Has anyone on the 21st Street corridor actually figured out where the Q69 and Q100 are supposed to stop now? I ride the Q69 from Ditmars to Queens Plaza a few days a week, and the new Queens bus redesign signs have turned the whole strip between Hoyt and Broadway into a game of two-pole poker.

Last Tuesday morning, the new flag for the southbound Q69 was planted just north of 23rd Avenue, maybe 40 feet past the old shelter. Five of us stood there. The bus pulled into the old stop, let two people on, then drove right past us despite a woman waving. Yesterday, same stop, a driver stopped at the new pole, looked confused, and told us he "didn't have that stop on the card yet." Then this morning, another driver skipped the new sign and honked at people waiting at the old shelter. You can't win.

I pulled up the Queens bus redesign map and my transit app, and they don't agree with each other, or with the signs on the street. The northbound Q69 stop near 28th may have moved to the far side of the intersection, but the old sign is still up with no "stop moved" notice. Q100 seems to have kept the broad stops over by 21st and Ditmars, except one new mid-block flag by the laundromat that doesn't match the published limited-stop pattern.

Is this just an Astoria rollout issue, or are other corners seeing the same? I'm trying to figure out whether to read the signs, trust the app, or just stand somewhere in the middle and make eye contact.

Yep. Same stretch. It's the classic MTA move: they zip-tie a skinny new pole to a parking sign and call it a bus stop, then leave the old shelter with the old map for two weeks. This morning I saw a Q69 stop at the old stop, then creep up and open doors again at the new one 30 feet later. Total clown show.

Ok I'm new to Astoria and thought I was going crazy. I waited at 21st and 30th because Google maps said so, and the Q69 didn't even look at me. Is there a way to know which pole is real besides just following the crowd? Also is 21st and 30th even still a Q69 stop? I'd appreciate any advice, my commute is already long enough lol.

Not just Astoria. They did a similar soft rollout on the B61 down by Red Hook last year and for a month it was basically "the driver will stop if you wave from either pole." The problem is the old stop data is still in the system and the new sign isn't in the operators' paddle cards. If both routes share the street, you're fine until a supervisor redirects. Stand at the pole that has actual route numbers on the flag, not the old shelter, but don't be shy about walking to the bus if it stops short.

To answer overwhelmed_owen and build on AstoriaAndy: the best short-term move is to check the MTA BusTime stop ID on the sign and not just Google/Apple Maps, but even that isn't perfect right now. For the southbound Q69 between Ditmars and Broadway, the stop I trust most this week is still the old shelter at 23rd Avenue for now, unless you see a yellow "stop moved" placard stapled to it. I would avoid the new flag just north of 23rd until the operators' paddles catch up.

For 21st and 30th, the Queens redesign map I found shows it as a Q69 stop, but the street sign there is a small new pole, so if you're heading toward Queens Plaza, position yourself near the pole but stay visible. A trick that's worked for me is to wait slightly toward the approaching lane and make eye contact, then point at the sign. If they don't slow, start walking to the old stop. It's not a solution, but it'll save you a 10-minute headway gap.

I also don't blame the drivers entirely. They've been given new maps, but the turn-by-turn material and stop lists in the bus are lagging behind. Until that's updated, we're all just beta testing a redesign during our morning commute.

Agreed on BusTime being useless when the bus is a ghost or hasn't picked up its tracker. I don't care about the stop ID, I just stand at whichever pole has the most people and watch the driver's hands. If they don't blinker, I start walking. Learned that after being blown off twice. Pro tip: the 21st Street side near the old pharmacy has a bodega awning for the rain, which is the real stop now.

Thanks astoria_arch and AstoriaAndy. I tried the look-at-the-driver-and-point thing this morning by the new pole and the Q69 just blew past (again). So I jogged over to the old shelter and the next one stopped. The driver said the new stop "wasn't in the system yet." That seems wild but at least I know. Does anyone know if the Q100 has the same issue? I might switch to that since it seems faster.

Q100 uses the same street and probably the same dispatcher notes, so yeah, same issue but less often because it's limited. What I've been doing is if the bus stops short or at the wrong pole and you're the only one running, just wave like you ordered a cab. Half these drivers are just as annoyed as you are and will open doors if they see you coming. They want to finish their run, not leave you there.

Also, file an MTA complaint when it happens. Not because they'll answer fast, because eventually the Queens bus team sees a stack of "stop not in system" notes and fixes the data. That's the only reason the B61 got fixed after Red Hook rode the hood of the bus for a month.

One thing I can add from talking to a road supervisor at Queens Plaza yesterday: the old stops are being removed in phases, but the new signs went up before the bus stop systems were fully updated. That means the bus won't consistently log the new stop as a scheduled point. If the operator stops there anyway, they can trigger a schedule deviation. I've seen a couple of drivers do it, but others don't want to risk it.

So the practical rule right now is:

• Northbound Q69: use the old stops unless there's a bright yellow "stop moved" with an arrow, or unless the old flag has been covered with a trash bag.
• Southbound Q69: the stop at 23rd Avenue is the messiest. The old shelter is still the safer bet all day.
• Q100: I've only seen real changes around the upper Ditmars end, not the main 21st Street stops. The new mid-block flag by the laundromat appears to be for one of the local route shifts, so ignore it for Q100 until there's a number on the flag.

I also pulled a new paper map at the station, and it's stamped "effective August," which tells me we're miles ahead of schedule. If you rely on 21st Street for a connection to the N/W, give yourself an extra 10 minutes this week.

Extra 10 minutes is generous. I gave myself 15 and still sprinted. At this point I just stand halfway between the two poles like I'm trying to split the difference at a parking ticket.

Wait, does the Q100 still stop at Ditmars and 31st? I've been thinking about using it to get to Queens Plaza, but I don't want to learn a whole new set of mystery stops. Also, how do you file an MTA complaint about the bus not stopping? Is it through app, twitter, phone? Sorry if that's a dumb question, I've only lived here a few months.

Q100 still hits the big stops, but don't trust Ditmars/31st until you see an actual Q100 sign there. In my experience Q100 drivers are a little more forgiving on the mid-block wave because they're limited and fewer people run after them. For complaints, I use the MTA website form, takes two minutes, and I usually include "bus stop not in system" instead of "driver skipped me." More likely to get a real response than yelling into the app void.

Quick update after a full week of riding it on purpose: the data seems to be catching up on the southbound Q69 at 23rd Avenue, but the sign situation is still ugly. This morning the new northbound flag was gone from the pole near 28th, and there was a paper notice under the old shelter saying the stop would move "on or about" a date that has already passed. So it isn't you, and it isn't really the drivers either—it's a sloppy rollout.

I called the MTA's bus information line, and the rep read from the same map we all have. She couldn't tell me whether the stop at 30th was active for both Q69 and Q100, which is absurd. If you need a reliable alternative, the Q101 on Steinway still has its old signs and the stop pattern hasn't changed much, but it ends up in a different place in Queens Plaza. For anyone going to the N/W, the Q100 is still the better bet once you're north of Broadway, just give yourself the buffer.

My current strategy is to pick the stop that has the most recent-looking printed QR code sticker on the pole—not perfect, but the new stickers show up after the data update. I'll update this thread if the 21st Street stops settle before Labor Day.