Brillant93

On 4/19/2024 at 6:19 PM, Cait Sith said:

Almost true.

It was ever since Governor Paterson cut regular state funding for the MTA in 2009(which led to the big 2010 service cuts), along with some of the worst top heads to ever be appointed(Jay Walder, Patrick Foye being the two notorious ones).

So in essence, it's basically the Paterson administration that caused a lot of what's been going on now with the fare hikes and all of that shit.

But of course, the big wigs are also paying themselves a hefty amount as well, and the entire agency, and the board, are as corrupt as they come.

I'd also like to mention, one of the recent Congestion Pricing lawsuits sparked a full blown audit of the MTA's finances. One of the judges basically said that if they're budget is running rampant now, along with the fact that they are 3 million dollars over budget, it would be worse when Congestion Pricing begins.

Wouldn’t be surprised if some mafia like behavior is taking hold. 

9 minutes ago, JoshTheScrub said:

Not only bus depots, but  most of the infrastructure in NYC that needs to have maintenance and repairs to keep up. Look at some apartments and NYCHA housing that’s getting violations bc they ain’t got no good maintenance or repairs done in a while. Look at what happened to that Building in the Bronx that partially collapses with all them violations. But back to depots, you made a good point, I have a feeling that they will be too late on fixing ENY and damage is done. Flatbush already has a bus that is oos because of a ceiling that fell on it. It’s crazy at this point, but I’m not surprised.

Its probably not too late, but getting repairs done shouldn't take almost 10 years for a depot or anything else. 

I'm not sure why people are acting as if the MTA has the money to rebuild and fix off their property? They are a government agency, they will need money to fix the vast system we have in this city. Our depots are very old, they were old trolley barns for a lot of them, they need to be rebuilt or renovated, but at the same time look how long its taking for Jamaica bus depot to even get rebuilt. This was planned years ago, but construction won't even start until when? Next year? 

The MTA needs money, but the MTA needs to also be freed from being a pawn for politicians as well.  

3 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

At this point, they’re spending more money changing each redesign then actually implementing it…

It’s a government agency and it requires hearings before implementation. You want them to just go a head with the redesign without community input? 

4 minutes ago, JoshTheScrub said:

From the article: 

St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA – March 11, 2024: (TSX: NFI, OTC: NFYEF, TSX: NFI.DB) New Flyer of America Inc. (New Flyer), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (NFI) and North America’s leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses, today announced that it has been awarded two new contracts from the New York City Transit Authority including firm orders for 429 Xcelsior® buses (671 equivalent units or EUs) with options to purchase up to 1,661 additional buses (2,379 EUs) over the next five years.

In total, the two contracts add 3,050 EUs to NFI’s first quarter 2024 backlog, including:

A firm order for 187 battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE NG™ 40-foot buses (187 EUs), with 943 additional options available (943 EUs).

A firm order for 18 battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE NG™ 60-foot buses (36 EUs), with 272 additional options available (544 EUs).

A firm order for 224 Xcelsior® 60-foot clean diesel buses (448 EUs), with 446 additional options available (892 EUs).

NYCT is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the largest transit authority in North America with an annual ridership of more than 425 million. In 2023, the MTA placed an emphasis on environmental goals, including a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% between their 2015 baseline and the year 2040. The battery-electric vehicles manufactured under these contracts will support MTA’s goal of transitioning the agency’s entire bus fleet to zero-emission alternatives by 2040. NYCT’s battery-electric vehicle purchase was supported through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Low or No Emission (Low-No) grant program.

 

Wow… that’s a whole lotta new flyers coming up soon…

I think this was mentioned a couple months ago on here. But we have the late 2000s and early 2010 models aging out.

3 hours ago, Jdog14 said:

 

Having rents avg $2500 doesnt help matters. 

Also wearing designer clothing doesnt matter either.  

3 hours ago, Ultimategamer12c said:

This isn’t the right thread to talk about this. And yes apparently it is.

Its the fleet and depot thread. 

Has farebeating ever gotten this bad? I was on a route and I watched everyone and I was the only one who paid to get on. 

What's the Flatbush depot renovations gonna be about? I'm curious? 

