Burrstone

Of course you're the one complaining because I shot down your idea. Get over it. I kept the LIBRU bitching, useless complaints, needless repetitions and insane proposals out of here, and kept a clean, knowledgeable discussion on NICE and you know it. So yes, really, I am going to talk about my "administration" of this section because its better than what you read on here today.

LMAO, seriously?  You think this is about you shooting down an idea that off the top of my head, that had no research?  You really think I care that much about what you think or that you shooting down an idea of mine would still be stinging like a month later?  Hilarious!  The fact I have told you that you were a crappy mod, don't you remember?

You are proving you are not mature enough to be a mod...  The first job of a mod is to steer the thread back on topic, do what you have to keep the thread on topic,but you were the hijackig threads off topic just as you did tonight. 

You were too busy trying be Cartman from Southpark...

These are definitely better conversations about NICE bus than what we had when I was part of the NYCTF staff. NICE job guys!

Anything is better than when you were a mod, the place is empty because everyone left during your "administration" becuase you were a terrible mod...  

The proof is in the statistics this place was at a high when you become mod and you were in power during the mass decline.  Hmm...  Then you dare come hear and mouth off about how the place is worse without you?  Really?

fire truck were coming out from Jericho Volunteer Fire Department with siren on and one car near bus stop lane almost didn't stop, so I stop that car since I was wearing my orange vest. 

You should never do this!  You are not authorized or trained to direct or stop traffic in any way!  I'm telling you this because not only could you have killed yourself but if you caused an accident the motorists or insurance companies could have sued you and held you responsible for the damages.  

They change the color with every schedule change.

I guess I don't pay much attention to the PDF schedule and schedule changes....

In order to read parts of the N6 & N20 online skeds,you have to stand on your head,because they're upside down.

Adobe reader has the ability to rotate pages.

lol

sir I dare you to try the N58 sir. SCT's fare structure alone chases people away. Would you like to try the bee-line system For a day then come back. One more thing 60% of NJT BUS &RAIL riders own cars!!!

Are you high?  What are you rambling on about?

sir I dare you to try the N58 sir.

Okay sir, i'll try it.  But what why am I trying it, sir?

SCT's fare structure alone chases people away.

SCT? Suffolk County Transit?  Their fare system scares people away?  What is scary about $2 and 25cents for a transfer?

Would you like to try the bee-line system For a day then come back

No!  I don't in Westchester and I have no plans on going to Westchester...

 One more thing 60% of NJT BUS &RAIL riders own cars!!!

Okay, and this is Nassau County not NJ.  Apples and oranges...  Does NICE Bus offer service into Manhattan?  ...and many (if not the majority)of LIRR riders have cars.  That doesn't change the fact that the majority in Nassau County take NICE because they can't/aren't allowed to drive or don't own a car!!!

The County needs to kick in more funding, that is the problem in the 1st place. MTA never would have left if Mangano just paid up. Suffolk County does. So does Westchester.

First off, Nassau voted to end the contract with the because of their waste, and need more money attitude with little in return..

Second, you really need to get over leaving it was a blessing in disguise, a better managed company that can do more with the money is running the show.  It's not Veolia's fault NICE is under funded...  

Do you really not get the fact that if came back tomorrow the system would be worse than with Veolia running it?

   has higher standards,

Like over half their LIB fleet failing a DOT inspection (a basic safety/roadworthy test)!?!

And am trying to move next year to a good area on the Babylon line (Bellmore, Merrick, Wantagh, Seaford,etc) where there is frequent train service so I dont need to use NICE to get around much.

Where are you trying to commute to?  The city? Around the island?  I've lived in a couple of different towns along the Babylon line for years, I also commuted into the city to go school.  The LIRR SUCKS it is never on time, crowded, always late, later when it rains, massive system failures which makes commuting a disaster.  I've been so late for school, all I'd have to say to the professor is "sorry, I live on Long Island and take the LIRR..."  They'd just go "oh..." as if they understood...  If it wasn't school but a job I probably would've been fired, not to mention the fare is $200-$300 a month.  The only thing the LIRR has going for it is that it's legal to drink on, so you can get drunk to forget about how bad commuting on the LIRR sucks there's a reason just about everyone on the PM rush is drinking!

If you are moving to Bellmore, Merrick, Wantagh, or Seaford the n19 is pretty reliable, but they cut service in the afternoon to hour headways instead of 30 min headways which sucks if a driver is running hot during those times.

So I lost 45 minutes tonight thanks to NICE.

You're gonna lose more on the train,trust me..

