trife86

11 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

The main reason why these buses are going OOS so fast is because of the overcrowding. Coach buses are designed for certain weights, and these commuter buses definitely weren't specd for standees, so the engine, the LBSS on the transmissions, the shocks, etc, are all wearing down faster. Check out reasons for why the buses are OOS, 90% will be from reasons above. Overheating, engine/transmission problems, airbags popped, etc, The Prevost were perfectly fine before this redesign. 

Don't think the engine and transmission are stressed as all, even fully loaded on highway it doesn't need much to maintain speed.

I wouldn't say an extra 5000lb over say a 45-50,000pound normal load is really even going to effect anything.

I would blame it just more on there getting broken in now and not just brand new and racking up the miles are bound to bring problems.

1 hour ago, SevenEleven said:

Nah. NJT uses the same tires on their buses and they still blowing us out the water on the turnpike. 

That doesn't make it safe. Read the sidewall of the tire on any of our coach bus it will say the speed rating of it.

Not sure if some of them have been going over to Michelin

But here is both, I know for a fact we use the 305width tire and the Goodyear's were 55mph rated not sure what the Michelin are at or if we use them on coach.

https://www.goodyear.com/mileage/pdf/goodyear_transit_tires.pdf

https://www.michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bcontent/PDF/Transit_Buses.pdf

Look up the history of the Goodyear g159 RV tire is a prime example of over running the tire and speed limit. That tire has caused many many deaths from people pushing over the limit of them 

2 minutes ago, Jdog14 said:

 

I didn't know that tires had speed ratings until now....

Yes not just busses and heavy vehicles but bassicly every car and motor vehicle there is.

Some tire compounds get too hot when loaded at speed and become unsafe. 

Usually higher speed rated tires cost more and they usually don't last as long either.

8 hours ago, Jdog14 said:

 

Perhaps one reason many of these buses are now OOS is because they are capped at 60 mph and many buses going through NJ are doing top speed for too long.  Perhaps they should raise it to 70 mph so the engines don't strain as much. 

I don't think that's a option. The tires on our busses only have a speed rating of 55 or 60mph.

28 minutes ago, prtuc2 said:

Looks like a mesh breathable seat looks like I could get one myself for work. Thought it was a MTA vendor thing.

You can find em all day long on Amazon or eBay.

48 minutes ago, prtuc2 said:

Hi everyone, I always curious about what seat cushion the bus operator carries with them? It seems to be everyone using the same one.

What about it ? It's a extra cusion some guys like. Nothing special.

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Those buses feel smaller. That was the same complaint Staten Islanders had. I wouldn’t say that I wanted RTS buses back, but I can certainly understand the complaint.

Well RTS and O5s you can really smash the people in there good, behind them is the NG and 3G, and the Nova's are horrible at packing people in due to layout.

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There aren't that many picks though, so for the Fall pick, it lasts for several months.  All of the buses I take in the morning at the moment, the drivers know me.  I'm only cool with a few of them though. The rest I can't stand to be honest and I've been taking their buses for years, but the ones I'm cool with, even if they haven't seen me in a while we'll chat it up for a bit before I get off or they'll say good seeing you again. 

There's one guy who is so damn slow and a lot of passengers complain about him. He's always LATE and for a few weeks he was going the wrong way.  In fact I had to walk to another stop to get him and I confronted him about it.  Before that we were fine but after that I pretty much had it when he acted as if he wasn't the scheduled bus when he clearly was.  He never apologized either.  Going the wrong way for TWO weeks! Crazy...

When in doubt, do the old route!

14 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Doesn't look like Queens is doing so well for express bus service this PM rush.

1. The first QM18 left on time at 4:35 PM. as of 6:27 PM, It is still doing its run with 31 minutes left to go, the bus should have gotten to the terminal at 6:00 PM, now it isn't going to arrive there until around 7:00 PM.

