SoSpectacular

I'm wondering who your superintendent is... I vaguely recall someone from my day 8/9 training class talking about her instructor who had a drill sergeant-like demeanor and was always yelling. Does he wear a hat of some sort?

I noticed this ad on my bus earlier and there's a lot of us who are confused as to what's going on...

1. Automated announcements became a thing starting around... 2018. Before that earlier models were tested on certain buses. It was rolled out around 2018 with the then newest order of buses and the retrofitting of some older models. There are some buses that haven't gotten the announcement systems still or have been skipped over. 2. It's required for bus operators under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to call out bus stops if there isn't an automated system calling them out. It's federal law. However, with NYC's transit system being heavy on stops, it's kinda redundant to have to call out every single stop on one of our lines. Some routes could have as many as 120+ stops in both directions! Instead, we are required to call out major transfer points and points of interest if applicable. 3. There is a microphone on some of our buses that allows us to record quick announcements using a foot pedal near the seat. It isn't very good but it works. We also have the option of using the PA system but that requires actually using your hands to operate. 4. If the automated system isn't working, yes we are still required to call out the major stops but not everyone is going to do that because habits are hard to break.

I was thrown on the highway on Day 4 on our way back to Grand Ave from doing the el pillars. I thought of it as a way to test myself. Plus, you will need to have some highway experience since you have to use it during the CDL road test (also some official run-on and run-off routes have this written in the route descriptions). Most of Transit's buses are governed at 40 MPH but for the road test you will be driving a bus governed at 50-55. Take that as necessary experience! I was at a point where I didn't think I was going to pass the training but I found my bearings by the 5th day and was moving that bus with no problems. You'll get it dude.

Water getting into an engine is bad, period. Keep in mind that both gasoline and diesel engines use some form of compression to combust the fuel, especially for diesels which entirely rely on it as they do not use spark plugs. Liquids, no matter how hard you might want to try can never be compressed and something will give should water find itself in an engine's numerous cylinders. That's called hydrolock. Most vehicles are designed to be idiotproof and will shut themselves down should water begin finding ways into areas it does not belong in but so long as water does not reach the air intake you can drive through standing water. You next concern is the electrical system.

Lol I know that feeling, except I found out I don't handle big/split runs very well, like you feel so exhausted at the end of the damn day especially for an 11-12 hour day. 10 hour runs are my hard limit. I had a run on the 61 that paid like 9:40 for the summer so going back to 8 hours feels like taking some weight off the chest.

Extra list is a VERY easy way to see 45+ hour weeks. I'm considering it for the system pick come January.

In the very beginning during the pandemic that's what they mostly did, avoided streets that buses came through. Then when that little pilot program ended some folks pushed for their return and they expanded the scope on which streets could be closed off to vehicular traffic. That was last year during the summer. I worked the B68 and had my weekend runs interlined with the B69 and I hated that detour around Vanderbilt which was closed off between Grand Army Plaza and Atlantic Avenue, and everyone had to either use Flatbush or Washington Ave instead which was pretty bad. Even worse were the confused customers waiting for the B45 because most people don't know to look at their phones for information concerning schedule/route changes and those who probably wonder where the bus has gone seeing that the street they usually catch it on is closed. I've largely avoided the routes since leaving the B63 that have these ridiculous detours simply for the fact that you end up running ahead of schedule due to missing all those stops and/or having nowhere to really pull the bus over to the side in some cases (like 4th Ave) and hoping some folks realize that the bus makes corresponding stops along the detour route...

Fall pick has always started just before Labor Day to line up with the school schedule, which is starting unusually late this year but we'll see how things work out considering the pandemic.

Don't worry about school runs until you're on your own. The instructions for those are usually included with the paddle reports, but I would recommend asking a senior operator to learn more about a particular school.

This was a common complaint I heard from people who wanted to ride the B63 on Saturdays when Open Streets are in effect. Most don't even bother with the bus because of that and I barely picked up any people along the detoured portion.

