BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[VIA 7 AV]

The RTS’s are producing really bad air pollution. I haven’t ridden one in a while but I was able to smell and taste the air from 5204 while I was in the front boarding today. I def. recommend staying away from RTS’s unless you’re commute on one.

[trife86]

On 8/4/2018 at 12:54 PM, EastFlatbushLarry said:

it's very possible that the run has been in fact designated a extra list run, meaning that the run is unavailable to pick as a straight run for one operator with another covering the RDO's. chances are when runs are designated as extra list only runs, that run could possibly be a boost run or the actual bus time (time a bus operators ass is actually in the seat operating) is under 8 hours. if i am incorrect, I'd appreciate any corrections from fellow employees 

No such thing as XL only runs, anyone can pick any run including boost runs makes no difference.

 

Link doesn't work so I can't see what the reference is to but it could of been showing the regular run and than shows curtailment which would push that operator onto XL that day....

[JeremiahC99]

5 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

I think that’s why they’re ordering about 53 artics. The extra 10 I guess will go for extra runs. But being how the mta is terminating the bus loan program I don’t see how an extra set of 10 buses would help for the summer months. 

All 53 articulated buses are for them. 43 to JFK and LaGuardia and 10 to god knows where. And you may be right about 10 buses not being an extra help. They’re not doing well with 8 loaned buses from Casey Stengel, I wonder how they’re going to do with 10?

 

In all honesty, Q53 SBS service should run every 4 MINUTES from Woodside to relieve the crowding. Why didn’t they get enough buses for that?.

[QM1to6Ave]

Heard on 1010 wins today that one MTA B/O was busted as part of a drug selling ring and another one was busted fro driving the bus while intoxicated. Sounds like 2 new runs have opened up LOL

[trainfan22]

2 hours ago, VIA 7 AV said:

The RTS’s are producing really bad air pollution. I haven’t ridden one in a while but I was able to smell and taste the air from 5204 while I was in the front boarding today. I def. recommend staying away from RTS’s unless you’re commute on one.

Since they are retiring soon and they are my favorite bus, I go out of my way to ride RTS and try to ride as many as I can.

 

Today I was downtown BK and planned on doing something else, then I saw 5206 on the B38, change of plans!😃

 

I only avoid RTS on the B25.. way to many walkers/wheelchairs on that route. I was on an RTS on the 25 that had not ONE, not two, but THREE walkers AND a wheelchair on at the same time. One of the walker was sitting on the seat behind the rear door so people sitting in the back of the bus had little to no space to get off.

 

With that being said, the remaining RTSs are much cleaner than those old school RTSs powered by the 6v92 engine, those use to puff black smoke whenever they accelerated.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

11 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

Since they are retiring soon and they are my favorite bus, I go out of my way to ride RTS and try to ride as many as I can.

 

Today I was downtown BK and planned on doing something else, then I saw 5206 on the B38, change of plans!😃

 

I only avoid RTS on the B25.. way to many walkers/wheelchairs on that route. I was on an RTS on the 25 that had not ONE, not two, but THREE walkers AND a wheelchair on at the same time. One of the walker was sitting on the seat behind the rear door so people sitting in the back of the bus had little to no space to get off.

 

With that being said, the remaining RTSs are much cleaner than those old school RTSs powered by the 6v92 engine, those use to puff black smoke whenever they accelerated.

OOOOOOooo buses... Ahhhh... 

[BreeddekalbL]

On 8/6/2018 at 10:45 PM, QM1to6Ave said:

Heard on 1010 wins today that one MTA B/O was busted as part of a drug selling ring and another one was busted fro driving the bus while intoxicated. Sounds like 2 new runs have opened up LOL

 

[Lil 57]

Just saw a SI bound X10 signed up as a X10B. Never knew X10B's ran reverse peak😂

Edited August 9, 2018 by Lil 57

[danielhg121]

5798 broke down.

 

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

2011 Nova LFS 8001 has TV screens with announcements. They're installing them on the older buses now. 

Edited August 10, 2018 by XcelsiorBoii4888

[BreeddekalbL]

Wonder what made them move bus fest to Brooklyn bridge park

Edited August 10, 2018 by BreeddekalbL

[East New York]

On 8/5/2018 at 10:15 PM, Brillant93 said:

Seems like the Q53 is having overcrowding trouble to and from the beach. 

