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RailBus63

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Everything posted by RailBus63

  1. The $3.8 billion from the Feds is a stopgap at best. The MTA is projecting a $6 billion deficit by the end of the year. There will be a deficit even if all ridership returns within six months, which probably isn't happening (unemployment being a big reason). The state has its own deficit to worry about now and will not be able to give billions more to the MTA. Sadly, I think service cuts are very, very likely.
  2. There will definitely be permanent cuts - the money is not going to be there, and ridership is going to be depressed also. I fear that when the cuts are made, they are going to make the 2010 cuts look like a minor service reduction by comparison. I hope I'm wrong.
  3. Just my 2 cents, but I do not expect to see any R32 return to regular service. First, since it will be 12 to 18 months before we have a coronavirus vaccine available, I don't believe it would be fair to train crews to bring back a car class that puts C/R's in direct contact with passengers multiple times per trip. Second, the MTA is also facing a severe fiscal crisis from the pandemic, so I doubt they will have the funding to bring back 100 percent of the service that was cut, nor do I expect ridership to return to February 2020 levels for a long time. Hopefully we will get a formal R32 farewell run at some point in the future. Again, just my 2 cents.
  4. The R32's are synonymous with the BMT Broadway lines in my memory. They have been largely absent from the Brighton Line during most of my railfanning years (I rode them far more often on the N as well as on the RR back in the day), but I agree that the Q would be a great symbolic route for the final run.
  5. Wow, just like that. Surprised that they didn't do a media event with one last RTS run, they way they publicized Blitz Fishbowl 5227 back in the day.
  6. Only 11 RTS buses tracking at 8:00 a.m. this morning: FB: 5038, 5058, 5139, 5171, 5174 MQ: 5217, 5218, 5224, 5225, 5226, 5237 It appears that Monday was the final day of RTS operation at Ulmer Park.
  7. Gillig bids on very few large-city orders. Their business model for a long time has been to compete for smaller and medium-sized orders that the big guys often overlook in their desire to win big-city orders. It's worked for them. I also believe that it can be deceiving to look at any city and make judgments about bus models based on a limited sample size. The RTS was the most indestructible bus since the GM Old Look, yet some cities had difficulty keeping theirs on the road to even meet the FTA 12-year requirement. I've also ridden on Gilligs that are 15 years old and rode just fine. Quality of maintenance counts for a lot.
  8. Those 2003 D60HF's lasted 16 years in hard service - that is a tremendous accomplishment for an articulated bus. Many transit agencies struggle to get the mandated 12 years out of an artic. Kudos to the TA mechanics.
  9. Glad to see this - many other transit agencies and other employers allow polo shirts as part of the summer uniform or dress code.
  10. The MTA is not the only source of information regarding Federal funding - there are various websites including FTA and New York state which show what projects are funded, how much, etc. Sometimes all you get is a project title so it may take some sleuthing to find out what exactly the project funding paid for.
  11. Schedules are a suggestion at best. To prove whether SBS is an improvement or not, a meaningful data sample of actual trip times before and after is needed.
  12. At this point, there really isn't much difference between a 22-year-old bus and a 19-year-old bus. If those remaining '96 buses are reliable and in decent condition, might as well retire the worst of the '99's first.
  13. Very little savings in fuel expense running a short bus instead of a standard 40-footer. Driver gets paid the same which accounts for most of the variable expense of operating the bus.
  14. I assumed it's the trip due to arrive at 7:02 since the OP referred to this in their second post. I'm also hesitant to blame the BO without knowing the facts - perhaps they were previously disciplined for arriving early.
  15. If you have to catch the 7:00 a.m. ferry, why not just take the S52 trip that arrives at 6:52 and save yourself the rush?
  16. As FYI, the MBTA XDE40's have the newest version of the BAE HybriDrive system, not the Allison system.
  17. It's a component manufacturing facility in Jamestown, NY.
  18. Yes it is. Other than the stripe on top of the yellow band now being blue instead of black and different number placements, it is essentially the same scheme that was introduced by the T in 1972 and has been in use since then other than a period when the RTS's had a narrow yellow band. It would be like the MTA deciding to ditch its modern schemes and go back to the two-tone blue scheme for new buses. A minor clarification - those two C40LF's (#6000-6001) were indeed built to exact NYCTA specifications but they were purchased outright by the MBTA. Same with its two Orion VI hybrids that were built identical to NYCTA's 06's. The MBTA purchased these four pilot buses (and kept them) in order to test alternative low-emission buses for future purchases. The CNG buses 'won' and this led to a purchases of 15 additional C40LF's (built to MBTA specifications) and later purchases from Neoplan and NABI. Ironically, the MBTA has turned towards hybrids since then and most of its newer purchases are now hybrid-electric buses, although 150 of the new Xcelsior order are XN40's.
  19. Those are green emergency lights, similar to the amber emergency lights that MTA had on the front of all of its buses. The MBTA has these lights front and rear.
  20. According to this New Flyer press release, the five artics will enter service in April. https://www.newflyer.com/rss/811-nassau-inter-county-express-exercises-options-for-28-xcelsior%C2%AE-buses
  21. The MBTA is currently receiving their XDE40's (along with XN40's and XDE60's), so it was probably a simple matter of diverting a bus that was already on its way from Minnesota to Boston.
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