BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Q43LTD]

8 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I was watching the Living Single intro on Hulu and they have a Green Lines RTS on layover in Manthattan, most likely a Q60 on layover. Was nice to see an PBL be in the intro of a TV Show.

 

I remember parts of NY Undercover as a kid, glad to see that show is on the air again. Hopefully episodes find their way to free streaming sites lol

I hope it gets rebooted 

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

SIM23/SIM24 ridership is growing quickly. 

The first week buses were averaging 7-9 per trip. Two weeks later buses were averaging 15-18 per trip. A month later buses are average 24-27 per trip. 

 

1607 was the 8am SIM24 today, currently has 28 people. 

[Joyjliradio]

Beginning March 27, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will implement bus route service changes to and from JFK Airport to accommodate construction at Terminal 6. https://qns.com/2022/02/mta-bus-route-changes-march-amid-jfk-redevelopment/?fbclid=IwAR18BZnH0Ll8jIbWzC9MPY-iOG_UNUAeRmsEUIPXBAYtz_INs2UI_4AM4So

 

[paulrivera]

Not on  website: Northbound M1, M2, M3, M4, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM11, BxM18 are detoured off Madison Avenue between 96th Street and 106th Street due to NYPD activity on Madison and 98th.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

23 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

Not on  website: Northbound M1, M2, M3, M4, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM11, BxM18 are detoured off Madison Avenue between 96th Street and 106th Street due to NYPD activity on Madison and 98th.

Yes, this is causing major issues. NYPD is looking for a shooting suspect. Traffic is a mess right now.

[checkmatechamp13]

On 2/14/2022 at 8:30 AM, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

SIM23/SIM24 ridership is growing quickly. 

The first week buses were averaging 7-9 per trip. Two weeks later buses were averaging 15-18 per trip. A month later buses are average 24-27 per trip. 

1607 was the 8am SIM24 today, currently has 28 people. 

To be fair, that was right in the middle of the Omicron wave, so some of that ridership would've returned anyway. (But in any case, it's good that ridership is growing, and hopefully, they can at least add full half-hourly service soon).

On a side note, #2700 on the SIM24 is terminating at Hylan & Luten with 13 people. Not sure what the occasion is that would have that many people getting off at the last stop (the vast majority of riders get off north of the Huguenot SIR station). That Hylan & Luten stop is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

[NBTA]

When is the Bronx bus redesign getting implemented again?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 hours ago, NBTA said:

When is the Bronx bus redesign getting implemented again?

Supposedly Summer 2022 for the local buses.

[Lawrence St]

On 2/12/2022 at 6:40 PM, Bx41 boi said:

i heard a rumor that 117 was sold to HudsonsBuses is that True?

That's a lie considering 117 is still sitting in Eastchester...

[Bx41 boi]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

That's a lie considering 117 is still sitting in Eastchester...

oh ok thank you

[Cait Sith]

Forgot to mention this, but I spotted 3462 last night on the QM4, sporting new LED headlights. They look good on those MCIs and the visibility seems to be a lot better. They should've had those lights on the express buses from the jump.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Cait Sith

[paulrivera]

23 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Forgot to mention this, but I spotted 3462 last night on the QM4, sporting new LED headlights. They look good on those MCIs and the visibility seems to be a lot better. They should've had those lights on the express buses from the jump.

They also should have ordered enough Prevosts to provide a 1:1 replacement for those MCIs, but I digress.

Actually, I like the MCIs better, so I'm quite happy they'll more than likely have to keep some of them to maintain current service. Karma for trying to sneak in all those cuts in the express bus redesigns.

[Cait Sith]

Just now, paulrivera said:

They also should have ordered enough Prevosts to provide a 1:1 replacement for those MCIs, but I digress.

Actually, I like the MCIs better, so I'm quite happy they'll more than likely have to keep some of them to maintain current service. Karma for trying to sneak in all those cuts in the express bus redesigns.

Would've made sense logically, but nah...it's a good thing they didn't.

The fact that Prevost lowballed the living hell out of MCI for this contract, the long-term quality of those buses are in question. The 2500s-2700s in Staten Island are proving just that, as the overall quality of those buses is going down much faster than expected. The 2400s are much better quality-wise.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Cait Sith said:

Would've made sense logically, but nah...it's a good thing they didn't.

