Q23 via 108

Would it be a smart idea to Basically paint the current Cuomo buses (2016~2019) to Black and the Blue Stripe. I feel that white makes buses look older and dirtier (white is super easy to dirty). The new scheme buses could be painted Black and Blue so that #1 its still recognized as a newer bus. #2 Black paint can hide alot of the NY dirtyness. #3 its a simple paint scheme that only needs two colors. The only purpose that I see for the Cuomo scheme is to make the bus stand out as a new bus. But I think the MTA can make it work with a simpler paint scheme. At the end of the day, I love how the Cuomo Buses look, but I don't want to the MTA to blow millions on something as simple a uniform paintjob. And it dosen't have to be Black and Blue, but something that will make it stand out as a new bus.

5 minutes ago, MTAbus677 said:

When do you think the 2005 Orion VII Hybrids will retire?

They won't go past 2020.

2 minutes ago, MTAbus677 said:

What do you mean that they don’t work?

They are in a state that it is not reasonable for the MTA to fix them. Why fix a transmission or engine on a 15+ year old bus?

3 minutes ago, MTAbus677 said:

Why so quickly???

Cause they don't work 

34 minutes ago, Calvin said:

It seems that when the 6500s touched LGA area, the units are running but slowly drops like flies meanwhile JFK still has theirs up and running. 

 Bus reliablity has improved big time. Realize that those are some of the oldest buses in the fleet. Who knows, maybe LGA got the worst of the 6500s. Or perhaps maybe JFK has the upper hand in maintenance. But LGA gets my respect, they were the last to run the 1996 RTS. Both depots had 1996, LGA ran them last. Today, both depots got 6500s, perhaps JFK will be the last one to run them.

So when it comes to Lexington Av. Which method is the MTA looking at.

Will they do the Express tracks first seeing as the  and  already have NTTs. 

Or will they do the Local tracks since the Express tracks are vital tracks and the could be dealt with easily (whether have it run on the Express or cut it back to 125 or 3 Av-138). 

Also, will they work on both sides at the same time or will they work on one direction (Bronx side first for ex.)?

Either way, Lexington Av is a very delicate line and has to be worked on at specific times. 

Late Nights will be ideal, but the weekends can be crazy. Many rely on the  to Yankee Stadium, and even on weekends, Lex is still quite busy. So this is going to be interesting to say the least. But, we will truly see what the MTA is truly made of. And how they will control (or lack of) this task.

1 hour ago, New Flyer Xcelsior said:

When will the R62/As be replaced with the R262s? Also, are the  R62s going to get replaces with R142/As then R262s, or R62s to R262s with no R142s.

also, is the  the only train to run the R62s?

The R262s will probably come out in the mid to late 2020s. We don't even have all of the R179s and we are months away from 2020, so no time soon. 

2 hours ago, Calvin said:

How's the R44 in S.I different from the ones NYCT have? Also, I may be wrong at this but there are still at least 2 R44s that are at C.I Yard but for unknown reasons

I don't know for sure, but I do know that the NYCT ones had a harder life the SIRT. The R44s were on the longest and most used lines (. ,,, in the old days) Meanwhile staten island hasn't taken as much of a beating when compared to the city's. 

As you all know. The R44s were prematurely canned due to structural damage (specifically frame rot and rust). But... let's just play "what if" and said that the R44s were built Stainless Steel, which would eliminate the structural problems that they went through. So my question is, how do you think the R44s would be performing in 2019? Would they be falling apart or would they be holding up. I assume that at 2019, they would probably run on the  and Rockaway Park  while the can  alternate between R46 and R179. And once the R179s are delivered and all the teething issues are fixed, then the R44s would start being scrapped. Another possibility is that the R44s could have been used on the  considering that it's not that long a route? Its interesting to think of how this decade could have been had the R44s not retire. There wouldn't have been R32s on the . No R32  shuttles in the Rockaways. The end of 60ft SMEEs, little to no fleet shortage, and possibly a full length  by now. Point is the 2010s could have been real different depending on the availability of the R44s. Had the 44s been around today, they would have been close to 50 years. They probably wouldn't have made it to 50, but I could have probably envisioned the R44s retiring around 2016-2018ish. What do you guys think? Were the R44s doomed anyway by the start of the 2010s? Or could they have held up perhaps 6~8 more years in Revenue Service (assuming no structural damage). 

7 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

So just to confirm, the R32's were in the process of being retired when structural defects were found on the R44, which caused them to swap the retirement to the R44 and halt the R32?

Correct. The R44s retirement saved the remaining R32s and R42s. Otherwise, those two car classes would have been retired. 

