Culver

How do I report this a**hole? Again 7:15 guy does this. This is the umpteenth time this has happened with B4 drivers having plenty of layover time between runs (this guy was at last stop with like ten+minutes to spare) and still pulling this stunt stranding people waiting up to 40 minutes for the next bus. And aren't the MTA dispatchers supposed to catch this sort of shit now with the tracking system?

EDIT: f**king app has my location wrong there, so the MTA probably won't even take this shit as proof.

EDIT2: 7:35 bus was on time...but isn't on BusTime. JG drivers give zero f**ks.

This is the 7:15 guy being a dick:

I'm going in a completely direction so please bear with me. There was/is an old saying in RTO that oldtimers can remember, "when the trains were made of wood and the men were made of iron" IDK if that saying is still around but after reading threads about R32's, and R142A/R188 equipment and fans or AC problems, propulsion miscues and the like I really wonder if the "out with the old in, with the new" idea is bogus. It's a fact that I've ridden or operated many types of equipment that some have only seen in the museum fleet. Heck, I was a teenager when the R32 Brightliners hit the BMT. I remember when there were no air conditioned cars in the system. Men wore suits and ties and women wore dresses on the subways and els. There was no such thing as dressing casually on Fridays. My question to the fans of the newer equipment is were those oldtimers( riders and crews) made of sturdier stock than the present generation or what? When I went to M/M and primarily worked the line we sure didn't have A/C equipped cars in our fleet but I don't recall riders or crew crying about it. I do understand the heat problems the A/C equipped cars have brought with them. These cars exhaust heat into the system The older SMEE cars like the redbirds had windows that opened to some degree which the NTT lack. I find it funny to see cars transferred from fleet to fleet because of A/C problems today when those same lines ran okay with no air conditioned cars at all. As for the NTT equipment it's my personal belief that the more electrical components in this equipment means that that they will always be more prone to breakdowns compared to the older, simpler equipment. The newer trains may be more comfortable to ride and operate but each component failure affects the overall reliability in the long run. Someone mentioned the bucking problems in the R142A equipment and that person took the time to explain why the problem exists. Funny thing is that same bucking problem existed on the R62's from Kawasaki way back then. I'm thinking that the R62's will do better than the R142A's as far as reliabilty in due time. Just my opinion. Carry on.

Electrocaloric air conditioning should help solve the heat exhaust issue. GE and a bunch of other firms are working on commercializing the technology as I type (however, for simple commercial A/C and refrigerators, not sure when it'll make it to heavy-duty stuff like buses and trains). There's a chance the R212 might be late enough to take advantage.

I got plenty of issues with the XD40s, but AC isn't one of them. Damn that was a good thing today compared to the humidity-circulating shit they have on the RTSes.

The MTA is not the only customer in the world for New Flyer and Novabus you know. The scheduled delivery periods agreed to in the contracts is when you're going to see these new buses show up. They both have other customers to work with, who more or less have waited the same amount of time that we have for their buses.

Speaking of which, when are the pilot buses due for that order?

Every time I'm on a 3G, I have a little sad on the inside. The build quality is so massively good. What the hell were Daimler thinking? They would've won the contract for 690 buses (+ the option for 700 or whatever it is) easily and made a shitload of money. Instead of we get the idiotically-designed LFS (I swear, the wheelbase...WHY? f**kING WHY?!) and some New Flyer rattle boxes that'll fall apart in a handful of years.

Bored, threw some shit at the wall:

S73. Why? Who cares.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202807188220210378870.0004fad1c9f1e5dc1cc12&msa=0&ll=40.59145,-74.097697&spn=0.090466,0.198269

S77. Why? Who cares. This one is actually a twist of a suggestion by others on here.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202807188220210378870.0004fad1d04deeb6fd9e4&msa=0&ll=40.592187,-74.070511&spn=0.090465,0.198269

Anything reasonable on those two routes? Feedback welcome as always.

Maybe it was better for express bus riders, but many of the routes the private companies ran were local bus routes, which definitely did not maintain the same kind of standard that MTA did.

