aemoreira81

1 hour ago, Cait Sith said:

And seeing how pro-cop the Island is, you'd think there would be some sort of activity with them trying to find the person in question. Ever since the protests started and the whole defund the police movement began, the NYPD started caring even less about things that happen within transit, and I feel like that's going to continue for a long time.

That is why I actually suggested the MTA try to find the suspect themselves, without NYPD assistance. With the way things will be at the NYPD, the MTA will need to be more DIY in terms of protection of its property and revenue. For instance, there have been MTA Police at places where they would never be seen before and where the NYPD used to be, like the Rockaway Parkway Intermodal Center.

The real issue may be that the MTA Police may not be trained in undercover operations as well as the NYPD is. However, at the same time, the MTA Police tends to get a lot of hires from the NYPD's Transit Bureau.

36 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Shouldn't your question be, why doesn't the NYPD assign plainclothes police officers to ride the buses?

In 2017, I would have asked that about the NYPD. However, with Andrew Cuomo growing the MTA Police force, and also having state troopers patrolling within city limits, this operation could be run independently of the NYC Police...using MTA Police and state troopers.

The issue is significant enough to warrant its own thread. For a while, the S51, S52, S74, S76, and S78 (and relevant related Limited-Stop buses) were detoured completely away from Stapleton, cutting the area off from bus service completely. Today, the S52, S74 (northbound only) and S78 remain on detour...until further notice. This is because of 7 incidents in 9 days between June 17 and June 25, culminating with a driver being injured by a trash can thrown at a bus. The S51, southbound S74, and S76 have since been restored, but the S52 and S78 remain on detour with no service on Tompkins Avenue or Targee Street north of Vanderbilt Avenue (including the portion of Van Duzer Street into which Targee Street flows) (detours via Bay Street instead).

A paratransit bus was also hit on July 16. The police believe that all 8 incidents were done by the same person. All of the incidents are in the vicinity of the Stapleton Houses.

https://www.silive.com/news/2020/07/an-entire-community-is-being-denied-bus-service-mta-detours-buses-in-stapleton-for-a-month-after-vandalism.html

What I don't get is: why doesn't the MTA assign plainclothes police officers to ride the buses that pass in the vicinity of the Stapleton Houses to catch this perp?

On 7/18/2020 at 1:36 PM, Kris Brain said:

I know this is only, but I do fine this tread interesting. IIRC, The 1994-1995 and 1996 Orion V diesels were having rusting issues, so bad that the buses themselves were falling apart and were therefore no longer roadworthy. That was why as soon as the 2009 Orion VII NG hybrids got delivered in the Bronx especially during the spring and summer of that year, the most of the 1993-1996 Orion Vs went bye bye. The 1994-1995 CNG units that were out of Jackie Gleason depot in Brooklyn at the time did alot better considering that JG had decent maintenance and didn't run them as hard as their diesel counterparts in other Boroughs. However, the 2010 doomsday cuts nearly did them in until it was decided to give them to MTA bus company for awhile, but came the end of September, they were sadly retired for good without any replacements as the new C40LFs would not arrive for another year.

The 1994-95 CNG O5s had expiring tanks and had to be retired. As for replacements, did Gleason get additional O7 CNGs in the interim, while West Farms got diesel buses?

1 hour ago, Jdog14 said:

1300 has got to be the most hideous express coach MTA has ever purchased. The front of the bus is alright, but the rear is hella ugly. 

Is that bus running yet? If so, out of what garage?

I have to wonder if a shortened version of the B37 is warranted---not going all the way to Barclays. I would propose it as follows:

Northbound: start at the VA Hospital, then operate via 7 Avenue, 92 Street, 4/5 Avenues, Marine Avenue and 3 Avenue in Bay Ridge to 65 Street. But instead of continuing along  3 Avenue, the bus would then operate via 2 Avenue, to serve NYU Brooklyn, the industrial area along 2 Avenue and all of Industry City to Liberty View and the prison, running along 2 Avenue to the end of the street at 29 Street, looping around, and ultimately terminating at 36 Street .

Two subway intersections: 36 Street, and 95 Street .

8 hours ago, R32 3838 said:

that's odd, I wonder what happened to that bus?