These are folks who do have access to cars but chose to take the bus to avoid parking hassles,

I don't buy that for a minute.  There are exceptions to the rule but mostly people take bus because they don't have a car or can't/aren't allowed to drive...

 they make good salaries so a $10 cab fare every day is no big deal to them.

 

Another assumption...

It would be nice if they kept the schedules the standard orange color.

Yes the purple on the schedule kinda threw me off...  I assume they'll be changing colors with schedule changes to signify a change?

 

 

Something happened to me yesterday that forced me to come back (that and the suggestions of my friends). I guess others may know me better than I know myself.  

Welcome back!

 

I could see a similar campaign for a restored   LI Bus as there was for the subways in the late 80s. 

 Long Island Bus WE'RE COMING BACK SO YOU COME BACK

Let's get this out of the way right off the bat.  The is not coming back to Nassau County, if they did the riders would be in a worse situation.  The problem is not Veolia and the solution is not the the problem is funding.  Have you forgotten that Veolia does more with the money (while making a profit) than the so given proper funding Veolia is better for Nassau County and the rider than the(MTA). 

During the glory days you look back to that you compare NICE to now had much funding than NICE!  ...If Nassau didn't give into the MTA's demands of greater funding the was only going to offer a skeleton system.  A fraction of the routes, people would be out of work,and you wouldn't be able to rely on the transit system.

And about this campaign the the general public doesn't care if it's the Veolia, First Transit, MV, or National Express.

 

blah blah blah <summarizing>The driver got lost, doesn't normally do this route</summarizing> blah blah blah the trained better..

When was sending drivers in from the city because they didn't have enough drivers in the months leading to the takeover I was very impressed with one of the drivers...  I think it was on the N45 at the first stop, I got on and he asked me and a couple of other passengers if we knew the route well enough to help him.  I apologized and told him not for that route, other passengers he asked told him the same thing, he did the entire route (after never doing it before) with the map on the schedule, watching the street signs very carefully.    

As far as drivers getting lost that would be my biggest fear and it's happened to me driving a school bus, not a fun feeling.  When I was driving for a district we were expected to ride all the routes when we were fist hired and weren't paid for it.  But it was union free district so they could get away with that.  Would the Union not allow new drivers to learn the routes for free?  During LIB they learned all of the city bus routes (what a waste of money) while the training and all LIB drivers and city drivers spent the day learning LIB routes, new drivers "rode" LIB routes for a while too, they had like a week or two to learn what they wanted/needed to learn...

Obviously, the most cost productive way of learning a route would be to have the drivers learn the route. I have no idea how many drivers they hire a year but last August they were hiring 30 drivers... (a new driver said training pay is $9/hr) let them ride the buses for a week to learn the routes at training pay and that breaks down to $9/hr x 40 hours = $360 x 30 drivers = $10,800...  (assuming they hire 30 drivers a quarter bc of turnover and the new schedule) $10,800 x 4 quarters = $43,200 that is 5.4% of the budget deficit this year. That might not seem huge adding 5.4 to the debt is huge, where is this $43,000 going to come from?  Either cut service, go one driver short for the year, or have the County kick in more funding...

Are the salaries for NICE drivers higher or lower than LI bus operators?

The wage is higher, before NICE took over they agreed to a wage increase off the bat that the first wage increase had seen in 3-4 years (another wage increase happen in April and will continue throughout the contract which I think is up with the union in 2016).

People like Hound can say NICE sucks, but a class B driver isn't going to see better, not even when it was the considering the wages are higher for new drivers...

For senior drivers was better, because the days of senior drivers milking overtime and making $80,000, $90,000, $100,000+ are over.  It is far more productive to hire new drivers.

People like Hound are angry but this is better IMO for newer drivers, it means more drivers, more jobs, and more opportunity to get your foot in the door.  

Yea NICE might hire part time, but so did LIB, NICE has also hire full time drivers off the bat?  When was the last time LIB hired full time drivers off the bat? 

The n19 does (did) well between Sunrise Mall and Freeport, so they could've saved money by just having every other trip end at Sunrise in midday hours.

I think this would've only really added to the confusion than being a solution...  We've been down this road before but If you re route the n19 to Amityville RR I'll settle with terminating every other at Amityville RR BUT it would have to use a different number like n18 to Amityville RR and n19 to Babylon RR...

I've actually seen a good amount of ridership taking the n19 to Walmart (at Sunrise Mall) and going to Babylon RR or Freeport RR. the problem is the people who do this occupy the row in front of them or next to them with tons of bags.    

Can anyone tell me if SCT and NICE pays rent to Westfield?