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/08/05/eyes-on-the-street-on-sunday-the-rockaway-bound-sbs-is-really-crowded/

This is every summer to all beach destinations. Nothing new.

On 8/6/2018 at 6:57 AM, Brillant93 said:

Ridership on the B41 also rose up as well during the summer. I was coming from the gym and the bus was packed with people going to the junction to catch the Q35 to Riss beach. A lot of those transplants like going there. This was on a Sunday. I think the mta needs to send more buses for this time of year. 

Same here, and besides that the B41 is always packed no matter what time of year it is.

On 8/6/2018 at 4:58 PM, Brillant93 said:

I think that’s why they’re ordering about 53 artics. The extra 10 I guess will go for extra runs. But being how the mta is terminating the bus loan program I don’t see how an extra set of 10 buses would help for the summer months. 

Ending the bus loan program??? First of all there is no such thing. Buses are loaned and borrowed as needed as they always have been. Once the radio and farebox sytems are merged, buses can be loaned at any minute to any depot (TA or Bus Co) on the spot.

On 8/6/2018 at 7:54 PM, VIA 7 AV said:

The RTS’s are producing really bad air pollution. I haven’t ridden one in a while but I was able to smell and taste the air from 5204 while I was in the front boarding today. I def. recommend staying away from RTS’s unless you’re commute on one.

Just for reference, the plural of RTS is RTS'.

This is a general statement that is totally not true of 300 plus buses. What you are referring to is likely being cause by a turbocharger going bad, or a fluid leak of some type. The Orion Hybrids actually burn through turbos faster than the RTS. I also see more of them spitting black smoke than RTS', which is actually rare.  Just saying.....

I own, operate, service, maintain, and ride RTS buses daily.

Key phrase of your post,

 "I haven't ridden one in a while..."

 

[B35 via Church]

9 hours ago, East New York said:

Just for reference, the plural of RTS is RTS'.

I'm not a stickler for "perfect" grammar per se, but certain quirks I find annoying - that's one of them... It's amazing the amount of correspondence I come across on a daily basis where you can tell these people didn't pay attention in English class (or never went to begin with).... Something I'm finding that's on the rise, is correspondence where it's like, someone w/ ESL doesn't know the English word for something, so they'll just leave it in Spanish.... Some nerve - guess people aren't paying like they used to for translators or whatever..... Be there as it may, I don't bother asking around what a particular word means anymore, I just throw it right in the garbage..... I'm finding myself doing that even if I know what the word means....

Remember that old commercial that had the little kid in the little kiddie voice saying "Hooked on phonics... worked for me"

- My response? I wouldn't know it.

[paulrivera]

An East New York dispatcher made both a local and select Bx12 terminate at Fordham Plaza.

The stupid part is they didn’t turn back there, they both went towards Sedgwick and Inwood and deadheaded quite a way’s away (as in up and over the hill and they still kept going)

Uber was like $5 so I took it up the hill, and the buses made off like Energizer bunnies, kept going and going 🤷‍♂️

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

An East New York dispatcher made both a local and select Bx12 terminate at Fordham Plaza.

The stupid part is they didn’t turn back there, they both went towards Sedgwick and Inwood and deadheaded quite a way’s away (as in up and over the hill and they still kept going)

Uber was like $5 so I took it up the hill, and the buses made off like Energizer bunnies, kept going and going 🤷‍♂️

If you're switching to Uber regularly, surely others are too in that area.

[paulrivera]

15 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

If you're switching to Uber regularly, surely others are too in that area.

With UberPool prices like that, I'd be a regular in a heartbeat. A guaranteed seat, door-to-door service and only a buck and change price difference? Choice is obvious when bus frequencies start going south. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

10 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

With UberPool prices like that, I'd be a regular in a heartbeat. A guaranteed seat, door-to-door service and only a buck and change price difference? Choice is obvious when bus frequencies start going south. 

I usually do UberX, especially for meetings, but I've heard that the Pools are actually good because often times there's no one else riding. lol  I think UberXL is kind of a waste, but then again, when I would take car service to the express bus on Staten Island on weekends, I would specifically ask for those Lincoln Town Cars because they are roomy and comfy.  If they had them out, they'd send me one since I was a regular. I saw a lady get out of what looked like an Escalade the other day while I was waiting for a local  bus.  I'm sure it was a Uber car too. May be worth it if for longer rides.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lawrence St]

Didnt Williamsbridge lose LTD service when the Bx55 merged into the Bx15 LTD?

