BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Future ENY OP]

1 hour ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

LMAOO, tbh, Yukons maintenance has gotten better over the years. Not as improved as Castleton and Charleston but overall S.I is pretty up there now. It's just unfortunate the animals on the island trash the insides all the time but the buses are always in good shape. 

I’m going to stop you right there. Yukon Maintenance is OK. However, those buses Yukon sent to Flatbush and Quill went right to the shop when they were transferred and while in service experienced road calls. So let’s cut the notion that Yukon Maintenance has gotten better.  Maintenance is OKAY! 

[Lil 57]

4 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

I’m going to stop you right there. Yukon Maintenance is OK. However, those buses Yukon sent to Flatbush and Quill went right to the shop when they were transferred and while in service experienced road calls. So let’s cut the notion that Yukon Maintenance has gotten better.  Maintenance is OKAY! 

Well, the NG Hybrids weren't ment to be ran on fast surburban steeets. They break down often because they are pushed way too much on those streets.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

14 hours ago, kosciusko said:

What ever happened to the double decker bus pilot?

Completed.  Double Decker buses will NOT be used anytime soon on express bus lines.  No order put in for them.

5 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

LMAOO, tbh, Yukons maintenance has gotten better over the years. Not as improved as Castleton and Charleston but overall S.I is pretty up there now. It's just unfortunate the animals on the island trash the insides all the time but the buses are always in good shape. 

 

4 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

I’m going to stop you right there. Yukon Maintenance is OK. However, those buses Yukon sent to Flatbush and Quill went right to the shop when they were transferred and while in service experienced road calls. So let’s cut the notion that Yukon Maintenance has gotten better.  Maintenance is OKAY! 

 

10 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Well, the NG Hybrids weren't ment to be ran on fast surburban steeets. They break down often because they are pushed way too much on those streets.

Yukon's maintenance had nowhere to go but up given that the depot suffered from overcrowding for years as it and Castleton were the only two depots back in the day.  Meredith is not a full depot, so even with Meredith there, buses still go to Castleton for one thing or another.  Charleston basically helped address the overcrowding at both Castleton and Yukon so now there is space to actually fix a decent amount of buses. That said, maintenance still suffers as the depot may not have the parts needed.  I had a B/O in my group defending maintenance saying that it's the  that doesn't want to spend the necessary money to keep buses in good shape.  On the other hand there's also a rumor that maintenance on Staten Island runs the show and anytime there's a push to make changes they shut things down quick.

Want to cut back on labor costs?  Try cutting back on OT or having fewer guys around to fix the same amount of buses... Guys will slow down on the number of buses fixed... lol

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

The last Q22 bus past B. 116 Street passed more than half an hour ago (at around 12:30 PM, if it actually did pass). The 1:19 PM bus from Roxbury is MIA, and the 1:43 PM bus will likely depart with the 2:07 PM bus based on Bustime (both are in Edgemere traveling towards Roxbury). That means that not a single bus will have gone past B 105 Street on the regular route in any direction for about 90 minutes.

Edited May 22, 2019 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Future ENY OP]

17 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

The last Q22 bus past B. 116 Street passed more than half an hour ago (at around 12:30 PM, if it actually did pass). The 1:19 PM bus from Roxbury is MIA, and the 1:43 PM bus will likely depart with the 2:07 PM bus based on Bustime (both are in Edgemere traveling towards Roxbury). That means that not a single bus will have gone past B 105 Street on the regular route in any direction for about 90 minutes.

..... Accountability is what the  practices. In this situation I think 🤔 NOT! 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

10 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

..... Accountability is what the  practices. In this situation I think 🤔 NOT! 

Now, apparently there is a 1:43 trip that left Roxbury (who knows where that came from, since there was no trip towards Roxbury), and now there's a trip going towards Roxbury as well (by Riis Park). That B/O may have been instructed to just drop off passengers or something, because no way is the Edgemere/Wavecrest border to Riis Park doable in 30 minutes by picking up and dropping off.

