SoSpectacular

12 hours ago, Longislandguy7545 said:

okay, thanks a lot! besides having the CDL what else are you required to bring? and also, what's the parking situation like near 149 pierrepont? is there a garage nearby for parking or is it all street, metered parking? 

The new building is on a street that has metered parking but I still would not recommend driving there as it is still in the proximity of Fulton Mall/Downtown area

On 2/20/2024 at 3:02 PM, Benancita24 said:

Im a newbie from list 3601 . I only have my permit and I am a bit worried since, I’ll have to leave my provisional in order to move on to this position. Does anyone with experience knows if I’ll be subject of a contract of service ;meaning that I’ll have to be with the TA for xx amount of time given that they’ll provide me with the CDL training? I was told TA is lower Manhattan, Queens and SI ? Are the depots for Lower Manhattan in the lower Manhattan area ? 

No contract concerning how long you have to stay with the agency, only a matter of getting through the probationary period. Being under TA will allow you to work in Brooklyn, Queens and SI. You can also choose to drive in the OA depots (Manhattan and Bronx). Choosing to work in Queens or SI is a permanent deal UNLESS you are forced to work in either of the two in order to cover certain needs. You are allowed one transfer out.

9 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

The part you mentioned that our transit was a bunch of private companies before, it really bothers me when transit enthusiast, especially people who have a political intention behind themselves will say how the U.S. was good at building transit years ago but don't remember or even take into account it was private companies who built them. Really puts into insight on how much our transit agencies is filled with nothing but bureaucrats who will use transit against its intended purpose. I put it like this, would the Jamaica bus depot go through so much trouble to be rebuilt had it been a regular company instead of a transit agency? This isn't to make an argument for privatize transit vs public (its not) but the more I look into our transit issues in the states, it seem more of an issue about politics than capability. 

Politics. That's all it is. Private companies are free to do as they wish, since they manage their own money, but don't get much or any outside funding like a public service would. Once taxpayer dollars get thrown into the mix it's a squabble over what to do with it, how it should be spent and who it should go to.

1 hour ago, Brillant93 said:

I remember slightly how when I used to go into queens back in the day I would see some horrible rts’. I often wondered why queens had a lot more private bus routes? 

Keep in mind that almost all (if not all) public transport in New York City was operated by private agencies/corporations that over time, found themselves increasingly unable to continue operations due to funding/money issues and the city slowly gained control of these operations. The MTA was created in the 1950s by the state to consolidate these operations under one umbrella. The Queens companies just managed to survive throughout the decades.

On 1/31/2024 at 1:21 AM, Lawrence St said:

Question, why do I keep seeing random buses with flashing clearance lights?

Just a force of habit when parking up somewhere, or when making road reliefs we have them on

1 hour ago, Brillant93 said:

Does anyone know how badly the private bus companies were before the MTA took them over? Was always curious as to why I rarely seen those kinds of buses around the city unlike the NYCT buses. 

The private lines were managed by several companies under the supervision of NYCDOT. They were hit or miss depending on who was handling what. Queens Surface, Triboro Coach, Jamaica Buses and Green Lines were all in Queens, Brooklyn had Command and Manhattan/Bronx had New York Bus Service and Liberty Lines. They were all once separate but most of them were eventually controlled by larger private entities. To be honest, Green Lines, Triboro and Jamaica had some of the most raggedy-looking buses growing up. Queens Surface and Command were pretty good with their maintenance. Never spent much time in Manhattan and Bronx as a kid but NYBS and Liberty Lines' equipment also looked pretty decent to me.

21 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Question, why do I keep seeing random buses with flashing clearance lights?

As in, on the street?

4 hours ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

Why do buses have on their blinkers once they return to the depot?

We're supposed to have on our 4-way flashers when on the depot grounds. They're also to be used when there is a ramp line for fueling as we have to wait on the street.

13 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

What buses are easy to drive? 

Best buses I've driven so far were the LFS. Very smooth. The C40s are a good second.

9 hours ago, TyBusLover1 said:

Old gens served us well…

They weren't fun buses to drive. Drove one at Zerega once, and oh boy I finally got what some more senior operators said about them. 

On 1/15/2024 at 8:14 PM, DEE123 said:

Happy to know we get some line training ,that’s excellent. 
 