[paulrivera]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

Didnt Williamsbridge lose LTD service when the Bx55 merged into the Bx15 LTD?

Supposedly it became either cost neutral or a net gain because the Bx41 local and SBS provided more service than the old 41 local, 41 LTD and 55 LTD combined...

[Brillant93]

On 8/10/2018 at 12:14 AM, East New York said:

Ending the bus loan program??? First of all there is no such thing. Buses are loaned and borrowed as needed as they always have been. Once the radio and farebox sytems are merged, buses can be loaned at any minute to any depot (TA or Bus Co) on the spot.

According the the preliminary budget for 2019-2022 it says "The projected 2020 decrease is mainly driven by the following: NYCT ($35 million), reflecting lower Subway and Bus Action Plans requirements; MTA Bus ($10 million), mostly due to the end of the Articulated Bus program"

Within the document of this http://web.mta.info/news/pdf/MTA-2019-Prelim-Budget-July-Financial-Plan-2019-2022-Vol2.pdf I looked into further and found out there were terminating the loan program. Maybe because MTA bus and NYCT are merging and thats why. 

[JeremiahC99]

4 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

According the the preliminary budget for 2019-2022 it says "The projected 2020 decrease is mainly driven by the following: NYCT ($35 million), reflecting lower Subway and Bus Action Plans requirements; MTA Bus ($10 million), mostly due to the end of the Articulated Bus program"

Within the document of this http://web.mta.info/news/pdf/MTA-2019-Prelim-Budget-July-Financial-Plan-2019-2022-Vol2.pdf I looked into further and found out there were terminating the loan program. Maybe because MTA bus and NYCT are merging and thats why. 

I could be wrong, but I think that loan program is referring to MTA Bus Company LEASING articulated buses from NYCT, since there are 48 XD60s (5987-5994 for the summer season, 6030-6124 even) that are at MTA Bus that not intended to be there (5987-5994 were first delivered to Casey Stengel before being sent to LG for summer service increases. They should make their way back to CS when the summer is over). From page 179 of this document for the 53-bus order FOR MTA Bus, it says:

Quote

The majority of these buses (40 out of 53) will be purchased to replace existing low-floor 60-foot diesel buses which MTABC is currently leasing from NYC Transit. The remaining 13 buses will be purchased for growth. These 53 buses will be operated out of depots in Queens, 43 of which will be used for the Q52 and Q53 Select Bus Service ("SBS") routes.

The document also states that all buses will be delivered by 2020, which is when they should end the leasing program.

[East New York]

5 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

According the the preliminary budget for 2019-2022 it says "The projected 2020 decrease is mainly driven by the following: NYCT ($35 million), reflecting lower Subway and Bus Action Plans requirements; MTA Bus ($10 million), mostly due to the end of the Articulated Bus program"

Within the document of this http://web.mta.info/news/pdf/MTA-2019-Prelim-Budget-July-Financial-Plan-2019-2022-Vol2.pdf I looked into further and found out there were terminating the loan program. Maybe because MTA bus and NYCT are merging and thats why. 

Can you direct me to the page please? I need to see the language used. MTAB is leasing them from NYCT so I’m not understanding the meaning of “program.” 

Buses will always be loaned and borrowed. I think you are confusing a current unique situation with something that has always occurred. I.e. NYCT leaning and transferring buses to BC.

Edited August 11, 2018 by East New York

[Brillant93]

46 minutes ago, East New York said:

Can you direct me to the page please? I need to see the language used. MTAB is leasing them from NYCT so I’m not understanding the meaning of “program.” 

Buses will always be loaned and borrowed. I think you are confusing a current unique situation with something that has always occurred. I.e. NYCT leaning and transferring buses to BC.

I believe on page II-26 through page II-28. On page II-28 it says "MTA Bus: expenses increase on average by $1 million annually from 2018 to 2021. These changes mostly reflect costs associated with the articulated bus loan program with NYCT used to service SBS routes, and inflationary adjustments."

[S78 via Hylan]

Looking back, we started with local, limited, and express bus service. Now, we have local, limited, express, SBS, and super express.

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

15 minutes ago, S78 via Hylan said:

Looking back, we started with local, limited, and express bus service. Now, we have local, limited, express, SBS, and super express.

Not to mention dollar vans and Uber/Lyft, when all else fails (PRETTY frequently)...

Edited August 12, 2018 by NoHacksJustKhaks