Artics Being Tested On Staten Island

[East New York]

I'm for the S79 SBS too... SI is long overdue for quicker bus options, including local ones, but I also don't underestimate the political clout of the South Shore. They may very well lose, but they will fight tooth and nail for sure.

 

Regarding Charleston, this should be interesting since Yukon currently does the S79 runs...

 

This should be very interesting, just like how the B44 SBS is to run out of Grand instead of Flatbush. I also am being told the local will remain there. I dont known how it will really end up in either borough though.

[Q43 Floral Park]

From what it sounds like, Kingsbridge artics. Gun Hill is very close knit with the artics they have, I have only seen ONE out of the borough testing in Queens, that was 5336 driving around the Q18 and several other LGA routes while riding with KR. I highly doubt they'd send artics that are sitting in EAS to run out there. KB has an overage with artics so to some extent, it would make sense. All the Manhattan depots are also close knitted with the artics they got, Quill is short, 126 gained a few to add them on the M116 and M31, and 100th Street has a small shortage.

 

Nothing is really up with them 52-5400s, KB's maintenance on the outside has been getting better, on the inside, however.....you'd think there was a war on them buses....what they could've done is send out some of KB's better 56-5700s, they have great takeoff and acceleration

 

KB is always short on buses (you can catch 40 footers on the artic routes on a regular basis) but they seem to know how to juggle their buses well. IIRC back in 2008 or 2009 when the Bronx had a huge bus shortage KB was covering GH and WF routes somehow for about 2-3 days and still keeping their own routes close to schedule. Gun Hill sent the 3 53xx's to BP for testing. I agree that KB is probably the only depot w/ artics that doesn't seem to mind loaning them out but SI screwed KB real bad before, I'm suprised they didn't just send the 1000s and tell them to keep them.

[nycbusfan]

It would be tough to run artics on the S53. Broadway and many parts of Clove Rd. are very narrow. Turning over around Sand Lane/Mc Lean Ave can also be tough. You might be able to pull it off however on the S93, since the MCIs that run on Victory (i.e. X11, X12) seem to do okay.

Actually artics would be able to handle the turns because of the fact that whatever you do with the front the rear will follow and the front is about 35 feet long.

[checkmatechamp13]

From what it sounds like, Kingsbridge artics. Gun Hill is very close knit with the artics they have, I have only seen ONE out of the borough testing in Queens, that was 5336 driving around the Q18 and several other LGA routes while riding with KR. I highly doubt they'd send artics that are sitting in EAS to run out there. KB has an overage with artics so to some extent, it would make sense. All the Manhattan depots are also close knitted with the artics they got, Quill is short, 126 gained a few to add them on the M116 and M31, and 100th Street has a small shortage.

 

Nothing is really up with them 52-5400s, KB's maintenance on the outside has been getting better, on the inside, however.....you'd think there was a war on them buses....what they could've done is send out some of KB's better 56-5700s, they have great takeoff and acceleration

 

The M31 has artics? When I took it during rush hour, it didn't seem like it really needed them.

 

The S93 also serves Brooklyn

 

I didn't count it because it runs rush hours only (and it is technically the S53 LTD)

 

I'm for the S79 SBS too... SI is long overdue for quicker bus options, including local ones, but I also don't underestimate the political clout of the South Shore. They may very well lose, but they will fight tooth and nail for sure.

 

Regarding Charleston, this should be interesting since Yukon currently does the S79 runs...

 

The areas that are complaining aren't really the South Shore, they are more Mid-Island areas. In any case, like everybody said, businesses and residents along Nostrand Avenue opposed +SBS+ on the B44 and they are still going to implement it (I think that had more opposition than the M15 and Bx12).

[Santa Fe via Willow]

SI could use artix on the 48, 62*, aforementioned 79, school runs & more.

 

Aforementioned 53 too, but as someone mentioned, the 53 goes through some tight streets.

 

Artix would be great for BRT too.

 

SI artix would be Charleston based. Unless in the case of the 53 & 79 they came out of a Bkln depot(?).

 

 

 

*Artix may not be as necessary for the 62 due to CSI's Campus/Ferry shuttle bus. ?

