Burrstone

Does MTA make money off NICE using metrocards? Yes. Is it just off the lease Veolia pays on the fareboxes, or do they get more? I'm not going to guess. I was not aware of a unipass on the LIRR and LIB, I would have used if last year. How much on average did it save riders? Can you give me an example.

I have no idea what the deal is between HART & Long Beach, again I'm not going to guess. History has shown us SCT has been in no way interested in using the card, SCT has shown its not not willing to play ball with the . SCT has shown it has wanted as little to do with the as possible. There's also bad blood between Suffolk and the , was there the same animosity between the other agencies you asked about? I really don't know and every situation is different, so asking why they played ball with other agencies isn't an answer to what's going with this situation.

If we haven't seen a uniticket between SCT & LIRR in the past couple of decades I don't think we'll see it anytime soon. For a uniticket to cost passengers less either SCT, the MTA, or both would have to agree to reduce their fare. Do you really see SCT or the MTA letting go of part of their fare?

As for SCT using a metrocard, we've seen through history that is not going to happen. IMHO the metrocard is a dying breed, it'll probably be around for our lifetime but their are now fareboxes with credit card readers, and the technology such as Blink allowing passengers to wave their credit card over the farebox. I can see agencies getting these fareboxes in new bus orders a d getting grants to replace or retrofit fareboxes already are already in the system. Even the MTA is looking into this technology in the subway.

Yeah we could use some of those loaner buses we had back in Dec tho. I dunno how much they are worth but the MTA could lease them to NICE until the 3G's come in.

 

Don't you think NICE could save money leasing buses from a sister company? Or using buses owned by Veolia?

I'm sure Veolia could have buses in here to be used by next week (if they really are short on buses) and Veolia could have the problems the posters here speak of fixed up within weeks, but it costs money.

It all goes back to what Joel Upfront said in the the post above mine!

Veolia is working on broke down beat up equipment that has beat on for years, this would be the same whether it's Veolia, MV, or First...

 

 

The question is are NICE Buses now able to pass inspection? And do the inspections actually look at the condition of the engine, and whether it runs well or not?

 

Pine Power, all of the buses in NICE service have passed a DOT inspection. Like every bus and truck (some exemptions apply like the ) have to pass a DOT inspection. Have you seen the sticker on the windshield? Those are DOT inspection stickers, think of it as an inspection sticker on your car. The difference this isn't your local mechanic at your local shop doing the inspection, NYS DOT inspectors actually come and inspect the vehicle when it's time comes due. From my experience working for two diff. school bus companies is that the company (or district in 1 of 2 of my experiences) takes the bus out of service a couple of days before the DOT inspection and mechanics go over it with a fine tooth comb. Anything can make a bus fail inspection from minor to major...

A DOT inspection is a safety inspection NOT a mechanical evaluation.

Drivers are required to do a pre trip at the beginning of every day, now this is a test where the drivers checks and swares (by signing one document or another) that the vehicle is safe. There are many components of the test, I'll spare you all of these details but keep in mind only over the road drivers are required to check the engine compartment. However the DOT understands these are drivers not mechanics so it's mainly the a visual to make sure you spot any oddities. Local bus drivers are not required to lift the hood, they are required to make sure the bus is mechanically sound, again the DOT understands these are drivers not mechanics. Also keep in mind the mechanical problems your talking could very easily not be noticed until the driver gets up to speed after leaving the yard. If the problem occurs while in service, what can you do? Things break sometimes a mechanic could spot a problem before it happens sometimes things just happen.

Now can a buses pass a DOT inspection and still be a POS mechanically? Of course! I'm sure you've seen Atlantic Express around the Island (people who are used to AE in NYC might not realize they are worse in Nassau County). Have you seen the mini buses repainted grey? Those are mechanic buses, they go out in them and fix broken down buses on the fly to get them back to the shop. Have you seen the tires on the front bumpers? They are for pushing when all else fails. . They are also for pushing buses out of intersections. lol

Now the DOT has the right to inspect vehicles on the road, if going on road trips I'm sure you've seen weigh stations? The DOT can inspect the vehicle and the driver, and put one or both out of service for various reasons.

Speaking of Atlantic Express I've been told its. it uncommon for them to have run ins with the DOT. I was even told the DOT showed up at outside the yard of one of AE locations that serves Nassau checking drivers and buses. Another time I heard they sat outside a yard and asked drivers to see their pre-trip report, drivers who rolled out of the yard w/o filling it out yet got a citation.

