Burrstone

Let's just drop this it hasn't been brought up in days, calmer heads have prevailed, let's just leave it that way... No need to bring it back up.

Is RVC open weekends under Veolia or is it still only M-F?

I could only wish they would! I was looking at a 16xx yesterday and it must have just been washed, the white paint was shining! I always viewed these as old, ugly, dingy, beat up buses (just the outside condition of the bus not the style of the V's) . But my eyes were opened yesterday, these are beautiful buses, it's the Nassau stripe that looks like shi t and makes the rest of the bus look like crap. A new coat of white (some don't even need it) and a wrap and these buses would look awesome in the fleet. I can't understand why NICE is not wrapping these buses, I can understand not spending the money on the buses that will be scrapped soon but some of these V's have years left on them, especially as spares. Soon all the other buses will be wrapped/pained with the new livery but they will keep these as is? Granted it's not the MTA stripe (and I only wish they had because I could only imagine they would have been wrapped) but people associate these buses with LIB. ...and they make the fleet look like crap!

I love internet tough guys, you paint the picture of Joel Upfront being one of these people but ultimately, that is what you are. "I'd love it if it you said that to my face." The reality is you have said a lot of jacked up things to members on this forum including myself in response to there opinions, but yet you change yours regularly (MTA VEOLIA). I also heard you saying messed up, annoying, and untrue things about Veolia in your videos. I have always wished I've caught you on a bus while making one of these these videos so I could call you on the crap you are saying. I also don't know why no one has told you to stfu while riding a bus because you are tickled pink because you are riding an old Orion. I guarantee if we I caught you on a bus spewing at the mouth like you do you would not be mr. tough guy like you are here. You are the epitome of why drivers hate foamers or any type of bus lover, we ask a question and the first thing that comes to mind is we are someone like you! Don't be mad because someone thought you were mentally challenged, I also assumed you were mentally challenged and if you have noticed that is why I have stopped ignoring your posts, proving you wrong, and making fun of you. I felt badly because I thought I was picking on someone mentally challenged who loved buses (my mother didn't raise me like that!). I thought you were mentally challenged because I asked you numerous times what you do for a living, you continually ignore the question and not answer. And then I put it together. You flip flop answers, don't make any sense, love buses so much, post videos of buses and elevators, get so excited that you have to make a video because you are riding an old Orion on the S1, then it hit me "OMG I'm making fun of a 'special' guy on the way to and from his day program." I mean no offense to the mentally handicapped, this was actually what I thought, I'm not making fun of anyone. I'm also sorry to the staff of this forum, but it had to be said.

Damn! Any other changes to the RFP or just the quantity of vehicles requested? Now we're talking $300,000 to $400,000 easily... Does anyone want to speculate on what the final cost to NICE will be (taking into account what they will sell the vehicle for at the end of it's life with NICE) Vs. the cost of corporate leases...???

I'm still wondering if the wraps were/are temporary to get the new livery out there and separate NICE buses from the look of MTA buses as fast as possible....

I am very interested in the changes Bellone posted and hope it doesn't take decades to institute.

The supervisors Quality Service Managers (I keep forgetting) should be driving buses to their post so in the event of a breakdown the supervisor can meet the driver with the bus and keep the system moving! The supervisor usually meets the bus that breaks down anyway so why not not have the supervisor meet the bus that has broken down with a bus so the driver and passengers can go on their way and keep the system moving. Do supervisors report to one place and stay there all shift? I've thought for a long time (since the LIB days) that they should reduce the amount of these supervisor SUV's and go school bus style. School bus companies have their "lead drivers" (driver who works for the company but is the supervisor of the drivers in that district) driving school buses. In the event of a breakdown or other incident the supervisor will either give up the bus to the driver who had the breakdown or go do that drivers "piece" that would be missed.

No I wish but I no longer have anything to do with the company that contracts the deliveries from Orion.