I would need to see those express routes a couple of times, because I only had one express bus line training when I was brand new while working in queens, so by the time I was alone doing an express route, I was following the signs for trucks only and winded up off route when I got to Manhattan because I was supposed to be on the side where it said cars only in the queens tunnel. I can’t imagine what the buses have to do when they’re coming from and going to NJ

The turn by turn sheets in my old depot didn’t help much because there were a bunch of errors and bad information on some of the routes I was doing. It would tell me to make a turn on a street, but the street I had to turn was halfway down the block from another street and I got lost at least 10 times trying to follow the route instructions. 

I took the paddle the night before and typed exactly what I was gonna do that day from the transit apps. 

You can also find the official route instructions through the MTA intranet if you have set up your Insight/BSC account. 

On 1/13/2024 at 9:45 AM, B35 via Church said:

Hell, I actually assume the opposite.... E/g - if a EB B35 does the turnaround to layover alongside the daycare center along New Lots, I assume it's going to go OOS afterwards.... It's not until that bus powers on & displays Sunset Park 1 av or "MCDONALD" (like it's a neighborhood or something... I always get tripped out by that) that I start motioning towards the bus.... I SMH when people start motioning towards the bus when the bus powers on, when the signage says not in service & the thing speeds off past the stop.... The acceleration of a previously idle bus at a terminal moving towards a bus stop & that of speeding past one, are stark.....

Speaking of that, the B35 can pull in or out to either end of the line (I hate having to do that on a paddle because the trek down Linden/Caton is a slog unless its late night) so it's very wise to wait until that sign changes. Most guys who are pulling in will make that right at Mother Gaston and go straight to Linden but then there are those who take a quick personal to use the bathroom somewhere and then leave. Then you got those who are late, take the personal and get put in place right after. It can go either way.

Sidenote: I also think that short sign for the locals is pretty stupid. They could have had it say KENSINGTON-McDONALD AV or something at least...

6 hours ago, xD4nn said:

Waited for the Q36 at the terminal once and the op dropped his passengers off, puts up NIS, and drives away. Was not fun waiting another 30 minutes for a bus. 

Some routes can end at any terminal. Probably was not the next bus on the schedule and that operator was done for the night...

I saw that video and couldn't believe it- how the hell did they even manage that??

3 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

They had clean fuel stickers as well, they have clean fuel diesels?

"Clean fuel" refers to the fact that the emissions produced by the vehicle are filtered to a very high standard through the use of certain technologies such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR) or exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). They are pretty much required nowadays because of regulations.

27 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Did 1020 come back? Says it was last active 50 minutes ago.

Thought that bus was written off some time ago...

4 hours ago, xD4nn said:

All TA Queens limited runs are being kneecapped for the week. Unknown as to why it is only being done on TA Queens routes and not any other routes. 

Queens is running reduced weekday schedules (along with the rest of the boroughs EXCEPT Staten Island, they are running on weekday school closed schedules), don't expect to see much limited service, if at all. These schedules are generally used on certain days where schools are closed and ridership is expected to be lower than a typical weekday with no school. The reduced weekday schedules are used on MLK Day, Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day, Black Friday, and during the Christmas/winter recess from December 26-31. All other federal holidays get either Sunday or Saturday schedule

On 12/19/2023 at 1:37 AM, Trackguy718 said:

Ik this post is a little old but anybody knows what time do the 10 days training end is it usually morning to afternoon and also the time they would have people do line training if somebody pass the 10 day training  

When I started the timeslots for the 7 day training were 06:00-14:00, 07:00-15:00 or 10:00-18:00. For line training you are paired with a senior operator who does the specified route you are learning for that day, every day for as many routes the depot you pick into or are assigned has. That also means you will be seeing morning work a lot during line training. I've done runs that started at 3-4 in the morning and have finished as late as 9pm.

5 hours ago, Trackguy718 said:

 

Thanks and what kind of shift to new people is usually get or it depends on the depot. Ik they don’t want anybody working anywhere else really but with a one year probation I can imagine some people being hesitant just giving up their current job till after the probation.

You can not hold a second job. You fill out a form for a request for outside employment on the first day and they'll automatically reject it. You are also advised not to quit your current job until after you pass the initial training and qualification. Getting through the probation period isn't difficult so long as you apply the principles you learn in training. You will be seeing late work mainly upon graduation but you may see early work here or there.

