Joel Up Front

Saw 1677 on the n4 earlier this week. I don't remember the Orion V's being THAT slow...

Why do I hear newer (e.g. NGs and newer) buses release air at extended stops? The engine also idles smoother after.

XD40 #1947 broken down by the 7-11 in Lynbrook, but there were only about 6 people on so I assume it was an N25 that broke down. It's funny because I saw two N25s one behind the other up the road...

Maybe it's me being used to getting on crowded buses, but I'd rather stand in the vestibule than sit next to some ass on any peak LIRR train.

It opened in stages from 2012-2014. They tore down a lot of the old AFB houses immediately behind Stewart for these. I remember the houses in the middle of construction before I was ready to leave NCC.

That entire area of Hempstead around the Transit Center is an absolute rat's nest, and those are the kindest words I can use. The MVMs inside are always broken, the bathrooms might as well be sewers themselves, there's no sense of security with the underpaid guards and non-existant HPD, and there aren't any good places to get a bite to eat around. NICE's (lack of) quality service means you spend more time in that hellhole than you need to.

I was looking at an MSBA map from '74 and I noticed a few things: The old N3 followed the N6 to Hempstead after making the right from Franklin Avenue to Hempstead Turnpike. There was an N36/37 that ran from Hempstead and served Long Beach Road in RVC, took DeMott Avenue to Baldwin and then took Grand Avenue to the N35's current terminus at Atlantic Avenue, then followed the former N36's routing all the way to Lynbrook. How long ago was it rerouted to Freeport?

Too bad the driver will quit in the middle of the route.

For himself? I don't doubt that.

I thought NYCDOT determined where buses from LI could stop.

Does Hamilton Mall only have that 1 stop by the old race track? I took an NJT bus for the first time earlier in the month because I didn't want to pay for the parking garage in AC twice. I took the 553 from AC to the mall and the ride was nice, but the store I wanted to go to was nowhere near the main mall itself. I had to walk to this other strip mall for the store I went to, and when I was done there, I couldn't find any other stop, but on my way there I saw a 319 drive through part of the parking lot.

Saw NG 1768 by the Regal in Lynbrook with a NICE truck behind it. I know the oldest NGs are almost a decade old, but come on...

Driving over the Outerbridge is still somewhat scary. The approaches are nice and wide (PANYNJ widened them in the early '60s) but the lanes on the main span are still only 10 feet wide each. That might have cut it when the bridge opened 90 years ago, but the fact that the Port Authority saw it as a problem as early as the 1960s doesn't mean anything good. They weren't able to do the same thing to the old Goethals for some reason which meant your lane was basically the width of your car until you got off the bridge - I drove the limit on the Goethals because it was that narrow. The Interstate lane standard is 12' wide, but 11.5' like the Verrazano and the GWB have are a lot better than 10'.

The Outerbridge is actually busier than the Goethals, the latter just seems busier because trucks use it far more compared to the Outerbridge. It does make me wonder - if the Outerbridge sees more traffic but it's the same age as the old Goethals was, why did the PA replace the Goethals first?

Now for the Outerbridge.