The fact that Prevost lowballed the living hell out of MCI for this contract, the long-term quality of those buses are in question. The 2500s-2700s in Staten Island are proving just that, as the overall quality of those buses is going down much faster than expected. The 2400s are much better quality-wise.

And these new Prevosts, all sorts of problems. Constantly being pulled from service.

[IAlam]

3 hours ago, paulrivera said:

They also should have ordered enough Prevosts to provide a 1:1 replacement for those MCIs, but I digress.

Actually, I like the MCIs better, so I'm quite happy they'll more than likely have to keep some of them to maintain current service. Karma for trying to sneak in all those cuts in the express bus redesigns.

Makes me wonder, especially with the timing of the order with the original bus redesign plans, if they we're expecting to downsize the fleet.

[Lil 57]

12 minutes ago, IAlam said:

Makes me wonder, especially with the timing of the order with the original bus redesign plans, if they we're expecting to downsize the fleet.

IIRC the ultimate plan was to cut express bus service by as much as 50% (or more) in some places but that idea backfired.

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

I had a chance to utilize the Bx12 today and the crowding I witnessed was insane. I was at Fordham Plaza around 5:20 pm today and there had to be at least 100 people waiting for Westbound Bx12 service. Eventually, a packed local bus and two sardine can SBS buses show up to get these people on something. On the Eastbound side (which is where I was going) things weren't so great either. A local is boarding passengers as soon as I arrive. It appeared to have open seats but those were gone immediately upon departure. About 1 minute later a select bus was due. Based on the info BusTime was relaying it was #5531 with 60 passengers on board. I'm thinking things are going to go smoothly for me. The bus does arrive but with significantly more than the 60 people BusTime said were on it. I end up letting the bus pass since I didn't want to fight with people to get space on board. So now that I have to wait for the next select bus to come in I observe some more and a few minutes later (definitely 5 or less) another local is approaching. This one happens to be SRO already and a decent crowd of people had formed to board it. So it ends up leaving with about 70-75 people which is a pretty heavy load for Bx12 local standards. 2 minutes after this the select bus I end up taking arrives and just like the other ones it's packed to the rafters. Along my trip I spot more sardine can select buses heading west and I'm wondering what on earth am I witnessing. 

When I experience commutes like this and also look at the occupancy counts that gets relayed on BusTime it validates a point I've tried to state for a while that the Bx12 (particularly the select) isn't just one of many high ridership routes that will experience overcrowding. It is an extreme outlier in terms of the duration and intensity of the crowding that no other route this side of the Mississippi can match. I've done enough fooling around with BusTime to determine that the Bx12 SBS dwarfs the rest of the city  in terms of trips seeing 95+ passenger crush loads and what you'll see is that these crushloads can develop at any point along the route. I've observed a triple digit occupancy count between every single set of stops on the route at least once within the past few months. Also, these trips that get sardine packed don't just empty out after a couple of stops. Most of them are holding that crushload for most of the route length. It got me thinking that the only remedy to this would be to railstitute the corridor which is something I was against for a long time.

[paulrivera]

2 hours ago, JubaionBx12+SBS said:

in terms of trips seeing 95+ passenger crush loads and what you'll see is that these crushloads can develop at any point along the route.

You're absolutely correct. Bx12 riders take all sorts of commuting combinations, which means any and every stop will have a sardine of a bus. There can be a group of riders going from  (I kid you not)

Inwood to University Heights, Inwood to Fordham, University Heights to Fordham, Inwood to the Bronx Zoo, Fordham to the Bronx Zoo, Inwood to White Plains Road, University Heights to WPR, Fordham Plaza to WPR, Bronx Zoo to WPR, Inwood to Jacobi, University Heights to Jacobi, Fordham to Jacobi, Zoo to Jacobi, WPR to Jacobi, Inwood to Pelham Bay, University Heights to Pelham Bay, Fordham to Pelham Bay, Zoo to Pelham Bay, WPR to Pelham Bay, Jacobi to Pelham Bay, and Inwood to Bay Plaza, University Heights to Bay Plaza, Fordham to Bay Plaza, Zoo to Bay Plaza, WPR to Bay Plaza, Jacobi to Bay Plaza, and Pelham Bay to Bay Plaza.

