BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[QM1to6Ave]

1 hour ago, East New York said:

No nothing changed. Pay attention to what I said in my post. Most modern day diesel pumps. That means now. If the vast majority of stations are still, or the the pump is old then yes. You also have to remember that there are several regular cars that take diesel fuel as well, so I’m sure it still happens to this day. 

In the case here, we are referring to buses, CNG, and diesel. Not regular fueling stations where you may have the problem you mentioned. It’s just not possible at MTA or on any heavy duty buses for that matter. The 2 aren’t compatible. You can’t mess that up. 

Gotcha. I'm waiting for the day someone sticks an electric charger plug into their combustion tank LOL

[danielhg121]

Why does the M35 fleet need to be rotated?

[S78 via Hylan]

I’m on a crowded Q3 leaving JFK because the 10:20 trip was a no-show. Can someone look into what happened?

Edited December 14, 2018 by S78 via Hylan

[NY1635]

17 hours ago, S78 via Hylan said:

I’m on a crowded Q3 leaving JFK because the 10:20 trip was a no-show. Can someone look into what happened?

I can only guess that the airport workers finished their shift and are now heading home at that time. 

[S78 via Hylan]

33 minutes ago, NY1635 said:

I can only guess that the airport workers finished their shift and are now heading home at that time. 

They leave at all hours, but as I checked bustime, it seemed the trip that was supposed to leave before mine never came.

[trife86]

1 hour ago, S78 via Hylan said:

They leave at all hours, but as I checked bustime, it seemed the trip that was supposed to leave before mine never came.

Some buses just don't show up on bustime but  still actually running.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, trife86 said:

Some buses just don't show up on bustime but  still actually running.

Which should be fixed... Too many ghost buses. People are used to tracking their bus now. It makes life a lot easier.

[B35 via Church]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 6:50 PM, Calvin said:

On a note to those who use the B36, there's a temporary change in routing: To W 37 St at Surf Av, it turns right at W 15 St, left at Mermaid Av then uses W 23 St back to Surf Av. To Av. U is left on W 22 St and onto Mermaid Av until Stillwell Av. 

B36's have been doing that detour for weeks now....

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 3:00 PM, danielhg121 said:

Why does the M35 fleet need to be rotated?

I agree... The only "fleet" it should consist of, are the IC-CE's

14 hours ago, NY1635 said:

I can only guess that the airport workers finished their shift and are now heading home at that time. 

It's commonplace for airport workers to work swing shifts.... More airport workers = varying/different clock in/clock out hours.... The issue of mass bombardment of pax. at one shot at a specific time/range at JFK (like say, what happens w/ KCC) isn't the issue...... What he (S78 Hylan) is describing, is generally why I don't care for taking the Q3.... Unlike (or, less like) the B15 & the Q10, the Q3 comes whenever it comes.... That route has been like that for as long as I can remember (early-mid 90's)..... I feel for anyone having to rely on that route, for airport access or not..... There are some routes throughout the city I tend to get the sense that the MTA doesn't want to bother running... The Q3 is one of them.

It's a wonder why you have as many people taking the Q10 out of the airport to the Q9 (or the ).... These are the people that won't/don't (for whatever their reasons) put up w/ AIRTrain... You have the Q9 run to T5 & you will watch Q3 airport usage take a serious hit... I guarantee that.... They're sitting on a goldmine with that route & true to form, they fail to capitalize on it.....

-----------------

 

[Q43LTD]

57 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

 

 

It's commonplace for airport workers to work swing shifts.... More airport workers = varying/different clock in/clock out hours.... The issue of mass bombardment of pax. at one shot at a specific time/range at JFK (like say, what happens w/ KCC) isn't the issue...... What he (S78 Hylan) is describing, is generally why I don't care for taking the Q3.... Unlike (or, less like) the B15 & the Q10, the Q3 comes whenever it comes.... That route has been like that for as long as I can remember (early-mid 90's)..... I feel for anyone having to rely on that route, for airport access or not..... There are some routes throughout the city I tend to get the sense that the MTA doesn't want to bother running... The Q3 is one of them.

It's a wonder why you have as many people taking the Q10 out of the airport to the Q9 (or the ).... These are the people that won't/don't (for whatever their reasons) put up w/ AIRTrain... You have the Q9 run to T5 & you will watch Q3 airport usage take a serious hit... I guarantee that.... They're sitting on a goldmine with that route & true to form, they fail to capitalize on it.....