It's not really putting anything into perspective lol besides cars cost a lot and buses cost a lot more. lmao btw please don't think I'm being an @$$ I said that drinking a beer, in a great mood, laughing as I typed it.. Just having fun.. 4... So 1 for Para, 1 for RVC and 2 for MF, one for each floor? for the 3 sedans... Any one know what the "administrative cars" are used for? Errands?

I love the Romney flip flop (yea I said it ) with him he hates the MTA, Veolia takes over and he wishes MTA was still around because it would be 10x better (we'll forget about the skeleton system because obviously he has) it's like it was all kittens and gum drops with the MTA. lol I really will never get that. You're right I probably don't see a lot bof it ecause I don't take the buses. The thing is I love riding the bus, others don't. lol The last time I rode the bus was like a month ago I took the n19 to the n4. The n19 was actually packed and the homeless looking middle aged couple in the seats on front of me smirk and made fun of everyone getting on the bus (I really don't think I'm better than anyone) but these people looked homeless, she had a sweater that was ripped from the neck to the shoulder and they both smelled like the shavings that you put on the inside of a hamster cage AND PISS. I ran to catch the n4 at freeport bc the next one was scheduled 10-15 minutes later and I didn't want to get to into Jamaica 10 to 15 minutes later (we got passed by that bus enroute ) the driver had little control of the bus. There was little traffic at that time in the morning. She lacked confidence (which is a big thing when you drive), she was slow (which is a good thing when you appear to not be able to control your bus) and she over shot bus stops! She literally stopped in the middle of the intersection t least 2 times (that I noticed) to pick up and drop off passengers!!!! I figured I'd be 20 minutes early for school, I was 20 minutes late for my class because of her. I'm not your average commuter I usually take the LIRR I used to take the n19 to Freeport as it's a 15 minute walk to the LIRR or a 20 minute ride to Freeport LIRR, but now NICE has buses getting into Freeport at the exact same time the LIRR is scheduled to depart westbound. I dunno whats up with that, so no I hike up to my LIRR station. I also go to school 1 day a week, I got to school ALL day, I leave in the morning and get back home at like 11:30pm or midnight. I also don't commute to work locally 5 days a week I deliver buses so my commute is taking the LIRR to Jamaica and the airtrain to JFK or the the LIRR to Penn, the subway to the port and shuttle buses to laguardia or Newark then fly to Minneapolis St Paul and a shuttle to pick up a C40LF or a flight to Atlanta and take a shuttle to pick up a school bus. Both are a hell of a commute. I get held up everywhere but I'm used to it and I guess because in my industry they push safety and you wouldn't do anything unsafe so I understand when an airline pulls a flight bc the pilot is unsure about the engine or other mechanical problems. I'd never give the front line employees the crap people give NICE drivers for equipment problems it's not their fault as equipment problems are not the fault of NICE drivers. Because of what I do I am very out of touch with the average NICE rider who rides 5 days a week to go to and from school and/or work. But I've had internships and jobs. Before I went back to school I was driving a school bus and sold my car because I wanted to take the S1 to work instead of buying gas, paying insurance, and paying to maintain my car. I NEVER took the bus that got me to work just before I was supposed to report. What if the bus didn't come or it broke down and I had to wait for the next bus. Yea I know leaving earlier sucks but I don't understand people who take the bus that is pushing them being on time and then get upset at the service or driver when the bus is late making them late. I also had an internship and temp job (took a break from drive away) last year at this time through the winter. I always took the bus before the one that got in right before I had to be to work. Why would i want to be late because a bus breaks down or doesn't come? I don't understand how people put themselves in that position I was also taking LIB at the time where the buses weren't coming bc the buses were not passing DOT and the drivers were calling in sick/using their vacation time up.. I also like talking to people and putting myself in their shoes. A lot of people were late and this almost cost people their jobs (maybe in some cases it did) but it seemed like most people didn't leave early. "why should I !?!" One lady exclaimed to a driver as she screamed at him for "them" "playing games with peoples lives" She screamed that "they" made everyone an hour late, i don't know about everyone else but not me because I put on an extra sweat shirt (expecting to be waiting for a while outside) and took the the bus 2 buses early! I wasn't late! It sucks leaving who wants to!?! but it's called personal responsibility! It's no one else's responsibility to get me to where I'm going on time but my own, If there is a known problem you leave early. Then again the MTA could have done a better job communicating what buses times certain buses were not coming so people didn't have to stand out in the cold, but that's a whole other story!

