Monday started the new Route 719 express service downtown past my house. It actually only saves about 5 minutes, and it means I only to work a few minutes earlier, but it’s still nice not to be in a pokey bus going downtown. Route 32 at least psychologically seems a lot faster than taking Delaware Avenue and stopping every few stops.

I had previously taken the earlier 719 bus downtown, but that bus was so early that it didn’t work well with my schedule — I would get to work well before 9 AM — and that made for unnecessarily long days.

So far that bus seems lightly subscribed to. I was the second passenger to get on the bus, at Delaware and Cherry – despite the bus starting at 20 Mall then visiting Altamont and Voorheesville before passing my house. No further passengers got on the bus. It was such a change into the routine, and quite a pleasant experience compared to riding the normal bus, I question how long it can last with such light ridership. Maybe people need to become more aware of the service, but I question how long it will be in tooth.

It certainly was a different experience compared to the normal bus ride.