Express Bus Operator

9 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Yet you're passing this off as a fact....how exactly do you know that they were in bad shape? Even the folks down at the ceremony who have driven and worked on those buses have said that these buses could've lasted for a couple more years.....the frames of those buses were in good shape, so they could have taken more abuse. What made them look bad was just their appearance, that was it. Hell, there were groups of people that preferred those over the low floors(i.e M66 & M72 passengers that complained about the lack of space in the low floors).

And a bus shouldn't last as long as an RTS, Fishbowl or any of our old high floors have? I don't think you understand what that means. It's a testament to how well those buses have performed on our messed up streets 24/7/365 during their lifetime. We'd be surprised if any of our low floor buses can last as long as any of those. If they're still in good shape structurally and mechanically after their 12-15 year retirement schedule, they can keep on trucking, and the RTS has technically been the only fleet that has consistently proven that time and time again.

Yes, obviously, they needed to go, they were here for 5-10 years longer than they should have been.  But they have proven time and time again that they were made for New York City and they were the true workhorses of this city, whether people like it or not.

Not all of them were in good shape. Some of the RTS buses when it rain water would leak inside, and countless breakdowns. Yes they were easy to fix and get the bus back into service. 

Im  glad @Via Garibaldi 8 Cleared some things up. These RTS were only at a certain depot like Quill, Ulmer, ENY, Flatbush and Jamaica. Some of these depot filled in their replacement and even so the RTS had to go especially since the elderly passengers or passengers with disabilities use to struggle climbing up them stairs. The next batches to go will be the OG's following with The NG's when the time is right.

5 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

I want to say 10:30-11:00 was when it was in Sheepshead Bay-Emmons Avenue. 

 it might of been due to the fire. My bus was suppose to leave the bridge but since I was the first bus block in causing 9 others  behind me paling up there were no buses leaving William's to knapp for a good hour until some of the attics managed to turn right on to Myrtle Ave to head back.

7 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

Random thought of the morning: 4241 just finished doing a B44SBS+ run.  Damm, FB extremely short on artics. This whole XD60 order is a complete mess.

What time was that?... Because this morning myself and a few SBS44  was locked in due to the 6 alarm fire on Bedford Ave between Myrtle and Park Ave.  So chances are if this was the hours between 9 - 10:30am there were no SBS44 coming from the bridge since I was block in and 9 other buses and they probably used the local buses to do a quick SBS trip

@New2this  The only time you can go to another TA/OA depot within  Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan is during the general system pick  which starts October - December  in seniority order through-out the bus operator system pool. 

If you want to go to a Queens or Staten Island depot, you have to see your union or depot Gen Supt Transportation  "aka The Boss" to fill out a request form for a transfer to Qns or SI depot. It will also be based on seniority order and when they're if an opening they will offer you.  

At the moment the depot you were able to pick to start off your probationary period will be your current home until you decide to pick out during the general system pick or a request transfer to the other two boroughs.  If you pick out, You will start to report to your new home in January.

8 minutes ago, New2this said:

So we got to pick depots today... only 3 depots in Brooklyn where available. My question is, what can I do to get transferred to a depot that I want?? And how would I know that the depot that I want has openings? 

First Congrats! 👏

What  3 depot was available and you can only request for a transfer to either Staten Island or Queens based on seniority order.

11 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

That is a loan from Grand Avenue. That ain’t staying at Ulmer Park. Hopefully it doesn’t have Ulmer Park decals. 

I believe it did have the UP sticker on it

Bus # 4572 was spotted a few minutes ago on the B6 on Glenwood heading towards ENY

8 minutes ago, Elmhurst said:

If only I had known about this system before... BusTime has failed me many times especially with the Q31.

Last year, I suggested to them that they should update their twitter profile pic and banner. They replied, "Thanks, we'll notify supervision." 

WOW!! This is the first time me knowing Bustrek was actually sharing the buses information to the public. This feature is more of an management tool which the Surface Line Dispatchers uses to monitor the bus route and etc, but of course dispatchers has more features add on's and controlling options. 

Sorry to say, But I'm glad they took that feature down, because that was too much information sharing with the public, and I would be damn if a passenger came up to me using the bustrek features to try to question me why I'm late based on my paddle report  and etc.

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

BusTrek offered more info than BusTime did which is the point, and it also shows ghost buses, which BusTime can’t do.

Wow... I never tried bustrek but for an operator prospective point of view that info was sharing  too much with the public 🙏😉😝

3 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Well some of us actually used it to track buses that were NIS or late so we could plan our commutes better.

Obv I know bus time is still here it's just now as informative as bustrek.

And how was this being done?

1 hour ago, Ultimategamer12c said:

Off topic but is it possible  for ENY to convert  the B15 to a full X equipment  route I been noticing lots of XD40s on the line coming back and not one OG popin out on it. Like for Example  I see tons of them popin up on the B15 at mother Gaston then get on My B35 and check the tracker and check to see what's on the route but surprisingly it was nuthing but all XD40s and its rn too lol Not one OG on the B15.

It could have been 3 possible reasons why you were  seeing more XD40 on that day instead of OG.

Bus operator preference

Some of the OG are temporary OOS

Or on that  specific day, they needed some of xD on a specific route for long distance driving for Maintenance purpose.

10 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

Screens and announcements are by Clever Devices on the 2018 XD60's so you'll want to direct that to them...

Speaking of Clever, the screens on the XN40s are atrocious... They freeze every time someone pulls the cord and they're regularly several blocks behind or the screens are just completely black.