Compare this to the next busiest SBS route, the M15: Harlem to Upper East Side, Upper East Side to Upper East Side, Harlem to Midtown, Upper East Side to Midtown, Upper East Side to Lower East Side, Midtown to Lower East Side, and Midtown to Downtown and Lower East Side to Downtown.

It is significantly less likely to find someone going end-to-end on an M15. Why is that again?

[NBTA]

38 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

You're absolutely correct. Bx12 riders take all sorts of commuting combinations, which means any and every stop will have a sardine of a bus. There can be a group of riders going from  (I kid you not)

Inwood to University Heights, Inwood to Fordham, University Heights to Fordham, Inwood to the Bronx Zoo, Fordham to the Bronx Zoo, Inwood to White Plains Road, University Heights to WPR, Fordham Plaza to WPR, Bronx Zoo to WPR, Inwood to Jacobi, University Heights to Jacobi, Fordham to Jacobi, Zoo to Jacobi, WPR to Jacobi, Inwood to Pelham Bay, University Heights to Pelham Bay, Fordham to Pelham Bay, Zoo to Pelham Bay, WPR to Pelham Bay, Jacobi to Pelham Bay, and Inwood to Bay Plaza, University Heights to Bay Plaza, Fordham to Bay Plaza, Zoo to Bay Plaza, WPR to Bay Plaza, Jacobi to Bay Plaza, and Pelham Bay to Bay Plaza.

Compare this to the next busiest SBS route, the M15: Harlem to Upper East Side, Upper East Side to Upper East Side, Harlem to Midtown, Upper East Side to Midtown, Upper East Side to Lower East Side, Midtown to Lower East Side, and Midtown to Downtown and Lower East Side to Downtown.

It is significantly less likely to find someone going end-to-end on an M15. Why is that again?

2nd Avenue and Lexington is right there.

Meanwhile, Fordham has…well, the Bronx barely has a crosstown rail line. You’ll see 4-7 SBSs in the same direction with 100 people per bus. Valentine Avenue is no joke.

One time I had to take the 12 from Valentine to The Bronx Zoo, to meet a friend, and instead of taking the 22 initially, I decided to take the 12 Select. I let 4 selects pass me, due to crowding, and after about 15 minutes, I finally decide to take the 22 instead of the select. Definitely was at least 90+ people on each bus, and that line is unhealthily overcrowded. The ridership stats don’t do the line it’s justice. 

[paulrivera]

46 minutes ago, NBTA said:

The ridership stats don’t do the line it’s justice. 

Yea, the farebeating on the line skews the ridership data the looks at pretty low. But even then, it typically takes shares one of the top two ridership numbers with the M15.

My next question for the sake of debate would be: If everybody paid their fare on the Bx12 and the ridership data suggests to run the full route of the 12 on a 2-minute headway during both rush hours, would the  actually do it?

[B35 via Church]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:51 PM, trainfan22 said:

Someone left a Citibike in the middle of the bus terminal

Gotta wonder if someone rode that stolen bike to go "steal" service on one of the buses, or the ...

On 2/11/2022 at 11:18 AM, Jdog14 said:

You're assuming the person who took it paid for it lol

On 2/12/2022 at 7:21 AM, Q44 SBS said:

Is there a reason why DOT place the bus time sign where the countdown clock is facing towards traffic when standing at the bus stop? The angle placement is so weird.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/188467864@N02/51877487340/in/dateposted-family/

The question I have is, when did they put that sign there? I was over there a couple weeks or so ago....

Anyway, I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to the angling/positioning of these signs... The installation of that sign in question could be chalked up to simple laziness/stupidity...

On 2/13/2022 at 9:40 PM, Q43LTD said:

Watching New York Undercover on BET. Memories of seeing RTS on the M7 and 104. Especially the Union Square signage

Yeah, RTS' are definitely missed...

