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Bus-Random thoughts thread can have any, well, "Random bus thoughts" here.

I think you're seriously underestimating just how big an aspect of the job dealing with petty supervisors and non-stop micromanagement can be; every acquaintance I had growing up who worked in NYCT said putting up with shitty bosses was at least 50% of the job. No job can truly be enjoyable if the person directly overseeing you, his boss, and most layers of management above are rotten to the core, and will try to get you severely disciplined or even fired for the slightest or even perceived (i.e. nonexistent) infraction. You talk of job enjoyment, but the reality is that for the majority of us ordinary folks in this country, life is not about doing what you want to do, but doing what you have to do to not end up on the streets.

They were removed from service at least temporary in part because they were not wearing masks while in service. It's an observation that was made by a number of people, not a connection to the bus being stuck, but still a concern given how many trips are not being completed due to driver shortages, in addition to things like this.

A bus route every 30 minutes isn't anywhere near the amount of capacity required if the subway were to be shut down (not to mention that there's various lines between Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan).

But then the same could be said for every single other subway line in the system, should they also have duplicative bus service?

In West New York, NJ; with a bunch of XD60s too...

As I stated earlier, it is an alternative to subway service. In addition, if there are ever days where subway service is suspended, reduced, or rerouted, it would be beneficial to rely on a bus route that isn’t a subway shuttle. Personally, I have been taking Ubers every time I need to travel to Manhattan to avoid riding the subway during this pandemic. You also have to put yourself in the shoes of people who are in a wheelchair or have other disabilities.

Prevost 1319 took its place for #23 as that unit went back to its original arrival spot.

The only question I have in all of this is, when (as in, what part of the traffic light cycle) did that b/o turning attempt that turn.... He (the b/o turning) said that it was "his light" - but that could mean anything from a [solid green] to a [green transitioning to a yellow] (well really, a yellow transitioning into a red).... Outside of simply being a d*ck, there had to have been some reason that b/o of the EB bus (the bus already on 39th, not turning) was that deep into the intersection, knowing that there's a stop line there (that's pushed well back behind the intersection itself).... The b/o (of the bus that attempted the turn) said that there was a car there, but it's irrelevant.... I'll continue to say it.... Both routes (B39/B51) should have been kept, or both routes should have been eliminated..... I would say the same thing if the B51 was kept & the B39 ended up getting eliminated.... B/o's doing such a route would need so much damn red bull's & headache medicine from operating such a route, it aint even funny!

This was true. John Samuelson, TWU International President made a big stink about it at the last board meeting to the Office of the Inspector General because I think the Tesla charging station was built by MTA management and supervision. There were MTA-billed man hours put into building it, etc. and that there was never a report or even a reprimand when someone found out and ordered them to take it out. His whole point was that the OIG goes after hourly workers and makes a big stink that it goes into the media but is usually quiet about stuff that happens at the management level.

It's nuts. I heard about some other news report where workers were using an credit card for personal things like building a charging station to charge someone's Tesla. lol

I don't see the connection.

I don't particularly like relying on this. Not only is it meaningless to a good part of the population (some lack a sense of direction), but depending on exactly how the labels are used, they could be rendered meaningless for either a good stretch or the entirety of a route purely by skew. The rest of it, however, is fine.

I just went through that. I really hate the part after they ask you to describe how the sample trains run. The directional ones only fit under certain circumstances (north and south only work if there's more of an overall skew that suits them, which is constant for the and but not the or ), and the ones for the termini may be split (the is the worst offender with a name that starts with a neighborhood that it's already been serving and a street name that doesn't even apply to either street the terminus actually touches).

Not dumb at all & it isn't at all necessary to ring the bell for the last stop. Any b/o that tries to "blame" a passenger for not ringing the bell in such a situation is doing nothing more than blame-shifting (I'd go as far as to say saving face from not feeling embarrassed).... The fact that you didn't ring the bell, doesn't give that b/o carte blanche to blow past a terminal stop, assuming nobody was on board... Which leads me to saying this: What I do in that situation (and this is a VERY common occurrence, being that I ride full routes a lot, being that a good chunk of bus terminals aren't exactly major destinations/major xfer points & what not) is walk up to the front of the bus, as the bus is approaching the terminal... Make hard footsteps if you have to (like you're stumbling to maintain balance as the bus is in motion or something, not like you're in the military, or in the hood stomping on roaches & shit... Lol..)... Of the occasions I was asleep as a bus reached a terminal, luckily I haven't had any asshats for b/o's.... I tend to apologize & say thanks (upon being woken up).... You'd be surprised how willing some b/o's are to help out if you (as a passenger) aren't belligerent or attitudinal in having overslept (yes, this is a thing, believe it or not - MF-ers getting mad at the b/o for waking them up.... MF-ers are entitled as shit).... Some will give you an xfer.... Some will even go the extra mile in getting you closer to your destination after the fact (not so much in the boroughs, but I've personally had 2 Bee-Line ops, 1 GBT op (Coastal Link; out in Connecticut), and 2 NJT ops do so)... So... yeah, I've never woke up inside Gleason, ENY, Flatbush, or any other bus depot 😄 Funny enough, I remember being on a bus (B12, not that it matters) some odd years ago, and ole girl (the b/o) threw a hissy fit for someone having rang the bell when the bus was going through the underpass (approaching Alabama av.).... Needless to say, shit was not that serious & a few people that were on the bus basically said as such.... One chick in-particular was going at it back & forth with said b/o as the bus pulled into the terminal..... I should get back to doing trip reports. --------------------- Side note: Not particularly at a route's terminal, but what I have been noticing more & more is stops being blown past/missed WITH the bell having been rang/pressed...

Agreed. No need to extend the B39 at this point. It’s only function is just to shuttle from the Bridge to Allen Street. There was a mention about the B51. No need to revive the 51 at this point. You have all the subway lines serving the immediate area of Chinatown, City Hall and Fulton/Nassau. If they wanted to keep the 51 back in the day it would been useful for a Canal Street Crosstown and end at W. Houston and West Street (Pier 40) over by UPS/FED-EX/Sanitation sharing the M21 bus stop.

These local bus drivers still don't wear masks. Unreal...