27 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

https://www.rockawaytimes.com/new-bus-needed/

The Q35 going to sheepsheads bay and not Flatbush junction where there is a straight connection to a subway doesn't make any sense at all. How many people from Far Rockaway are going to that area? Who will it benefit? Most of the people who travel from that area aren't going there so there isn't a need for the Q35 to even be rerouted because you are already taking away a direct connection to Manhattan via the subway.    

1 hour ago, Ex696 said:

Is it possible that the B15 was extended to Montrose Avenue  because the Woodhull Hospital terminus would likely be unable to handle having the B15, B46, and B47 all ending there?

It’s probably to make a train connection. 

On 2/18/2024 at 5:27 PM, Kingsbridgeviewer382 said:

People seem to forget the murder of the Flatbush driver in Dec 2008 (15 years ago) for not giving the farebeater murderer a transfer. I’m pretty sure nowadays it’s discouraged to engage with farebeaters so things don’t escalate. It’s odd how people say things weren’t bad back then when there are cases where you can point out the opposite.

Well, i'm not one of those people who would act as if things weren't bad back then, but I am more so saying along the lines of public behavior now vs back then. I mean years ago many people wouldn't fare beat but now its sort of a thing that is commonly done without any sort of remorse. It really has no bearing on the MTA but just the public in general. 

39 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

When I was a driver I was one of the very few that actually enforced the fare. It seems nowadays fare beating is considered the norm and trying to enforce it automatically turns into backlash from passengers or from your managers. Which sucks, because it was never this bad 10-15 years ago. Hell, every time  puts out a “please pay your fare” PR message on social media, they get a shit ton of hate replies demeaning them for…enforcing the rule?

I truly do hope  upsizes the eagle team drastically and this new DA actually prosecutes fare beating with a hefty fine.

I believe some transit agencies check the contactless payment cards randomly. But if they do, I think they would have to be police.

edit: has anyone even noticed that there’s lots of people who vape on the trains now? 

Do you think the MTA are going to have some sort of eagle team on all the bus routes once OMNY goes into full effect? Its not practical for bus drivers risk their lives asking for fare and a lot of people just walk on the buses without paying now. I would imagine they'll use a device to check and see if OMNY cards were swiped and if you have a transaction receipt on your phone. 

13 hours ago, The TransitMan said:

They are using it for relief points for the M15 and M15 SBS and temporary storage.

So my suspicions were right, its still being used. I don't know why they needed to give that depot back to the city it there were never any plans to even tear it down. I understand it was on a burial ground but it could have, in my opinion been converted into an engineering school and or trade school of some sort of the unvalued youth to work for the MTA or something.  

23 minutes ago, RSMG106 said:

1266 at Kingsbridge has the 126th Street depot sticker on it.

I wonder when are they going to actually do something with that old depot? I was around that area back in august and that depot is still there like its still there. I wouldn't be surprised if the MTA is on the premise in some way. 

39 minutes ago, poopybutt123 said:

😐 whatever u say dude 

You’re a troll, so please for the love of god just stop before you make it bad for everyone on here. This is the only place where there are legit discussions about the MTA. 
 

@SevenEleven would it be possible to just ban this user? 

10 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

If possible I would like to see the BRT connect to a Staten Island bus local redesign.

 

Combining the proposed 2012 plans and the (more recent) S40/40A plans, I could see something like this take place:

S40 cut back from Amazon, a new S5x route is created between Amazon and Arlington via teleport

A branch of the S44 (maybe S94) via the busway/S59 extension to St George 

S53 westward extension to Arlington

S54 Eastward extension to St George

A revamped S66 via the busway instead of Victory Blvd

Slight modifications of the S90 to operate between Amazon and St George via the busway, possibly operating a similar pattern to the S93 (running during peak hours and during scheduled shifts)

I thought the SI redesign was just for the express bus routes and not local? The BRT was always a separate project from it. 

1 hour ago, JoshTheScrub said:

Now just imagine CS running all them LGA routes or having to move all them routes to other depots, it would be a weird mess 

Probably was gonna be a weird mess. The last governor was really going to make the MTA run like chickens with their heads cut off. 

3 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

Wasn’t that whole thing just some political ploy to get the RTS’s to retire? I thought it bogus because each borough got its fair share of new buses between 2011 and 2019. 
ENY at the time already had a ton of XD40s, Jamaica already had 2015/2016 LFS’s, Ulmer Park had XD40’s and Quill which also had RTS’s had routes run through a lot of wealthy neighborhoods and were running on routes like the M66 and M72. 

