Leaderboard

I'm not going to wade through the myriad of proposals and instead just touch upon the actual service change announcement. For those complaining about the extreme limitedness of the service, I'm surprised no one has realized that this is the intention. Transit knows this service will fail, which is exactly why they plan on implementing it as such. Few people if any are going to rearrange their schedules and commutes to catch one of the two inbound express trains during the AM rush or the outbound ones in the afternoons, because as we all know, railroad style scheduling does not work on the subway. Transit also knows that they cannot run additional express trains without screwing over Windsor Terrace, Gowanus and Carroll Gardens. When this inevitably fails due to low ridership similar to the Jerome pilot back in '09, Transit can "truthfully" say they tried, but cannot do much else without negatively impacting service elsewhere.

None of this crap involving the injection of more artics into the system is about addressing overcrowding capacity... What I've long been sick of, is the bullshit disposition that these changes year in & year out are being made to increase customer satisfaction.... The MTA does not care about you, Mr./Ms./Mrs./Miss NYC public transit commuter.... Embarrassingly enough, you can't tell me about "customer demand" when you don't know (or care to know) the riderbases for each & every route you operate, either..... Ever notice in the "alternatives" sections of these changes, the mere inaction of "Do Nothing" is almost always present - and on top of it, is the most expounded upon alternative to some initial proposal/upcoming change (if it isn't the ONLY alternative listed, mind you)? They are trying to reduce manpower & resources & they are doing it as gradually as they can (much like with anything else).... That's all this shit is & that's all that it's been about....

In the IRT I can almost guarantee which generation of school car instructors taught a T/O by how they operate a N/B express train from 33rd St into Grand Central. My class of M/M, T/O s were taught to knock off the controller just north of 33rd St and let the timers clear just before you passed them. The idea drummed into our heads was that a yellow signal, whether timed or not, is a restrictive signal with no guarantee that the following signal is going to clear for you. If you operate SMEE equipment vs NTT there's a slight difference because the vantage point on SMEE equipment is not the same as NTT. The cab window/ trip cock metric are not the same. You want the yellow signal to start to clear as you pass it and if you timed it right each following signal will (should) clear as you enter the curve into the station.. S/B from 51st or 59th st ,, and M/M/ T/O s were taught a different procedure especially when ST was activated. Basic school car instruction said to use the ST signals to close in on the train ahead of you. The big exception was on the Lex corridor traveling s/b north of Grand Central. The fly in the ointment there was the location of the home signals and the switches. We were taught to never close in on a train at that location unless you were following that train for some distance, say 125th on down, so you had a feel for the movement of your leader. That location, GC s/b in the rush was notorious for creating major delays. The main reason was that as the follower you had no idea of what your leader was doing. The ST would be lit up, you would cross the interlocking and the switches and whammo. Your leader had a pulled cord, brake pipe rupture, or a 12-9. I've listed the problems from bad to the worst. By closing in on your leader, an accepted practice, you have locked out either the local or express track. You have followed a general practice but it backfired because the M/M, T/O, had no way of knowing if his/her leader was actually moving. GC , aka, the Diagonal station, is located on a curve and the signal system doesn't account for that location. We were taught to hang back at the interlocking signals north of the station leaving ourselves, the Tw/O and the dispatcher the option to line up a route around the blockage. Don't forget that my school car instructors were M/M before 59th St became an express stop, so any trouble at GC jammed up express trains from 86th St on down. When I was on work trains I used to hang out with the midnight Tw/O and he used to ask us why everyone wasn't taught the way we were and we couldn't answer it. He, in turn, became the PM GC dispatcher, and finally the line Supt. so when something would go wrong myself and a few others would tell him that we had stopped and stayed at a particular interlocking so he could either re-route us or turn us back from whence we came. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when there's more service added to the Lex with nowhere to go to relieve the inevitable jams. Carry on.

7649 is unwrapped from SBS service, with only a teal triangle for SBS all door entry. I have proof: Taken from inside King’s Plaza Level 3 of the Primark/JCPenny/Burlington complex part of the Mall.

