aemoreira81

5545 is also at GH if not already mentioned. These assignments for the Xcelsiors are driving me bonkers; I'm surprised that more haven't been temporarily assigned to West Farms to push out the Orion 7s CNGs. The RTS retirements can be put on the back burner as diesel tanks don't expire, but CNG tanks do as they're pressurized.

I'm actually surprised that 4936 or 4916 aren't in that purpose. Each has the second brake allowing such. (4949 does as well, and so that doesn't surprise me.)

A few observations that are my opinion: 1. The Gowanus Expressway bus lane should be extended to operate until 3 PM, because traffic into the city can still be bad, affecting the return outbound trips. 2. Based on traffic conditions, operators should have the option of using Third and Hamilton Avenues through Brooklyn, especially when traffic is bad (both roads have a speed limit of 30 mph when running under the Gowanus). 3. The governor should be using state troopers in Manhattan to enforce those bus lanes. A permanent troop station in the city can't come soon enough...Riverbank State Park could be a good location, with a primary focus on enforcing bus lanes, and protecting MTA revenue at turnstiles and on proof-of-payment routes. 4. Why is the BM5 so unreliable, especially on evening Saturday return trips? In my opinion, as well as for College Point routes, drivers should have the option of using the Queensboro Bridge instead of the Queens Midtown Tunnel.

That bus is still around? I thought it was sent to the breakers long ago.

Orion 7 CNG tanks are expiring and those buses have to go. (Those O7 CNGs had 15-year tanks in them.)

Those O7 CNGs have to go as their tanks are expiring. RTS retirement is on hold for now.

Also, 4932 is a swing bus as well.

Caused the death of a passenger on that bus, which was written off.

I'm actually glad that we're not talking fatalities there. Good Lord! As for last night, there was a real dispatching failure of dispatchers not knowing the area. If you follow me on Facebook, I was talking about my travel on the S93 last night. The bus departed CSI at 5:40 PM...and ran into trouble along Victory Boulevard, where nothing was moving with S61s, S62s, S66s, S93s, and even returning SIM3cs (delays were that bad) stuck on Victory because of two separate issues...one at Little Clove Road, and then at Todt Hill Road, all between Clove Road and Manor Road. This could be partially chalked up to bad dispatching as well. That S93 did not reach Bay Ridge until after 9 PM (I eventually walked from Manor to Little Clove Road, where I caught the last bus that had passed the mess to that point---where the driver rode the brake the entire way down the hill at 5 mph, and caught an S93 that had detoured). S52 buses were detouring all the way to Clove Road to avoid the icy Cebra Avenue, and I would not be surprised if the S74 and S78 remained on Bay Street to Water Street in Stapleton. For westbound buses, the dispatcher should have had buses use Clove Road to Little Clove Road, continuing onto Windsor Road, and then use Reon Avenue to Manor Road (SIM3/34 buses would remain on Reon and Gannon and not turn up to Victory at Slosson), instead turning at Bradley Avenue and then following Bradley to Watchogue Road). For eastbound buses, the detour should have been Manor Road to Martling Avenue, Clove Road, and resume regular route at Victory and Clove (no Grymes Hill for the S66). This also highlights the need for snow routes, especially in Staten Island Division and for northern Bronx routes. Examples: Bx9: snow route northbound only: via Kingsbridge Road, left Sedgwick, right at Bailey, left at 225 and regular. Bx10: the snow route should be Riverdale Avenue. The Bx20 would operate in a reverse manner (which I wonder if it should be a permanent change)...operating to 239 Street, then reversing direction, operating along the HHP service road to Kappock Street, and terminating at Kappock and Netherland where it could turn around. Bx16/Bx31---snow route (wesbtbound only): via 233 Street, right on Bronxwood, left at 236, right on White Plains, left on Nereid, left on Webster, right on 233, and back to regular route.

The most useful ones are the Luminator ones, as they announce transfers. The Vianova and CleverDevices ones should be changed to do that. BTW, what company was it that bought DRI, who made Talking Bus---was it Luminator?

A 7200-series bus ran into it while pulling out of a stop. As for the OP, 4932 and 5000 are demoted to swing buses and are no longer eligible for revenue service.

It was actually 8033-8079, IINM. 8080-8129 was then for ENY, but 8080-8089 then were transferred quickly to the Bronx and 8098 was written off very soon after a fire. Also, out of curiosity, when Crosstown was in operation (it closed in the early 1980s), what routes did it have? I would imagine the old B62 (now the B43 at that point) and the B61 (that is now the B62), possibly the B18, B24, B30, and B48 as well. (I don't know if the B29 still existed by then.) The B30 had a weird service pattern with 1 service gap on weekdays and 2 service gaps on Saturdays. The B62 (now B43)'s terminus was right at the front door of Crosstown.

4932 demoted to swing bus - farebox removed. 4981 was one of the last buses that could exceed 45 mph.

Curious question really on Meredith: On the radio tonight, all Far Rockaway drivers were being told to ultimately bring their buses to the JFK Airport's long term lot to wait out tomorrow's nor'easter. The express buses were the first to go up, then Q22s and Q35s were told to fuel up and be swept at Far Rockaway, and then head up, and then any bus on the Q11, Q21, and Q41 would fuel at JFK and be swept, and then ferry over to long-term parking. The one other garage in the system in danger of flooding is Meredith, with the lot right next to the Arthur Kill. Where are Meredith Depot buses moved during a potential flooding situation? (Looking at the OEM's Hurricane Zone map, only Meredith and Far Rockaway are in Zone 1.)

