BZGuy

Saw a Neoplan driving into gate 211 and nearly lost my mind over it... but fortunately, it was at the wrong place and quickly pulled out of the lane. I don't ever want to see a Neoplan on 166T under any circumstances... 

 The 166 needs all the help it can get. And don't sleep on those Neo's....the Fairview guys keep up with traffic on the turnpike when they use them on the 321.

Anybody know why the door announcements on the MCIs are so muffled and inaudible? I can barely hear the voice say "Route 139, New York via Freehold Center" or whatever.

I don't think they are weatherproofed very good. All our MCIs with the door announcements sound like crap, plus it's a low priority replacement item.

Smfh Academy don't deserve to have those buses. They could've sent those buses to Howell, but no. They had to use em' for a charter instead  . And what sucks is that the general public doesn't give a damn. Hopefully the riders on that charter recognized the seat designs and thought "hmm, I don't think this bus belongs to Academy....."

 

I saw one of OceanRide's Orion V's today. Those things look really old. And there was nobody on them.

It's the weekend.....they have reduced service on the weekends plus with this being a Labor Day weekend they probably needed everything that could run. NJT made their bed now they have to lay in it.....no sense decimating other peoples commutes.

Smfh Academy don't deserve to have those buses. They could've sent those buses to Howell, but no. They had to use em' for a charter instead  . And what sucks is that the general public doesn't give a damn. Hopefully the riders on that charter recognized the seat designs and thought "hmm, I don't think this bus belongs to Academy....."

 

I saw one of OceanRide's Orion V's today. Those things look really old. And there was nobody on them.

It's the weekend.....they have reduced service on the weekends plus with this being a Labor Day weekend they probably needed everything that could run. NJT made their bed now they have to lay in it.....no sense decimating other peoples commutes.

I was asking about the diesel MCI's 2 are retired. Not the CNG's

I think the 2 D4000s that are retired are:

8519 (Coach USA/Olympia) - Fire

8613? (Academy) - Accident on Rt. 9

Anybody know whats going on with Howell's 7475, the one that caught on fire at the beginning of the year on the 139?

I just saw 8280 on the 553 yesterday. But more and nabis are on the 553. I had one yesterday.

You had a NABI?....I know you were TIGHT!

Anybody notice how the LED signs on the back of the CT's don't seem to be working much?

They never worked right...I think it has to do with the programming NJT used than something being wrong with the signs.

Well the 400/403 needs artics and they seem to almost get by lol! Them nabis cant handle crowds and routes that take a beating. The 507 could use em also.

 

Hey BZ whats the feel in Shortline? Im thinking about leaving transit. Too much bs going. All the older ppl are retiring and the newbies are all young and stupid. They gave me a newbie to drive my 553 2 tripper, lets just say im dealing with supervision for his MONEY SHORTAGE! Since this i refuse to take any newbie out anymore.

ShortLine has been great for me. The money is here for the taking if you want it. However there are a couple things that may deter you, we are moving to Chester,NY sometime in the spring. They are building a huge facility able to park 100+ buses inside! As we know right now, Mahwah will close but that may change. Plus you have some time invested at NJT, dude I would stay and get your pension (only 401k here at ShortLine), plus our benefits pale in compared to NJTs. I would see if you could get a transfer somewhere....I'm thinking about going to one of those tests that NJT is giving out to see if they will take me. If I could get Wayne,Oradell or Washington Twp I would really have to think about jumping.

And BTW, I thought it was just me that thought that the new drivers are dumb! I didn't want be like ViaG8 but I ride the 161 to/from work and the new people are horrible. Always late, never have change and they all drive like they are afraid of the bus! And that's BS that they are trying to hold you responsible for the trainee coming up short.....that's why I handle the cash when I have a newbie, I'm not hearing shit about being short.

I've been thinking about how NJT plans to replace their artic fleet a lot lately.

 

If they go with New Flyer they shouldn't have a problem with making suburban style models to replace the Suburban style Neo's. So maybe they'll choose NF.

 

If they choose NABI, you can only wonder if they'll go for 3G-style 436 model or the BRT (most likely the BRT since the 436 has been discontinued, but this is NJT so anything's bound to happen).

I heard once the Neo's retire that there will be no replacement for them....or I should say the option for 150 more NABIs are their replacement. If that's true then Fairview is gonna be in a world of hurt on the 150 lines.

Careful what you say man, it's a restroom bus and we all know what happens when Howell has restroom buses.

 

They still should've been spec'd like every other NJT cruiser.

It's all entirely possible that Academy kicked in the cash to get them outfitted with A/V equipment. We don't know the details of that agreement. Like I said, for all intents and purposes those buses are Academy's.....they can do with them what they wish.

8951 and 8952 are no different then our Orange County buses that are spec'd with DVD players. I assume they plan on purchasing the buses once the county decides to replace the current fleet. Academy is looking long term as well.