[aemoreira81]

Actually artics would be able to handle the turns because of the fact that whatever you do with the front the rear will follow and the front is about 35 feet long.

 

Which one? The New Flyers have the front wheelbase of a 35' bus, but the Nova LFSAs have the turning radius of a 40' bus.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The M31 has artics? When I took it during rush hour, it didn't seem like it really needed them.

 

 

 

I didn't count it because it runs rush hours only (and it is technically the S53 LTD)

 

 

 

The areas that are complaining aren't really the South Shore, they are more Mid-Island areas. In any case, like everybody said, businesses and residents along Nostrand Avenue opposed +SBS+ on the B44 and they are still going to implement it (I think that had more opposition than the M15 and Bx12).

 

Well yes, Mid Island if we want to be technical, but as a Staten Islander, you get my point. Areas like New Dorp who are up in arms certainly aren't on the North Shore. But in a way that whole implementing a route against a neighborhoods' wishes sounds a bit ridiculous when you think of it. The whole point of bus service is to provide service to a neighborhood and if that service is doing more harm than good, then it sort of defeats the whole idea of it bringing benefits to the neighborhood. So if residents are getting around quicker, but mom and pop stores with roots in the neighborhood are going under as a result, then that's something that that neighborhood needs to examine and determine if it's really worth it overall.

 

P.S. And yes, sometimes artics are run on the M31 and the M57 line, but not often.

[Cait Sith]

The M31 has artics? When I took it during rush hour, it didn't seem like it really needed them.

 

 

A good few of them. I guess its because of the loss of RTSs that 126 had to endure.

[checkmatechamp13]

Well yes, Mid Island if we want to be technical, but as a Staten Islander, you get my point. Areas like New Dorp who are up in arms certainly aren't on the North Shore. But in a way that whole implementing a route against a neighborhoods' wishes sounds a bit ridiculous when you think of it. The whole point of bus service is to provide service to a neighborhood and if that service is doing more harm than good, then it sort of defeats the whole idea of it bringing benefits to the neighborhood. So if residents are getting around quicker, but mom and pop stores with roots in the neighborhood are going under as a result, then that's something that that neighborhood needs to examine and determine if it's really worth it overall.

 

P.S. And yes, sometimes artics are run on the M31 and the M57 line, but not often.

 

The new plan has the buses running in the median of Hylan Blvd, so that might satisfy the residents.

 

The question is: Is a continuous bus lane really needed along Hylan Blvd? There might be some parts where there is congestion, and you can just put some bus lanes over there, but I don't see a need to change a whole corridor just because +SBS+ is coming.

 

BTW, when I took the M31 a couple of years ago, all of the buses I saw were "fishbowls" (I think that is the correct term). They were those buses that ran on the B1 and B49 back 6 years ago when I lived in Brooklyn.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The new plan has the buses running in the median of Hylan Blvd, so that might satisfy the residents.

 

The question is: Is a continuous bus lane really needed along Hylan Blvd? There might be some parts where there is congestion, and you can just put some bus lanes over there, but I don't see a need to change a whole corridor just because +SBS+ is coming.

 

BTW, when I took the M31 a couple of years ago, all of the buses I saw were "fishbowls" (I think that is the correct term). They were those buses that ran on the B1 and B49 back 6 years ago when I lived in Brooklyn.

 

Traffic can be bad in some parts of Hylan, but I don't think a continuous one is needed.

 

Regarding the M31 and MJQ Depot, up until recently they were getting a lot of the hand-me-downs from other depots (RTSs in particular). Come to think of it they still are in a way. I mean the 3800s that they have were originally at Castleton, albeit not that old. In fact I rode some of them when they were moved over to Manhattan (i.e. MVH and MJQ Depots) from Staten Island. MJQ took the earlier 3800s and they were outfitted for the 34th st bus arrival program.

 

I have to say that I like seeing hybrids out of MJQ. I mean it's nice that they're finally getting newer buses. RTSs are nice and all but to have a whole fleet of them when most of them will need to be retired soon isn't a great thing from a maintenance point of view.

 

I also can't wait to see the older buses go since most of them aren't having their signage replaced. It's a real pain to see the signage on the older buses. My only gripe w/those 2nd generation hybrids is that they jerk too much for my liking and the stops can be a bit rough too. The aisles seems esp. narrow on those too compared to say the RTS buses.