Just the S93 and B35 to get a higher-capacity bus on the S93 when it's needed most (to avoid having to use an "extra-section". I mentioned the B8 because the B8 and B35 both have deadheads to and from Brownsville. While not a school, but a jail, I would also extend the concept of timing trips to when it's needed to the Q100, extending trips to Rikers' Island only for visiting hours and shift changes. (NJ Transit does this with the 551 to service the Farley Plaza.)

This should be a regular occurrence on the S89, in my opinion...with only MCIs and Prevosts on the S89, which could cause some reductions in frequencies owing to increased seat capacity. However, there would be flexibility in the event of a last-minute reroute over the Newark Bay, as these buses are capped at 60-65 mph, unlike the local buses capped at 40 mph or just barely above that. I know I have mentioned the S93 before, but at least starting this semester, some trips have "extra sections", in which there are two buses assigned to the same run as "load up and go", sometimes from Yukon Depot. This is where a bus from the B35's fleet (the XN60s) could be useful to avoid having another bus (and driver) on the S93 at critical times. An example is the 8:15 PM departure from CSI, which operates with two buses instead of one. The XN60 could carry loads almost equivalent to that of two SI Division local buses. Keeping in mind CSI class times, I would assign that XN60 to these schedules: Bay Ridge: 7:13, 9:12, 11:30, 1:20, 3:40, 5:34, 7:30 CSI: 8:10, 10:10, 12:30*, 2:30, 4:45*, 6:32, 8:15 The first three trips would be S93, and then one B35 Limited run to Mother Gaston Boulevard, (keep in mind that many B8 trips run on and run off from Brownsville), pulling in from Brownsville, the fourth and fifth trips would be a bus starting on the S93 and finish up with one complete B35 trip, and the last one would do one B35 round trip to/from Brownsville and finish on the S93. These are the trips that frequently experience overcrowding and that bypass stops, and now that Gleason has 60-foot buses, an up-gauge can be done to save on having to use "extra-section" buses, and one of those extra-sections could instead be allocated to an added S93 departure at 9:50 PM, returning to Staten Island as an S53 and then pulling in from Port Richmond, a short 5-7 minute pull in. * Trips would operate via the S79 to Bay Ridge/86 Street, and then continue empty on 4 Avenue to the garage or the B35. One can add trips, but sometimes one needs capacity. This is also something that should be looked into for routes like the Q27, Q30, and Q46 (the Q27 and Q30 both serve CUNY QCC, and the Q30 and Q46 serve St. John's University) and that is already met on the Bx40 (which terminates at the front gate of SUNY Maritime College). I would have said the B6, but Brooklyn College is not in an isolated location and has subway access. Queens College has the Q25/Q34 directly, and the Q44 SBS is a short block away. That leaves just basically the Q27, Q30 and S93 needin

The orange sign buses were actually 244 (until retirement at Baisley Park), 247, and 522. That said, why did the MTA want the diesel 402-680 batch out so quickly? Some of that batch barely did 13 years, while the last of the RTS buses delivered right after were (or will be by year's end) retired after 22 years. I know that there were problems near the end with the last batch that meant their retirement ahead of the 1996 Novas. I really have to wonder if Orion just provided a slightly substandard product, as now hybrids are being retired ahead of the last batch of RTS buses.

What was 122 numbered previously? I had tracked that today on the Bx15 Local.

Some moves I would propose for mileage evening, and to standardize fleets: 1. In Staten Island Division, locate all MCIs at either Castleton or Charleston Depot so that parts only have to be stocked at one depot. I'm tempted to say Charleston. 2. To this end, it would require Charleston to give up 23 Prevosts (20 to Castleton, 3 to Yukon) in exchange for 2210-2228 and a swap with QV (see point 3). 3. On the subject of Charleston and the 2200s, the QV MCI D4500CTs likely have much lower mileage than the Charleston MCI D4500CTs. Why not swap those buses (2251-2282) and send 4300-4329 (minus the written-off 4314) back to QV? (These buses were at QV originally, but went to UP and then Charleston...to even it out, QV would get the remaining four 2800s in Staten Island Division to be used strictly as spares for when there are not enough 4300s available for service. QV gets buses that only require 2 cycles a day and not higher mileage compared to Staten Island requirements, parts for MCIs in Staten Island are only needed at one garage (with a total of 82 buses). I see this as more efficient that stocking parts all over Staten Island Division (Yukon has one MCI, and Castleton has 22 right now).

Drivers complained. It's likely in the bus operator seats. The seats likely need to be replaced completely, as well as the buses fumigated, as they're the only porous substances on the entire bus (since this is at Kingsbridge Depot).

O7 hybrids already being retired? As for the O7 CNGs not scrap, it may simply be that they're not yet to processing them for parts. I'd be surprised if they ran again as their tanks are expiring.

Tanks are expiring this month (and some may have expired last month). Any O7 CNG remaining in service is really on borrowed time. Anything below about 7775 or so has to be gone by the end of the month, and the remaining will have a bit more time but must be gone by the end of the year. That is also why the D60HFs in storage are being reactivated---as temporary holds until the remaining XN60s come in. The O7 CNGs have 15-year tanks. I suspect that the current C40LFs and newer CNG buses have 20-year tanks (some may have 25-year tanks), ensuring that the tanks should outlast the bus.

Those O7 CNGs in the way have to be off the roster within the next 2-3 months as their tanks are expiring. (The higher ones can go to early 2019 at the latest.

The reason why it's delayed to October 1 is because right now, there aren't nearly enough buses to run the service.

7492 on the Q3 today. Are the remaining 1996 Novas all out of service? I see just 5 listed as active on TTMG.