When the DOT wants to play they can play! Uou think they're hardasses in NY, you should see the DOT in other states like Indiana & Ohio, those guys don't mess around!

I'll use an example. The bus operators are supposed to make announcements on the bus stops (major ones) before they are passed, so people have the chance to request. city bus operators use the Speakeasy and are required to use them on any bus that is equipped. NICE bus operators don't have that luxury, and none of them make announcements themselves, and when the Clever Devices aren't operating, they're not fulfilling ADA requirements by making announcements. And riders have already complained to NICE about this. That's why NICE is working to fix the Clever Devices up.

When wheelchair lift/ramps gets broken on NICE.

LOL how is this any different than under the days, except for a reason for people to nit pick Veolia? My subway train didn't have announcements on them going to and from my destination today... Uh oh...At least NICE is working on it though, I guess..

What does this have to do with the stretch FamousNYLover made about the DOT shutting NICE down for " lots of safety violation and ADA violation. "

What's the safety violations? ...and lots?

With USDOT Crackdown on Chinatown Bus, I wonder if it's possible NICE Bus could be next since there's lots of safety violation and ADA violation.

 

What ADA violations?

Might I also refresh your memory that LIB had how many buses fail a DOT inspection? IMHO if the was an over the road carrier and this many buses failed a DOT inspection it would have been shut down. Also I believe this many buses in a fleet failing inspection should be grounds for the federal or state DOT to step in, review the and mandate ALL buses now be required to have DOT inspections.

During the bus crackdown/inspections after the word wide tours bus crash, could you also imagine if the NYS DOT also inspected LIB buses? What do you think they would have found by a surprise inspection considering they KNEW buses were going to be inspected and so many buses still failed!?!

wow

 

Long Beach branch service is temporarily suspended in both directions between Valley Stream and Long Beach due to a disabled NICE bus at the east end of Island Park Station. Efforts to remove the bus are continuing.

Sent at 7PM, caused 30-60min delays, service has since been restored.

 

How did the bus block train traffic? Did the bus break down on the tracks?

Also, would it be such a tragedy for SCT to play nice with the MTA and let you buy a uniticket with the monthly for the railroad, because theres plenty of people who use both now and i feel like its a huge deterrant that keeps commuters from using the bus. Or is this the MTAs fault you cant get a Uniticket for SCT?

 

didn't do this when it ran LIB. you had to buy a monthly LIRR and buy a monthly metrocard on top of it, maybe a slight discount on the metrocard. I always thought should have given you a free transfer to LIB, you pay so much for a LIRR ticket and they couldn't even give you a free bus ride before/after. If they screwed LIB rides out of an additional 2.25 after a LIRR ride and they controlled LIB why would they play ball with SCT? Riders would live a unipass or for SCT to take metrocards but I have a feeling would want to keep a majority of the money.

My guess would be that during the rush hours one lane in each direction would be for buses only, either just for the BRT route or for both BRT and Local. I mean the loss of one lane is better then the loss of up to three lanes.

 

The BRT projects probably won't be done for years yet, since there are so many things to study. Like Traffic patterns and planning. Both NYS 110 and CR 97 are busy roads, and the loss of even one lane would probably make traffic worse. Besides both are pretty dangerous roads, with probably at least one accident happening somewhere along the roadway a day. I mean Suffolk had to reconfigure the intersection on CR 97 that the S58 and S71 use to use to get from College Road to CR 97, now the two routes have to use Portion Road to get onto CR 97, because of the high amount of accidents that happened at that intersection.

 

No matter what this will have to be done by the state or Suffolk County will have to get permission from the state to this as 110 is a state road.

I can name about four people off the bat who adhere to that "live on LI = car" thing. I just stop dead in my tracks whenever I read it.

 

Just noticed that the N4 doesn't stop at that King Kullen behind RVC depot any more... I thought they just removed the sign by the lot because they were repaving the sidewalk...

 

That is very interesting, when I used to ride the N4 that was a very "popular" stop. I wonder the reason for the change? Maybe Veolia thought it was dangerous, from memory didn't the bus have to take the left the cross about 3 lanes of traffic almost immediately before making the stop.

Side note, I was up there a couple of weeks ago and those condo's nest to the RVC are beautiful. I wonder if any NICE employees live there? I also wonder what people think of paying the money for place like that and having a bus dept as a neighbor? lol

Maybe it's just me personally, but the fact that some buses like the N17, N73, and N74 each have headways for more than one hour during the middle of the day's just disgraceful, disgusting, and despicable. If I lived in an area where the lines have headways that long, I'd rather either pass my driver's test and buy myself a car or call for a taxi.

