BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Armandito]

Just now, trife86 said:

If there are busses going there , than better beleive they got room for it. They wouldn't send busses if they can't fit.

Then how come MJ Quill Depot has so many bus routes? That gives me an impression that it's very overcrowded.

[Jdog14]

1 minute ago, lara8710 said:

Then how come MJ Quill Depot has so many bus routes? That gives me an impression that it's very overcrowded.

 

The frequency of the some of those routes isn't all that high (like the M20 and M21/22 for example). 

[trainfan22]

13 minutes ago, lara8710 said:

What's so special about those old RTS buses?

Their the GOAT bus.

12 minutes ago, Jdog14 said:

 

Theres 7 RTS on there now. You have to be willing to go out and wait for one. Weekends also arent the best time to catch a RTS from Ulmer. 

I know all of this, I've been fanning for a long time lol. The last sentence in my previous post was sort of a joke.

 

I also live next to the B6 so I see their buses all the time even when I'm not fanning.

[Just New York]

9 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Their the GOAT bus.

I know all of this, I've been fanning for a long time lol. The last sentence in my previous post was sort of a joke.

 

I also live next to the B6 so I see their buses all the time even when I'm not fanning.

Outside of rush the RTS are on Standby most the Brooklyn Division follow the practice.

[Armandito]

Why do you call the RTS buses the GOATs of the NYC bus system?

Edited December 22, 2018 by lara8710

[LegoBrickBreaker101]

6 minutes ago, lara8710 said:

Why do call the RTS buses the GOATs of the NYC bus system?

GOAT = Greatest Of All Time

[NY1635]

6 minutes ago, lara8710 said:

Why do call the RTS buses the GOATs of the NYC bus system?

The RTS is the only reliable fleet in the system with the Orion Vs coming second. 

[Coney Island Av]

Things to know about RTS:

-The large majority of remaining RTS are 1998-1999 units. However, there are two units at LGA which are 1996s (9307 and 9348). Those are the last two 1996 units remaining. On another note, there is one specific unit (4901) that is a 1997-1998 model and not apart of the 1998-1999 run. 

-The best way to catch them is to use the "Transit Tracker" app or MTA BusTime. 

-The RTS out of LGA (just mentioned) and Grand Av only run during rush hours. They sometimes run midday, but rush hours is the best time to catch them. 

-All the other RTS from ENY, Quill, Ulmer, Jamaica, and Flatbush run weekdays. They also run on weekends, but there's far less of them out during that time. 

-They are being retired by the new XD40s and LFS, with all expected to be gone by 2020. Around 200 units remain. 

[Armandito]

2 minutes ago, Coney Island Av said:

Things to know about RTS:

-The large majority of remaining RTS are 1998-1999 units. However, there are two units at LGA which are 1996s (9307 and 9348). Those are the last two 1996 units remaining. On another note, there is one specific unit (4901) that is a 1997-1998 model and not apart of the 1998-1999 run. 

-The best way to catch them is to use the "Transit Tracker" app or MTA BusTime. 

-The RTS out of LGA (just mentioned) and Grand Av only run during rush hours. They sometimes run midday, but rush hours is the best time to catch them. 

-All the other RTS from ENY, Quill, Ulmer, Jamaica, and Flatbush run weekdays. They also run on weekends, but there's far less of them out during that time. 

-They are being retired by the new XD40s and LFS, with all expected to be gone by 2020. Around 200 units remain. 

If you say they're reliable, it would've been logical for the MTA to keep ordering newer versions of those buses, but why didn't they?

They better not go back to the 80s when they ordered faulty buses prone to breaking down (...cough, cough...Grumman Flxible...)

[Brillant93]

Reliable? I swear I must have a unique experience with RTS’s because I really never had a good impression of them in the past. I understand from a mechanical perspective to why some of you guys like them but from a passenger/ customer view I really wish they were retired a while ago. 

[S78 via Hylan]

20 minutes ago, lara8710 said:

If you say they're reliable, it would've been logical for the MTA to keep ordering newer versions of those buses, but why didn't they?

