Brooklyn, NY – The Private Bus Company has the franchise for a bus line connecting Boro Park and Williamsburg. Serving a Chassidishe clientele may sometimes require special considerations. Those living in Williamsburg generally identify the bus service as the “Williamsburg – Boro Park Bus.” Boro Park residents call it the “Boro Park-Williamsburg Bus.” A recent meeting of the management of the bus line with Councilman Simcha Felder to discuss service improvements was fully reported. Issues such as overcrowding and service disruptions were touched on.
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Management shared with Councilman Felder its difficulties at times in satisfying public demand. When yeshivas or girls schools dismiss their students at irregular times, such as on fast days, buses overflow at unanticipated times. Passengers are unable to board buses and drivers are forced to pass bus stops ignoring passengers waiting there. In addition, if the bus line is not informed in a timely manner as to when Chassidishe Rebbes make weddings, the passenger overflow is not served properly.
Further, the bus company’s board of consulting rabbis directed that male passengers occupy the front of the bus and females the back. When a bus driver attempts to service an overflow of passengers, men and women are unacceptably intermingled. Accordingly, when buses are full, the board of rabbis has directed that buses not stop for additional passengers.
As a result of the meeting, requests are being made for schools and institutions to advise of any temporary change of schedule as well as events, like weddings, melaveh malkahs, dinners, etc. In addition, private parties making weddings or other large gatherings that rely on the Boro Park-Williamsburg bus line are advised to give the bus company notice so that passengers are not inconvenienced.
Passengers are urged to fold carriages before boarding a bus, to make boarding easier and allow passage for other passengers. Passengers are directed to prepare fares and tickets in advance.
Anybody familiar with this bus route knows that their service is horrible on an every day schedule. If it is 10 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon. They don’t have enough bus space regularly.
You won’t satisfy people anyway doesn’t matter what you do. People complaining on every thing they can let me see if people are ready to work with driver’s
How about having them better maintain the buses and clean them from time to time. Driving around those shlocky dirty buses, with parts dangling everywhere and stupid advertisements that are encrusted in dirt, is a very poor reflection of our community and a chilul hashem. Its not Kvod Habrius.
The contents of the add are also very embarassing. The one that says “nachomas yisroel saves yiddishe neshumes” is highly offensive to ordinary New Yorkers who are generally well meaning and concerned for others, who dont understand who needs saving. The mentchliche thing would be to make the ad in all Yiddish or in regular english like “Nechomas Yisroel is an organization that saves Jewish souls”.
Just my thoughts………..
I’m from Boro Park and we simply call it the Williamsburg bus
to 2..are so shaky in your beliefs that every little thing afraid of chillil hashem?..those signs are made for plian ehrliche temmimes yidden not for sophisticated educated…..etc
They are so frightened of someone complaining to the rabbonim, they routinely leave passnergers standing on the street because the woman’s section is full and they are afraid of one of the ehrleche yidden screaming about a woman taking an empty seat in the men’s setion. Once they stop, they cannot say we will take the men passengers only and leave the women at the bus stop for the next bus. Thus, the solution these bus drivers have adopted is not to stop for anyone. They should be fired and replaced with drivers with a minimum of chachma and common sense. Its no big deal if a woman has to stand/sit in the women’s sectio for a few stops if its cold/raining outside rather than leaving them at the bus stop because some jerk might complain.
So now they consult with Rebbes on transit problems.Their expertise is overwelming.
You can please some of the people some of the time, you can’t please all of the people all the time.
THis whole thing is bizarre to me. Dont these same pelple take the subway?
Does the bus receive public funding,
If so then it can’t discriminate against the women
i do use the bus occasionaly & find them on time ,running… from 700am -1140 pm THATS SERVICE.( maybe driving a little too fast for our congested city
I dont use the BP/W bus that often, but every time I do, I remember again why I dont! If there would be a competition company out there, maybe we would see some changes. The buses are run down, overcrowded, and the route it takes is the same for the last 15 years, although both BP and the W doubled in size since then. We have no choice, and they know it. They put minimal efforts into pleasing the olem.