That fleet is 13-14 years old. There have already been some write-offs. It should not be too surprising at this point.

3 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

While I believe such a market exists for a service to EWR (which I do believe Brooklynites would take advantage of btw), I don't see the necessity for it to be an express service.... Fixed route open-door locals tend to be more attractive when we're talking about serving a major airport...

Now if we were to talk about having an SI route serve both [Jersey Gardens] & [EWR], then we could perhaps talk about coach buses....

I'd want no part of NJT running a SI - EWR route..... I'm more inclined to agree with CheckmateChamp with perhaps running the S98 there... I simply think there's more potential with folks paying a flat $2.75, compared to a possible 3 zone ($4.50) or 4 zone ($6.00) zone interstate route fare..... Let NJT continue to focus its efforts on serving NJ residents (primarily) with the #62 to/from EWR.....

Weekend service would be via both; I don't see justification for weekday service to The Mills at Jersey Gardens outside of the Christmas shopping season. What forces it to be express is that, at least for now, one cannot use coins on the Prevost and MCI fleet, but there are OMNY readers. When there are more options, such as fixed-time passes, that can change. Also, there is no local bus that's capped at a speed fast enough to serve EWR from Staten Island.

My post said a number at first because I initially considered separate service to Jersey Gardens, but then thought that there would be little weekday ridership there outside of the Christmas season (when there are normally transatlantic shopping trips there, usually on Jet2).

On 7/4/2020 at 12:47 PM, lara8710 said:

With Staten Island being the closest of the five boroughs to Newark Airport, I wonder why the S98 Limited hasn't been extended to serve it. Could it be because there's not enough potential demandd? That'smy guess.

I think the route needs to originate from ETC...and use OTR coaches. There is definitely a market for it. I would actually have a number of routes.

• SiM40: Newark Liberty Airport, hourly from 0600 to 2200 (ETC departure)...following the SiM4(C) up to Bulls Head and making SiM4C stops. Weekends, the route would be via Jersey Gardens before Newark Airport.

Via Richmond Avenue and Drumgoole Road, starting at Victory Boulevard:

• SiM50:  Richmond & Forest to Metropark, peak direction only, 6 trips each way.
• SiM51: Richmond and Forest to Raritan Center, peak direction only, 4 trips each way.

Local service to New Jersey: (This would require the cap on all SI Division local buses to be raised to 45 mph minimum.)

• S47: St. George Ferry Terminal via Forest Avenue to Elizabeth (Broad Street station) via Bayway Avenue and South Broad Street, weekdays 0600 to 2000 and Saturdays 0800 to 1800 (no Sunday service). Some trips would start from the Ferry, but reliefs and most run-offs would be from Willowbrook Road. The final trips from New Jersey would drop out at Willowbrook Road and return to Castleton Depot.
• S56: Reroute from Tottenville High School to Perth Amboy  (school trippers and some weekday AM short-turns would still run to/from Tottenville HS skipping Seguine Avenue). Instead of operating via Seguine and Hylan (which the S55 serves), the bus would continue west along Amboy Road, Page and Boscombe Avenues, and Bricktown Mall, and operate in Perth Amboy along Amboy and New Brunswick Avenues.

It is very possible that the SiM50, SiM51, and S56 could all be contracted, possibly to Academy, which has a garage in Perth Amboy. 

On 7/3/2020 at 4:33 AM, BreeddekalbL said:

There is no way that artics would work in si, like the tight streets, hell I don't even think any of the depots ok maybe Charleston can take them

I actually see Yukon as more likely...for the St. George to Matrix Park route (I won't call it the S40 as it won't work running on the Terrace), the S79, and the S93 (S93 in a W pattern with the S79). The S93 would have the B1 rationale for articulated bus usage...need for up-gauging.

Also why I see Yukon as more likely...Arthur Kill Road isn't exactly wide by Charleston Depot, while Yukon and Independence Avenues are unusually wide for short streets by the Yukon Depot. I do see another articulated bus order coming, but by the time this happens, OMNY will be systemwide and there will be no need for front door-only boarding on any route. Yukon would probably need somewhere around 60 LFS articulated buses.

3 hours ago, Lex said:

At what time do you think the B99 operates?

