BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[QM1to6Ave]

18 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

Not necessarily.

Nova's departure(again) would allow other companies like Gillig and Eldorado to move in, and Eldorado has been making big gains in California and other parts of the US. If either wanted an east coast facility, this would be prime for the purchase.

 

20 hours ago, IAlam said:

This is really bad, there aren't many options for reputable bus builders in NA. This can basically turn NF into a monopoly.

I wonder why they were losing so much money on their US production. Seems like they get a good number of orders?

[RSMG106]

On 7/21/2022 at 5:04 PM, Lil 57 said:

I’ve might’ve said this before but since I started driving in wondering why the  governs their buses (especially local buses) so low? Although there aren’t many sections where the speed limit is over 40mph on local routes, they do use the highway to deadhead like between the Charleston depot and the Ferry and create a hazard on the road since everyone has to pass them. The  should govern the local buses to higher speeds or they should just be banned from using highways altogether unless it’s absolutely necessary, like going over the Verrazano Bridge.  

Here are the speed governs for the for each borough:

Brooklyn TA: 55 Local (Justified by highway deadheads)/60 Express (Justified by expressway usage)

Manhattan OA: 45 Local (Justified by lower speed conditions/speed limits) N/A Express (No express buses in the Manhattan OA fleet)

Queens TA: 60 Local(Justified by expressway deadheads)/60 Express (Justified by expressway usage)

Queens MTABC: 60 Local (Justified by expressway deadheads)/65 Express (justified by LIRR/MNR shuttle service requirements)

Bronx OA: 55 Local (Justified by highway deadheads)/N/A express (no express buses in the Bronx OA fleet)

Bronx MTABC: 60 Local (Justified by expressway usage)/65 Express (justified by LIRR/MNR shuttle service requirements)

Staten Island TA: 65 Local (Justified by S89 service into NJ)/70 Express (Justified by service via the NJ Turnpike/potential detours - consistent with governed speed on NJT's MCIs in the Northern Division)

[lornaevo]

1 hour ago, RSMG106 said:

Here are the speed governs for the for each borough:

Brooklyn TA: 55 Local (Justified by highway deadheads)/60 Express (Justified by expressway usage)

Manhattan OA: 45 Local (Justified by lower speed conditions/speed limits) N/A Express (No express buses in the Manhattan OA fleet)

Queens TA: 60 Local(Justified by expressway deadheads)/60 Express (Justified by expressway usage)

Queens MTABC: 60 Local (Justified by expressway deadheads)/65 Express (justified by LIRR/MNR shuttle service requirements)

Bronx OA: 55 Local (Justified by highway deadheads)/N/A express (no express buses in the Bronx OA fleet)

Bronx MTABC: 60 Local (Justified by expressway usage)/65 Express (justified by LIRR/MNR shuttle service requirements)

Staten Island TA: 65 Local (Justified by S89 service into NJ)/70 Express (Justified by service via the NJ Turnpike/potential detours - consistent with governed speed on NJT's MCIs in the Northern Division)

Queens TA and MTAB is 40 for local buses. Where did you get 60 from?

[RSMG106]

2 minutes ago, lornaevo said:

Queens TA and MTAB is 40 for local buses. Where did you get 60 from?

For some depots that are using the expressway for deadheads, they go 60. If there are in the local streets, it can be lower. Not all of the borough's governing speeds are the same.

[Cait Sith]

5 minutes ago, RSMG106 said:

For some depots that are using the expressway for deadheads, they go 60. If there are in the local streets, it can be lower. Not all of the borough's governing speeds are the same.

They don't go 60, they go 40. Local buses in general on both ends are governed at 40mph(although there's a small few in every depot that goes higher), even on expressways. Only the express buses top out at 60.

I don't know where you're getting this from.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Cait Sith

[EastFlatbushLarry]

38 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

They don't go 60, they go 40. Local buses in general on both ends are governed at 40mph(although there's a small few in every depot that goes higher), even on expressways. Only the express buses top out at 60.

I don't know where you're getting this from.

😂😂 i was literally sitting here reading an re-reading this post... damn near called people i know to figure out when did they start governing buses based on division 🤣. that's a new one, slick. nice try. only a few buses I've personally driven weren't governed at 40mph... a few Flatbush & Ulmer Park RTS's were good for that. ENY too, specifically some of the 9050's RTS's (that came from Jamaica)

anyway, I firmly believe that'd be WAY too much work to re-govern buses every time they swap between divisions... alot of OT that transit is unwilling to pay to those mechanic brothers (and sisters iinm). i will say this... those 42xx-series NG's from Yukon definitely have some giddy up.. and i see quite a few old timers from JFK/Far Rock love picking them early in the day. I'd love to find out if they were altered in any way.

[Cait Sith]

1 minute ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

😂😂 i was literally sitting here reading an re-reading this post... damn near called people i know to figure out when did they start governing buses based on division 🤣. that's a new one, slick. nice try. only a few buses I've personally driven weren't governed at 40mph... a few Flatbush & Ulmer Park RTS's were good for that. ENY too, specifically some of the 9050's RTS's (that came from Jamaica)

anyway, I firmly believe that'd be WAY too much work to re-govern buses every time they swap between divisions... alot of OT that transit is unwilling to pay to those mechanic brothers (and sisters iinm). i will say this... those 42xx-series NG's from Yukon definitely have some giddy up.. and i see quite a few old timers from JFK/Far Rock love picking them early in the day. I'd love to find out if they were altered in any way.

The only buses I know that legitimately go over 40 are a batch of Yukon LFSs that were at one point, specifically assigned to the S89. They had to raise them to I think 55 because they were being pulled over by NJ State Police for literally being slow and in their words "unsafe".