I was use this bus for about 10 years when I was learn in a yeshiva in boro park and I was never see such a harebell service
When you run a Monopoly business thats what you get…I been riding those buses from day one when there was only one stop in front of the YCH on 14th ave. The service is horrible and the drivers reflect on the owner..who ever knows Yakov Mermelstein the owner wont expect any better service..Please complain to the local politicians,Felder
I use the Will/Bp bus quite often and find it to be the worst place to be on, even for one minute! The bus can literally shake you up, with all those bumps and jumping they make along the way, cant they be more careful at driving? People get off that bus nauseas and dizzy, Its really not fair!!
sometimes these drivers can also go out of the way to pick up another driver on the way, this is really not normal since it takes up alot more time from the passengers!
I rarely use it but when I do, I noticed that the ladies have much more seating and space. Meaning the men are about the first 6 seats upfront on both sides (about 24-28 seats) But the rest are all for the women, starting almost from the front all the way to the back. So it doesn’t bother me physically that I can’t sit in the first few upfront seats. It’s the whole idea of men in front, women in back.
However I did see the dayan of Monroe pasken that if there are no empty seats and a woman or women are standing, the men are obligated to give up their seats to the women. That calmed me down a little.
Chill, it’s a bus not a hotel.It’s the most 3 hours
Who has the advertising rights on the buses?
They should learn from the Lubavitch bus that serves Crown Heights aka Kan Tzivo Havayo ess Habrocho to Boro Park.The service is great and with lots of chasidishkait
I am a female from the UK and when I used the bus I found the service good but the clientelle abominable – why on earth can’t the women fold up their strollers so that others can get along the gangway and on or off the bus with minimal effort? The safety issues were terrible!
Without bashing chassidishkeit or the bus line, I have been angry for years about several things:
–>The physical condition of the buses. On more than a few occassions, different buses, different routes…I got wet from the leaking roof when it was raining and kept switching positions on the bus ride. No matter where I stood or sat (there were empty seats once and I remember clearly moving around a lot in the “raining bus”) you couldnt escape the leaks in teh bus roof
–>The general attitude of the drivers. For a while there was a sign forbidding cell phone talking. The driver, though, is distracted in a heated conversation, out loud, laughing racously and inappropriately. Someone told me the driver once asked for quiet in the back of the bus because he cant hear his telelephone buddy, so a woman said you are not supposed to talk on teh bus, the sign is posted right there…he answered, “This sign is for me, so that I can hear my conversations!”
–>I’ve been “skipped” or just ignored by the drivers. I was one among a few who were waiting in teh freezing snow and sleet on a short Friday afternoon. The driver just didnt stop. He saw me. I waved when I realized he wasnt slowing, but speeding dangerously ahead. I was mad. Why leave out a stop just at whim? What justifies that? Its totally unacceptable in any weather, especially in severe ones.
–>I’ve witnessed the bus starting to drive away while women were exiting the back. Too bad, the driver said. Its taking too long to get off. Sorry, driver. Perhaps if it wouldnt be so crowded people would find it easier to push through throngs of others to get to the door.
–>When the men’s section is empty (there are usually more women than men because the men find alternate means of transportation often) and a woman will ask a bachur or man to move more towards the front, it is common to get a shrug of the shoulders. Just like that. No comment. Its like, “Who are you anyway? I dont care to get up and move two seats to teh front of the empty bus.” Its blatant chutzpah and uncommon sense, unfortunately very common.
–> I dont know why, but every time I want to get onto the bus, I am shoved or almost shoved away by a bachur or man or many of them. Why do they think they need to push? And wouldnt it make more sense to let the ladies go first, all manners aside, for the sake of tznius? After all, the women need to go to the back of the bus. So why push ahead, get on, then let the women push through a packed bus, through the men, and yes, there may be a question of tznius, a big one here. After manners.
–>What was written about the drivers taking passengers’ time to pick up other drivers is true. I’ve had this on many occassions. Most annoying is when they WAIT for that driver. I remember one stifling hot, summer day, a packed bus which left Boro Park at about 5 pm to Wmsbg, where we waited for fifteen minutes.
–>The drivers smoke most of the time. Its disgusting, its dangerous in a closed place, and its downright illegal!!
–> The general attitude of the drivers is appaling. One Polish driver (no discrimination intended, but there is only one Polish one) likes to scream like a maniac, “Quickly, quickly, quick, quick.” Its not like someone is standing in the doorway shmoozing. They arrive off-schedule, skip scheduled routes, and do the heck whatever they want. So why treat your passengers like chickens, herding them like animals, “Quickly, quickly!!” The answer is that we dont expect anything better. I’d say if we’d collectively complain and boycott the bus in an organized way, instead of inactively seething and complaning to one another, which I very often hear, we’d get somewhere. But as long as we dont expect better, we wont get it. Absolutely not.
