RIOC Tries Octagon Express in
Effort to Fix Red Bus Problems

by Dick Lutz

As anticipated in the November 18 issue of The WIRE, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) started an express Red Bus service for Octagon residents on Tuesday (November 27). It’s a trial to run through the end of December.

There was immediate analysis and criticism from residents (see letters) pointing out that Octagon residents are not likely to wait for the express bus if a non-express is waiting when they emerge from the building in the morning. RIOC VP Catherine Johnson (CJohnson@rioc.com/212-832-4586) responded to one by saying, "We are piloting this route... and will adjust as necessary."

Additional reporting for this article by Frank Farance, Lilly Piccione, and others

As announced by Johnson, the plan diverts one of five rush-hour buses for the non-stop service from 888 Main Street to the subway and Tram stations, running every half hour. The remaining four buses will continue to run the full route from 888 to the Tramway, but will make the usual "local" stops along Main Street and the West Service Road.

The express buses will leave the Octagon stop at 7:30, 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, and 10:00 a.m., and will not wait for the Tram before starting the northbound portion of the loop, which will stop only at the subway on the return trip to 888.

When Red Bus #2 arrived at the Octagon Wednesday at 8:19 a.m., almost 30 passengers boarded for a trip that started at 8:22, opting not to wait for the 8:30 express. The non-express run was at capacity by the time it reached 40 River Road. Several Manhattan Park residents had boarded it going north in order to secure seats for the trip south to the Island’s transportation terminals.

On Thursday morning, Octagon residents seemed to be gravitating to the express departures. The WIRE counted over 60 boarding the 8:00 a.m. express, 38 at 8:30, and 22 at 9:00, though that bus left two minutes early to make room for an arriving non-express. Non-express buses leaving in the half-hour periods between express departures had less than half the number of passengers of the prior or next express. The exception was an 8:16 non-express trip – probably because there had been a full 12-minute interval between the 8:04 departure of a non-express, and the 8:16 arrival of the next bus, also a non-express.

On Thursday morning, that 12-minute wait was the longest between buses, but the intervals between other departures were typically 3 to 6 minutes. There were 16 departures between 7:58 a.m. and 9:03 a.m.

Late Thursday, Johnson announced that the Octagon express buses will now run every 20 minutes – on the hour, then 20 and 40 minutes later.

RIOC is augmenting the express-bus plan with a ban on Main Street double-parking from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. in an effort to tame congestion in the Main Street corridor. The agency promises tickets for violators.

As of Wednesday morning – only the second day of the trial – a few kinks appeared to remain. The driver of an express run from the Tram and subway stations to the Octagon Park building arrived at 8:14, then departed empty to the chagrin of some who were waiting. (Johnson later explained he was going to a holding area to stand by for an 8:30 express departure.) The dozen or so Octagon residents who had been waiting for a Red Bus were then joined, over the next five and a half minutes, by more.

When a non-express Red Bus then arrived just after 8:19, it already carried nine riders from 40 River Road, who had boarded going north as a way to secure seats, rather than waiting for the bus to travel south and, possibly, arrive at their stop with little or no space remaining. At the Octagon, another 27-30 riders boarded, nearly filling the bus. That bus then skipped the Motorgate/Gristedes stop, apparently because the 20-plus waiting were more than could be accommodated. It also left 17 people waiting at the deli stop – all looked befuddled – but picked up ten riders at the Good Shepherd stop.

Johnson explained that all the buses are in radio contact and that, if a driver knows another bus is close behind, he may skip a stop. On this particular run, however, there was no following Red Bus – all were, at that point, bunched at points south of bus #3 as it continued going south.

Bus-bunching is a well-understood phenomenon that occurs when buses operate without a firm schedule or enforced intervals: After a while, trailing buses catch up with leaders and they run in packs. An observer at Island House saw the entire fleet pass the Good Shepherd stop in one six-minute period, which meant that, after the last of those buses went by, there was a long wait for the next southbound bus.

In some cases, passengers leaving the subway station have not been able to see the small cardboard "express" sign at the bus windshield and have boarded with a destination other than the Octagon in mind, only to find they are unable to exit as the bus proceeds north. Although drivers have making announcements like "Octagon-Coler only," riders sometimes don’t hear or understand the announcement and haven’t yet learned to be alert to distinguish express from non-express buses.

Johnson told The WIRE Wednesday afternoon, "The express bus has reduced overcrowding on buses along Main Street. We plan to continue to monitor and adjust as necessary."