Joel Up Front

What was going on last night on the Culver Line? I was on the Belt and noticed traffic slowing drastically by CIY underneath the tracks. workers were sawing through the metal but I doubt it was anything heavy considering there were probably only a dozen employees and two trucks there. I'm on the Belt a lot more than I admit (have been doing so since I was a kid) and I never remember that structure being anything but rusty and looking like it was going to give.

NG #1718 on the n4x was sitting in the middle lane at Merrick Road and Lincoln Avenue in RVC. I noticed it try to start twice but it never moved.

I thought I was going to hear about that person getting hit on the Babylon Branch, but this was something else because I used to ride the train through there daily. I'm baffled that the people there don't want to elevate the tracks.

Considering their inspections consist of "does the bus start and move," I think so. Someone's making massive bank from this entire thing, else it would have failed by now.

I saw XN40 1923 on the back of a tow truck in Oceanside earlier.

The NGs sound like their transmissions are grinding apart and I've seen a lot of broken down 3G's. I don't live far enough north to see the XN60s but the XN40s seem to be doing the best out of the fleet. They'd be doing a lot better if I didn't keep seeing them involved in minor accidents.

NICE had decent momentum going into 2013, but somewhere after that people started jumping ship in massive numbers.

If buses rarely reach 20 MPH already, what's going a fraction of a mile an hour faster going to do?

An old NG on the N32 by Hempstead Avenue was surrounded by no less than three Lynbrook PD SUVs with a fire department vehicle nearby last night. Was this an accident?

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.