There are major problems with the bus line and everyone knows it. The tznius problem is just one of them, if at all.
I hate to go with them they are terrible, they close doors on carriages with babies inside, they dont stop for people running or banging on the door. And when you call in to complain they dont even listen to you.
The drivers on these buses eat, drink, read their newspapers, talk on their cell phones, yell at the passengers, all at once ,while driving! These buses are extremely unsafe! MTA would do a much better job!
Why cant they do two seperate buses, one for women, one for men on the rush hour slots? The buses are overcrowded as it is, making two buses at those times, would solve two problems with one solution.
everyone is always full of nasty complaints! a jew is always counting someone elses money & full of criticism. it would not be the end of the world if a man helped awoman fold her carriage and shlep it on the bus for her while she is trying to carry her baby with her packages!
When I lived in BP and I wanted to get to WillyBurg, I used to take the subway 99 out of 100 times. Timewise it wasnt that much longer and it was a better ride.
I recently was on the bus and EVERYBODY near me was having legitimate complaints but nobody did anything about it!!! we must take action if not we will continue riding those overcrowded old rickety shaky buses!!
Here in lakewood they don’t have such a thing b’h but I heard they are planing of making buses
During the day there are 3 busses every hour (one every 20 minutes) but during the morning rush hours – when people have to get to work and school on time there are only 2 busses per hour.T.hat’s CHUTZPAH and sheer STUPIDITY. Ofcourse the bus will be OVERCROWDED. And if you chalilah miss the 7:55 am bus – you have to wait 35 minutes for the next one at 8:30am and there you are surely LATE to work or school. The girls STAND in the aisle reaching all the way into the men’s section – not a very TZNIUSDIGE position. At the slightest short stop, the girls nearly land in a gentleman’s LAP – that is a DISGRACE. If there is a garbage or oil truck parked on a certain block, the driver will bypass that block and SKIP the stop entirely. People can be waiting there and can’t run quickly enough to meet up with the bus at the next stop and then have to wait more than 1/2 hour for the next bus. It’s only because the bus company has a MONOPOLY that they can DO whatever pleases them. COMPETITION is the ONLY answer. MTA supports this bus – that’s why the route is called B110 like a city bus. The complaints should go to 311 or the local politicians and GUARANTEED this company will shape up or some other company will get their route. That’s what MUST be done by ALL the DISATISFIED riders IMMEDIATELY!
The rabbonim have given a heter for men and women to stand together for short bus and subway rides where there is crowding an no alternative, thus there are no concerns for either negiah or tzinius. People should just exercise common sense and not worry about where the sit. If any of the men or bochurim object, they should be politely but firmly thrown off the bus for disruptive behavior.
The comments thus far are all very LEGITIMATE . Can we please SHARE them with somebody who may be in a capacity to HELP – like Felder or Hikind? It’s a SAFETY issue here – the ride is rollercoasterish sometimes and let’s NOT wait till somebody chalilah gets HURT to SCREAM about it.
A lawsuit? What else should we do. I don’t get it. This is a service. You don’t like it, don’t use it. And the side by side thing like the Monsey bus is a no no. A thin sheet does not a mechitza make. Some of the men brush up against the women on purpose. Disgusting.
I’m sorry. This is NOT a service – it is a full fledged business and should provide for the $2.50 fare in addition to the MTA subsidy. The riders don’t really have another option. The train is too far from my home and then too far from my office. I don’t drive, and even if I did – I don’t have a car. Besides that parking in Wmsbg is IMPOSSIBLE.So if I want to get to work the bus is my means of transportation. Do you have any better ideas?
Riding on the bus today…. besides having the driver start up his wild driving as soon as I dropped the money in his slot, while balancing my baby in one hand and carriage in the other, he totally disregarded the request of this old lady who could barely walk to “please wait, Im getting off ” and just zoomed past her stop. I felt like giving him a piece of my mind but knew it wouldnt help. I m just so fed up! I actually paid $25 for a car to get back home instead of taking this ride of terror with the kids again!!
Can you please forward these complaints to the bus company? May be all this negative reaction will remind them to SHAPE UP…..O R E L S E! They don’t have a contract with the MTA for life – and if these complaints would be forwarded to the MTA it won’t be in the bus company’s favor. So—LET’S SEE SOME POSITIVE OUTCOME