6 hours ago, Rhart825 said:

Hi I had been through the process before but ended up not going through to the final day processing because I had a traffic ticket from a few years ago but it’s now been 5 years since I had that ticket and they called me to go in Monday…

 

last time I was there I had my CDL permit but it’s expired now and I have an appointment at the dmv to re take the exam this Tuesday…

 

What is gonna happen if I go there with all my paperwork and tell them my cdl permit is expired but I’m in the process of getting a new one? I was on vacation in Puerto Rico when they called me to come in and only just got back a couple days ago … ty 

So long as you get the permit BEFORE final processing you should be good, you're not gonna need it for pre-employment if that's what you mean. If anything they will tell you to come back once you do get it.

2 hours ago, Kamen Rider said:

How… did he lie on his pre-employment paperwork?

Somebody at Transit dropped the ball when it came to background checks...

On 11/12/2023 at 6:47 PM, Future ENY OP said:

Ahh got it.. Than mayor copy cat went along with it and boom here we go.  Since, I work in the vicinity of the area. Traffic is gonna be horrendous and there's absolutely NO parking on Livingston in both directions and since Schermerhorn Street is one direction (Eastbound Boerum to Flatbush) Parking in that area is gonna get very stupid.

It also does not help that he put one of the most unqualified people in charge of the DOT. Not a single bit of background in transportation infrastructure. LOL

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Wtf are they (the DOT) doing with Livingston Street.....

Took the full B45 into Downtown earlier today...... Looks like they're going to (try to) E.L. Grant Hwy., Livingston Street.... In other words, do away with curbside bus stops for the Downtown bound buses & install islands in the middle of the street for buses to stop at.... I want to see how they're going to pull this off... Livingston doesn't have the width that E.L. Grant does.... EB traffic is going to have to be redirected onto Schermerhorn, or Atlantic (which is already a shitshow as it is).....

The previous bus lane idea didn't work out so they're going full-on "f**k cars" and making it two-way for buses only while making everyone else take it westbound. At least it'll be easier for me next time I'm on the B67 to get around it...

On 10/17/2023 at 7:54 AM, 7-express said:

How typical is it for buses to randomly start their route mid-run just because they are late?  Reason I ask is because I was waiting for the Q34 in Whitestone with no signs of it showing up.  Only to see on BusTime that a bus started its run several stops away closer to CP depot heading south to Jamaica.  So it seems like the bus ran on time and made service while it missed a bunch of stops from the northern terminus to where it ended up starting it's run.

Extremely common, especially if the operator has blown their entire meal break. We are still required to take a break either way and be placed accordingly when starting back up. Other times the bus is extremely late and was turned short from the other direction to make service going the other way. Dispatch/road operations may or may not send the next bus out a little early to compensate for the missing bus in the schedule.

On 10/18/2023 at 5:13 AM, B35 via Church said:

Rather common.

What I've been noticing more & more, are the b/o's that turn on the not in service signage mid-route - to only drop off whatever passengers that are left on the bus.... Now if you're one of the people that's already on a bus of sorts, that can be a good thing, as it speeds up your trip... However, if you're someone waiting at a stop & get flagged in that manner, it's infuriating.

That's when they'll call us and say "Go Not in Service to [whatever stop/timepoint on the schedule]". Depending on traffic conditions (and how many riders are on board), you may or may not make up the time. Happened to me a few times on the B43 when I got my bus late from another driver who needed to be relieved...

On 10/29/2023 at 11:41 PM, ABCDEFGJLMNQRSSSWZ said:

I feel like there have been a good number of non-NYC Subway projects in recent history that have gone relatively smoothly overall at a fair cost, however, most of these projects are purely local. I think the MTA being this weird agency that primarily serves NYC but being controlled by the state creates a weird dynamic that leads to these abuses. Plus, subway improvements are not always as sexy as something like a new park, but also not seen as critical as something like water and electricity, so historically subway money has frequently been diverted to other projects.

That's part of the reason why there's been a push to return MTA to city control... But it's been so long since the state took over that I don't think it ever will happen.

Like anything that gets proposed in NYC nowadays, I don't expect anything to go as planned when it gets implemented. There is always going to be some form of abuse somewhere, there's is always going to be some f**kery somewhere. It is what it is at this point...