Ten bucks says this dies by this time next year. I just don't see a path to success for a service that runs at 2tph frequencies on a line with the reliability issues of the . People will look at the clocks, see the train they thought would arrive in 5 will arrive in 15 and just take the local.

this is absolutely abhorrent. next local 100 union meeting, I'm bringing this up, because in all honesty, i haven't read one piece of literature pertaining to any of this, regardless of the fact that this "restructuring" will affect employees directly in certain cases... I'm pretty sure of the reasoning why this hasn't been addressed as yet, being that certain entities within the union believe Cuomo to be our "friend"

For those that are keeping score, here's what haven't been delivered to any depots yet. 2019 Nova Bus LFS: 8504-8507, 8642, 8646, 8698-8699, 8701, 8715-8754 2019 New Flyer XD40: 7786-7787, 7848(supposedly at Zerega), 7850-7905 2019 New Flyer XD60: 6126, 6129, 6161-6162, 6166-6182, 6190, 6193, 6195-6196, 6198-6199, 6202-6233, 6235-6286 2019 New Flyer XDE40 9510, the latest XDE40 is still in the system. 8698-8699, 8701, 8715, 8717, 8719-8720, 8729, 8736, 8740, are at the New Jersey Service Center. 8504-8507, 8642, 8646, 8721, 8723-8725, 8728, 8730-8734, 8737-8739, 8741-8754 are up at Plattsburgh and various locations upstate, some of which are at a graphics vendor nearby. 8726 is currently at Northeastern Bus Rebuilders, likely getting the new paint and decals. Most of the New Flyers are either up at the New Flyer plants or at the vendor facilities.

And then NYCT will wonder why people are switching to Ubers / Lyfts, or simply driving.

These discussions need to be moved to the "Random Thoughts" thread. It makes it difficult to weed out the actual bus moves. Thank you.

With the MTA's track record on capital projects, I would not expect to see the 8th Avenue-Nassau Street connection built in my lifetime even if they announced it tomorrow... Any deinterlining scheme would require working within the constraints of the existing track layout in order to be successful.

When the ATS system goes down we can use the old Command Center at 370 Jay as a backup, right ? Wait, what, there's no functional backup ? Local towers and dispatchers, right ? Wow, this hi tech advanced system has me confused. This 21st century whiz bang stuff is amazing isn't it ? Carry on.

You do realize how outrageous that sounds, right? Not only would the backlash by just about everyone would be insanely bad publicity, but that would set up a terrible precedent (hint hint, look who's in the White House). It's a good thing you aren't in charge.

BTW for anyone that wants to know, 7061 has no MHV sticker.

The enthusiasm of some posters never ceases to amaze me. If they would only stop, take a deep breath and then look at reality I think they would see the big picture. Any plans for new construction are DOA. New tunneling and interlockings appears to be fantasy IMO. I doubt that phase 2 of the SAS will ever be completed. I'm looking at these grandiose plans for the Nassau Street line and it appears that many people have overlooked the obvious. Those tracks and platforms were abandoned because the MTA deemed them unnecessary and a waste of money to maintain. Bergen lower is another location where the MTA doesn't see the need to rehab and re-open. When a few of us asked about the removal of the switches at Freeman St on the WPR line we were told that they were removed to save money, period. Never mind the loss of operational flexibility. Never mind that our old G.O.s took out service from Freeman to East 180 and buses were provided now a G.O. in that area means bus service from Third Avenue to East 180 instead . It's my opinion that many of the posts, however well thought out, will never be considered if they cost money or political capital. My subway posters should pay more attention to the Surface threads. Those folks know the routine. If it's not cost neutral it's not happening. Maybe someone should put a bug in Andrew's ear. He is the only person who can change that mantra. My opinion. Carry on.

Can confirm it was the taskforce. saw Cuomo in a vest changinge a 'D10' to a 'D13'. Seriously the MTA has had room for consolidation in the Corporate portion, keeping in mind that generally half of each fare on an MTA ticket goes to HQ and support staff. So perhaps SOME of that is needed. Taking away the Presidents power to oversee decisions directly effecting operations reeks of intrigue and the same nepotism the Governor decries every day. Now that Byford is starting to steer things the right way I suppose Cuomo needs a better angle to take direct credit. Politics can really ruin a railroad.

It’s like TSA - it’s the appearance of doing something meaningful so 1) folks shut up/get off their backs and 2) was easier and cheaper than doing something comprehensively better.

The man is ahead of is time, all hail!

100º and no AC is a tough sell -- even for fanners like myself. Not to mention that half the community has problems with deodorant on a good day!