@EastNewYork can answer this, but I believe it was because the LFS model was chosen over the RTS. They’re built exactly the same as I understand. 

@Brillant93 The RTS aren’t only great mechanically, but they’ve been the most reliable in terms of standing room, speed, and other things. They’ve been running circles around the newer buses.

[Jdog14]

58 minutes ago, lara8710 said:

If you say they're reliable, it would've been logical for the MTA to keep ordering newer versions of those buses, but why didn't they?

 

 

Well if you haven't noticed MTA likes to split awards for buses so they can get buses quicker. I would assume they would have stopped ordering RTS once they met their fleet requirements. 

[MHV9218]

Quill RTSes run pretty much 24/7. Not quite weekday-only status yet. Back in the day when Manhattanville ran 1996s, the last fleet was running weekdays only, and sometimes only rush hours. Hasn't gotten to that point at Quill. 

[trainfan22]

3 hours ago, NY1635 said:

The RTS is the only reliable fleet in the system with the Orion Vs coming second. 

I wouldn't go that far, I'd say the non RTS bus models in the fleet are pretty reliable right now. I'm not sure about the XE40 and Proterra though.

[Orion6025]

Well frankly only LGA follows that rush hour only mindset. Grand to an extent follows that line of thinking but they have RTS out late past 11 PM semi regularly and they break out of the depot some weekends too. Jamaica, ENY, and Flatbush seem to have their RTS out the latest (With jamaica being the latest, like 2-3 AM; that may have changed since they retired a handful of RTS after the 2011 LFS transfer though. But 12-1 AM regularly with eny and flatbush...). Quill seems to have theirs in the earliest

[Orion6025]

3 hours ago, NY1635 said:

The RTS is the only reliable fleet in the system with the Orion Vs coming second. 

Orion 5s haven't been in the system as revenue buses for a little over 2 years.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

Remember that a majority of the express buses also deadhead from College Point.....via the LIE and QMT....and if both are f**ked with traffic(which is practically common Manhattan-bound), then you are bound to have a bunch of late buses and bunching.

If you stood on 34th between 1st & 2nd by the tunnel exits, or by 37th Street between 2nd & 3rd by the tunnel exits. You'd most likely see some of the causes.

That doesn’t excuse the ongoing issues with missing trips. Late is one thing. Missing is another. We see the same ones missing regularly. You can blame traffic sometimes, but not all the time. Ultimately their job is to provide service, not make excuses for why trips aren’t coming because there will always be traffic. If it is such a problem then they can consider having buses on standby where possible. We’ve also talked about having some trips leave earlier where possible. 

The fact of the matter is they were audited for their express bus service in 2015 (THREE YEARS AGO) and they haven’t done a damn thing to improve it, so we will be calling for another audit, because everything that we see points to abysmal service. They had been leaving various rush hour trips unfilled for MONTHS until I spoke before the  Board about it, and only THEN did they fill those trips and they’ve been coming every day since. Funny how they can fill them now... It doesn’t matter when we take trips... Most of them are late, even early in the morning. We have customers complaining about missing trips at 05:00 in the morning, with bunching to boot. No excuse for that. When they were asked why so many trips were left unfilled, their response was that it shouldn’t be happening and there was a lack of man power. In other words, you leave trips unfilled for MONTHS (same buses missing 2-3 times a week) when you know you don’t have enough man power during rush hour when people are trying to get to work? Ridiculous. It’s a joke and they need to be held accountable for their BS.

You’re free to make excuses for them, but I know the deal. These are trips that I’ve been taking for YEARS that they suddenly can’t fill. I’m not buying the traffic BS. It’s a factor but certainly not one that they can keep conveniently using as for why so many trips have been missing. They were caught with their pants down and now they’re trying to scramble to save face. If you only knew what I knew you’d be singing a different tune. I’ll leave it at that. I’ve been speaking with the Comptroller’s Office for several weeks now about their service and their ears are perked up to say the least about what we’ve been sending them.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

Today I saw 3 people waiting for the SIM2 around 12:30 PM along Hylan. Gonna be sad when January 13th comes around and they're forced to drive/take the S78 to the SIM1C.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Lil 57

[Lil 57]

10 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Today I saw 3 people waiting for the SIM2 around 12:30 PM along Hylan. Gonna be sad when January 13th comes around and they're forced to drive/take the S78 to the SIM1C.