 

...and if you couldn't afford to do that?

I love how people assume that if they were in Nassau or Suffolk they'd buy a car because the service is so shitty.

That's great that you'd buy a car but what about the people who can't afford it? As strange as it may sound some people take the bus because they can't afford a car.

Also, as disgraceful as it is a transportation system's money only goes so far just as a broke person's paycheck only goes so far.

Exactly how would they do this in the awful traffic on 110? Dedicated lane?

What is a BRT program?

They can't run the 6:15 on the 6:00 if the 6:00 is late because they probably, like every other company, have all the drivers schedules planed out in advance for the picks,

Obviously I know why it wasn't done, I thought that went without saying. Come on...

AND IF the 0615 is there and the 0600 is running late WHY CAN'T the 0615 that is there start the 0600? Let's forget about run picks and unions, let's think about the riders, they are obviously taking the 0600 because the 0615 doesn't work for them.

I've heard this so many times before from b/o's EVERYWHERE these "excuses" and it has become a pet peeve of mine. IMO it sounds like b/o's have forgotten why they have a job, to give the community a ride! If you listen to MANY of them you'd think these jobs have been created to cater to what works best for them.

The 6:15 is there ahead of the 6:00 because I have the feeling that the 6:00 S1 from Amityville does the first run on the 1A which has the first run arriving at Amityville at 6:00, but the 6:15 just starts off there. If the 6:00 does do the 1A before the S1 it does make sense to have them run the 6:15 S1 instead of the 6:00.

The 0600 comes directly from the yard (at least it did when I rode it) a couple of months later a new lady was on the route (I dunno if it was because of run picks or if she replaced the other lady) she had a school bus run after the the s1. She was flying like a bat out of hell telling anyone who would listen that "she cannot be late for her school run again." She was telling people she had a split shit, go in early do the s1, get back to the yard pick up her school bus, do the school run, go home, come back do her pm school bus run, go back to the yard grab a transit bus and do an s1 to huntington and back... Long split up day!

I don't think the 0615 did anything before that because it was a 8xxx series bus and I've seen them on the s1. I did see him in a new Orion every now and again for a week at a time but that was when the new Orions just came in and I think they were letting everyone have a turn before they assigned them.

Well that could help, but most of the stops it would make would be on expressways or colleges, except in Amityville and Huntington where the stops are more within intersections.

I was inmpressed by the light rail system theyre building on University Ave in St, Paul, MN. They are building the light rail (with stations) in the middle of the street, with train. Trains coming in opposite directions would not stop at the same place. You'd have the intersection and the platform for a train going in particular a direction would stop before the intersection.

=======S+S===== = is the rail S is the stop for a train going in each direction before and after the intersection (+ is the intersection).

I was thiking along 110 there could be a stop every few/ or major intersections. Have trains stop in the station on red, so the intersection would never be blocked by a stopped train, traffic from cross streets crosses the tracks in the intersection on thier green (when a train is in the station. You could time the train and lights so it would always a green when moving.

Take the left lane out on both sides of route 110 and whala, you have room for a light rail, and hopefully take more caars off the road.

I thikn it's time for a system like this on 110, although I was impressed that the city of St. Paul and the state of Minnesotta got the money for such a large project in this economy.

I think it is about time Suffolk County or the explored light rail up 110 connecting the Ammutyville RR & Huntington RR.

Yes, limited stop service, express service (if possible in 110 traffic) and allow the S1 to drive in the shoulder (where it fits). Strictly no parking or stopping on the shoulder of any vehicles except transit buses of course. Make the shoulder a bus lane during rush hour traffic. The only problem is drivers are complete idiots in this area and I could many accidents happen because idiots doing whatever these in their besides just concentrating on driving would enter the shoulder to make a turn and collide with buses already in the lane. Yes the person would obviously not have looked but probably sue Suffolk County and EBT looking for a big pay day.

But IMHO the bus should the shoulder during rush hour or do a previous poster suggested make an HOV/bus lane. The only problem with that is how would a bus get over from the left lane to make a stop, then get back to the left lane? Sure limited stops or express stops could be used but this could become very problematic.