This was my idea in an effort to save the Bus Roadeo a couple years ago...... MTA was NOT interested at all! lol

I was just kidding but it's cool you tried to do that...  Too bad has such a stick up their ass, there seems to be community interest in new buses (at least from foamers) that they could actually profit off of it (or donate the money to charity) by doing something like I joked about; a viewing party or something.

The is very mysterious and secretive, some city's make getting new buses a big community event, ribbon cutting for the first bus to come in.  Then again these municipalities see new buses a lot less than the so it's more exciting for most.  It's really just a big press event... 

I think the Xcelsior is the fan favorite lol. Don't remember people going crazy over the artics at all.

Nobody really seems to anticipate their arrival. I sure don't

NYCTF should have a viewing party the next time around...  Even the could make money from this, "rent" the bus for an evening before it it goes into service, rent an airport hanger at JFK, park the bus, sell tickets for dinner, drinks, and the unveiling of the new kid in town.  Ticket includes dinner and all the pictures you can take, bring your own drool...  LMAO!

I don't understand why the DMV would issue the a temp tag for this bus as the DMV issues temp tags to transport  a vehicle out of state.  I've never even personally seen a NY temp tag...  

Is there a clearer/closer pic of the tag I can see?

For the people who thought I was jumping the gun on 7090 entering service because she didn't have a licence plate......

 

#TempPlates

Who would issue a temp tag (as NY doesn't)?  The state of MN?

Why not just going to the DMV and get plates? 

 

 

As far as breakdowns and consistency, Suffolk County Transit is more reliable than NICE. Because more money is pumped into the system, buses can be repaired quicker and more service can be provided. Simply put, it comes down the dollar and that's Nassau's problem, as if we didn't know that already. NICE's ridership has been dropping exponentially since April 2012 when the real first round of changes came out. If you don't provide the right service and the right amount of it, people find other means to get where they need to be on a reliable basis. A good part of the LIRR's ridership increase last year came from NICE ridership, I can almost guarantee that.

I'll address this later... I've got stuff to do....

If a bus line is crowded, you put more buses on that line.  And you further cut service on less busy routes.  This is not rocket science.

While it is not rocket science the problem with this theory is that when you remove buses from the non busy routes is that non busy routes run every 30, 45, 60 minutes as it is so you would make passengers wait long just because they live along a lower service route?  Should someone have to wait an hour for bus (what if they miss that bus by a few minutes) just so someone on a busier route doesn't have to wait an extra 15-20 minutes for a bus if the one passing them is crushloaded?

I am most familiar with the n4 and the n19...  Obviously one is busier than the other.  Let's us be very clear that from then end of LIB and the beginning of NICE the n19 came pretty close to paying for itself which I believe were weekday headways of 30 min all day...    Sure the bus wasn't full all day but over the past couple of years NICE has reduced the amount of weekday buses and in the afternoon the bus comes every hour...  They pretty much squeezed people from 2 hourly buses onto 1 hourly bus and in essence gave the "extra" buses to busier lines (and just cut some to reduce costs).

But at what point does that not only become unfair but bad for business?  Not only are buses running hourly but some drivers are still leaving stops more than 5 minutes early, if you just miss that either because the driver was early or your appointment ran a few minutes over, you're waiting for almost 2 hours!  There are a lot of mentally & physically disabled people who rely on the n19, is it fair they must spend half their day waiting for a bus because someone doesn't want to wait 15-20 longer (hypothetical times) for another n4 or n6?

Now it;s also bad for business, when you put less buses on a line you increase the time people must wait for their bus.  Combine that with traffic and the obvious no repercussions for drivers that come 5+ min early (as they continue to do it after Setzer said in the news it would not be tolerated) and you now have a very unreliable bus line.  As I said there are many disabled and elderly people who rely on the n19, now that n19 is very unreliable and all of these people are eligible for able ride, they use able ride door to door!

Anyone who lives within a certain distance of a NICE line and meets eligibility requirements has to be served by able ride if they request it, it's the law.  Reduce the liability of less busy nice routes. Increase waiting times by taking away buses on less busy routes and putting them on busier routes people eligible for a able ride will choose able ride.  Buses have already been taken away from lower ridership routes and put on busier routes and the number of able ride requests have increased. Hmm...  Able Ride is paid for out of the budget before fixed route service gets any piece of the pie, so while you think your theory isn't 'rocket science' it obviously isn't as black and white as you think it is.

 If you merge the buses on the n87 with the n73/74 to Jones Beach, that's a couple more buses daily that could be helping out on routes that need buses like the n22 or the n6. In response to the hound's comment, traffic and the drawbridge will not interfere with the JB buses as much as you think. The n88 frequently stays on time and so does the n87. It's not like the bridge is opening every half hour. It's such a simple idea that would make a difference.