I don't know all about that, but I do know peeping on here years ago Brooklyn was always the borough or one of the boroughs to send buses to before they retired. That sort of thing was asking for a scandal, sending old buses to certain neighborhoods doesn't sit right with political leaders, especially when the fleet is more homogenized. But I do understand that the old private bus lines and depots needed older buses, even to this day. 

27 minutes ago, xD4nn said:

Crashed into an illegally parked truck on Merrick Blvd at a high rate of speed.

Probably can be saved.

EDIT: Hope the driver is ok.

1 hour ago, JoshTheScrub said:

If you was talking about this than yes I vividly remembering seeing this pop up on the news 

 

It's never good when politics bleed into civil services because its mostly about money, not the people.

Agreed, I just really hate the narrative how much America used to have good transit but never really see how much that its not really our transit but its our politics. 

Edit: I also wanted to say this. Our last governor was a prime example of this, there were lots of effort for the L train shutdown before the pandemic and I recall the MTA made a lot of strides for a bus network to help transport people from Manhattan to Brooklyn. The governor really derailed a lot of the plans in which the city already made changes to the streets and other projects to help transport people for vital repair. There was also a plan to demolish another bus depot in queens to make way to build an Air Train from the far end of queens to LGA, which wasn't feasible at all, nevertheless it would have made bus logistics hard since the Jamaica bus depot was in the planning stage to also be demolished. 

From what I have seen in the past is that the MTA is full of bureaucracy and it hinders the MTA a lot. 

15 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

That’s when the money was running dry. By the time the takeover happened a decent portion of the fleets at most PBL depots were 20 year and older. 
I remember buses breaking down all the time, and I remember how routes like the Q60 were very notorious for missing runs, bunching and being slow. Fast forward many years later and I would say all MTA Bus depots have good/decent maintenance including JFK & LGA depots. It’s just a shame those two depots are typically the dumping ground for old buses before they retire. 

Interesting you mentioned the last part because anyone remember a few years ago before the pandemic where there was a scandal about the MTA dumping old buses into Brooklyn and the outer areas of the city i.e poorer neighborhoods? I remember on this forum it was some sort of thing mentioned how they usually get newer buses to the northern boroughs first and trickle them down. I'm not someone who is knowledgeable about the inner workings of how fleet of buses are distributed but I couldn't help but think the MTA shot themselves in the foot for that. 

10 hours ago, SoSpectacular said:

Keep in mind that almost all (if not all) public transport in New York City was operated by private agencies/corporations that over time, found themselves increasingly unable to continue operations due to funding/money issues and the city slowly gained control of these operations. The MTA was created in the 1950s by the state to consolidate these operations under one umbrella. The Queens companies just managed to survive throughout the decades.

The part you mentioned that our transit was a bunch of private companies before, it really bothers me when transit enthusiast, especially people who have a political intention behind themselves will say how the U.S. was good at building transit years ago but don't remember or even take into account it was private companies who built them. Really puts into insight on how much our transit agencies is filled with nothing but bureaucrats who will use transit against its intended purpose. I put it like this, would the Jamaica bus depot go through so much trouble to be rebuilt had it been a regular company instead of a transit agency? This isn't to make an argument for privatize transit vs public (its not) but the more I look into our transit issues in the states, it seem more of an issue about politics than capability. 

32 minutes ago, SoSpectacular said:

The private lines were managed by several companies under the supervision of NYCDOT. They were hit or miss depending on who was handling what. Queens Surface, Triboro Coach, Jamaica Buses and Green Lines were all in Queens, Brooklyn had Command and Manhattan/Bronx had New York Bus Service and Liberty Lines. They were all once separate but most of them were eventually controlled by larger private entities. To be honest, Green Lines, Triboro and Jamaica had some of the most raggedy-looking buses growing up. Queens Surface and Command were pretty good with their maintenance. Never spent much time in Manhattan and Bronx as a kid but NYBS and Liberty Lines' equipment also looked pretty decent to me.

I remember slightly how when I used to go into queens back in the day I would see some horrible rts’. I often wondered why queens had a lot more private bus routes? 

Does anyone know how badly the private bus companies were before the MTA took them over? Was always curious as to why I rarely seen those kinds of buses around the city unlike the NYCT buses.