Haha I've been on the S1 that has gotten so bogged down in taffic during rush hours and then having to pick up passengers along the way... The longer the bus got delayed there more people waiting to board (people coming 10 min early for the next bus.) It was not uncommon, especially on Fridays to hear the driver behind us on the radio telling the driver they can see him and to only worry about getting to Amityville RR they'll worry about picking everyone up.

I've always wondered about SCT and EBT... I used to take the 6am bus out of Amityville RR and it seemed like the lady on the 6am had a hard time getting there in time. However, the guy who did the 6:15 (or was it the 6:20?) was sitting there every morning before the 6:00am got there, drinking his coffee, watching. I remember a couple of times she was late, equipment problems once, and her just coming in late one day. She was like 10 min late once and like 12 min late the other time. I also remember another time I was trying to make the 6:15 and was cutting it close, I thought the bus left a few minutes early but I found out later I saw her flying out of the area bc she was ordered to FLY up 110 until she was back on sched then start picking up. Meaning everyone waiting until that point had to wait for the 6:15 bus...

Why in the hell would dispatch or the supervisor not just put the 6:15 bus on 6am if its already at Amityville RR and put the late bus on the 6:15 knowing the buses run every 15-20 min?

Extend S1 to Sunrise Mall, to serve mall and connect to N19

 

I would extend the S1 to Merrick rd via Broadway (rt 110).... Just before the corner there is room on both sides of the road for the bus to lay over on the side of the road. There is a lot there that the bus can turn around in or go turn around on the roads south of Merrick Rd. I've always though it was odd that the S1 didn't go all the way on 110 on the Amityville side, especially to connect with the N19. The new N19/S1 connection point would be Merrick Rd @ Broadway (rt 110)...

Have any of the para transit buses been wrapped or painted yet? If not does anyone know when they will start that and why the wait? I actually can't wait to see one of these...

Here you can sign up for and login to your myNICE account! This means that if you tell us your preferred route or routes, we will text you or email you when there is a service issues or disruption on your route! You can also set up the Interactive System Map to automatically show your favorite bus routes. Registering is very quick and easy! Just fill in the information requested below.

 

Very cool! To be able to get a text or email you "when there is a service issues or disruption on your route!" This will be be great if NICE is great and serious about it. For instance will NICE recognize problems and alert problems. Also, how big of a problem will count as an "issue."

Will NICE notify customers if there is an accident on the road and buses are rerouted, delayed? Even if it only effects one or two buses? What if a a bus breaks down? Will that be considered an issue? I remember waiting for buses for 30, 40, 60 minutes and never have them show up. This may not register as a issue for NICE but to the rider that is an eternity in the cold!

NICE now has the power to notify customers that the bus they were planning on taking is not coming, lets see if they use it!

Just like SCT bus ads!

Was on the LIRR this morning and saw that 1830 has been redone. I think 1831 too but don't quote me on that one, the memory is fuzzy. lol

True they may sound biased, but I don't think I've seen a Mocker segment that has not been biased against the .

All I'm saying is these journalists see people are upset about cuts/adjustments and stir the pot so people tune in to watch them, they continue the hysteria so they can be sure they have a segment on the air every night.

What about informing the public who is upset about these servic cuts that there is no money to keep service as it is, and they are actually going to be getting more with less from NICE over the . I wonder how much of the general public know that, because it seems the news we here is "omg NICE cutting/changing service, tune in at 11 so I still have a job." lol

Scofflaw patrol? Are you kidding me I thought that was a joke at first when I saw the truck. I wonder who was fortunate enough to get that contract and the $166 boot fee.

When I forst saw mocker, I liked him, yea standing up against the ridiculous crap. & more importantly questioning it and not just accepting the answers we are force fed.

But now he just seems to pick petty shit arguments or "points" just to get people to watch.

"People are already complaining that service will be cut, or adjusted..." Really Mocker? Maybe a private company is supposed to foot the bill to keep service as it is, that the County, State, or Federal governments will not pay for! How about informing the "upset" public that they are still better off than the "skeleton system" the wanted to run for more money!

This is Journalism!?! Mocker could have asked any question BUT instead asked an objective question (not even on topic) to stir the pot and hope to get "upset" viewers to tune in!

Maybe the blue stripe on 1732 had to be shown. Maybe its a little lower than on the 1800s and the wrap wasn't wide enough. And now that I look at it, it doesn't look that bad.

I'm just happy to see it! Is that bus outa RVC or MF?

I wish the V's weren't being retired if live to see this scheme on one of them?