[nycbusfan]

Which one? The New Flyers have the front wheelbase of a 35' bus, but the Nova LFSAs have the turning radius of a 40' bus.

I'm talking about the New Flyers being that that is what SI has.

[Orion VII 4474]

I figured that, this is exactly like when they sent out 3-4 Orion VII OG Hybrids to the island at one point. The difference between how streets beat up buses in Queens & Staten Island is extraordinary and that plays one hell of a role in these tests. The only differences is that Baisley had 5 good 5300 series buses out of Gun Hill, I guess we'll find out soon what buses were sent to the island.

 

Staten island had Orion VII OG's! When was this?

[Cait Sith]

 

Staten island had Orion VII OG's! When was this?

 

Yep, it was the test for the pending NG order. I believe the OGs that were tested were 6421, 6424 & 6492.

 

Videos linked here are taken by TheTransitMan123

 

 

 

 

 

[aemoreira81]

Actually, that was when there was a big fleet shakeup when Joe Smith took over the NYCT Department of Buses, and after seeing the fleet of Staten Island, loaners were sent from just about every garage except for Jackie Gleason and 100 Street while the other garages fixed up the Staten Island fleet.

[LRG]

The 7.501 Old Gens were a disaster in Staten Island....

[Cait Sith]

It doesn't matter, the B44 and the M15 were heavily criticized. I'm neutral on +SBS for the S79 as I think a bi-directional limited would do the job, but oh well...+SBS will get implemented in S.I. whether people like it or not!

 

The M15 is still heavily criticized while the Bx12 is finally calm even though that SBS line can be one hell of a mess. The M15 has its ups and downs. Gotta love the way those drivers handle the LFSAs, even in slushy conditions, they know how to handle them buses.

 

KB is always short on buses (you can catch 40 footers on the artic routes on a regular basis) but they seem to know how to juggle their buses well. IIRC back in 2008 or 2009 when the Bronx had a huge bus shortage KB was covering GH and WF routes somehow for about 2-3 days and still keeping their own routes close to schedule. Gun Hill sent the 3 53xx's to BP for testing. I agree that KB is probably the only depot w/ artics that doesn't seem to mind loaning them out but SI screwed KB real bad before, I'm suprised they didn't just send the 1000s and tell them to keep them.

 

Man, if they were to dump the 1000s to the island, those buses wouldnt last 2 days on the island given the condition they are in.

 

The only reason that I figured that it was Kingsbridge is because its the only depot with the most D60HFs out of every other depot that handles those buses racking up to 147 artics with some always in the depot, Gun Hill with 141, 100th Street with 111 with MJQ loaners every now and then, MJQ with 62, West Farms with 56 and 126 with 37 in total. And with KB with an X amount of articulated routes that interline with each other, it makes artic usage a little less than it should be, but I dont know that for sure.

 

The 7.501 Old Gens were a disaster in Staten Island....

 

And look what they brought upon on the island! LOL! I remember when I saw 6421 in service when it came back, it was torn up!

[East New York]

The 7.501 Old Gens were a disaster in Staten Island....

 

And look what they brought upon on the island! LOL! I remember when I saw 6421 in service when it came back, it was torn up!

 

I remember when they were doing the testing 6421 kept bottoming out at a corner of Victory Blvd. & some odd street IIRC.

 

One thing is for sure, we won't EVER see any OG's on the island again!

[FamousNYLover]

I remember on first day of M15 SBS Launch, due to police activity, I remember M15 SBS got rerouted to 3rd Av and bus I was on and 127th St had too much traffic, so he used 128th St. He had hard time to 1st Av Lane at 126th St Depot, but he made it.

[Fresh Pond]

Wirelessly posted via (BlackBerry8520/5.0.0.900 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

 

Staten island had Orion VII OG's! When was this?

 

Yes they did to see if the NG order won't have problems on SI's hilly streets. The problem with the OGs was that they kept bottoming out when making turns going up hills. As soon as 6492 went back to FP, they had to fix the bottom of it since those streets tore the bottom up (literally). IIRC, the NGs have some leveling mechanism that makes bottoming out less likely (but it still happens)