Not gonna listen too long, but 2:00 in is telling. You've got a T/O asking to do the right thing to help his customers, which is wrong rail with caution into 3rd Ave to put a door panel in the station and allow passengers to deboard. RCC says that won't be allowed out of an abundance of caution. I understand their angle, but this is where they should respect and trust T/O judgment. At <5mph creeping, with other trains stationary, the risk isn't that high, and the reward (allowing however many hundreds or thousand-plus people to avoid sitting an hour and a half on a stopped train) is entirely worth it.

LOL I was just drafting a post on this. I think there's one sentence in here that's extremely telling: No mention of process reforms to reduce impact, none of different GO formats, none of track barriers. Just "see work, cut service." I'm increasingly of the opinion that productivity issues are the next big threat to the system, both given the increase in work volume, and the multi-decades decline in peak ridership in favor of off peak travel. Not that there's much of a chance that these cuts get stopped, but the constant degradation of off peak service is really, really important.

Hold on....what do you mean by that they lack of....amusement?? You are kinda out of touch with that statement...... Some employees hate them for the footwork they gotta do with the brake release to get them going, along with the stifled transmission setup that makes them take off slower than the rest of the XD40 fleet. Most transitfans hate them because they replaced their older favorites.....which in itself is a dumb point, but I, and a majority of fans who look past that dumb reason don't like these mostly because they ride like hot garbage with all of the rocking and swaying, and the HVAC isn't as good. Also not a fan of it's transmission setup that makes them take off slower than the rest of the fleet. The 2011s, and the 2017-2019s are much, much, much better than the 7090-7483 batch by far. The only buses I like out of the 7090-7483 batch are the MTA Bus units at LaGuardia, they take off much better, have better seats and AC units. The 7090-7483 batch(except for the MTA Bus batch) is by far some of the worst spec'd Xcelsiors we got.

Most should already know, but if you weren't aware, trains were rerouted down the past Queens Plaza due to yesterday's blackout. While trains would usually terminate at Whitehall during these reroutes, a G.O routing all NB trains via the Manhattan Bridge from DeKalb Avenue to Canal Street prevented this. The trains needed to be sent into Brooklyn. This particular train was originally supposed to terminate at 36th Street, as heard in the announcements in the first part of the video. It is likely that this train would have gone to 9th Avenue, and then be sent back north towards Jamaica. This did not happen because an train occupied the middle track at 9th Avenue. This train was instead sent down the West End Line to 62nd Street. It was supposed to go express from 9th Avenue to 62nd Street, but that didn't happen for whatever reason. 2005-2010 Alstom R160A-2 Car 9548 on the at 36 Street-4 Avenue by BM5 Photos 2019, on Flickr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a bonus of some train action below Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan (from last week): 1984-1987 Bombardier R62A Car 2075 on the at Bowling Green by BM5 Photos 2019, on Flickr Enjoy! The and saga continues...

Gonna disagree with those saying management is where there is space for cuts. Management is a shell of what it once was; there are groups that have, because of the hiring freeze, lost over half of their staff. It's getting to the point where we will see real challenges. They need an infusion of new people and a reorganized structure that allows for less siloed thinking and more action, not cuts (except to the consultant payroll). It's worth keeping in mind when reading this report that the big drivers of MTA costs are debt service, healthcare, and increasing payroll costs (both in headcount and in O/T). The first of those is essentially the long term manifestation of capital budget funding deficits and cost escalations, but the rest of them are largely consequences of expanding ranks of middle/lower hierarchy jobs without serious productivity improvements. Certainly worth stressing that a good bit of those costs are self-inflicted MTA initiatives (SAP, deck chair shifting in ops support, etc), but the general issue is that the workforce isn't, in some key areas like maintenance, all that productive even by US standards. But of course the report isn't gonna talk about that.