I've seen drivers who fix this by shutting off the clever devices and resetting it at a traffic light or they can shift through the stops on the device to set it right, they'll set it for the next stop, seem stop fix the problem for a while. The problem is a vast majority of drivers don't care and either leave it as is or shut it off. Interesting I love how the fix includes opening and closing the service door. lol I had no idea what the hell they were doing when I 1st started riding LIB. lol

I don't ride NICE bus much now but I remember some mornings going to school or work and some drivers would have the volume on them cranked so loud that it really hurts the head. From what I remember not much different than under MTA Long Island bus. I gotta quote an old lady that got legally blind I'm getting of at X, I don't trust that talking thing! He's either bling or lost...." lmao I think a lot of people just love to harp on the negative, everything looks sh!tty when you wear your sh!t colored glasses. I really don't see many ways NICE is worse than MTA Long Island Bus. If it weren't for Veolia Pine Power would be sitting on the corner recoding himself for 2 hours with no buses coming because they would be operating a skeleton system this year.

Exactly it's like comparing apples to oranges, so why are you comparing apples to oranges?

Oh no kidding...

What's the same about it? Sorry for the quality they were taken from a moving car...

What year do you think those jeeps are? I was also surprised to see a NICE Blazer, those things have got to be up there. I wonder what the 3 sedans are for? Also if NICE is trying to save money why are they buying supervisors SUV's like the MTA used and wasting money like the MTA did on gas guzzlers not buying hybrids for the supervisors to use? Maybe keep a few of the SUV's around for bad weather... ***EDIT*** On the SUV wish list... 2013 Ford Explorer 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2013 Dodge Journey Crew 2013 Chevrolet Traverse LS Pretty NICE vehicles especially the 2013 Jeep! This is $150,000(bare minimum!!!) to $250,000 worth of SUV's! Vehicles to be delivered by April...

Score one for Veolia/NICE! Maybe the wraps are just temporary...?

What are you talking about? They weren't staged but they seem to contract out the work of tow trucks to a shop on Merrick Rd. I thought it was odd because the shop/garage wasn't set up to accommodate a truck this size, so they had it on a lift in the front lot. lol Have you seen this before? I got a pic on the way back I'll post up later...

Saw a NICE tow truck on a lift on the parking lot outside a repair shop on Merrick Rd in Freeport. Def an odd sighting, wish I had time to get a pic but I was in a hurry.

As much as I'd like to see that as well it's not gonna happen. From I've been told in the past the V's were never part if the plan to get wrapped, sorry.

I know, but how much cheaper? Compared to rewrapping the buses if/when needed? I mean if their springing to but a new white coat on the bus how much more would it cost for a lil orange and blue? I think quality is important and I think most would agree some of the wraps are already beginning to look like sh!t.

Wait wait wait, you said rewrapped and painted... What are they doing painting the buses (or part of the buses) & then wrapping them? I wonder what the costs are to wrap the bus compared to painting them? I know wrapping is pretty expensive and surely they are doing it pretty cheap by getting a discount on the materials and using their own labor but you could argue they would be painting these buses just as cheaply as they would still would be using their own labor and would get a discount on buying the paint in bulk.

I usually see more wrapped buses and V's running around Eastern Nassau than I see wrapped buses. In fact it's starting look odd seeing a plain white NICE bus with the blue MTA stripe.