Culver

I haven't been on the 7090+ XD40s yet. Are they the same rattly shits as the 90-bus batch? Those things started rattling and shacking pretty much within weeks. If NFI is just going to pull the same thing with this order and just get them out the door as fast as possible with no regard for quality, I'm hoping the does the sensible thing and gives part 2 of the order entirely to Nova.

If an RTS, and Orion VII HEV OG, and an Orion VII HEV NG were all in a race, the RTS would smoke the Hybrids by a long shot

Maybe past 15 mph, but not off the line what with the electric motors and no gears to shift.

I'm probably late on this, but I just realized today the MTA now has that flu season announcement with an M7/A-type announcement ding-dong before it on some buses. I'm used to the usual muffled flu season announcement, but 4249 had a super clear pre-recorded one with the tone before it. It was rather unexpected, to say the least.

Not only that, a contract was assigned I believe a month ago for battery replacements.

Sweet. Batteries nowadays are so much better than they were when those OGs and even NGs were built. I assume the MTA went with the cheapest, explodiest, batteries they could possibly find, though. Or the most expensive and least efficient batteries they could find. Seems to always be that way with them: cheapest/worst or most-expensive/worst.

Major update for the R179 Project: (Weldgate)

 

Bombardier is aggressively trying to get a handle on the welding issue, and inside sources say things should be on track for prototype testing to be complete, and revenue service introduction by the beginning of 2017. 

 

I do not have word on what causes the welding issues, or what practices will change, and if there will be any cost over runs.

 

I have confirmed the MTA will be compensated if cars are not delivered and put into service in a timely fashion according to the contract.

 

The 10 car prototype train is now expected on MTA property next summer. 

Same thing as usual: using shit Chinese steel, like Bombardier did with the CTA order. Worked out great for the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, too. And soon-to-be-a-shitshow here in NYC with Chinese steel to be used for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge rehab.

Just saw a picture of a proterra ebus, photo shopped in MTA livery on the ttmg Facebook page. Is there any chance of that happening?

Saw their standard warranty on the Proterra site, and it ain't pretty. MTA's gonna need something a little tougher.

It can and does happen on occasion.... I've also seen cases in which two buses are showing running together when in fact there is only one.  A few weeks ago, something funny happened coming home on the BxM2.  I'm waiting for the bus and tracking it on BusTime and I see not one but TWO BxM2's going to Riverdale.  At first I thought it was a glitch, so I sat and continued to track both of them using the desktop version while waiting at the bus stop. One bus sped up and the other one stayed behind.  Sure enough both of them were in service.  It so happened that one guy was the 22:30 and the other guy was the 23:00 and left at 22:30 by mistake.  When he realized this, he had us get off of his bus and on to the other bus, and then he went out of service and back down to 34th street.  I thought that perhaps one guy was really late, but considering the time and the fact that neither bus was packed, I figured something was up.  I don't think I've ever seen that happen before, but it was rather funny.

Daylight savings time can be a bitch.

So I saw a weird thing on B6 bus time today. And by weird I mean BusTime was showing me the progress of a bus that...was not there. It wasn't the app (I tried 2 apps) not refreshing since all other buses were showing up and updating fine, but this one "bus" (damn it I didn't catch #) apparently drove by...but wasn't actually there physically. The hell kind of glitch is that? I've heard of ghost trains showing up on BART or WMATA signal systems from moisture in the air, but damn if I've ever seen a ghost GPS signal show up. Unless somebody from the depot was trolling and put the transponder in a car, I don't get what happened there.

Why are they not efficient for the sbs79 ? My only issue with them is they cannot hold speed uphill period. There are times they drop down to about 30 on the vz bridge and throw a check hev until you get to the other side lol

It still boggles the mind that the 3Gs are not put on the S79. There's enough to split between Yukon and Castleton to cover the S53/93 and S79.

I dont know if this rumor is accurate or not but: I heard Yonkers Depot is shutting down in 2015 

 

Not sure if this is a fact or opinion

I think that was mentioned a bunch earlier this year. Not sure where they'd move those routes to, but I guess developers really want that land.

LOL... I still have flashbacks of the Orions on Staten Island when we'd be on the bus and the handrails were partially held together with duct tape. LMAO.  

And flapping clearance lights held on by the wires leading to the bulbs.

So why no rear window on the XD40s? The A/C is roof-mounted as with the Novas, right?

I guess credit to UP, 5095 goes like a rocket. Almost no rattle either, and took bumps well.

Was on 5103 yesterday; sounds distinctly like an Orion V. It also seemed to have trouble up-shifting, or revving high, or really doing the whole forward motion thing in general.

Supremely disappointing news, but not shocking from Bombardier. They've put up stinkers lately with CTA and now this fail.

Here's my Martin Luther style list of faults with the hyshits:

1) Their shit ISBs vibrate the whole bus like goddamn jackhammers. Almost all of them have this issue where at idle the bus vibrates at a very low, very annoying frequency. It's extra annoying and bad on some of them, rendering any sort of headphones useless. None of the diesel or CNG buses suffer from anything remotely close to this.

2) They're somehow the loudest buses other than RTSes. Smaller engine that runs at mostly stable RPMs, and yet just the plain old engine noise is obnoxious. It's not even a grunty engine noise, it's just a loud drone.

3) They combine the disadvantages of internal combustion and electric propulsion.

4) The low end acceleration is great, and then nothing.

Can't wait for real electric buses. Proterra's new 42.5-foot model looks nice, but I doubt it's passing the MTA's shaker test any time soon.

No B4 complaints... A miracle...

Maybe the dispatchers have noticed the issues themselves? I would hope with how often that happened, they'd eventually notice and go to town on those operators.

Some did

So I'm guessing those might be it.

Actually, AFAIK those are ex Atlantic Express Vanhools. They just repainted them.

The AE ones didn't have rear windows, if I remember correctly. The silver Academy ones have them; at least the ones I've been on.

 

Yessir, shot one myself.

 

 

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1002 and 5260 have pulled into Mother Clara Hale.

 

I've seen those going down Hylan on their way back to the city. I've mostly seen MCIs with those type headlights on those runs. I saw an Academy J4500 once going the same way, and assumed it was doing the same deadhead. Does Academy use their silver Van Hools on the 23 and 24, or are those only for their longer distance runs?

I missed this: why does an R68/A run on the A for that one trip?

There was a crapped out hybrid being towed down Hylan back to Yukon today. Second time this week I've seen that. Didn't catch the numbers.

About the B4 comments upthread,most of the time the B4 is on BRP is because of garbage trucks on 77 St,not the BO's fault.

It happens at pretty much random times, in my case a bunch in the evening. That's not really a valid excuse for the BO running past a bunch of stops, including one at the R train.

4862 sounds like a dump truck, btw; like some of those old messed up O5s in Staten Island.

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Yeah drivers on the B4 absolutely suck, happened to me too bout a month ago I missed a bus at 11:09 AM in Bay ridge, bus 7591, bus 485 heads up to the last stop (I am at 4th and 77th by the way) the scheduled time comes and he is nowhere to be found, check bustime, nowhere, then I see him fly down bay ridge parkway and probably pick up at 4th and bay ridge parkway. I wound up waiting an hour for the next bus # 254. You are right JG drivers on the B4 don't give a damn that and the constant laying over in 6 million different damn places, bunching on 20 minute headways on the weekends idk how that is possible. Can this B4 situation be rectified?

I see they do that shit on the weekends, too. How does this keep happening and nobody at the MTA notices?