 

2. The 5:05 PM and 5:35 PM QM3 buses are 5 minutes apart, not good for a route that runs on 30-minute headways.

 

3. QM5 bunching, 3 are regulars, while one is a super express bus.

4. QM20 bunching, 3 are super expresses while one is a regular bus.

 

 

Unless you got boots on the ground don't rely on the bustime stuff. Alot of older busses don't update or even work as they should regarding the GPS tracking.

7 hours ago, paulrivera said:

Fare beating’s not allowed either, but no one does anything about *that*...

All I’m saying is if NYCT B/O’s have the stones to park their buses and get out of their seats to confront women with open baby strollers, they should also grow a set and confront farebeaters also.

It's not about "having stones" it comes down to just following orders from above.

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

Why can a B/O kick off a paying customer with an open baby stroller (And hold the whole bus up in the process of kicking said customer off the bus), but they can’t/won’t do anything about the farebeaters?

Open baby strollers are not permitted.

No overhead fans does not mean no ac. The heat/ac is independent of the overhead fans. The AC is what comes out by the bottom of window

18 hours ago, DueceDrives said:

Actually every operator is suppose to operate the bus at a safe speed 15 - 20 mph. But some operators take a chance. 

No, we are premitted to go the speed limit. The 15-20 is suggested and not a hard limit.

For others looking for info check previous test threads and hiring information, it mostly stays the same for EVERY SINGLE TEST, just do a search it's simple. 

9 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

I guess they changed their mind about 2882 staying on the S89. As of now 2882 is on the SIM5.

A single coach will not stay on the s89, at Yukon it's whatever bus is available at the time, it might always be a coach but not always going to be the same.

At Charleston there's a fair amount of coach's assigned to specific operators where they will have the same bus all week.

40 minutes ago, East New York said:

Well I said the main reason is for retirement lol. Nothing last longer than an RTS. These other buses would have to be rebuilt to last as long. The OG hybrids are already at retirement age. It just seems like yesterday that they were flooding the city brand new. Hybrids cost more to maintain than straight diesels, and at this time the only justification for them is they are 'SLIGHTLY" cleaner than a brand new straight diesel. 

Even though I've driven almost every American bus type ever built, I am also a Maintenance Tech, and own buses so I look at things from a few different sides. 

Operating in diesel only mode would eventually kill the computer, and drive maintenance costs up significantly. Not only that, but if you operate in that mode for too long and consistently you will start to develop other problems. That engine is not made to operate on its own power at all times. It is a Cummins ISB. The Cummins straight diesel buses, including the bus company repower are more powerful ISL's. You will start burning up oil, and blowing turbochargers. The electronic engine controls on that bus wouldn't know what to do. An RTS or any other Detroit (DDEC) system for example will shut the bus down at first detection of a problem so as not to worsen a situation.

*Fun fact of the day. Notice how when many buses break down they make take a while to get back on the road and out of maintenance. An RTS can break down this afternoon and be on the run line tomorrow. Reason being is the electronic controls will shut the bus down at the first sign of a problem, whereas most others you can run into the ground and not even know something is wrong until the bus completely breaks down, starts blowing turbo chargers and sometime at worse catch fire. When a DDEC bus breaks down or retires, it can usually be driven back to the depot or to scrap. If these other buses break down, we usually see them on tow trucks. How often do you see an RTS or a D60 on a tow truck?? How often do we see everything else on a tow truck? Which ones are newer???

 

 

That part is a 2 edged sword, many times I've called in busses on the road saying I have a yellow check engine or yellow check HEV, and they will just say ok continue call us back if it turns red.

50 minutes ago, East New York said:

Staten Island for obvious reason along with Queens will benefit the most from the electric buses.

However, not to say SI won't get hybrids in the future, even though it is highly unlikely. If we go with the Allison Parallel system they will be more fuel efficient than the BAE, and will not be as expensive to maintain. The current hybrids that we have were designed for Manhattan and Brooklyn only for the most part. The higher speeds and longer distances are not good for that type of system, and have thus costed the MTA much more than expected, or planned.