-----------------

 

Imagine if the  decided not to run the Q3 anymore, what will those Farmers patrons do? No wonder there has some discussion about sending the Q6 to T5 instead of the post office. Remember when it was just the Q10 that went to JFK? Pepperidge Farms remembers...If the Q9 went to JFK, the Q3 will probably suffer the same fate as the Q33

[checkmatechamp13]

2 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

Imagine if the  decided not to run the Q3 anymore, what will those Farmers patrons do? No wonder there has some discussion about sending the Q6 to T5 instead of the post office. Remember when it was just the Q10 that went to JFK? Pepperidge Farms remembers...If the Q9 went to JFK, the Q3 will probably suffer the same fate as the Q33

They would tell them to use another route to Jamaica (similar to the Q77 which at one point didn't have Sunday service) . The Q3 takes the long way around, but at the same time it's the quickest way to get from one point on Farmers to another (the other thing is that a lot of those routes connect to Jamaica Center, but don't connect to the (F) on Hillside)

[Orion6025]

For any brooklyn busfans interested, it looks like 7785 is on the L Shuttle...

[NY1635]

1 hour ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

They would tell them to use another route to Jamaica (similar to the Q77 which at one point didn't have Sunday service) . The Q3 takes the long way around, but at the same time it's the quickest way to get from one point on Farmers to another (the other thing is that a lot of those routes connect to Jamaica Center, but don't connect to the on Hillside)

Q43LTD meant that the agency will simply truncate the Q3 at Rockaway Blvd, not eliminate it completely if they ever replace it with the Q9 to JFK. 

[B35 via Church]

3 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

Imagine if the  decided not to run the Q3 anymore, what will those Farmers patrons do? No wonder there has some discussion about sending the Q6 to T5 instead of the post office. Remember when it was just the Q10 that went to JFK? Pepperidge Farms remembers...If the Q9 went to JFK, the Q3 will probably suffer the same fate as the Q33

Old Mcdonald would be out of business

But yeah, it'd be pretty stupid of course to actually rid themselves of the thing, but if that were to come to pass, you'd have more people along/around Farmers taking other buses to Parsons-Archer for the  (if they specifically need the )....

I haven't actually heard anything about moving the Q6 to T5 - I think that's one of those deals that sound good on paper, but in actuality, would piss off Sutphin riders (as longer waits for buses would end up becoming prevalent)... Rockaway Blvd patrons south of Baisley park would also get shafted.... If the Q6 & the Q9 both served T5 or whatever, even though the Q6 would be straighter, the Q9 I still think would end up getting to Sutphin/Archer first.... I don't have to tell you that the Q6 carries heavy along Sutphin.... After you reach a certain point on the (real) NB Q9 though, it's more or less a straight shot to the subway.....

As for airport service in general, remember when the Q10 served all terminals? Remember the Q10a?.... Although there's a TON of layover space at T5 (compared to at T4), I still miss when buses ended at T4....

Heh, knowing this agency, yeah, they would revert the Q3 to the mid-80's routing if they were to ever send the Q6 or the Q9 to T5..... As for the analogy, I'm inclined to agree - however, the effect wouldn't be as detrimental (in terms of overall ridership).... The Q33 was (viewed as) quote-unquote the airport bus; the Q3 is, the Farmers blvd. bus... that goes to the airport.... FWIW, today's Q33 still holds its own, but a stunted Q3 would retain a far greater percentage of its riders....

The (popularity of) the Q10 is much too great for the Q3 to ever be viewed as (and moreso than that, actually primarily utilized by the masses as) "the airport bus".... Hence, the variation of service levels of the two routes.

19 minutes ago, NY1635 said:

Q43LTD meant that the agency will simply truncate the Q3 at Rockaway Blvd, not eliminate it completely if they ever replace it with the Q9 to JFK. 

Well. what do you think he meant by "Farmers patrons" then.....

I had said "There are some routes throughout the city I tend to get the sense that the MTA doesn't want to bother running... The Q3 is one of them."... His commentary in that regard, was speaking to that point.....

1 hour ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

They would tell them to use another route to Jamaica (similar to the Q77 which at one point didn't have Sunday service) . The Q3 takes the long way around, but at the same time it's the quickest way to get from one point on Farmers to another (the other thing is that a lot of those routes connect to Jamaica Center, but don't connect to the on Hillside)

That's exactly what I think hurts it (in terms of marketability)..... If you're an SE Queens patron that needs the airport, great - but outside of that, much of nobody's looking to take the Q3 to JFK.... Riding the  to the end of (or penultimate to the end of) the line to catch the thing is for the birds....

