RSMG106

I don't know if this was mentioned, but before the  ordered buses with Hanover destination signs, they used to have Luminator MAX, and Mega:MAX signs. Then they switched to Horizon, and Titan amber signs. The first order of buses with Hanover signs, was the 2011-12 New Flyer XD40s. There were other signs used like from Axion, and Aesys. I was wondering, how come the MTA stopped using the Luminator signs? Did they want better viability with the signs? And also, why didn't the MTA consider using TwinVision Amber signs, or using white destination signs like from some operators in the United States? 

I did some counting on the seats on these buses courtsey of TTMG.org, and it is 63 seats. All of them are 4ONE Gemini seats. I need someone to confirm this.

23 hours ago, LegoBrickBreaker101 said:

This post should be in the bus section btw, but to answer your question, the XEs mostly run on the M42 and M50, but they've also shown up on the M9, M57, M66, and M72, as well as the M11 school trips from 110th to 34th.

Quill tries to keep the XEs on the M42 and M50 since those two routes are close to the depot. They recently started running them on those other routes I mentioned towards the end of last year, but since 2020 started, they've gone back to only being on the M42 and M50.

Thanks for the info. Next time, I will put my question on the bus random thoughts section.

I decided to take my grandfather out to the West Side Pier. My plan was to give my grandfather the future of transportation by riding the XE40. However, I did some thinking, and I found out that maybe MJQ did not use the XE40s at this time, due to the heat. So instead we rode 7611 on the M42 to the end of the stop at the pier, and come back to 3rd Avenue on 7597 on the same route. For me, 7611 is a beauty because it runs so smooth, and its definitely one of my favorite 40 footers to ride on. Despite not riding on the XE40, it was still an enjoyable day nonetheless. But I must question this? Is the XE40 just exclusive for the M42, and M50 routes? Because I see the XD40s and the XE40s the most on the M42 and M50 routes. 

13 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

12 years is the average lifespan for a transit bus, but the MTA has been known to hold on to buses longer than that if the bodies and such hold up better than expected. 

Let's just hope the MTA can keep these 1200s as long as possible.

3 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

The A/C on those buses is non existent. I rode one on the BX12 where it was hotter INSIDE the bus than it was outside! IIRC, the A/C on those units was weak when they ran on the M15 as well. Interior in a lot of them are raggedy as well.

 

I remember when those buses were new, never did I imagine them to age so poorly.

Wow. I remember riding those buses on the M15 Local before the launch of the M15SBS. It was fantastic. Nowadays, these buses are now becoming a bit worse in quality overtime.

4 minutes ago, Snorunts said:

They seemed fine when they were running on the M15-SBS. But right when they were sent to the Bronx and unwrapped is when they started looking like trash. They NEED a paint job.

I would agree. They need to repaint these buses because they look kind of ugly to me.

5 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Yikes, move all 90 of the 1200's to one depot!? That would suck for the riders of said depot as from a passenger prospective, simply put, those buses suck lol. And they appear to be beat to hell.

I did not know that. As long as a depot have better maintenance, then probably those buses won't have problems, most of the time. Did you experience in the 1200s, and had any issues with it?

2 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Those XD60s are staying at Flatbush. They won't be going to TU(if ever) until they're taken off of SBS duty(if ever).

By the time that happens, we might be seeing mileage swaps all over.

Well, that is disappointing. Thank you for confirming this. The original move for the 2016-17 XD60s were mostly correct, with 5987-6030 going to Stengel. However, 3 years later, the rest of the order was now in other depot besides TU. Currently, Stengel, LGA, MJQ, and Hale has the 6030-6108 batch.

Here's a question, would there be a possibility that the 1200s from Gun Hill, and Kingsbridge can move back to Manhattan (Mainly at TU), in the near future? I discussed about my possible moves for the 1200s, in exchange with the 2011-13 LFSAs.

37 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

@Snorunts "Why would TU need SBS units?" Why would KB need SBS units? And you saw what happened there, they got wrapped into the local scheme (and the SBS scheme is done anyways). MTA is always preaching about fleet uniformity. Well here's your chance.

MCH can send their 55 XD60s to Quill in exchange for 55 LFSAs (they already had LFSAs to begin with). 

TU can send their 30 XD60s to Quill in exchange for 30 Novas. Now you have some uniformity; Quill focuses on Xcelsiors, TU focuses on LFSAs. The left over LFSAs can stay at Quill until they are needed elsewhere (possibly S.I). 

 

 

@Around the Horn "If I were going to hypothetically move around articulated buses, I would just move all 90 of the 1200s to Tuskegee and keep them at one depot, then supplement them with 38 of the 2011 or 2012 LFSAs. The other 62 LFSAs can go to Gun Hill or Kingsbridge, 9 of the XD60s can then go to Flatbush pushing those Novas there to Kingsbridge for local service with the other 19 going to Gun Hill."