7 hours ago, Abba said:

I have a question . What’s a better odds ? To win 1 million dollars in a lottery or to be stuck in a subway tunnel 1 hour or more ?

Stuck in a subway tunnel. I think you have better odds of winning the lottery than see Cuomo fix the subway.

1 hour ago, R68OnBroadway said:

When they killed skip-stop on the  , did they ever consider having express service between 137th and 96th?

I always asked myself the same question. But I guess not because 1. There would probably be opposition from the stops being skipped. And 2. The people in general probably would have opted to take the  or  to go Express uptown. If it did happen though, it would need a different subway bullet. I would say . There is no diamond .

Those New Oat milk advertisements are dope. Has to be the best one I've seen on a bus.

Any mechanics or drivers in the house? I want an insider's opinion toward the Orion 7 Old gens. Everyone knows that the RTS are awesome, and its legacy is sealed. But I want to know how people internally feel about these buses. Are they reliable? Great to drive? And overall good buses? I'd like to know more about the Hybrids because the CNGs have been gone. 

1 hour ago, mehki311 said:

So if it's true about 6681 and 6685 being scrapped that means the start of the end of 6490-6689 units am I right?

Not necessarily. They are just getting rid off the worst of the bunch. In 2020 when the new buses arrive, then it's a wrap for the Gen 1 Hybrids. It makes no sense to fix a bus with a major problem that's 15 years old. Those 2004s have another good year of service left in them. But if there's a major problem with one of them, its serves the MTA no good to fix a bus that won't make it pass the next year.

Lest we forget 21 Van Alast .

1 hour ago, WestFarms36 said:

The issue really falls only at Gun Hill Depot. In the case of West Farms, they've improved. The buses are clean and everything there is basically in check. Kingsbridge is a depot I am beginning to question, and I am afraid they could follow Gun Hill's footsteps.

Kingsbridge be Slipping. MTA bus logo all scratched up, scratchiti all over the windows, garbage on the floor, seats mad filthy chipped paint. overall poor aesthetic quality. It's up there with Gun Hill. But Gun Hill is on another level.

What is the purpose of sending the 6500s to MTA Bus?

33 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

“Parking brake is off. Parking brake is off. Parking brake is off. Parking brake is off. Parking brake is off. Parking brake is off.”

Apparently there are more safety systems on the newer buses than just “Caution, bus is turning.”

Speaking of that. What would happen to a bus if its traveling at 35mph and the BO pulls the parking brake while in motion? Besides harsh breaking would it damage the bus?

1 minute ago, trainfan22 said:

Yes, but those buses aren't exactly a fan favorite lol. 

Yes, but they got flipdots🤣

10 hours ago, Bay Ridge Express said:

NTTs everywhere! The horror!

 

 

/s

The Subway is going to have two types of cars. The NTTs and the open gangway R2XXs. Its going to be really bland since the post 90s cars are so similar. A Transit fan will tell the difference. But to the average person, they are nearly identical. The only main thing separating the NTTs are the Propulsion sounds. Other than that, they look the same on both the interior and exterior.

Besides sound (and maybe some little things here and there)

What's different about a R142 - R142A - and R188?

What's different about an R143, R160A, R160B, R179. 

To me, they are all the same train. And the subway system is getting more stale by the day. 

There is a reason why people mainly fan on the  and . There's mad diversity (R32, R46, R68, R179, R211 in the future) Compare it to the  where it just has 1 car type. 

Liked it better when you could on any line and expect anything to show up. Now I don't hate NTTs, but when we got a fleet that has very cars similar on almost every subway line, its going to become stale. Like besides the noise it makes, what's the difference of catching an R160 Alstom vs a R160 Siemens on the . Or catching a R143 or R160 on the . Its all the same.

50 years from now I'm probably going to find the Subway Stations more interesting than the actual rolling stock we will have. (I love the newly updated  28 St, the stations in 50 years are going to look great).

But the NTTs do their job, and I hope they last long, but you gotta admit that the subway is loosing its "charm".

5 hours ago, ABOGbrooklyn said:

This sub forum is gonna be pretty quiet for a while, now that all of the RTS are gone.. 

Aren't the 2003 Orion 7s close enough to retirement?

8 hours ago, subwayfan1998 said:

Hey Guys

How do you envision NYC Subways in 50 Years?

Boring

7 minutes ago, busdude2 said:

They should save 5249 the last bus of the last batch.

They did.

Just for fun. What would happen If the R46s started having catastrophic problems forcing the MTA to retire the whole fleet (like the R44s did).

How would you manage the fleet to provide service? 

Hopefully they hold up till 2022.