SoSpectacular

11 hours ago, KDGallagher said:

Thank you guys for your responses highly appreciated. Last off topic question, and this doesn't just apply to bus operator but the TA in general

How are guys able to damn near double their base salary? I go on seethruny and guys making $34 an hour which is a $71k base, but end up making lets say $130k 

I understand night differential and lets say they make another $1 for driving an articulated bus, that's still nowhere near $60k extra. Are some guys working 60-70 hours a week? 

 

I see dispatchers at $95k salary but bringing in $180k, thats crazy

Artic differential is now $2/hr extra but yeah OT is time and a half so most guys will work their RDOs and can pull in 100+ hours a week worth of work. I've seen it. Pulling doubles is also pretty common.

14 hours ago, lornaevo said:

Flushing gets rough at times. Lots of pedestrian traffic and cars that don’t follow traffic rules. 

Same deal with the Jay Street restriction in Downtown Brooklyn... It's stupid. Nobody listens to the signs

8 hours ago, KDGallagher said:

Do you expect a contract in the near future? Assuming a new contract is in play, will backpay be awarded? 

And I thought TA was simply Brooklyn and Queens,  OA and Bus Company operated out of the other boroughs. 

 

And unrelated, but from "easiest" to "hardest, can you rank the different boroughs as far as driving difficulty? I would assume Manhattan being the hardest simply due to traffic / congestion

 

 

Manhattan can get dicey depending on the time of day, Brooklyn is nearly right up there in terms of difficulty (largely depends on routes, Flatbush Avenue gets very dicey during the PM rush and a lot of routes intersect or pass through), Bronx and Queens should be largely similar considering their geographical makeups with less densely populated areas and more suburbs, can't speak for traffic conditions on the Island though.

15 hours ago, Snorunts said:

Would it be the same with the 08-10 NG Hybrids? I've heard that drivers have an easier time with those. Based on that and everything else I've seen and experienced on them, they seem like they're one of the most reliable buses in NYCT. Could that be the reason they're used frequently for driver training?

The NGs are a definite night and day difference in both handling and pedal response. One of the biggest gripes with the Old Gen model were the brake pedals which require significant more force to get adequate braking power. Operators tend to complain about knee pain afterwards. Having driven a 6600 out of Zerega for an observation drive I can definitely see where they come from...

On 8/2/2021 at 3:50 AM, R32 3838 said:

 

 

they aren't as reliable as you think. Their MDBF are terrible compared to other buses

They're also not very fun or comfortable to drive based on personal experience...

Just now, trainfan22 said:

Today on the B17, a bunch of kids in a summer camp with their chaperones got on the bus, filled  an fairly empty the bus all the way up.

 

I've seen summer camps on the subway many times but this is my first time seeing them on the bus.

That's very rare. When I worked in summer camp programs we usually took the subway or chartered a school bus when the subway wasn't feasible. DYCD may have made some changes...

5 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Anyone know why some of the 200-299 C40LF's have different front doors then the others?

236 has the original doors that 230 once came with. Not sure about 200-229 or 266-299 as far as differences go. 

20 hours ago, NMondi said:

I currently have my 19a medical through my job I currently work for 

You're definitely gonna recertify around the time you qualify because I also came from school buses and I still had to fill out a 19A form when I qualified.

On 7/26/2021 at 3:07 PM, lornaevo said:

If you qualify day 7 you get 2 chances at the road test. If you qualify say 9 or 10 you get 1. 

It's still two attempts if you qualify on day 9

15 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Thanks, that's so interesting! Yeah, some of these guys don't seem like they would be good teachers LOL

I've heard stories of the senior operators taking a literal backseat while the student drives the route if they are comfortable enough LOL

8 hours ago, Snorunts said:

I'm wondering the same thing but with the XN40s...and instead of a squealing sound, it's more like a ringing sound (like the Orion V CNGs).

Some of them are prone to doing that on acceleration

3 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

My QM1 this afternoon had a B/O doing line training, so that's a good sign. Actually made me wonder...the B/O who sits next to the trainee and teaches him, is that just the regular B/O who would normally be doing that run, or are certain B/O's assigned to be line teachers?

That depends, sometimes you might not get the driver who holds that run and may just be filling in. Had that happen about three times during my line training. It does require extra certification to line train student operators but it pays a little extra when they do get assigned a student.

3 hours ago, mattfutureconductor5 said:

Do  DMV changes Exam every weeks for cdl general knowledge / passenger endorsement^? I keep getting 80-100 in practice exam and then I failed the actual test.   Next chance Monday 

The questions change up but they are still the samefor the most part, the same. If you really want practice I suggest getting a copy of the Commercial Drivers' Manual from the DMV, as it has all the answers word for word in its sections

13 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

One of the few things I don't miss when the buses were free.

I definitely don't miss when the buses were free. I could hardly keep the bus on time with the volumes of people trying to squeeze on my vehicle. I've had to flag stops because the bus was packed to the gills. Talk about taking complete advantage of the "free" service! It was so bad to the point that people were complaining for fare collection to be reinstated because they couldn't get seats on the bus!

