus should not be on the V & W lines. The V was - other than the 2nd Ave. stop - completely replaced by the rerouting of the M line. The W was mostly replaced by turning the N into a local. So, the cuts are for local riders in southern Brooklyn and Manhattan below Canal St. who now have only the R to depend on. Also, riders who depend on N express service have only the Q to depend on. That and many of the bus cuts/rerouting are the main stories.

First day of the M gone from the Bay Pkwy-Broad St extension so relying solely on the R train out of Dekalb Ave:

It definitely felt like an M would have come in the time between the R train that I missed and the next one that arrived (though not necessarily). I expected that R train to jam packed. A lot of people got off and...I got a seat. Uh oh...this may not be as bad as anticipated?

Going home will be the real change. A longer walk and an almost counted-on packed train. So I may be able to hold onto my anger and bitterness after all. Whew.

It never had a song written about it as the A. It never seemed to leave the station if you were getting on at Second Avenue. It didn't run express in Queens like the E. It didn't take you to Brooklyn like the F. It didn't run after 8 PM or at all on weekends. The V for Victory was sort of a joke. And... yet it will be missed.

Because it was shunned by those in the fast lane, the V always offered ample seating. It might take 10 minutes longer to get into Manhattan versus the F or the E, but riders experienced comfortable and productive reading time versus the hurry-up, stand-up, and squeeze-in time of the so-called express trains.

On the platform frequent riders knew where to stand for the best seats available anywhere in the New York subway system. Before shiny new cars began replacing the original Vs, the best seat pairs could be found facing each other at the front of every other car. These were seats with real armrests and leg room, amenities left over from another century. There were no electronic displays to count down the stops or automated announcements, but at least you didn't feel hemmed in if someone of ample girth sat next to you.

On the last afternoon of its run (Friday, June 25) I photographed one of the new V cars at its terminus in Forest Hills. It said Last Stop. Signs in stations for M had already replaced ones for V. And though the V train had only a 9-year run, it was longer than most Broadway shows, an eternity compared to the life expectancy of most New York restaurants. So, now the V stands for Vanquished, and I've already taken my business to the Long Island Railroad.

L train full
the F train was great. almost got a seat

sample size = 1

i'm confused by these subway line eulogies. is a line really dead,as in forever and ever,when it is discontinued? if so,why? how can the MTA possibly project into the future,and "know" that a subway line is not coming back. if they are imbued with such clairvoyance,how can they not better predict when the money is close to ending? or are the eulogies a comuters contrivance,that the MTA does not challenge,in order to not create any false expectations,regarding the possiblity of reinstating the lines in the future?