6660 and 6670: Manhattanville ➡️ LaGuardia

You do realize that you’re talking with a person who knows all the permutations of the line? 😁 😁😁 . 5:00 Utica to 241st, 3:45 Atlantic to 241st, 3:54 Franklin to 241 st, which returned from 241st as a to Flatbush in the afternoon. The terminal “ cutback “ was done to alleviate the congestion at 241st which was delaying the service and reduce the amount of moves needed to lay up trains up there. That’s why some trains would run express from East 180th to Gun Hill middle and terminate there and line up for yard access. The regular riders knew the routine and they figured out that if they wanted to go to 241st they took the train. Even then, depending on the equipment, a train signed up for 238th would sometimes end up being sent to the terminal if needed. I gather the situation with the is similar. Boils down to the crew assignments and the CED equipment requirements. Maybe it appears confusing to some people but if they read the signs and listen to the announcements 9 times out of 10 they’ll be okay. I say that as a person who made a Dyre to Utica trip every night for 15 years , from the pre-Redbird era to the NTT with a correctly signed up train yet there was always the person who got to Utica and complained about me taking the wrong lineup . My regular riders would point out to the person that signs were right and the correct announcements were made. The real old timers like myself remember when the never went to Flatbush at all. It all boils down to being aware . My experience., YMMV . Carry on.

Something funny came up on the intercom overnight from a Grand Concourse conductor, when he was getting close to Kingsbridge Road on the train, and before I got on the 16 to my place. This is what he said from the intercom that made me laugh out loud: "If for any reason you're dissatisfied with this train, the countdown clock indicates that another one is going to come in the next five minutes." Let me tell you this: I haven't heard this one before from like any conductor.

This is totally unnecessary... Anyway, 7649 is still assigned to the B46 SBS even though its wearing the local scheme.

Sworn in today for Aug 19th. Super exciting

Yet he had no problem expanding the speed cameras, enforcing them when school is out. People are still walking into the street with traffic barreling down at them without a care in the world. Funny how he's so quick to blame cars when people just think they can walk and bike wherever? He can stay in Iowa, for all anyone cares.

Since the rear door boarding is the biggest problem -- somehow missed by all the "smart" people getting paychecks at not only the MTA, but the NYPD/MTAPD -- simplest solution at this point is to actually put two uniforms on the buses to "pop-out" ahead of the crowd from the rear door(s) and basically play sentry duty. Then re-board and go on down the route. Could also be like the DDOT Transit Police from the DPD and have a cruiser actually following the bus along the route. Watch for the crowds, chirp the siren at a stop, put the overheads on, pop out and start taking names. Dashcam/bodycam footage available too. Naturally the fareboxes would go bonkers with all the extra Metrocard scans, and the MTA number-crunchers would be scratching their heads when looking at those reports.

You could guess as to why....

You can't kill the , Bushwick, Ridgewood, etc LOVE the on 6th Ave and would riot if the Brown M was restored.

The D60s don't exist anymore, they have all been chopped up and turned into soda cans already.

I still just shake my head every time the MTA scheduling department does its "artic-ization" to routes. Good ole Judy scribbles the line that the artics "will significantly increase seat capacity on these routes," like the MTA is doing such a huge favor to everyone riding them. And then pisses on all those peoples' Wheaties by cutting the service back. I don't care if you're going from 3 minute to 4 minute during Peak, or from 7 to 10 minute on weekend AM, you're still doing the same service as before, only using longer versus shorter buses (appearance is everything, obviously). First of all, are the current headways even being met in order to fiddle with them? Probably not. Which leads directly to number two, how will the new headways be met if you essentially don't build any extra capacity into them? As I've said many times, the DDOT artics get inserted into a schedule which is developed for all 40-footers running it. That means there is proper use of that extra capacity, so that ALL of the schedule is better maintained. AFAIC if ANY route is slated for "artic-ization", the current schedule should be left alone at transition, with possibly the only casualties being short-turns. But even that need not be done immediately, but instead be operated by 40-footers if necessary, and after a good three month period, THEN assess load levels and on-time performance and make minor adjustments.

Why would the turn at Chambers? In theory, if you're running the local (technically there's still overlap, but that could be done away with), you could just do the to 14th with a wrong-rail switchover as happened on weekends for years. The only bottleneck there would be with northbound express service (not that frequent anyway), but if the is local and the timing is right, it wouldn't be too complicated. to 14th would be infinitely, infinitely more useful than 42nd when you consider the and connection possibilities.

The only good thing is the extension, but the MTA even bungled that. There are almost zero service posters on trains or relevant platforms detailing the extension, so if you take a Rockaway train, you'll see every single person get off at Broad Channel and wait for an instead of riding to Rockaway Blvd. and getting off there. C/Os explain nothing to the passengers, so unless you're a transit nerd, you don't know.

Maybe that has something to do with how rarely those trains have actually run since 2017?