You mean GBL and Command's 300-year-old shitboxes were not enjoyed by the people using them?

I do agree though that the express bus service by Bus does seem to be headed for a constant chopping block with the cuts, which sucks.

Gotta give credit to JG drivers for giving zero f**ks. One of the two buses standing there at the last stop has been standing there for half an hour now.Nothing going eastbound.

Good service.

Just saw 445 standing crapped out on 92 St at the 79/53/93/8 stop with an MTA tow truck behind it (or actually just some sort of assistance truck, I don't think I saw a tow hook) and rear panel and front driver-side panel open.

Now if they would change the F announcements so it doesn't say "local" train at every station...

There's a program for an express that says "express", hence the "local" in the announcements. At least I think that's why. The express program does get used enough during PM late runs, so I guess they want to make it clearer for passengers.

I guess ENY is treating theirs good. Ulmer is running their shit into the ground. Hell, I've been on old-ass RTSes from ENY that weren't sloppy, breaking-apart shits like Ulmer's RTSes.

And at 7:46 eastbound bus shows up. But not on bus time.

This f**king a**hole again.

Next time I'll get a shot as soon as his ass shows up on the map.

EDIT: so a westbound bus just passed by and his ass wasn't on bus time. Basically JG drivers are giving zero shits right now.

EDIT2: now the westbound guy is on bus time. But a dozen+ people here waiting for a B4 to show up eastbound and nothing.

7612 moves really, really well. Engine sounds great, turbo blow-off valve nice and loud. Bus is also in better shape than some of the XD40 shitboxes.

I keep forgetting to post this...

So on Thursday I noticed BusTime showed an S79 that ran from SI Mall to Clove Road only. Never knew they had those short turns. It ended at Clove Road at about 4:07-4:08, and lo and behold disappeared off the map after making the Clove Road stop. Checked TTMG's list of display options for routes and sure enough they do have an S79 to Clove Road option. Learn something new every day.

Arrochar/South Beach/Dongan Hills/Grant City

 

The S52 route has what looks like a weird diversion in South Beach, taking a long diversion from Sand Lane. The purpose of that diversion is because at the western end of McClean Avenue, there is a housing project, the South Beach Houses. (You can see the rooftops from Hylan Boulevard and Mallory Avenue; a block of Mallory Avenue was deleted to make room for this. The S52, however, seems to be the definition of a coverage route, and while the S53, S78, and S79 are not too far away, they are all uphill. I would thus make this proposal, to provide better access in that area of South Beach to the shopping areas along Hylan Boulevard and within Bay Ridge, with a new route, the S77 (likely to come out of a Brooklyn garage because of ease of deadhead), running from Bay Ridge to New Dorp. Such would also improve Brooklyn connections for riders who used to use S79 local stops along Hylan before it was converted to SBS, especially through the shopping areas. The route would run as follows.

 

1. To Bay Ridge: Start at Tysens Lane from the S57 stand. Run along Hylan Boulevard, due north, until Reid Avenue. Make a right onto Reid Avenue, and then follow Reid Avenue to its eastern end, where it becomes McClean Avenue. Continue down McClean to Lily Pond Avenue, and follow the S53 into Brooklyn.

2. To New Dorp: From the S93 stand, follow the S53 into Staten Island, and return to New Dorp via the same route.

 

I would propose this route to run along 15-minute headways during the rush hour (6 AM to 9 AM and 3:30 PM to 7 PM), and every 20 minutes at other times, from 6 AM to midnight weekdays and Saturdays, and 8 AM to 10 PM on Sundays.

 

I did consider other things such as rerouting select S53 and S78 trips, but they would all have required a significant diversion to serve the South Beach Houses. Savings would come from the need for less S78 service along Hylan Boulevard, as its busiest section would have another route, and the S77 and S78 would be re-scheduled on weekday middays and weekends to provide 10 minute headways between Reid Avenue and Tysens Lane. With 20-minute headways on the S78, all S78 trips would run to and from Bricktown Mall, decreasing deadhead costs from Charleston to Eltingville.

