The F and M Swap is Good, Actually

The swap would be good. As a frequent QBL commuter, I've noticed that E and F train frequencies have gotten noticeably faster compared to before the 63 St tunnel closure.

63 street tunnel is most likely to open on April 1st! With that said, EVERY single signature matters! I don’t want to come back to those random 18 minute gaps in F trains while I see three E trains pulling into Roosevelt Ave.

title: the f and m swap is good me: no s**t bro

The F & M Swap is a great idea! The only thing is delineating the whole QBL would be very tricky. I agree swapping the N with the R in Queens, but the main reason they did this swap in the 60s was due to the R having no direct yard access on either end of the line. That's why the R goes to Forest Hills (access to Jamaica Yard) and the N goes to Astoria (has access to Coney Island Yards). This could be solved by extending the Astoria Line to LaGuardia. They can build a yard by the Astoria Power Plant (where Astoriaborialis happened) and build a decently sized yard. It was proposed in the 90s but NIMBYs won and the project was scrapped. This plan can be revisited, but knowing the neighborhood, it will never see the light of day.

It's not just good, it's GREAT. Having 2 expresses on 53rd makes the CBTC process easier and allows for smoother operations at Queens Plaza. The problem is with NYCT is that the leaders are stupid to break up something good and to take advice. Making the M a Full Time line via 63rd would cut away a lot of the delays from QBL....

Take a shot every time he says "a preference for 53rd Street...." 😂

I live at the 53rd street stop, I have noticed a huge improvement having the F train back here and I didn’t know why. Thanks for articulating it. Super interesting!

When I lived in Fresh Meadows I would sometimes take the M in the evenings to avoid those crushing crowds and just transfer at 71st Street to an F. Added a couple more minutes to my overall commute but just to be in an open train made the commute bearable.

WASSUP. Also, I'm very glad you're beginning to upload much more often. Also, I am guessing that this a response to the video which you responded to about reverse branching. Anyways the F & M swap is supported by many people because it doesn't require both lines to switch tracks multiple times cuz it decreases capacities. Anyways good content!

Making 36th St an express stop would definitely require major construction. That station only has outside platforms for the local tracks, and no cross-over switches east of the station to change between express and local before platforming westbound. Also, the express rejoins the local just before the station, so fitting cross-over switches might no be possible. If you did expand the station width to fit island platforms between the express and local tracks, without cross-over switches you'd still have trains for the same East River tunnel stopping across the platform from each other - not impossible to run but confusing for passengers. Given how much money MTA manages to spend on any major construction project, this one station might end up being pretty expensive. Worth considering, but it needs to be the best place to spend that money for improved service.

At 13:17 there is a lot of very good things and I like them all the only flaw is the B pattern as it would have to run 8 car trains causing crowding. The better solution for this is by sending that via Sea Beach and the D would go to Bay Ridge. This way both lines would have full 10 car trains. The R on West End is something I heavily support and with that we have the R touch Astoria as well. In term we have the following fixed (B): Inwood- 207th Street to Coney Island via Sea Beach (D): Norwood- 205th St to Bay Ridge- 95th St (N): Forest Hills to Brighton Beach (Q): 96th St- 2nd Ave to Coney Island (R): Astoria Ditmars Blvd to Coney Island via West End At 15:59 the K route is not needed as it defeats the purpose of having the C, if anything the best thing is to have the C run on QBL to 179th St leaving the E pattern alone for most of it. Complete Deinterlined QBL (C): Jamaica- 179th St to Lefferts Blvd or the Rockaways (E): Jamaica Center- Parsons Archer to Euclid Ave (F): Forest Hills to Coney Island (M): Forest Hills to Metropolitan Ave. Also this means that on the Fulton St line the C would now become an Express, giving the line 3 express corridors. This also means that the C would now replace the A east of Euclid Ave, plus the C has gone past Euclid a few time when the gaps of the A line were big, but this time the C would serve Lefferts and the Rockaways permanently under this plan.

We should definitely stop using pre covid 2019 ridership statistics. We won’t see those numbers for quite a few years.. and with work from home now a days and the 9-5 schedule no longer in full dominance (7-3,8-4,10-6&11-7 becomes more common for shifts now a days) we need to begin using 2023 statistics as the new way of life for ridership and location demands.

Thinking about outbound travel from Manhattan to Queens, the swap simplifies things so that you go to 53rd Street if you want express and to 63rd Street if you want local.

If you swap the F and M you can gap a Romeo at queens plaza to allow the M to enter 36th st. If service was to be increased on queens blvd then you have to expand Jamaica Yard to get off hour layups off the mainline from Union Tpke to 169. The BMT part of the Romeo needs to be looked at as well. Maybe swapping with the Astoria Nancy.

I learn more and more about the transit system watching these videos. The MTA needs someone like you when it comes to these ideas.

1:43 Technically, the IND Queens Boulevard Line begins on the lower platform of 50th Street-8th Avenue in Manhattan. The line on 53rd Street that the E and M run on is part of the QBL.

The F and M swap makes perfect sense. Not sure why one needs to do a petition to suggest it. If the folks at the MTA were to use logic, the swap is quite simple and minimal. Queens plaza is a disaster at rush hour.

The IND 63rd street line needs 24/7 service regardless just like the IND 53rd street line, F and M swap is a bad choice, reason being is because the M doesn't run it's full length 24/7 like the E and F, sorry peeps, no can do here, LOL!!!

I wouldn't mind to have the M full time on the whole 63rd Street Line if the F were to stay on 53rd Street, but that's only if the M were full time on the whole 63rd Street Line. For god sake I HATE this ongoing F and M service change where the F is on 53rd Street but weekday M trains only go to 57th Street-6th Avenue, and service is heavily adjusted between Lexington Avenue-63rd Street and 21st Street-Queensbridge.

I think the best service pattern could be this… Weekdays AND weekends the M to Forest Hills via 63rd Street and the F on 53rd Street. Late nights either that same pattern but just some minor adjustments with the E and F, OR the F just goes on 63rd during late nights.