The issue is needing someplace to turn around. The other option if extended to reach the routes the BM2 serves would be Avenue N (via O, Schenectady, and N) or Fillmore Avenue.

I'm surprised the MTA has not disabled the blue lights on these buses. Yesterday, 4749 was running with the SBS blinker lights on, which the state said was not allowed (that's why one has the blue signs instead). It was likely triggered unintentionally.

7 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There's only two lines running from Manhattan to Brooklyn now overnight, and now they're curtailing the BM2 service too. Pathetic...

https://mobile.twitter.com/NYCTBus/status/1278930865561755649

 

With the B99 running, I'm not surprised. However, the B99 should be extended to Avenue U and Nostrand or to Kings Plaza.

56 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

Yeah, that made me go *huh* also, when I read that..... I just took it to mean that he meant South/Richmond Terr. (since he's listing those turns along the line, going in order from west to east).....

Richmond Terrace and South Avenue. That was the first turn as I saw as really difficult on any articulated bus as that's a sharp right. I didn't realize that error. 

Regarding the S40 and artics---I can probably say where the problems would be:

1. The right turn from South Avenue onto Jewett Avenue
2. At Jewett Avenue (each direction must make a right turn, and that right turn is already tight for a rigid; even if an LFS articulated bus were to be used, that's still a tight turn).
3. Just west of Broadway (a tight S curve)
4. Between Elizabeth and Pelton Avenues (a 90-degree turn diverging off Pelton Place)

That said, an LFS artic should have done the test, as I doubt Staten Island Division will ever see the New Flyer Xcelsior.

I would suggest a different route, calling the S80 instead. It would be as follows:

1. Leaving the ferry, follow the S44 to Henderson and Bement Avenues.
2. Instead of left onto Bement, continue on Henderson to Broadway.
3. Left on Broadway, right on Castleton Avenue.
4. West on Castleton to Port Richmond Avenue, left onto Port Richmond.
5. South on Port Richmond, right onto Forest Avenue, left onto Richmond Avenue.
6. South on Richmond Avenue to Victory Boulevard, right onto Victory.
7. Westbound on Victory to Travis Avenue, right on Travis.
8. Trips could alternate to either the Teleport (weekdays) or Matrix Park.

The idea of bringing the route down to Victory would be to restore service from that area to The Teleport, The S46 serves the Teleport, but this would save riders on the Richmond Avenue corridor the trouble of needing to go to the Port Richmond Area to reach it. It also would restore a service cut from more than 20 years ago (the S62 used to serve The Teleport part-time after the S112 was realigned).

Also, going south would avoid all the major problems of tight turns to negotiate, as I believe that the problems on central Richmond Terrace cannot really be fixed. There can be a modification to a stop line made on Henderson that could accommodate this route, and not using Bement is intentional. Additionally, the catchment area is increased.

Now, as for stops:

1. St. George Ferry terminal
2. Richmond Terrace and Jersey Street
3. Henderson Avenue and Lafayette Street
4. Henderson and Bard Avenues (short walk to RUMC)
5. Broadway and Castleton Avenue
6. Castleton Depot (Jewett Avenue)
7. Port Richmond and Post Avenues
8. Forest Avenue and Willowbrook Road/Willow Road East
9. Forest and Richmond Avenues
10. Richmond Avenue and Deppe Place
11. Richmond Avenue and Lamberts Lane
12. Victory and Richmond
13. Victory Boulevard and Signs Road
14. Teleport OR Matrix Park

Such would also make it infinitely easier as this route, the S93 (needing capacity similar to the B1's artic conversion) and the S79 could all be out of Yukon Depot, with the deadhead being from the outbound end via Travis Avenue.

23 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I'm not seeing the need to extend the Bx7 to 157th, just so that it can connect to the M4 (in both directions)... 157th/Broadway is in the middle of nothing in-particular, with the subway knocked out & all.... if you're going to run Bx7's south of 168th in that general area, may as well have it running to 155th/Amsterdam where the overnight Bx6 ends....

I won't dispute that one. The idea is to not orphan routes. Right now, buses over the Washington and University Heights Bridges are orphaned.

On 7/1/2020 at 8:41 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Most if not all of those short turned buses like the ones that end at Isham or at 231st (Bx10) only run because they're going back to the depot anyway, so the thinking was, run them in service and pick up a few passengers that may need the service to or from the subway or whatever.