Edited May 22, 2019 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Lex]

57 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

The last Q22 bus past B. 116 Street passed more than half an hour ago (at around 12:30 PM, if it actually did pass). The 1:19 PM bus from Roxbury is MIA, and the 1:43 PM bus will likely depart with the 2:07 PM bus based on Bustime (both are in Edgemere traveling towards Roxbury). That means that not a single bus will have gone past B 105 Street on the regular route in any direction for about 90 minutes.

Is this based on tracking or personal observation?

[Iron Valiant]

7483 from FB has a weird destination sign saying "B41" in a tiny font. I believe this means it's getting the newer signs shortly.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

8 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

I’m going to stop you right there. Yukon Maintenance is OK. However, those buses Yukon sent to Flatbush and Quill went right to the shop when they were transferred and while in service experienced road calls. So let’s cut the notion that Yukon Maintenance has gotten better.  Maintenance is OKAY! 

Those NGs do not count...are you out there riding their buses all the time?? 

Of course the NGs are going to have to most problems, they've been driven to death on fast S.I routes. The batteries and such cannot handle all of that, imagine years of that, especially with crowded buses and long stretches of hilly roads.  And as of late...Yukon clearly knows the NGs are leaving...so why maintain something you know you're not gonna have in a few months? Spend your time on your own equipment, that's like working on a project or creating an idea and someone taking it and calling it their own, you've wasted your time. So I'm not surprised that Yukon is focusing on only the Novas LMAOO. 

[WestFarms36]

18 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Those NGs do not count...are you out there riding their buses all the time?? 

Of course the NGs are going to have to most problems, they've been driven to death on fast S.I routes. The batteries and such cannot handle all of that, imagine years of that, especially with crowded buses and long stretches of hilly roads.  And as of late...Yukon clearly knows the NGs are leaving...so why maintain something you know you're not gonna have in a few months? Spend your time on your own equipment, that's like working on a project or creating an idea and someone taking it and calling it their own, you've wasted your time. So I'm not surprised that Yukon is focusing on only the Novas LMAOO. 

Maintenance is essential, regardless of a bus's day's being numbered... That is no excuse to as how these Next Gens are in bad shape. Maintenance is vital in order to maintain a bus in state of good repair, and yes you might have mini Gun Hill's rolling around the system, but a bus leaving is no excuse to just dump it, because if any delay happens with an incoming order, or any unexpected plans that could keep them there longer than projected would basically be a living hell if buses stopped being maintained.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

18 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

Maintenance is essential, regardless of a bus's day's being numbered... That is no excuse to as how these Next Gens are in bad shape. Maintenance is vital in order to maintain a bus in state of good repair, and yes you might have mini Gun Hill's rolling around the system, but a bus leaving is no excuse to just dump it, because if any delay happens with an incoming order, or any unexpected plans that could keep them there longer than projected would basically be a living hell if buses stopped being maintained.

Oh well. At the end of the day, I'm riding their buses, and I'm satisfied. 

[Future ENY OP]

1 hour ago, Snorunts said:

7483 from FB has a weird destination sign saying "B41" in a tiny font. I believe this means it's getting the newer signs shortly.

It’s been like that for a few weeks. Might be a slight malfunction on the sign. Maybe a FB op can jump in and confirm the issue with 7483. 

[trainfan22]

1 hour ago, Snorunts said:

7483 from FB has a weird destination sign saying "B41" in a tiny font. I believe this means it's getting the newer signs shortly.

There's a various buses from that batch of XD40s from different depots with signs like that. I get an nice chuckle whenever I see one of those buses with the tiny font.

[MHV184]

1 hour ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Those NGs do not count...are you out there riding their buses all the time?? 