Been a while since there has been a comment like this one... Ah, protesting on the streets without a permit. The greatest crime in the history of humanity, the pinnacle of lawlessness. Guess it's a crime, punishable by death, if you forget your permit. Did you forget Charlottesville already? Now, I don't recall the legality of that protest,...but I'm pretty sure running over people with the intention of killing them is, uh, murder. You know, part of lawlessness? Five years ago, I would called this a stupid knee-jerk reaction, but these days? Judging from the early comments and the angry emojis in the FB SI Express group, this seems to be a common sentiment. And that is scary AF. "Sure, 20 people or so were killed, but I mean, I just wanted to go home and feed my family and relax". Obviously, I'm sympathetic with the protesters, but one doesn't have to agree with them to see how much of a stupid argument you're presenting. Because all you are doing is introducing a whole new order of lawlessness. You think people taking up a street is bad, and now you want people to run them over and kill them? Now THAT is chaos. You know, the opposite of order?

They need to reef those trains already. 2/3 of my trips today on the 6 I had to switch operating positions because of hot cars. It’s ridiculous. I feel sorry for 1 line crews this upcoming Saturday, it’s going to be torture.

8727 is at Yukon

As we posted in our group this morning: DETOURS & XBUS ISSUES: We have two Eric Garner protests, and possible protests due to political unrest in Puerto Rico. -Eric Garner protests: One in Foley Square and the other on Staten Island. Both should be contained and not affect express bus service. -The Puerto Rico protests... Unclear where they will take place, but if we hear more we will post, as some are planned for today as well. -Also, if your express bus is on detour it will NOT appear on BusTime or your tracker while on detour. Very important that you check here for updates. -Any express bus without AC, please report that too. One bus reported here yesterday should now be pulled from service. Bus#2409....

What's never considered is that (so-called) cost neutrality represents the top of the proverbial totem pole.... It's put out there (not necessarily by you, but by the MTA & whoever else puts stock in it) as if it's the ultimate aim, when it is not.... If (or should I say, when) some service alteration of some sort ends up resulting in a fiscal savings, that's when the real success is achieved... Fact of the matter is that there's just so many cuts (whether on the physical routes themselves or service levels) that the buses have underwent over the years, that you hardly see much of anyone in the bus section posting ideas anymore; esp. the outlandish ones..... For me, it's to the point I don't even want to discuss the ridership figures that just came out.... If, analogously speaking, trying to fix the bus network is like trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle, then I'd say trying to fix the subway network is akin to untangling tangled wires.... All boils down to how "untangled" some believe the subway system to be over others on here, I suppose.... In any case, I've never said it (up until this point anyway), but ever since I started perusing transit forums (the first being RD/Straps), I have always gotten the sense that those that make subway proposals do so, for no other reason, except for the sake of experiencing a new & different service pattern - not for any benefit for any commuter whatsoever... I've gotten used to dodging subway bullets.... If I see a post with a plethora of them, to be quite frank, I gloss right over it.... Whether fairly or unfairly, it's dismissed as some proposal discussion I want zero part of..... Anyway, this bit reminds me of the to/from 179th.... IIRC, it's only what, 3 trains each way or w/e..... Much of how many of any masses are (not) planning their commutes around that, is right; esp. for the PM rush....

I've seen people say that chapter 1 and 2 should be studied asap. I haven't gotten to the signals yet because I know some more guidance via the instructors will be needed to really understand and absorb them. I will still take a look though. Today is my last day at my current job. Then 5 days off and a new beginning. Good luck to everyone starting on Monday.

Same here my dude, July 25th!! 115x

A pending move as it is said 3Gs would be moved off the island to make SI 100% Nova. Note that 7061 is still at CA at this time.

Yeah, but don't get too over excited... You're lucky @B35 via Church did not reply to your reaction. 🤣

You beat me to the punch with your response. Where I come from a lowlife thief is a lowlife thief no matter how one tries to rationalize it. Maybe we should emulate the Saudi or the Singapore methods of punishing the perps. Make an example of a few people and I bet the problem subsides. Just a thought. Carry on.

Let’s not create a high frequency merge at 42nd please.

So I've been noticing a surplus of extra 7000 series buses in service on the island, especially given to drivers who normally operate 8000s. Found out they're updating the screens with transfer announcements.

Castleton is getting 25 buses from Yukon's batch. You guys can stop with these conspiracy theories now. Get a hold of yourselves.