This was motivation behind the plans to convert the entire Bus Company fleet to straight diesel, which was later scrapped because it was found not to be cost effective at all.

You can't really compare the two seeing as the NG's still have a lot of life left in them. The V's have been retired for a while now, and the RTS doesn't even count. That's the longest lasting bus ever built to date. There are plenty out there with even more mileage than that. I have about 460K on mine and it's a 2000 model. 

SI division is high mileage so naturally most of the buses out there have slightly higher mileage numbers. The newest of the RTS' are 19 years old now, whereas the oldest are approaching 22 years old. We have hybrids retiring alongside the RTS now. We will never have any NG's long enough to even be able to compare them to the likes of an 05 or RTS, but if you consider the other depots, the mileage is quite high on them. 

As I only know how to drive them, I wonder why they would be retiring the hybrids earlier, I know retrofits to straight diesels were considered but what about just disabling the hybrid system together and run only on the current diesel engine.

I have driven a few with dying HEV systems and while they won't have a good top speed they are still good for city use under say 30mph.

On 10/23/2018 at 12:04 PM, JeremiahC99 said:

 

With these assignments, there would be better service, especially at Yukon, since local service will no longer be covered with Hybrids with loads of mileage, routes crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the newly-raised Bayonne Bridge would be served by diesel buses, which could be better for these operations than Series-hybrids. Castleton would get an extra few buses for additional service.

 

Also, any plans for installing bike racks on the new scheme buses for routes crossing bridges with no pedestrian walkways?

Not sure if I'd say loads of mileage I think there around 275-300k which isn't much when the 05s and RTS go to 500+

1 hour ago, East New York said:

The B32 and most GA runs have Interlines with others. If something happens on one line and there’s a run-off to the the next line, it’s inevitably going to be late and have to play catch up. If an op gets to then end of the line and has to take a personal for a emergency bathroom break they get up to 15 minutes. 

There may also be other issues with this like that need to be analyzed and addressed. 

20 minutes good sir

12 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I know that bus bunching is inevitable, but it's unbelievable that GA can't even run the B32 properly anymore. At some point in the day, the damn thing bunches, meaning everyone is getting hourly service. This happens virtually every weekend now, and it's starting to spill over on weekdays.

It can't be traffic, because the streets are generally free-flowing. There's some traffic on Broadway, but not to the point where buses should be running together while on 30 minute headways. The Pulaski Bridge has not been closed either (or has not been closed daily). Something has to give.

Not sure if you should just go blaming the depot itself, it's up to road control / central console to handle it, and those personal may be from other depots and locations.

1 hour ago, S78 via Hylan said:

From what I remember, B/Os are allowed to take a 20-minute personal or something like that. If that’s wrong, maybe @SevenEleven or @trife86 could chime in.

Yes, if you need to GO, call up on the radio your allowed unlimited 20 minute personals as long as you call it in... 95% of the time we try to make it to the end of the line but if not even if your in service if nature calls, you gotta answer lol. After all the bus is our office.

It's kind of tough sometimes but we try for be considerate. I like to drink alot of liquid but you try to think of the time you will end up and the terminals and adjust your intake accordingly.

6 hours ago, RailRunRob said:

With a bus swap in between of course?

Yeah after pulling in for meal break when you go back out, they give you the appropriate bus.

6 hours ago, RailRunRob said:

Gotcha. I was wondering.  The driver yesterday drove S89 both  MCI's and LFA's so the base pay had to be the same.. Do drivers do both Local and Express Routes?

Yes but not everyone will, there are alot of runs that have local and express in them on the same day. 

2 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

But certain runs pay more.

Yes but he asked if the drivers are paid more. Is why I said pay is the same hourly no matter what line.... There are local runs over 12hrs as well so in theory just cause someone drives express does not always mean more pay.

2 hours ago, RailRunRob said:

Then are drivers paid more? How does that work bus type? 

Pay is same hourly no matter what line you do