4 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

Yeah, we must just be gearing them for economy and dealing with it. Probably makes sense from a bean-counting perspective, though of course if you set a vehicle up to accelerate slowly and consequently have to floor it to go anyway, you actually lose all your fuel savings. Lots more lugging on MTA buses, but on the other hand nice and efficient when they're sitting in traffic/crawling around (which our buses sure do). It's a balance. I wonder when stop-start will come to buses. You'd think the hybrids at least could do it pretty easily, switching motors, but I guess the HVAC is a real bitch to power up.

I remember last fall while waiting at Prospect Park to make a relief another operator talking about how fast off the line the C40LFs used to be when they were brand new. Their acceleration was toned down to account for the increase of customer injuries. Since the throttle is basically electronic on today's buses all Transit has to do is adjust some numbers concerning the throttle sensitivity and boom you get less engine power.

As far as transmissions go, I'm not a big fan of the newer ZF EcoLife transmissions because of their tendency to shift at lower speeds in an effort to keep RPMs low and fuel economy high. It just feels like a drag when coming off the line in either an XN40 or XN60 for this reason. But, then again, there's also those engine parameters that get screwed with. The ZFs have a pretty high torque requirement according to the operation manual... The Allison transmissions are basically taking a page out of their playbook and adding computerized shift schedules to make them competitive with the things ZF is doing but they still have their default shift schedule which I feel works best for the street conditions. Plus, it's also smoother. With the LBSS/Dynamic Shift Scheduling feature it tries to find the best gear range for the vehicle's current speed but I find that it isn't very good when going up inclines. Slogging at 20 MPH uphill in 4th gear is pretty terrible. Trying to start on a hill sucks at times too. Sometimes the transmission will buck pretty hard if the bus goes too high in the gears and you have to let off the throttle and come on. Without it enabled the bus would stay in 3rd gear and it would climb a hill no problem. Anyway, they need to figure that stuff out if they want real improved performance.

On 7/19/2021 at 1:25 AM, MHV9218 said:

If only our XN60s were anything like LACMTA's XN60s. LA always has the most fun buses in the country since they gear them for speed, but goddamn, their XN60s absolutely fly. New Flyer makes some crazy good stuff if you let them...

Ours have a bit of pep to them, don't let them fool you! 

7 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

1575 SIM32, these Prevosts man....

How long buses supposed to last? 12-15 years? These might be done by 2030. 

According to a fellow operator on a group forum, "they're driver friendly but are rattling shit boxes" LMAO

13 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

They change drivers after every trip? 

They're known as relief trips, and no, it's not usually after every trip that a bus changes hands.

12 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Yeah, there's this thinking that Northern is SO much faster than Sanford, when it's not really the case.... It's unfair to compare Sanford at its worst, to Northern at it's best (traffic flow wise).... That's what I think is going on here with this whole shifting the Q12 to Northern, west of 166th, to/from Downtown Flushing....

Having spent 22 years of my life living on Sanford Avenue I second this. Moved out of Flushing back in early 2019 so not too sure what that's looking like over there nowadays

Our underlying infrastructure is the problem. Just last summer we had a massive water main break in Sunset Park that had part of 5th Avenue closed for weeks. This time around there was another near-miss around 49th Street where they're doing more underground work . Don't know if they finished that yet since I'm not on the B63 anymore but definitely something that needs to be looked at going forth.

On 7/1/2021 at 11:11 PM, train1290 said:

Ok, and if you are on restriction, and there is no work to do, you just sit there at the depot until something becomes available while being on restriction?

The crew might find some menial task for you to do eventually, but yes, depending on whether you're qualified to be a shifter or not you might find yourself sitting in the crew room bored to high hell.

3 hours ago, Cactus683 said:

Guy I came in with got extended,had a beakie on the bus,was going 10 over in the hov lane heading to Staten island ,took him out of service and 6 month extension,always gotta be on top of your game here.

That is definitely a GOOD way to get yourself in trouble... 10 over?! Sheesh!! I've heard the express buses were capable of 60 but DO NOT do that as a probie!!

On 6/25/2021 at 1:03 PM, KDGallagher said:

Do most students qualify on day 7? 

After getting hired and being placed on probation, how likely is it to not make it past probation? Is it easy to get laid off or must you really screw up BADLY? 

About 11% of folks (going off a video I'd seen on YouTube from Transit themselves) don't get past the probationary period but that's not too bad considering most other civil service positions have 18-month (or more) probationary periods.

What I have noticed is that you'd have to screw up pretty badly or repeat mistakes more than once to even get your probation extended. 

3 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

 

Meaning supervisors riding in plainclothes to catch B/Os breaking rules? Any particular reason they are doing that now?

The recent incident concerning a certain bus and a certain building may have something to do with it. 

16 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Went fanning throughout Brooklyn today....

I mean good lord, how many buses did they dedicate towards the shuttles... Seemed like every stint I was in Downtown today [3 separate times], shuttle buses were arriving & leaving in 3's & 4's....

That's an all-hands-on-deck shuttle. Last weekend when I was on the B67 I saw buses from West Farms and College Point hanging out by Jay Street at late hours via the radio and still looking for extra help at 12 AM via the radio

8 minutes ago, Statty said:

If you look closer at the video, he sets the parking brake around the 10-11 second mark. The initial crash happens shortly after he got back into the seat and he released the parking brake

Yeah, it looked like he pulled the brake but what happened after he sat back down happened in an instant it seemed like. I don't know if the diesel Xcelsiors allow the engine to rev with the brake set but on our buses you would know if you are applying gas once you tap the accelerator.