 

GSP I could understand, it could be for legit purposes there, but the NYS Thruway in YONKERS?

 

It's my understanding that they do run (open to the public) buses up to the Empire City casino from Manhattan, but I would expect them to not use NJ state buses since they don't serve NJ whatsoever. They also use them for shuttles to the Javits Center from a bunch of different Manhattan hotels, also not even entering NJ.

 

Coach USA Rockland/Shortline also uses state buses for NY-NY runs. It's funny, Coach is extremely careful not to use their Rockland or Orange County-owned MCIs outside their service area or for any charter service because both those counties actually give a damn about it and go after them for improperly using their buses, but they know they can get away with using a NJT bus anywhere for anything. Honestly though, I don't care so much if Coach, Academy or whoever uses them for an open to the public route outside NJ (though when possible they should be using directly-owned buses or buses owned by the county they serve), but buses bought with public money should NOT be used for charters period. 

Here's the deal with that. NJT has never specified that the bus had to be used specifically on a Jersey run, this is why you see the buses outside of their footprint. Now as far as ShortLine and the County buses, Rockland County gave us the buses with the agreement that the buses only be used for Rockland runs, which for us is Exit 14. Orange County buses can pretty much go anywhere except PA, however the company does try to keep them on runs that primarily serve Orange County although the buses do end up in Sullivan and Ulster Counties quite a bit. Quite frankly, IMO these subsidized buses are more of a pain in the ass because it restricts how the runs are set up.

Another thing....people seem to be pissed that Academy got 8951 and 8952, those buses got funded out a grant because Academy expanded service into Jackson and Manchester,NJ. That's why they have those 2 buses and outside of them being used for A.C. you don't see them on any other runs.

8104 is at Wayne. Rode it home tonight on the 161.

Whoever said Yukon is better than Castleton is crazy, the 2200s have been running far better than the Prevosts. The amount of road calls on the Prevosts have been troubling..... 4254 is currently doing a trip on the s66 Sent from my SGH-T699 using Tapatalk 2

I said it when those buses were ordered.....The X3 will not take neglect at all. You have to stay on top of those buses.....the MCIs will take the abuse and ask for more. The 2200s have gotten better now that they are at Castleton......the issue is Yukon,not the buses.

saw 8522 with new signs today, One thing, they look bit small but I can be wrong since I saw it on my way home from PABT. 

Rockland Coaches also has 2-3 of their D4000s with the new signs.

553, how was it having a NABI out there? I would think it would be like putting a NABI on the 166.....just not a good idea!

Looks like they are starting to replace the signs in the 40ft MCIs. I saw a Ironbound D4000 with a Luminator on the 114 tonight....looked good!

Why you need EZPass at Flatbush? lol

The A shuttle?

They are used in the buses for the maintenance diagnostics system and the random announcements/"please exit through the rear door". The current Bustime, AFAIK, is run from a different computer.

 

Sorry dude, but automated stop announcements are the future and are in place in every other major transit system in the nation (not only including the Clever Devices systems). If NJT can put in a Clever Devices system with those announcements at every stop (plus the random crap that goes off every 10 minutes) on the damn 139, they can be installed in MTA buses.

And the commuters on the 139 have already started bitching about it. When they get their way (notice that I said "when" and not "if") those announcements will be silenced. Don't underestimate the Route 9 commuters.

 

Also, the 139 should be given late night service if it doesn't have.

The 139 runs 24/7

I don't know if anybody has noticed but 8519-8523 has not been seen for MONTHS! Once the NABIs and Nova's started showing up on the Newark Airport Express these buses have been MIA.

Transferred to Community, Suburban or even back to NJT is my guess. Anybody seen these buses?

8559 to Howell. Seen on the 137

8068 might be at Wayne seen on the 161

Might wanna get rid of Academy Perth Amboy's RTSs, those are GONE. Not sure about Hoboken or the others.

 

 

BTW, when does Meadowlands run trippers on the 139? I've NEVER seen a Meadowlands bus on the 139, even during rush hour.

Meadowlands does the 139 when there is an emergency. Truthfully Meadowlands is like the cover garage for all the New York runs. I've seen Meadowlands buses on the 168 and the 111 recently.

The 304 is the variant of the 194. I heard there were issues last year with people getting on the wrong 194.

These routes don't serve New Jersey residents. Why does New Jersey Transit subsidize them?

 

Yes they do. ShortLine runs from the PABT to Mahwah,Ridge Gardens,Upper Saddle,Darlington,The Wycoffs and Oakland. That's why they have those buses.

Point 1) The travel path through NJ sussex and morris may be a more direct route to NYC and at the same time with few stops that will likely not change travel time or even at worst case eliminate time savings by a few mins or seconds. And still now replace displaced 967 riders without making the line slow and may draw new riders travelling between PA and parsippany,NJ and most likely still cut travel time to NYC over the bergen county/orange routing travel path.