Of course the NGs are going to have to most problems, they've been driven to death on fast S.I routes. The batteries and such cannot handle all of that, imagine years of that, especially with crowded buses and long stretches of hilly roads.  And as of late...Yukon clearly knows the NGs are leaving...so why maintain something you know you're not gonna have in a few months? Spend your time on your own equipment, that's like working on a project or creating an idea and someone taking it and calling it their own, you've wasted your time. So I'm not surprised that Yukon is focusing on only the Novas LMAOO. 

Funny enough that Quill couldn't run their NGs from Yukon the minute they came but when Yukon sent their NGs to Manhattanville it hasn't broken down or seen any problems. Literally the select bus service NGs were running on the M98 the next day and mind you it's a highway.

[Future ENY OP]

1 hour ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Those NGs do not count...are you out there riding their buses all the time?? 

Of course the NGs are going to have to most problems, they've been driven to death on fast S.I routes. The batteries and such cannot handle all of that, imagine years of that, especially with crowded buses and long stretches of hilly roads.  And as of late...Yukon clearly knows the NGs are leaving...so why maintain something you know you're not gonna have in a few months? Spend your time on your own equipment, that's like working on a project or creating an idea and someone taking it and calling it their own, you've wasted your time. So I'm not surprised that Yukon is focusing on only the Novas LMAOO. 

I like your analogy on maintenance 😂🤔. However, @WestFarms36 pretty much sum up what i wanted to say. 

However, just like vehicles. Buses have to be maintained. 

31 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Oh well. At the end of the day, I'm riding their buses, and I'm satisfied. 

Don’t complain when your bus breaks down. 

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

Honestly I've been riding buses for 8 years now and not one bus broke down on me or has gotten into an accident. Thank God and let's keep that streak going. 

[WestFarms36]

4 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

I like your analogy on maintenance 😂🤔. However, @WestFarms36 pretty much sum up what i wanted to say. 

However, just like vehicles. Buses have to be maintained. 

Don’t complain when your bus breaks down. 

Well in order to add on to what I said earlier as well, there is no way for a depot to call a bus coming from elsewhere "your own", because this is after all the  New York City Bus, it's not like the bus is going to be given off or sold to someone else, where by then the story would be different of course. In this case the analogy isn't too accurate since the bus still would remain under  Jurisdiction, just different division; I'd love to clarify something here which many usually have a misconception on... Depot's don't "own" buses or have exclusive rights to them, these are simply different depots across the city with assigned buses operating under one entity, and of course equipment, mileage, age, and practices may vary from depot to depot in either positive or negative ways, but this doesn't give the proper Justification of having a thought process where buses are its one separate entity just because its at Gun Hill or Yukon, this is a matter of the fleet being distributed based on metrics, mileage, age, need, and other logistics we probably don't even know of; Of course the Next Gens are leaving the island, and Yukon isn't too stellar on their maintenance, but trying to opinion-ate yourself on how you feel things should be driven based on factors that the DOB probably doesn't give 2 flying f**ks about, most likely isn't going to cut it... The most we can do is bring up these issues to the  and or elected officials for a change in prevailing culture, but in the meanwhile all we can do is breathe and wait to see what happens afterwards.

[EastFlatbushLarry]

12 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

That said, maintenance still suffers as the depot may not have the parts needed.

amen. the problem I've always had with staten island is that they don't have their own Central Maintenance Facility/paint booth, etc. staten island suffers from having to send buses off the island (if they even elect to... see the 42xx-series SBS NG's) for semi-routine upkeep/paint. that should be addressed by the powers that be

[Lex]

16 minutes ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

amen. the problem I've always had with staten island is that they don't have their own Central Maintenance Facility/paint booth, etc. staten island suffers from having to send buses off the island (if they even elect to... see the 42xx-series SBS NG's) for semi-routine upkeep/paint. that should be addressed by the powers that be

What would it take to give Staten Island those capabilities?