But then you'd go back to depots having two types of articulated fleets, I thought the goal was fleet uniformity? 

 

 

If I can understand, we are still waiting for 62 more 2017 XD60s to TU. However, it may take forever. But I can understand about fleet uniformity. TU mostly has New Flyers, and Novabuses. As for the 1200s, this would make sense since that both Gun Hill and Kingsbridge has the 1200s. Both Gun Hill and Kingsbridge are currently moving their 4700s to Grand Avenue, and Ulmer Park. However, I would prefer the 62 additional 2017 XD60s to TU, and all 90 of the 1200s to TU. Then, move the remaining 2011-13 LFSAs to Kingsbridge and Gun Hill. It would be a style of "old school and new school". You will have a combination of the 2000s decade units, with the 2010s decade units.

2 minutes ago, Lex said:

What chime?

The stop requested chime.

In the afternoon, I was on the M102 route to the East Village on unit #6035, and I noticed something unique. That unit has a longer chime than the other XD60s from NYCT. This has to do with the essential service where I think TA decided to edit the chime to make it louder. I'm not sure if this is true if the other units have it, or that it is just me.

On 6/15/2020 at 10:52 AM, MysteriousBtrain said:

1300 is at Secaucus undergoing final inspection

For the first time, the Prevost will not only feature the same Hanover signs from the New Flyer and Novabus fleet, but will also be the first MTA Prevost to feature the Cuomo livery. And it will be the first order of X-345 commuter buses with the new redesign, ever built.

18 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

5299 Scrap to WF-renumbered 5252

May I ask why they renumbered 5299 to 5252? This maybe a similar case where a bus gets renumbered into the same number series. The D60s from 1998 were originally numbered 1110-1111, and then we're renumbered to 5250-5251, to match the 5200 series.

On 1/29/2020 at 6:05 PM, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

I actually never thought about that and it sounds like a great idea. And yeah no one EVER obeyed that exit through the rear door, people get off through whatever door is closest to them. Or in their direction of walking towards. 

And with all door boarding coming soon, everything will be a free for all. Yeah man "Stop Requested" is the perfect idea! 

Actually, how about we go back to the pre Orion VII NG order and have just the chime instead.

So today, I was on 5903, a 2012 Novabus LFS Artic based out of OH. During its run on the M103, the third door located in the rear malfunctioned. It took at least 30 seconds before the door was normal. Whenever it does that, the bus operator turns off the vehicle, and turns it back on to resolve the issue. I wanted to ask, since that I rode the LFS Artics most of the time, if there are similar units that had issues like this, or that bus operators had issues with the doors on the LFS Artics? That was not the first time that this happened. I encountered these instances a few times in 2019 on some units.

To be honest, Andy Byford was the best choice for the MTA. When it comes to modernization, Byford had a lot of ideas to improve subways and buses, such as the Fast Forward plan. Also, when he was in charge, subway delays went down, and it was much better. However, thanks to Andrew Cuomo, I think the MTA may fail at some point, however I could be wrong. Cuomo shouldn't go after Byford just because of his spectacular job. Overall, Byford was a great choice for the MTA, and would've begun a renaissance for the system. 

5 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

It's the exhaust spec in that order that caused problems, not due to insufficient funds. The exhaust got hot enough to a point where it can put any human being on fire. They ended up selling those to NJT to cut their losses on the modifications of the order.

Oh. It makes me wonder on why the MTA chosen this exhaust spec, over the D4500CLs. What the MTA should've done, was to keep the same spec as the CLs, that way they can have 126 coaches. But nope, they chosen a spec that can cause a potential safety hazard.

11 minutes ago, MCI D4000 81994 said:

Wasn't some of the MCIs >2250 rejected? They were sold to NJT?

Well, there were supposed to order 126 D4500CTs from 2008, but they reduced it 59, but due to insufficient funds, they send 18 to NJT, leaving only 41 units on order at the time.

For this topic, I wanted to check out the reject bus orders from the MTA, and why there were rejected. It may not be all of the rejected orders, but here are the rejected orders so far:

The first order was from 1995, with the Flxible Metro E. The Metro E order would've been numbered 1900-1949 (50), and was to be powered by the Detroit Diesel Series 50 engine, with the Allison VR731RH transmission. Unfortunately, despite being ordered in '95, Flxible went out of business before being built, and closed in 1996. This resulted in the order to be award to Orion for the Orion V, and numbered 631-680. It would've been cool to see the Metro E buses, since the controversial Grumman Flxible 870 order. 