I kinda understand what you are trying to do but I don't see them doing that. ShortLine service area is up and down Rt. 17. I'm not sure of the history behind the PA route but I don't see them expanding too far out of that niche. Back in the late 90s they tried running Middletown-Newburgh-Danbury and had no luck finding riders.

Question is not enough buses the reason why OWL/LI a.k.a I-287/I-495 service levels are the way they are? or poor stop locations in LI being a huge turn off to potential riders?

 

The OWL is funded by the NYDOT....the service levels you see is proportional to the funding ShortLine gets. To be honest the buses should not be starting/ending in Middletown because they are practiaclly empty past the Central Valley P/R however it makes sense from an operational standpoint. There is plenty of parking for the buses in Middletown....there is barely enough room in Monroe,Chester or Goshen for whats there and having the bus come out of Newburgh would cause people from those towns to xfer at Central Valley possibly causing delays in service.

The X-495 truly should be a Friday/Sunday schedule as it's only really carries when the college kids travel back and forth. However I do think there that ShortLine is getting some kind of subsidy for running that line. The locations of the stops on LI are IMO, poor. I think they could do a better job in respect to that, lots of people see the buses come and go but don't know exactly where they stop. Unless you are a regular it's hard getting info. They could do a better job advertising their service out there and possibly run a LI-NYC schedule.

I admit under those conditions port jervis has it good hehe. I will tell you more later.Interesting I had a feeling they did that. The idea was to streamline the PA buses through a more direct travel path to speed up service for hawley and honesdale commuters to NY and give an option for PA to NJ commuters as well at the same time.

I don't know how much more streamlined it can get. For the most part the commuter specials run express from Port Jervis. Again they also help out coming down through Orange and Bergen counties when those buses go over. And there are no PA to NJ commuters because again the buses go express.

Plus a New scranton CUSA line that links at milford to port jervis and middletown. Replaces parts of middletown small system removing the useless town system that is not as dependable as shortline. However at rush hour trips can extend beyond middletown and interline with rte 17 to NYC service. It would be a simple suggestion that may benefit CUSA ohh that via NJ change doesn't apply on weekends.

What is the point of sending buses all the way to Scranton. For a a couple more people. You would have to find more buses and drivers, something that ShortLine is short both. Then you have to worry about hours of service and what do you do if a driver has to book sick or a bus shits the bed out there? Scranton is well covered by Martz, ShortLine has enough problems covering what they have now.

194 extension may increase ridership

 

194 however I am not surprised as sussex people along 23 are more numerous than one would think.

 

194's change and extension is enabled by NJT gobbling up and doing away with sussex transit thus allowing 194 and LL to use the garage in sussex county reducing or eliminating the DHs reducing dead mileage making service cheaper to operate out there and at the same time gaining sussex transit patrons thus serving more people at once with fewer buses and equipment with service levels on 194 staying or LL upgrading to 90 min service off peak. Fewer vehicles means fewer total miles and fuel and maintenance it adds up actually. Yes NJT funds sussex transit's fixed routes and more. As well as shuttles.

 

With every extension comes more costs. Sussex Transit may be funded by NJT but it doesn't mean they will take it over. Again I don't see them bringing Sussex Transit employees up to NJT pay and benifits just to extend the 194, which may not be sucessful. Plus the longer a line is the less reliable it is.....the full 197 is a bitch to run ontime, most Wayne operators start running behind between Warwick and Willowbrook.

Oh where to begin, where to begin?

New plan to restructure NWNJ service first extend 194 to port jervis via rte 23 most trips.

Not gonna happen. The fact is people should be happy that the ridership is good enough to maintain the 194 going to Newfoundland and196/197 going all the way Warwick. I talked to a Wayne supervisor a couple of months ago @ Willowbrook. Those 3 lines are pain in the asses when the weather is bad or if a bus gets disabled out there. Between ShortLine and Metro North, Port Jervis is well covered.....it has the amount of service that that it can support.

Then reroute CUSA PA shortline service via NJ from milford then via rte 15 & 206 to replace 967 then stops at rockaway mall then exp to interpace pkwy to business parks and parsippany to PABT it is closed door in morris county beyond rockaway mall. Drop off only NY bound Pickup only PA bound. Ridership may increase and travel time will decrease for PA pike county commuters.

You have alot of plans considering NJT can't tell ShortLine jack about what to do with the X-84-PA because NJT has nothing to do with that line. In this great plan what do you do with the people that come down outta Hawley and Honesdale.....there are alot of commuters that come out of there. Also those buses are unofficially "helper" buses for Orange County. If say a Monroe bus goes over and the PA bus has room it will swing in to pick people up and vice versa in the PM. Again you are just throwing things out there when you have no idea how some of these systems work. Not everything is gonna be a quick or "express" ride.