I'd personally opt to be sardined on a Q10 to ever have to put up with the Q3 on any consistent basis... And that's saying a lot; I abhor crowds.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2018 by B35 via Church

[East New York]

20 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Which should be fixed... Too many ghost buses. People are used to tracking their bus now. It makes life a lot easier.

It’s. It just a simple fix. There are tons of factors as to why a bus may not show up. We have 5,900 buses in the system. A fare box, a destination sign, a put-in, a mechanical malfunction, a hardware malfunction an improper installation, improper set-up a software issue, or even bad weather could cause a ghost bus. There are many different factors. Another common one is a brand new buses. It just hasn’t been uploaded yet. 

Less than 5% of the buses end up being ghosts. That’s an average of about 30 give or take. 

The BusTime GPS can only operate accurately if every system tied to it on the vehicle is functioning properly. It’s just not realistic to think it will work all the time. Human error is the cause most of the time. For example. I went out on a new New XD40 and later a new XDE40 out of Grand. Neither of them showed up. 

The XDE40 wasn’t even supposed to go out yet because it wasn’t set up properly in the system completely or properly. The XD40 didn’t show up because the farebox which had just come out of an RTS the night before wasn’t connected properly. 

Also remember that one change in Destination sign will remove a bus as well. If an operator forgets to change the destination on the farebox the bus will disappear.  

Edited December 15, 2018 by East New York

[Via Garibaldi 8]

40 minutes ago, East New York said:

It’s. It just a simple fix. There are tons of factors as to why a bus may not show up. We have 5,900 buses in the system. A fare box, a destination sign, a put-in, a mechanical malfunction, a hardware malfunction an improper installation, improper set-up a software issue, or even bad weather could cause a ghost bus. There are many different factors. Another common one is a brand new buses. It just hasn’t been uploaded yet. 

Less than 5% of the buses end up being ghosts. That’s an average of about 30 give or take. 

The BusTime GPS can only operate accurately if every system tied to it on the vehicle is functioning properly. It’s just not realistic to think it will work all the time. Human error is the cause most of the time. For example. I went out on a new New XD40 and later a new XDE40 out of Grand. Neither of them showed up. 

The XDE40 wasn’t even supposed to go out yet because it wasn’t set up properly in the system completely or properly. The XD40 didn’t show up because the farebox which had just come out of an RTS the night before wasn’t connected properly. 

Also remember that one change in Destination sign will remove a bus as well. If an operator forgets to change the destination on the farebox the bus will disappear.  

I’m aware, but there’s been too many that customers can’t track, and I’ve had several confirmed as ghost buses by people in the know. There are some other issues going on that I’ve picked up on while taking trips that are odd and I shared them with my contacts to see if they can be addressed. Obviously making service is paramount, but I’ve received a lot of complaints from customers about that and Wi-Fi, two amenities that the  has touted as things that make the commute better. I’m going to inquire about their process in terms of how often these things are checked.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[trife86]

21 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I’m aware, but there’s been too many that customers can’t track, and I’ve had several confirmed as ghost buses by people in the know. There are some other issues going on that I’ve picked up on while taking trips that are odd and I shared them with my contacts to see if they can be addressed. Obviously making service is paramount, but I’ve received a lot of complaints from customers about that and Wi-Fi, two amenities that the  has touted as things that make the commute better. I’m going to inquire about their process in terms of how often these things are checked.

I sometimes don't understand the wifi fight.

Yea it's advertised and works good most the time, but who doesn't have a decent mobile device anymore that doesn't have at least 3g which should be good enough for anything you need to do on a bus.

And if it's for work to do on a tablet / iPad / laptop that someone might have and travel with them than they should  already have learned how to tether.

Just my opinion but I don't use free WiFi anywhere really.

Edited December 15, 2018 by trife86

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Just now, trife86 said:

I sometimes don't understand the wifi fight.

Yea it's advertised and works good most the time, but who doesn't have a decent mobile device anymore that doesn't have at least 3g which should be good enough for anything you need to do on a bus.

And if it's for work to do on a tablet / iPad / laptop that someone might have and travel with than they should know already have learned how to tether.