The second order was from 2004, with the New Flyer D60HF. This order would've been numbered 5770-5834 (65), and would've used the same powertrain as the 2002-03 units, and the depots were listed for delivery. The depots were revealed on which units will they receive. 5770-5792 (23) would go to 100th Street (OH), 5793-5827 (35) going to Casey Stengel (CS), which would've been the first Queens depot to receive articulated buses, and 5828-5834 (7), going to MJQ. However, the model was discontinued prior to being built. This didn't make sense, since that Metro Transit of Minnesota-St. Paul, received the last batch of D60HFs ever built in 2006. But like the Metro E order, it would've been cool to see these units in service, especially in Queens.

The third order was from 2006, but this time was from the then MTA Long Island Bus division. This order was the famous Orion V CNGs. This order would've been numbered 463-512 (50). The powertrain was interesting, since that the Allison B400R5 G4 transmission was the primary for this order, and the other Orion V CNGs, were mostly Allisons, the engine was different. It would've been powered by the John Deere/Powertech 6081H engine. This order was a possible order from the batch of 2004 Orion Vs, but was dropped, presumably for the Orion VII Next Gen. If this would've been order, then it would be the first time that the MTA ordered a different CNG engine, not from Detroit Diesel.

The fourth and fifth order are from 2012-13, and are from MTS. The MTA would've received the RTS Extreme, and the RTS Express, with the Cummins ISL9 engine, and the Allison B400R6 G4 or G5 transmission respectively. The Extreme order would've been numbered 4700-4789, and the Express order would've been numbered 2500-2589. However, both orders were not delivered for unknown reasons. In my opinion, it would've very amazing to see the RTS return to glory in New York City.

The last order was from 2012-13, but for MTA Bus. The Orion VII 3G CNG order would've been numbered 570-643 (74), with an option of 30 buses, making a total of 104 buses. It would've been the same as NICE's Orion VII 3G order. Sadly, only two were built, and were sent to CENTRO, under 1271-1272. And also, Orion closed, resulting in the contract to be moved to New Flyer for the last order of C40LFs. However, It would've been interesting to see the Orion VII 3G CNGs in Queens, but it's better late then ever. 

Those are so far the rejected orders from MTA Bus, and New York City Transit. It may not be all of the rejected orders, but if I'm missing something, or some facts about the rejected orders, let me know.

23 minutes ago, Deucey said:

I once took a complaint from someone mad about the paint scheme Kaiser Permanente uses on their medical office buildings in Northern California.

Since that day in 2007, I had not been witness to such an Archie Bunker-esque complaint until I read this in it’s entirety.

Okay, I understand that I made a complaint that is stupid, but this is my opinion, and I can definitely understand that the MTA will not do anything about it.

When I was at least 3 years old, I remember riding the 1997 New Flyer D60HF #1024 on the M102, back when the 100th Street Depot was reopened. I was on the bus, when all of a sudden, I hear an voice from the speakers about priority seating. At first I thought it was the bus operator, but then later on, I discovered that those were PSA announcements. To this day, I heard the female voice, in which I don't know who provided that PSA, and it still being used on all buses as an alternative PSA. When the newer and worst Orion VII NG Hybrids came along, I heard new things about the voices. Firstly, it was the first order to feature the all new "Please Exit Through The Rear Door", voice when the Stop Requested button was pressed, or the yellow cord was pulled. And secondly, they had all new PSAs done by two male voices and one female voice who also provided both "Thanking for riding the MTA", and a violation of assaulting an bus operator. It seems pretty amazing to hear these new voices, especially the Vapor CLASS door systems voice. However, in the beginning of 2018, with the change from Ladies and Gentlemen, to more gender neutral announcements, the voices had an impact on the buses as well. The biggest complaint that I had with the change, is that most of the original PSAs were either redone by a new male voice, or a new female voice. The male voice is especially annoying because for some weird reason, he provided the priority seating PSA, even though the old PSA recording was still there, playing it occasionally, and also replaced the female voice that explained the violation for assaulting an bus operator. I understand these changes, and it appeals to more of an gender neutral change for everyone to understand, but it makes wonder, how much changes can the MTA do in the 2020s. Also, the on-board announcements, can be a bit lazy, since that it's done by a Text to Speech Siri for buses that have On-Board Displays. So that it all for this question.

4 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

"Few hours"

It's been there since yesterday.

I wasn't knowing about this, since the video came in today. My apologies sir.

According to this video, 4950 will arrive at MJQ in a few hours. Source of this video and special thanks to King Auto & Xcelsior, and Mystical.

This unit will either do tests, or start SBS duties on the M14.

Well, it's official. Novabus made a fully electric, long range version of the original LFSe. Known as the LFSe+, this bus is capable of a range between 211 and 292 Miles before needing a charge. Unlike the LFSe which was powered by the TM4 Sumo HD motors, the LFSe+ will instead have BAE Systems in place. I think there's a slight possibly that the MTA will test  out the LFSe+ in the 2020 decade. 

Here's the link to the LFSe+: https://www.metro-magazine.com/zero-emissions/news/735949/nova-bus-launches-new-fully-electric-lfse