It is an idea and nothing more than an idea and the "make a difference" part is nothing more than your opinion based on nothing but an assumption.  The same could be said for Hound's comment but in this instance based merely on thoughts and opinions the guy who has been behind the wheel of a transit bus in this county for 40 years trumps your opinion on the traffic problems and reliability of the route...  Sorry.  It's a bad idea... 

MAJOR delays & changes on SCT system wide due to flooding (too many to post here)...If you need to ride SCT today check out SCT's twitter feed for updates..  Click this link for SCT's Twitter page.

N4 – MERRICK RD IS CLOSED AT GUY LOMBARDO AVE IN FREEPORT FOR A POLICE INVESTIGATION. BUSES WILL BE TRAVELING VIA SUNRISE HIGHWAY . SOUTH OCEAN AVE.

N19- MERRICK RD IS CLOSED AT PARK BLVD IN MASSAPEQUA. BUSES WILL TRAVEL VIA PARK BLVD / SUNRISE HIGHWAY.

N19/54/55/80/81-SUNRISE MALL  ***Updated 8:47am***  N54/55/80/81 are now clear north of Sunrise Highway

N23 – WARNER AVE IN ROSLYN IS CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. BUSES WILL BE TRAVELING VIA GARDEN ST.

N31/32 – UPDATE HEMPSTEAD AVE CLEARED.

N54 – WASHINGTON AVE IS CLOSED IN MASSAPEQUA. BUSES WILL TRAVEL VIA THE N55 ROUTE.

N72 – RT 109 IS CLOSED AT GREAT EAST NECK RD. AWAITING A DETOUR TO BE SET UP.

Flooding is affecting the area southern area of the Nassau/Suffolk border, the southern state parkway is closed which obviously doesn't have anything to do with NICE fixed route service, although this could make traffic heavy on Merrick & Sunrise...  Speaking of Sunrise, CBS2 is reporting Sunrise is closed in the area of Sunrise Mall, so buses could have a problem getting into the mall.

So far the only mention of service alerts from NICE via their facebook page is:

#NICEALERT. n70/71/72 Farmingdale
We have road closures due to flooding at route 110 and Conklin. Currently buses are unable to make this stop

Spoke too soon... Click on ‪#‎NICEALERT‬ for updates...

‪#‎NICEALERT‬ : Due to flooding and down power lines, we have detours and delays thru out the County. This is a very fluid situation, and is changing rapidly. Here are the current situations

- Warner Ave. in Roslyn is closed in both directions, N23's are using Roslyn Rd.

- N19 detour: east bound buses are taking a left on Park Ave. and right on Sunrise, due to flooding

Nice is not responsible for SCT's failures more S47 is good enough.  

I never said is responsible responsible for SCT's failure or implied that the s47 was a failure (I don't know enough about the line to say either way)...  Nice try...

And 2 being reliable is useless if nobody rides the service N73/74 I am pointing at you. 

What!?!  Who are you pointing to and why!?!

Ignoring all the personal crap in this post, 

I do apologize for my post my anger got the best of me, but watch how you "talk" to people and you wouldn't trigger such a response.

Ignoring all the personal crap in this post, your idea doesn't make sense because you're suggesting service to areas outside the county when NICE barely has enough funding to provide service within the county as it is. 

Great suggestion, Brett, let's scrap service to Suffolk & Queens all together.  Just because it hasn't been done and wasn't thought of by you doesn't mean it wouldn't work.  This is an idea that just popped into my head, I have no idea if it would work or not but to dismiss an idea because it is out of Suffolk County is just....  Really?  As far as nice being "tapped" does that mean we just stop trying?  Automatically dismiss anything because it is outside of Nassau without even looking at it?  Because wasting money on things like the new n87 is better?

 Buses to anywhere in Suffolk County from the already-running NICE endpoints (ex. Babylon LIRR) would run empty because any place that craves service already has it by SCT. 

BWAHAHAHA!

People would rather ride SCT because it has better reliability, 

HAHAHA...  Seriously, I can't even...

Go to Whalt Whitman Mall (or ride the s1) and talk to the average AM/PM commuter on SCT and HART!  I've heard many of people wish SCT was both more reliable like "Nassau County" or have a company like "Veolia" take over Suffolk...  Suffolk is VERY unreliable...

Also, NICE has been losing and losing ridership since they took over, and that has to be regained back before they expand more service, especially out of the county, otherwise the buses will run completely empty. 