[Santana04]

60 mph on the locals  only when they work on the bus and forgot to put the gobernador back at 40 . Last year we have one of the artics do 60 for long time it was nice to go on to rockaway beach on that one 

[Lil 57]

7 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

The only buses I know that legitimately go over 40 are a batch of Yukon LFSs that were at one point, specifically assigned to the S89. They had to raise them to I think 55 because they were being pulled over by NJ State Police for literally being slow and in their words "unsafe".

The newer lfs buses on SI are capped at 45. Have been on a few lfs that were ungoverned in the past though.

Still remember taking one of the 2008 mci buses that was capped at 68-70 a few times.

[MHV9218]

Speaking of speeds, those cameras on 6th Ave are really getting people. Saw an SI Prevost get caught by the camera earlier today, that op is going to have some 'splainin to do.

[josephnyy42]

I was able to get up to 65 mph on Gun Hill's LFSA #1272 on I-95 a few months ago. They have since "fixed" it tho and it no longer goes over 40. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. But yeah, all local buses can only do 40, except when pushing the gas going downhill.. it can barely reach 45. 

I noticed on newer fleets, it can go slightly over 40 (maybe 42-43) while the older fleet will struggle to reach 39-40.

[Lawrence St]

On 6/24/2023 at 2:35 AM, MHV9218 said:

Speaking of speeds, those cameras on 6th Ave are really getting people. Saw an SI Prevost get caught by the camera earlier today, that op is going to have some 'splainin to do.

I hate those dam speed cameras. I got a ticket in the mail for speeding because it read the car that was next to me was going 36, I’m going 30. 
 

And it’s literally impossible to fight speed cameras to.

[RSMG106]

Have you noticed that College Point had added Quality Control stickers on their express fleet? Only a few have them including: 3249, 3255 (Before giving it to FR), 3312, 3330, 3387, and 3405. There are more, but I don't remember which units have it.

Edited June 25, 2023 by RSMG106

[QM1to6Ave]

I was just playing around with Bus Time and I happen to see that right now, close to 1 am, there are 2 SIM1Cs running within 5 mins of each other to SI, one with 49 passengers, and one with 29 passengers, and they still both have a bunch of stops in the village left. Is that kind of crowd typical at 1 am on a Monday night/Tuesday morning?

[MysteriousBtrain]

5991 equipped with bike racks

[SoSpectacular]

On 6/25/2023 at 2:24 PM, Lawrence St said:

I hate those dam speed cameras. I got a ticket in the mail for speeding because it read the car that was next to me was going 36, I’m going 30. 
 

And it’s literally impossible to fight speed cameras to.

If you have a dash cam that also posts your current speed you can use that as proof...

[Lil 57]

On 6/27/2023 at 12:50 AM, QM1to6Ave said:

I was just playing around with Bus Time and I happen to see that right now, close to 1 am, there are 2 SIM1Cs running within 5 mins of each other to SI, one with 49 passengers, and one with 29 passengers, and they still both have a bunch of stops in the village left. Is that kind of crowd typical at 1 am on a Monday night/Tuesday morning?

The SIM1c is like the subway to Staten Island, it runs every 8-12 minutes in the late evening until 12:45 and every 15 minutes until 1:30. So buses tend to fill up. 

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, SoSpectacular said:

If you have a dash cam that also posts your current speed you can use that as proof...

I have a dash cam but it doesn’t show the speed, you can clearly see the other car speeding though.

[SevenEleven]

On 6/27/2023 at 12:50 AM, QM1to6Ave said:

I was just playing around with Bus Time and I happen to see that right now, close to 1 am, there are 2 SIM1Cs running within 5 mins of each other to SI, one with 49 passengers, and one with 29 passengers, and they still both have a bunch of stops in the village left. Is that kind of crowd typical at 1 am on a Monday night/Tuesday morning?

Yes, those trips between 1230 and 1am, all the office cleaners get out. You will religiously have a full bus back to SI. 

[QM1to6Ave]

18 hours ago, SevenEleven said:

Yes, those trips between 1230 and 1am, all the office cleaners get out. You will religiously have a full bus back to SI. 

Oh wow! Thanks! I'd love theMTA to release stats at this level of detail to see those kind of interesting demographic trends

Edited June 30, 2023 by QM1to6Ave

[SevenEleven]

31 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Oh wow! Thanks! I'd love theMTA to release stats at this level of detail to see those kind of interesting demographic trends

I had picked up one of those trips for OT thinking it was going to be sweet — Nahhh

[Lil 57]

Just got off bus 1621 on the Sim4c and noticed that the side had  bus company logos instead of the NYCT logo. Guess another misprint.

[mine248]

The 1 train St Nicholas shuttle has a crazy diverse set of buses this time around. Saw a Flatbush, GA, and MCH buses on it

[Lil 57]

On 2775 rn and notice that the seats are entirely different from the other x3-45 express bus seats. They are smaller and have a lot more legroom imo. Was there a trial for different seats?

[R188 7857]

Have not really been liking these new Nova diesels at Stengel. They seem to take bumps much harder, and I've noticed that the new plug doors don't like opening when you tap the tape. I've been on too many where people are screaming back door because they can't get it to open. Compared to the XD40s, some people are also not making enough space to fit two people in the width of the aisle, so these buses feel crowded much quicker. To make it even worse, I recently had one without working A/C and with a very warm rear section. Starting to miss those Orion NGs, they had the coldest A/C of any buses I've been on. I'm wondering if the Nova hybrids are any better, I've yet to be able to take a ride on one but I've heard good things about them.