358-362 are back at Gleason from West Farms, 358 and 360 were sitting in the maintenance area when I left out last night.

Definitely sounds like a transmission fault. Bus seems to be stuck in neutral. No first gear.

Lmao. I used to pick my brother up from that middle school on the Conduit years ago. Good times watching those buses come around

That happened to me last year with an Xcelsior I was driving. Even worse, it wouldn't start back up. That was a nice 4 hours in the cold...

195 Montague St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 right by the Borough Hall station

That's one thing I don't like about the newer Xcelsiors and a big reason why I dislike driving them with the retarder off. Very little brake feel or feedback. You'll be going down to the union hall once the Day 10 folks qualify. The Novas are pretty nice buses to drive. They drive smoothly.

Day 6 and 7 is do or die. No pointers. You're being tested on what you've learned! I bombed on day 6 because I wasn't watching a certain flashing walk signal that was all the way across the street when I was looking at the turn signal ahead of me turn yellow just as I approached the intersection and got trolley braked. I had to wait until day 9 to finally qualify. Keep your eyes open and catch all the details!

Pay attention to the notes your superintendent wrote on your progress sheets and do your best to correct those mistakes. By day 5 you should be pretty confident in your ability to move the bus- this will be your last day to correct any problems you are having. Use the hook turn when you find yourself too close to the curb and you're about to turn right. You need at least 3 feet of clearance to keep from hitting the curb. Remember, pull the front bumper away from the curb about 6-7 feet, your tail should still be close to the curb. Start your turn once your front bumper reaches the intersection and follow through. Continue to watch your rear pivot and adjust as necessary.

As my instructor would say, "They're just lines on the ground." Use up all the space you need so long as it is safe to do so!

You will be taught two methods to approaching the parallel park. If you have to take the road test you will be practicing this more at Eastchester because you will have to perform it for the DMV administrator. It's really not hard once you get the hang of it. One method I have remembered and used was the 3/4 method. I don't have any pictures but I'm going to explain it as best as possible: So there are roughly 7 cones spaced out in a large area, three to the front, one on the right side midway between the first row of three and the remaining three in the back. You're going to pull the bus up and line up the rear axle with the first row of cones (with about a foot or two of spacing between you and the cone). This is your pivot point. Once you get out and check the back of the vehicle for clearance, you will first turn the wheel all the way to the right, and SLOWLY back the bus while watching your LEFT mirror. You will STOP once you see the rear left corner appears to be between the outer left and middle cones of the back row of cones. This is where the 3/4 term comes from. You should not be able to see the center cone in the back row. Now, straighten the wheel and slowly continue backing the bus until you see the OUTERMOST cone in the front row in your #2 front door window. This cone should be more or less lined up with the window so that you are looking directly at it. That is your next reference point. At this point you will STOP and turn the wheel all the way to the left. Continue backing into the space and watch the left back corner of the bus. You should STOP once the bus is straightened out and the rear left corner of the bus appears to be nearly touching the outermost cone of the back row. Hope that helps. Your instructors may use different objects as reference points since I don't think they'll have cones on hand.

Nah, but I did have him for my initial 7 days. Real stand-up guy. Funny as hell too.

Didn't have him as my instructor but he did show up at Eastchester to help us with our road test prep. He was also the superintendent who gave me my first check ride. Cool guy.

All the runs are listed on the board and they go down the list in seniority order. Once a run a picked, it's gone and the next person gets their choice. Each route has a set number of runs and work runs are determined by the number of runs that do not have Saturday/Sunday off. You work the days off of that run and several others during the week when that operator has off. Runs aren't picked in any order, it's all personal choice.

Seniority varies by depot. I'm almost 2.5 years in and I'm able to see a few Thursday/Friday runs over here at Gleason, but still nothing really desirable. 5 years in I would say you have a good shot at picking something decent. I recently got contacted for an exam I took well before I went with Transit for motor vehicle operator but the pay is nowhere near as good as what I'm getting now unfortunately. Don't think I would change up that quickly.