 

I don’t personally use it, but I get A LOT of complaints about it from customers in the advocacy group. I have an unlimited data plan with Verizon both for my iPad and my smartphone, so I don’t bother with it, but obviously there is a cap before your speeds are slowed, and I stream NHL games and Spotify a TON. Nevertheless only here and there do I encounter slow speeds when streaming anything and the free Wi-Fi is very limited in what you can do anyway. There are some folks that have a really scaled back plan though and thus they still don’t have an unlimited plan. I pay around $130.00 for everything with Verizon, which includes some things like caller ID and cloud for backing up and storing things, but I’m sure some folks are cutting back given how expensive things like cable have become. I have this but I got rid of cable. I stream everything since it is cheaper between Hulu and Sling. Over $200.00 a month I was paying for cable, and most of the stuff I watch on DVR anyway, so might as well just stream it. It’s about $100.00 cheaper that way.

[QM1to6Ave]

1 hour ago, trife86 said:

I sometimes don't understand the wifi fight.

Yea it's advertised and works good most the time, but who doesn't have a decent mobile device anymore that doesn't have at least 3g which should be good enough for anything you need to do on a bus.

And if it's for work to do on a tablet / iPad / laptop that someone might have and travel with them than they should  already have learned how to tether.

Just my opinion but I don't use free WiFi anywhere really.

I have an unlimited plan for my phone, but they limit tethering to a small amount of data per month precisely because they don't want me to do everything on my laptop through my phone.

Since the express bus is basically an extension of my office, I like having the MTA wifi, which is fast enough for my purposes, to use my laptop without using up my limited tethering data allowance. I've been pushing my company to pay for mobile hotspots, but no luck so far lol. 

[B35 via Church]

When did ENY start rolling out (as in, operating in service) the "Cuomo-wrapped" buses?

I would usually see one parked just inside the garage (Jamaica av side of the depot), but never in service (like I did past Saturday).... Didn't catch the bus # or anything, but the one I eventually drove past was operating as a B83...

[Calvin]

23 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

When did ENY start rolling out (as in, operating in service) the "Cuomo-wrapped" buses?

I would usually see one parked just inside the garage (Jamaica av side of the depot), but never in service (like I did past Saturday).... Didn't catch the bus # or anything, but the one I eventually drove past was operating as a B83...

About 2 weeks ago, there's 4 currently in service (not including the B82 SBS units)

[Future ENY OP]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

When did ENY start rolling out (as in, operating in service) the "Cuomo-wrapped" buses?

I would usually see one parked just inside the garage (Jamaica av side of the depot), but never in service (like I did past Saturday).... Didn't catch the bus # or anything, but the one I eventually drove past was operating as a B83...

The 4 they have are 7558, 7560, 7567, 7568. They may get 3 more or those will possibly end up at Ulmer Park.  ENY has slowly sending RTS to the chop shop and/or possible storage. 

[Future ENY OP]

On board 7561 (UP).  Definitely like the updates and service advisories for the B6. Still has the new bus smell. 

[Lil 57]

Here's a funny story about me catching the S57.

I just left from something at Hylan/Fieldway around 6:45 PM and wanted to catch the S57 at Guyon that left at 7:15 PM. Just missed the S78 and the next one was about 25 minutes away. Okay, I'll just take the 7 minute walk to Bay Terrace and get the S79. Missed that too, next bus was 20 minutes away. I just decided to Walk it out, about 1.5 miles from Fieldway to Guyon. I got to the S57 stop around 7:12 PM and made it before any bus got to Guyon.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Lil 57

[checkmatechamp13]

4 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Here's a funny story about me catching the S57.

I just left from something at Hylan/Fieldway around 6:45 PM and wanted to catch the S57 at Guyon that left at 7:15 PM. Just missed the S78 and the next one was about 25 minutes away. Okay, I'll just take the 7 minute walk to Bay Terrace and get the S79. Missed that too, next bus was 20 minutes away. I just decided to Walk it out, about 1.5 miles from Fieldway to Guyon. I got to the S57 stop around 7:12 PM and made it before any bus got to Guyon.

For me, whenever I'm on that side of the island, my default option is to ride the S79 to the SI Mall and then take the S44/59 up. The only time I would take the S54 or S57 is if I was directly within walking distance of a stop and one was coming soon.

[Lil 57]

6 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

For me, whenever I'm on that side of the island, my default option is to ride the S79 to the SI Mall and then take the S44/59 up. The only time I would take the S54 or S57 is if I was directly within walking distance of a stop and one was coming soon.

I mostly do that, But I hate having to play games with who's going to get to Port Richmond first, the S44 or the S59?

I usually take the S89 but this was after the last bus left.