Isn't there some provision in labor contract that only Staten Island depots can do S routes?

Was on the S53 this evening, and it was 4014. Odd, don't think I've seen an NG hybrid on the S53 before.

5111 sounds like shit. The engine is rickety as all hell, the transmission is wobbly and makes grinding noises, and the whole thing moves like a rusted out 1970s British car.

No, it doesn't have LBSS. The whole thing goes back to the different setups. EPA regulations changes which means new parts/emissions packages that may or may not affect the sound of the powertrain.

Yeah I noticed some of the JG VII CNGs have that transmission sound (no idea how to describe it in English, but you know what I mean, like what all the new Allisons have) and some don't. Those also seem to run pretty well, so I'm guessing maybe those had their powertrains go through overhaul or something.

I don't know if there's a more infuriating stretch of any bus route than the S79 going to Bay Ridge between Ft. Hamilton/92 St and 4 Ave/91 St. The traffic lights are synced such that the buses spend 5 minutes standing at red lights to move a distance of less than 1000 feet. How the DOT hasn't fixed this yet is beyond me. It's complete f**king insanity. The rest of the route is speedy as hell and this one stretch is a black hole of awfulness.

I am highly skeptical with the newly added stops on the   , except 9th St.

I at first was thinking the same thing Q23 just said - slowing it down some to eventually cut it, due to it's paralleling the train.

I also notice that they have been studying the route continuously for 4 years to find where they can place the axe. 

However, I wonder if the axe is for the northern portion of the    - or the northern portion of the B37. They are already introducing the route shortened so it won't go into Livingston St. So I wonder if they are simply testing the northern portion of the B37's worth - checking to see how many people want 3rd Av in that segment. I believe that the thinks there's no need to serve the 3rd/4th Avenue segment in that area and they are simply testing their theory by using a super route.

It's a matter of time. They're doing anything and everything to lead to the justification for cutting it.

Bored. Threw some shit at the wall.

Here's an S63. Alternate would be to go via Watchogue between Victory and Richmond. Maybe there's demand, maybe not.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202807188220210378870.0004f5db72fb8adbd827d&msa=0

S58, because there's no route going Bay Ridge to St. George (for obvious reasons, but let's go ahead and pretend we need this). Makes no sense to me, but it's a route to the northern end of the island, so it's something.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202807188220210378870.0004f5cc187f2ab0817f6&msa=0

S83, because they need to make this happen already. Didn't need to sketch this out since we all know how the S53 goes. Point is the S53 could use the relief.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202807188220210378870.0004f5da95cbea8d250f2&msa=0

(Oh, looks like I got a part of the 53 wrong there. Whoops.)

I don't think the B103 should be sent any further east though... This is what I'm talking about with trying to create superroutes; adding stops to it around the park slope area, now talks about sending it further east, I mean what is the cutoff point with this route... It's ridiculous.... There is a such thing as being too much of a good thing; and what I mean by that is, the B103 seen drastic increases in usage, compared to the command days... Which is great, but have the MTA do all this to the route & an adverse effect could take place w/ such a prolonging of the route.....

 

The necessity of the B84 OTOH was questioned from the beginning (regardless if the B103 gets extended east or not); I'd say the B83 should've been extended northwards from Gateway/Brooklyn Dev. Ctr. if they really wanted to serve that growing part of Spring Creek (which was the primary reasoning for the B84's existence)... These dinky routes are a sign of things to come, I guarantee it.....

I don't think an extension to Spring Creek Towers would be the end of it. It's basically making a right turn and running down the street.

Agreed on adding stops in Park Slope. Taking out the whole point of it being a super fast limited. I get the stop at the F/G/R stop, but the other two are pointless.

103 extended to newlots ave 3 train

Or to Gateway mall via Vandalia Ave.

Or just to Spring Creek Towers.

So last evening I caught one of those extra expressy rush hour lateness express trains. Kings Highway-bound train, and it stayed on the express tracks from Jay all the way to Kings; stopped at 7 Ave, Church, 18 Ave and ended at Kings. The foamers would've loved it.