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Culver

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Everything posted by Culver

  1. Yup. Whatever advantage parallel had for higher speeds isn't really there anymore. Out here, the new BAE E-series buses handle highways and hills better than the Allisons from 2011-2013. Once they're up to speed the engine idles (and does so very silently) and the bus cruises with ease. Maybe Allison has some new updates for their system that'll make it worth the MTA's time.
  2. I see the MTA is going for Allison hybrids. Any reason for leaving BAE? King County Metro out here got XDE60s with the BAE E-series hybrid system and they are spectacular. They cruise at highway speeds with the engine idling and in general are much quieter and smoother than anything BAE or Allison previously put out. Great pull, too, handle some of the crazy hills out here as well as the XT40s and XT60s. Metro stuck with Allison for over a decade (except the Orions, obviously) before going BAE with their latest orders of XDE35/40/60s.
  3. Yeah, Metro does go all out for hybrids and electric powertrains, which I do appreciate. But like you said, their RapidRide coaches are in bad shape (and the 2013 ones are the worst ones!). They get used the most and show just how badly built those LFRs are. They otherwise use the standard branded LFRs as little as possible, which says it all, really. The Bellevue LFRs spend a lot of their time in the lots waiting for peak service runs, so they can avoid heavy usage that way. I'm hoping those new XDE60s do better, since I am a fan of that BAE E-Series propulsion system. I did notice more swaying on the XDE60 than the DE60LFR, which is annoying. Since I don't want to hijack this, I'll bring this back to NYC: The MTA shaker test really is a good thing, and I credit them for doing that third-party shaker test. Sure as hell saved the MTA for the LFRs. Now I wonder who the 75-bus hybrid test order will go to, since NFI and Nova both offer the BAE E-series these days. By the time that order goes out, both manufacturers may be prepping new platforms.
  4. Random thought: Having been in Seattle the past eight months I see now why the New Flyer LFR platform failed the MTA's shaker test and they went with LFs for the CNG order few years ago. King County Metro's LFR artics are hot garbage and the older LF artics they have are in better shape. The LFRs are rattly as all f**k and could not be of worse build quality. Complete piss they are. Visiting NYC this week I am reminded of the vastly superior build quality on the Nova artics; night and day.
  5. Seems to me structurally the OG O7s are doing fine (at least the ENY ones last time I rode them). You'll have to wait until next generation of solid-state batteries, electric motors, and carbon wiring is introduced to lose the overheating concerns.
  6. I actually like the look. I was thinking they would make the text a different color and keep a black background, but this works, too.
  7. Wouldn't it just be easier to just wait and put Yukon's new LFSes on the S79 when those arrive? The hybrids, much as I like them, are shit on the bridge and the new Novas should run that line once they arrive.
  8. Can you maybe grow up already? These posts are seriously annoying and dumb. No law is kneecapping service. It's petulant drivers driving extra slow because the city dared ask them to not be reckless behind the wheel.
  9. (facepalm)*100 It's not giving a license to jaywalk. Pedestrians have the damn right of way. All that's asked of bus drivers is to not run people over.
  10. So as I understand it, the union's position is "either our drivers drive like dicks and kill pedestrians, or you all get slow transit, nothing in between." What infantile bullshit. I'm sure it'll win them many fans. They should be embarrassed.
  11. Seems to be more of a spacing issue. Nova's LFS has the idiotic wheelbase length that renders the interior fundamentally f**ked in terms of space. New Flyer has for some reason decided that less standing room and one less seat in the lower deck for the X's is an improvement over the LF and LFR models. Orion VIIs and NFI's LF/LFRs were much better with interior spacing. Unfortunately, the half-assed design Novas and XD40s is all the MTA gets to choose from.
  12. Anybody have the new XD40 depot assignments? Just wondering about the remaining batches and the additional 72. Yes, I did use search, but it really was not helpful.
  13. I usually see that with dumb people mashing on the back doors like the bus is on fire before it's even stopped and the green light has come on. It's really annoying that so many New Yorkers still can't follow basic directions of "wait for green light, push yellow tape."
  14. I'm guessing something with late night construction where Ave P/Kings Hwy/Bay Pkwy converge, because this evening seeing B82s on P.
  15. Why the hell did I just see XD40s with B6 signage and people in them while walking down Ave P? What is that detour even going around?
  16. 7155 has a busted front sign, with half being normal and half just completely green. That's like the third one of the 2014-2015 XD40s I've seen like that.
  17. Yeah the IND was screwed this PM rush hour. Problems at Chambers and WTC on the A/C/E that ruined service there, and third rail power failure at 57th Street on the F that had my train standing between Roosevelt Island and Lexington/63 St for half an hour and then crawl to Rockefeller.
  18. The E/F absolutely haul ass between Roosevelt and Queensbridge or Queens Plaza. I rarely travel out that way, but I have to say, that's a super smooth and fast ride. Whatever the MTA did there, they need to do everywhere. Judging by that sound, seems like the heavier rail is installed there, too.
  19. If Staten Island wants transit improvements, maybe they can elect politicians who aren't viciously hostile to transit.
  20. Yeah, so traffic was...bad. Buses bunched up to as many as 7 or 8 within a handful of blocks for some routes. *cough* B6 *cough*
  21. So 7110 to 7139 are being skipped for now to speed up delivery to other depots, right?
  22. I have to say, the B6 sure shits the bed when there's snow. Of all the routes I've ever had to use, the B6 is the only one where service deteriorates to such an extremely bad level when it snows. Obviously, bad weather causes problems everywhere, but it's almost impossibly bad on the B6.
  23. Snow chains coming on tomorrow, I suppose. Question for any bus operators on here: do the snow chains really make a difference? I was on an RTS last winter during one of the heavy snow periods (guess they didn't put on the chains in time for that one), with a ton of snow already down and it was fine. The bus didn't skid off the road, flip and explode into flames.
  24. Ulmer Park still has an XD40 or two running with busted LED signs. Been like that for weeks now.
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