It looks like these devices are probably not being reported that they are not 100% on point especially the way it states the destination stop or upcoming stops. I'm not quite sure if that's something the Bus operators should alert the depot when filling out the OVCR card just so the right department that is in charge for that specific area can review it. Sometimes that device confuse passengers and while you at the current stop it mention another stop name. For example I'm sitting on St.Johns Place on Rogers avenue, The minute I open the doors, It says "Fulton Street B25, B26 and A C". lol If I don't quickly pickup the phone  to make the correct announcement, you should see people face look totally lost or some come ask me "If this is fulton street stop?"  

Some of these XD60's buses already having a few malfunctions. This is the third bus I had for the week where the STOP REQUEST bell and light comes on when you close the doors.

The Automatic announcement on some of the XD60's at FB the buses that actually work its so delayed and offset compared to the XD40's on the SB46+. I feel these buses were rushed and not properly setup.

I also noticed the 2017 Buses VS the 2018 Buses on the XD60's are not the same. The 2018 XD60's are the updated version with the Display announcement screens. 

5 hours ago, limitednyc said:

is the first page of this thread going o be updated?

I don't know,  @East New York use to update the first page with great information tools. I tried to email him and still no response from him. 

2 minutes ago, New2this said:

Thanks, I was told to report to Jamaica Depot.

Awesome!! 👍💪

10 minutes ago, +Young+ said:

Congrats!! Did they tell you where to report? If so, you will be training on the other types of buses they have. If you are going to the Jamaica Depot, you will be training on the Novas and the New Flyers. If you're going to another depot, you can scroll up and down that page to figure out what other types of buses they have.

1 hour ago, New2this said:

Does anyone know what happens on day 8?? I qualified on day 7

Like @+Young+ Stated, you will be learning other type of buses. You were giving instructions today where to report tomorrow "Most likely @ Jamaica Depot". 

The stress is over for now, so no more test unless you have a CDL permit.

4 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Which begs me one question. FB should of gotten all Kingsbridge buses from the rip and not Fresh Pond, Grand Avenue and Yukon buses. Sheesh, if problems persist, can they return back to respective depots?  

However, thank god the best mechanics come from East New York and Flatbush. Very confident that FB mechanics will make the necessary fixes on these buses. 

Noticed a few 76xx buses working the 44+ yesterday during the day. Also, a bit surprised that no new artics or the MJQ Replacements have shown up yet. 

Yup, Yesterday I had 6133 throughout my day until it was time for me to go home and I ended up giving the bus up to another operator that was waiting for an articulated bus to go out in service since there were no buses available at the time.

Flatbush Update:

Yesterday morning a few of articulated buses were OOS "LFSA and XD60's " for maintenance. Some of the operators throughout the day had to pull out the xd40's sbs buses in order to start normal services on the SBS44+. 

Bus #6130 operator seat had issues where the seat would not go back all the way compared to the other XD's buses. I made sure the yard dispatcher contact the maintenance  department to take a look at  the seat. "Reminding me of an RTS operator seat situation"

Bus #6134 Starting to make Automatic Announcements and the Interior Screen is currently working on the SBS44+. I believe some of the XD60's that was OOS and at the shop yesterday were probably being updated for automatic announcement service on the bus.

Grand Ave, Fresh pond, and Yukon NG buses that has been transfer to the bush are all out in service throughout the Flatbush depot routes.

 So far I have operated both the 5300's LFSA and the XD60's in service on the SBS44+, and I can say that based on my experience, The XD60's have a tendency to roll back a little bit when you first  accelerate  either at a traffic light or after disengaging both the interlock or parking brake. The LFSA 5300's operator seating position seems be much more comfortable compared to the XD60's, but the LFSA is a lot more heavier when operating through traffic and can cause the right knee discomfort after awhile. Backing up the XD60's is annoying, since every FT the bus rolls back the brakes automatically locks in. The passengers rear doors on the XD60's opens outwards towards the curb side and its very hard to tell when passengers are on the curb still trying to board versus on the Nova LFSA the doors opens from the inside and you can see everything on the mirrors on the curb side.

1 minute ago, Future ENY OP said:

Damm. MJQ has been having problems with the Yukon buses they received. Farebox related. You have an idea of which buses came in? 

Not sure, but they were parked at the back of depot near the maintenance shop area. I heard these buses were not perfect since they have a history of break downs.

Two Shifters today from flatbush  confirmed with me that flatbush RTS were goned and we received a few buses out of Yukon. 

It looks like Flatbush depot has 0 RTS!  I will confirm that later on when I clear from work.👨‍🏭

At 15:00 I spotted 3 Flatbush depot RTS buses on the Belt heading towards the Van Wyck expressway. I figure its heading to the Bronx.

10 minutes ago, BusOperator0913 said:

I have 19 a certification from my previous job. Does it carry over or would I have to requalify myself 

Requalified........ When you're hired with MTA as an operator with a CDL, every birthday calendar year you will have to be re-certified for 19a.

The depot general dispatcher will give you a memo a month ahead when you have to go get re-certified. The two location is at Zerega or Spring creek depot. On the day you attend for 19a re-certification, you will be out of customer passenger service and attend a class and watch videos and etc. At the end of the day you will go on the road with a 19a Dispatcher to make sure you are driving the way you suppose to drive the bus and take a 25 multiple questions DMV test at MTA.  

The SBS44 will be back to normal when Falls returns back. Its always like that as Summer time is about to hit, they reduce services by cutting a certain run.