[EastFlatbushLarry]

16 minutes ago, Lex said:

What would it take to give Staten Island those capabilities?

whatever it took to finally get Charleston Depot off the ground 😂 in all honesty there should've been some sort of provision that any new depot built out there would be dual purpose depot/CMF... Charleston would've been perfect for that location-wise

[Cait Sith]

7 hours ago, WestFarms36 said:

Maintenance is essential, regardless of a bus's day's being numbered... That is no excuse to as how these Next Gens are in bad shape. Maintenance is vital in order to maintain a bus in state of good repair, and yes you might have mini Gun Hill's rolling around the system, but a bus leaving is no excuse to just dump it, because if any delay happens with an incoming order, or any unexpected plans that could keep them there longer than projected would basically be a living hell if buses stopped being maintained.

Considering that Staten Island's NGs have been on the longest Staten Island routes out there, that adds more problems to the buses over time from the mileage. The 24/7 cycles doesn't help either.

On top of that, the majority of NGs out there have stayed there since delivery. They most likely have the most miles out of any other NG fleet in the system. The 3800s and 3900s were booted out of the Island much faster than what the Island has now.

 

8 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Those NGs do not count...are you out there riding their buses all the time?? 

Of course the NGs are going to have to most problems, they've been driven to death on fast S.I routes. The batteries and such cannot handle all of that, imagine years of that, especially with crowded buses and long stretches of hilly roads.  And as of late...Yukon clearly knows the NGs are leaving...so why maintain something you know you're not gonna have in a few months? Spend your time on your own equipment, that's like working on a project or creating an idea and someone taking it and calling it their own, you've wasted your time. So I'm not surprised that Yukon is focusing on only the Novas LMAOO. 

Actually, the batteries can handle it. That's why they got those batteries instead of keeping the older ones. If they still had those 3800s, there would be a hell of a lot more problems.

The issue with the hybrids, other than being ran into the ground, is the fact that they are governed so damn low out there.

 

6 hours ago, MHV184 said:

Funny enough that Quill couldn't run their NGs from Yukon the minute they came but when Yukon sent their NGs to Manhattanville it hasn't broken down or seen any problems. Literally the select bus service NGs were running on the M98 the next day and mind you it's a highway.

It's not that they couldn't. They came with problems that had to be addressed before they were good for service.

 

35 minutes ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

whatever it took to finally get Charleston Depot off the ground 😂 in all honesty there should've been some sort of provision that any new depot built out there would be dual purpose depot/CMF... Charleston would've been perfect for that location-wise

The way Charleston is arranged in terms of it's layout is strange, and there's a lot of wasted interior space in that depot too around the upper level.

[trainfan22]

With the last of the DD50 powered buses being retired (RTS/D60/Orion V & VII CNG, old C40LF) the rear seats on top of the engine being super hot on warm weather days is pretty much a thing of the past. Some of the Novas get hot in the rear but not as hot as those Detroit powered buses did. 

[RTSTdrive]

So there's already some visible work going on at the Rockaway Parkway .

The globe lights and "BUS & SUBWAY" text on top of the station house seems to have been repainted or replaced with replicas. In addition, that electric gate that's supposed to prevent people from sneaking for a free ride onto the  loading area and subway platforms is being taken apart as is the fence that seperates the  and .

I wonder how the free / transfer is gonna work after construction finishes this fall (assuming the gate might be removed). I also wonder what would become of those old trolley poles.

[MysteriousBtrain]

12 minutes ago, RTSTdrive said:

I wonder how the free / transfer is gonna work after construction finishes this fall (assuming the gate might be removed). I also wonder what would become of those old trolley poles.

There is no real need or demand for this free transfer anymore. If anything if there is demand add an extra transfer and call it a day.

[Future ENY OP]

Interesting thought: 8574 from Yukon is on the S79 right now doing a SBS trip. Spotted in Bay Ridge. 

I guess Yukon is holding on to their NG’s for a bit longer.