Moving to New York...Public Transportation (Ridge: work, university, rush hour)

[Uncle Ruckus]

I did a search of the forums, and I didn't find an answer to my primary question. If my question has already been answered elsewhere, please direct me to that particular thread.

Anywho, does anyone know how good public transportation is in Queens? Can you get around Queens easily without a car? How difficult is it to use the bus system if you don't know New York very well? Do bus drivers typically announce their upcoming stop, or are there signs within the bus that displays the upcoming intersection/stop? Thanks!

[Viralmd]

It depends on where in Queens you are!

[Carbro]

Your question is too general. Some parts of Queens are well served by public transportation, others not.

You can find a subway map here: MTA NYC Transit - Subway Service Information
and a Queens bus map here: http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/busqns.pdf Maybe these will answer your question.

[jgee]

Like the others said, it all depends on where you are in Queens. In general, the closer to Manhattan the better, the further out, the less.

In general, the bus system is very easy to use and probably one of the best bus systems I have ridden (if thats the correct word).

[Henna]

There are some parts of Queens where having a car is more of a pain than anything else. Those parts would be the areas closest to Manhattan near the subway lines, such as the E/F/R/V/N/W and 7. There are other parts of Queens near the M train where I think a car would be helpful.

Your best bet is to look at the subway map at mta.info, or maybe also look at google maps of Queens, which will show you where the subway stops are.

You might get better answers to your question if you tell us what your plans are - will you work in Manhattan, do you already have a car you want to keep, do you have children, etc.

[By~Tor]

Buses in New York generally tend to stop every two blocks, like clockwork... the schedules, however, you can toss away as useless, because they come when they wanna' come... count on being at a stop at least ten minutes before you THINK the bus is supposed to be there (during rush hours).

Generally, the trains & buses are fine, but getting stops called out on either is hit & miss, and depends entirely on your driver or conductor... Queens, you'll get to know easy enough, as it's on the "grid" system with the rest of NYC...

Just remember this much... in MANHATTAN, "Avenues" run north & south and "streets" run east & west. . . . in the outer boroughs, it's exactly the opposite....

[Uncle Ruckus]

I'd like to thank everyone that responded to my initial post! And, I'm sorry about being too general. I'll be moving to Jamaica Queens to attend St John's University.

[009]

Originally Posted by Uncle Ruckus

I'd like to thank everyone that responded to my initial post! And, I'm sorry about being too general. I'll be moving to Jamaica Queens to attend St John's University.

Jamaica is a major transportation hub of Queens. There's got to be at least 2 dozen bus routes there, the LIRR, and 3 subway routes located there.

Originally Posted by Uncle Ruckus

How difficult is it to use the bus system if you don't know New York very well?

Can be confusing if you never analyze the routes before heading out. Many routes are local and some are "limited"(routes that pick-up/stop on busy intersections only). Of course it depends where you're heading.

Originally Posted by Uncle Ruckus

Do bus drivers typically announce their upcoming stop, or are there signs within the bus that displays the upcoming intersection/stop?

It depends on the operator and there's no sign in the bus displaying the next stop.

[cjma79]

Originally Posted by By~Tor

Just remember this much... in MANHATTAN, "Avenues" run north & south and "streets" run east & west. . . . in the outer boroughs, it's exactly the opposite....

Not always... in Brooklyn, Ave. run north and south in some parts (Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Borough Park, Dyker Heights), only central Brooklyn is the other way.
The same goes for the Bronx. Queens is the only one that goes opposite.

I am not going to talk about SI, because almost everything in SI is an avenue.