Bus countdown clocks at Queens Boulevard and 39th Place heading westbound. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
Aug. 21, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
The city is installing countdown clocks at several bus stops in Woodside, Sunnyside, and Long Island City.
The clocks, which display in minutes how far a bus is from a stop, are in the process of going up in five locations, according to a DOT spokesperson.
The first two sets were installed last week at Queens Boulevard and 39th Place, and Roosevelt Ave and 61st Street. The agency will be installing the other clocks at Woodside Ave and 61st Street, Broadway and Steinway Street in Astoria, and Vernon Boulevard and 50th Avenue in coming weeks.
The stops covered by the countdown clocks are part of the Q32, Q60, Q104, and Q103 lines.
The five bus countdown clocks were funded by the 2016-2017 participatory budgeting cycle in Council District 26. The countdown clocks, to be installed throughout the district, were one of five projects that received the most votes for funding from area, with Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer then allocating $200,000 for them.
Voters in the most recent round of participatory budgeting also decided to spend an additional $300,000 on bus countdown clocks throughout the 26th Council District.
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20 Comments
This is all about money and billing the city and counsils of NY. Just like bike lanes…its a waste..another example of “what works in other cities doesnt always work in NYC” #vanbremerout
Also they are not consistent. At Madison between 57 and 58 there is one for the 3, 4, and 32 busses but there is not one for the 1 and 2 busses.???????
Put one outside vanbramers building on Queens blvd to remind him of his political career.
love it 🙂
Others cities have rhis, why is it so expensive and hard to do in nyc
They are in the city, aka Manhattan, and they don’t always work and are not accurate… fyi
Unions.
Finally something useful.
I wonder how secure they are, how often they will be vandalized and how often they will be repaired
I expect these rely on the same technology as the apps, which is concerning since I have two of the bus apps and those aren’t always accurate. For instance, there are ghost buses on the line that don’t show up on the apps. Get on one of those at rush hour and they’re empty because people believe the apps.
Finally Chaaaaange is coming!
What a huge waste of money.
Point one – everyone has smart phones (yes everyone), and those have MTA bustime service. Countdown clock is redundant.
Second point – I bet these will cost $1,999,999.99 a pop and will still not work reliably. Who will benefit? Unions! Why? Because it takes 14 unionized MTA workers making overtime to install anything more than a light bulb… don’t believe me? Next time around when 7 train is undergoing repairs, look at the “hardworking” men and women and see who is actually doing any work at any particular point of time.
America runs on dunkin, but new york runs on taxpayers waste.
Unions got us a 5 day work week, holiday pay, health insurance, etc. Union members are hardworking. And no, not everyone has a smart phone. Count down clocks are not needed as even people with a flip phone can use their text message to see how far away the bus is.
Unions also prevent hard working people from getting a job unless they are paid a union due (its another tax). You have a right to work! You shouldn’t have to pay a tax to work! Unions today are not the unions of yestergenerations.
If you don’t like it you don’t like democracy. This and as part of the community budgeting vote. Did you vote? Did you lobby the projects you wanted to win? If not call Van Bramer’s office and tell them you want to do your civic duty and get involved with community fidgeting. They gear up in September. You’re just in time!
With the ability to have the location for buses on your Smartphone for free. It is sad the price tag being spent on these countdown clocks at just 5 bus stops. All other stops on the line will use the Smartphone app. Our tax money could be better spent, especially considering the cost.
$200K for 5 clocks. That’s 40K each.
Yes it’s expensice but they’re not clocks you buy at the dollar store. They have to be commercial grade vandal resistant clocks. It’s like bitching about why a coffee grinder at a coffee shop is $3,000 -$6,000 not $30 like the one you buy for your house. People have no clue what things cost.
I just use the MTA bus app on my phone. That way I don’t have to get to my stop just to see my bus is running 15 min. late, I can see that info from the comfort of my home..
Unfortunately the app DOES NOT always work.And if you take the bus you see many Seniors who don’t have smartphones and cannot climb the stairs to the subway