Just take a look at how much the X28 grew when weekend service was added in a course of 1 year.

Pretty sure the SIM2 would of been the same if they didn't cut service too early.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Lil 57 said:

Just take a look at how much the X28 grew when weekend service was added in a course of 1 year.

Pretty sure the SIM2 would of been the same if they didn't cut service too early.

It only took us six years to get it back. I circulated petitions and went to various elected officials over the years to work on getting it back. Senator Golden kept pushing the issue. The SIM2 will have to be pushed similarly to get the  to reconsider. With the X28, they argued that riders could instead take the  despite many elderly and disabled people needing the express bus and the lack of ADA subway stations.

[Lil 57]

9 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It only took us six years to get it back. I circulated petitions and went to various elected officials over the years to work on getting it back. Senator Golden kept pushing the issue. The SIM2 will have to be pushed similarly to get the  to reconsider. With the X28, they argued that riders could instead take the  despite many elderly and disabled people needing the express bus and the lack of ADA subway stations.

The thing is, the SIM2 served areas where there were no other transit options. Maybe that's fixed a little with the SIM4C extension, but Huguenot Ave still doesn't have any transportation off-peak for a big portion of it and for Hylan, The S78 can be extremely unreliable due to its length.

The SIM2 was just created 4 months ago. Did they cut the X28 on weekends after they brought it back because it wasn't carrying a lot of ridership after a few months? No. They should have waited for the SIM2 to grow.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Lil 57

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

1 hour ago, Lil 57 said:

Just take a look at how much the X28 grew when weekend service was added in a course of 1 year.

Pretty sure the SIM2 would of been the same if they didn't cut service too early.

I want to point out though that the average ridership on that first year will significantly lower than the proceeding year because of how the stats are calculated. The stats are calculated by getting the total weekend ridership and dividing by the total number of days service ran on a weekend schedule in the year. IIRC, the weekend service started late in the year, so the average will be lower since it doesn't take into account only the weekends the X28 ran in that year. 

 

However, that's not to say ridership likely didn't increase from year one to year two. I think there likely was, but just not by that much.

[Lil 57]

15 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I want to point out though that the average ridership on that first year will significantly lower than the proceeding year because of how the stats are calculated. The stats are calculated by getting the total weekend ridership and dividing by the total number of days service ran on a weekend schedule in the year. IIRC, the weekend service started late in the year, so the average will be lower since it doesn't take into account only the weekends the X28 ran in that year. 

 

However, that's not to say ridership likely didn't increase from year one to year two. I think there likely was, but just not by that much.

That's weird.

Would the ridership of the SIM2 on weekends ever be released?

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

13 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

That's weird.

Would the ridership of the SIM2 on weekends ever be released?

Should come out in the 2018 ridership stats when it comes out next year. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Lil 57 said:

The thing is, the SIM2 served areas where there were no other transit options. Maybe that's fixed a little with the SIM4C extension, but Huguenot Ave still doesn't have any transportation off-peak for a big portion of it and for Hylan, The S78 can be extremely unreliable due to its length.

The SIM2 was just created 4 months ago. Did they cut the X28 on weekends after they brought it back because it wasn't carrying a lot of ridership after a few months? No. They should have waited for the SIM2 to grow.

Two things to consider... The cost and the number of buses available. For now until the contract is finalized and more buses are ordered and at the depots, the number of buses available must be considered. As was mentioned, there’s the cost factor as well. I think the SIM2 off-peak and weekend situation should be revisited once Staten Island receives more buses, and we get a better understanding of the agency’s financial standing.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8