I have my theories on ridership dropping since NICE took over....  I'll post in that thread later today if I have time, I want to see if I can find any facts first for one theory...

The n87 now might seem like a waste because NICE is overdoing service, but an extended n73/74 to the beach certainly isn't and doesn't cost near enough as a whole new route.

Not trying to sound mean just honest, Hound already pointed out this is a terrible idea because the bus would get held up in the beach traffic make the bus late and screw up an already reliable route (n73/n74).  I have my "problems" with the guy, but he's driven in the system for decades, if the man says the bus is going to get stuck in traffic and screw up reliability of one of a handful of reliable routes I believe him.  After knowing this, why are you still pushing for this?

P.S. I don't see the reason responding to a status update on my profile almost 4 months old...

I responded to it yesterday because I read it yesterday, I thought it must have been important to you to keep it up their for 4 months for anyone to see who checks your profile...

So you're proposing NICE blow more money that they don't have for more service to an area not in Nassau County? Haha.

First of all watch your attitude towards me.  I have made an effort to not to be be mean or respond to this attitude of yours but don't think I won't make you cry like a 16 year old girl being cyber bullied!

If you have a problem with someones suggestions you don't get to mock people...  We are not all studying numbers we have to find on the internet, to present at a community meeting because no one will listen to his brilliant idea's otherwise... BTW Did Setzer or the people who actually get paid to make routes get back to you?

There is nothing wrong with my idea, since you know all of the numbers how much would it cost to send a bus from Babylon RR to Robert Moses and back? What would be the break even point for ridership?  Yes, I realize Babylon is in Suffolk County, Robert Moses is in Suffolk County....  But the Bus is already in Suffolk County, and the beach is not that far away in Suffolk County....  How do you know ridership would not work?  That it would be a waste?  Have you done studies or surveys on a bus going from Babylon RR & back?  The n87 in Nassau seems like a waste.

Now, are you going to be civil to me? Can you reply without being a condescending a-hole?  It's not becoming...

Yesterday from Jones Beach, there was a large crowd on the N87 early evening.  Once we got to Freeport, every single person got off the bus.  The bus driver was then driving an EMPTY bus all the way from Freeport to Hicksville.  This is total insanity.  Meanwhile, many passengers got off and were waiting and waiting and waiting (up to 50 minutes) for an N4 to Jamaica. 

 

Doesn't NICE get it - NOBODY WANTS TO GO TO HICKSVILLE FROM JONES BEACH!!!!!!  Does empty (N87) bus after empty bus after empty bus between Freeport and Hicksville make them understand?  If you made a bus from Jones Beach to Oyster Bay or Jones Beach to Farmingdale, nobody's going to ride that either.  People using mass transit are coming from Manhattan and Queens.  So they should send the N87 to Jamaica (via the N4 line to handle the severe overcrowding) instead of driving an empty bus to Hicksville.

This may be food for thought for them for them for next year, once the schedule goes into effect they can't change it (for many reasons) until the next schedule change...  I think NICE needs to do more surveys online and emailing people who have downloaded the mobileapp to find out where the passengers want to go.

The n87 "fails" because most people from Nassau or Suffolk that's going to the beach are going to take some type of vehicle, either their's, their friends, or a family members

The ridership the n87/n88 gets from Freeport dismisses that theory...  Maybe if you compare the total number of people at any given beach to percent that arrived there by bus, you might have an argument.  But nobody is going to get people to use a bus instead of their car,people are taking the bus to the beach because they don't have a car, friend, or family member they can ride with.  Enough people use the bus to get to the beach to explain it's existence.  The question is just what is right way of sending the buses?  NICE should have survey takers getting peoples zip codes before the enter a beach bound bus,,,  There's a reason they ask you this at the sales counter,  

There was a bus from Jamaica to Jones Beach many years ago. It failed. No point in reviving it.

If I were to take the bus to the beach, I'd take the train to babylon and take the s47 to robert moses...  Forget about the crowd at Jones Beach or being crowded into the n87/n88!

The thought just popped into my head, why not experiment with NICE bus service to robert moses?  Either extend the n19 or n72 from babylon RR or have those lines interline with the new line, offer service during the s47's off time?  Could work...

Why is there such a shortage in RVC?  Vacations?  Sick times?  Hows does one go about working at RVC do they have to bid a run out of there?  Can NICE hire extra drivers PT or spares to cover RVC instead of shuttling drivers from MF or having SQM's cover routes?  Are there any union rules as to who may be placed at RVC?

RVC still M-F. RVC very often has MF drivers sent over to fill runs due to insufficient manpower.

Interesting...