3 hours ago, paulrivera said:

...My next question for the sake of debate would be: If everybody paid their fare on the Bx12 and the ridership data suggests to run the full route of the 12 on a 2-minute headway during both rush hours, would the  actually do it?

Short answer: Of course not.

Long(er) answer: Let's say they would... In going about doing so, they'd take away rush hour service from elsewhere in the system.... Point being, they wouldn't purchase new buses for the specific purpose of addressing the severe overcrowding on that route....

Edited February 19, 2022 by B35 via Church

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 hours ago, paulrivera said:

You're absolutely correct. Bx12 riders take all sorts of commuting combinations, which means any and every stop will have a sardine of a bus. There can be a group of riders going from  (I kid you not)

Inwood to University Heights, Inwood to Fordham, University Heights to Fordham, Inwood to the Bronx Zoo, Fordham to the Bronx Zoo, Inwood to White Plains Road, University Heights to WPR, Fordham Plaza to WPR, Bronx Zoo to WPR, Inwood to Jacobi, University Heights to Jacobi, Fordham to Jacobi, Zoo to Jacobi, WPR to Jacobi, Inwood to Pelham Bay, University Heights to Pelham Bay, Fordham to Pelham Bay, Zoo to Pelham Bay, WPR to Pelham Bay, Jacobi to Pelham Bay, and Inwood to Bay Plaza, University Heights to Bay Plaza, Fordham to Bay Plaza, Zoo to Bay Plaza, WPR to Bay Plaza, Jacobi to Bay Plaza, and Pelham Bay to Bay Plaza.

Compare this to the next busiest SBS route, the M15: Harlem to Upper East Side, Upper East Side to Upper East Side, Harlem to Midtown, Upper East Side to Midtown, Upper East Side to Lower East Side, Midtown to Lower East Side, and Midtown to Downtown and Lower East Side to Downtown.

It is significantly less likely to find someone going end-to-end on an M15. Why is that again?

I think I have used the Bx12 three or four times over the years, mainly over by Fordham University and it was only for a few stops to avoid walking up those hills. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out why the line is so crushed. That's a major East-West corridor with no real subway alternative, or you have the subway dumping people onto the line, along with Metro-North and a number of express bus lines. It's also very hilly in parts and one of the few East-West corridors that has a somewhat "straight" corridor, which is saying something for the Bronx, as most East-West corridors meander a lot. It's also a major commercial corridor almost from end-to-end. Add the demographics to the mix (I'm pretty sure car ownership is on the lower end, even with the parking issues - mostly very dense areas) and I don't see them ever addressing the problem. There needs to be a rail option because even with the ridership being what it is, it's still a congested corridor, as many people opt to drive to go East-West and vice versa. There was a Bronx forum recently that involved several Bronx community boards. I forgot about the Zoom event, but one of the topics was supposed to be East-West connections in the Bronx, which are a real PITA. from my personal experiences.

It's a struggle from anywhere. When I have had meetings for work in the Bronx pre-COVID, I really have to think about the commute or plan to get a ride home to Riverdale afterwards. Usually coming from my office in Manhattan is fine, as I can take an express bus or Metro-North or something, but coming home is not, so if I know someone that is working for me at the event, they'll offer to drive me home or something. If I was doing such trips regularly, I would definitely drive, as the alternative is either several local buses, which would take forever, express bus into Manhattan and an express bus home, which ironically was quick when timed right, or perhaps a subway ride to Metro-North, which would also have to be timed right to work out.

[Cait Sith]

On 2/16/2022 at 8:45 PM, IAlam said:

Makes me wonder, especially with the timing of the order with the original bus redesign plans, if they we're expecting to downsize the fleet.

Nah...this order was never meant for a total replacement of the MCI fleet. Every express bus order we've had, we've always had MCIs left over.

There's other express bus orders pending for NYCT and MTA Bus for the current capital plan, so those orders will eventually replace the leftover MCIs.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

This happened a few days ago. Take a look at the difference in the northbound and southbound detours.

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[SoSpectacular]

2 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

This happened a few days ago. Take a look at the difference in the northbound and southbound detours.

 

When these detours are made they usually have someone from road control survey the area to determine the best possible course without getting the buses stuck. Looks like that was the best they could reasonably come up with although strange...