The Bx7 is mostly driver reliefs. The Bx9 also is mostly driver reliefs. If a Bx9 is doing a final trip, it will go from West Farms to the city line, and then down Broadway to 225 Street and drop out. Put-ins start at Broadway and 225.

4 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

Why not keep it with Kingsbridge. They currently operate the Bx7. 🤷🏽‍♂️  Just saying. 

If I'm not mistaken, it's because on the Bx7, buses either go into service at 215 or 218, or go out of service at Isham Street...near the depot. The deadhead would be a lot shorter.

With the BxM1/2 service being discontinued overnight, why not restore the Bx7 overnight service, extending to 157 Street ? This would fill in a major gap in the network, as upper Broadway has no service between the GWB and 225 Street (elevation differences mean that the M3 and M4 are not alternatives).

The route would be regular to 168 Street, then 165 Street and 157 Street only. This could be out of Manhattanville.

Then (August 2019 in Tremont on the Grand Concourse)

4751 by Adam E. Moreira, on Flickr

Now (June 2020 in Bensonhurst on 86 Street)

4751 by Adam E. Moreira, on Flickr

7 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

That wrap looks worse and worse the more I look at it... just terrible.

Right? The MTA could have just taken off the standard livery wrap of the LaGuardia XD60s (it's needed for the JFK XD60s as the Q52 and Q10 share a fleet).

16 hours ago, A Former New Yorker said:

What were the details of the Summer pick and the next route to be converted to ariculated. I haven't been active for a while

The B1 was converted to articulated service. Such was to have happened for the spring pick, but COVID-19 meant continuous Sunday (and supplemental) service for a few months. As for the next route to be converted, I expect either the B15 or the B82 SBS, as East New York is being modified to handle articulated buses.

6274 by Adam E. Moreira, on Flickr

This is the only one wrapped. Apparently the MTA wants some flexibility with 6275-6286.

3 hours ago, 4 via Mosholu said:

The bus and it's local variant are very heavy on ridership.

Some routes need capacity, but others need frequency.  The B6 is a frequency-driven route.

The MTA really should visit the idea of an overnight bus network...the B99 being one route as a trunk.  Others I would propose are:

All Jamaica Center routes: extended to Sutphin and Archer to connect with the Q60.

Q12 (extension): operating to 61/Woodside ...Q48 stops to 111 Street, subway stops only to 61 Street.

Q35 (extension): operating to Beach 54 Street (connecting with the QM17) (operating from Far Rockaway)

Q92: shadowing the  from Broadway Junction to Lefferts Boulevard via Pitkin and Liberty Avenues (operating from East New York)

Bx7 (service expansion all night): extended to 145 Street  (split with Mother Hale)

M7/M102 extension: turning north on Powell Boulevard, down to 155 Street (lower level) and terminating at Rucker Park (155 Street ).

B57 (service expansion all night): Red Hook/IKEA Terminal via Smith and Court Streets to Jay Street , then via Myrtle Avenue to DeKalb Avenue  and terminate (operating from Gleason)

B91: straight shadow of the  from Coney Island to Atlantic Avenue/Barclays Center via New Utrecht Avenue and 4 Avenue (operating from Ulmer Park)

B92: like the B91, but shadowing the  from Coney Island to Avenue P via Shell Road and McDonald Avenue, and then the to Atlantic Avenue/Barclays Center via 65 Street and 4 Avenue. (operating from Ulmer Park)

B93: Kings Highway to  Church Avenue  via McDonald Avenue, then via 19/20 Streets, 7 Avenue, and Flatbush Avenue to Atlantic Avenue/Barclays Center (operating from Gleason)

B57, B91, B92, and B93 buses would hold for the B99 trunk.

All routes that aren't extensions of daytime routes would only make subway stops. The Bx7 would only make stops at 168 Street, 157 Street, 145 Street (on the  - 145 Street southbound only), Amsterdam/145 (155 northbound), and St. Nicholas/145.

What will Ulmer Park be losing in exchange for the XD60s from the Bronx? (Or will the MTA finally be evening out the batches to give Grand, Stengel, and Ulmer Park consecutive batches?)