BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Future ENY OP]

New driverside wrap for Brooklyn Division. So far: Flatbush, Grand Avenue and Fresh Pond NG’s are in receipt of this wrap campaign also to include Ulmer Park express buses. There has to be a way to put these on the exisiting XD40’s and also to see more wraps in the division.  

[DetSMART45]

2 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

New driverside wrap for Brooklyn Division. So far: Flatbush, Grand Avenue and Fresh Pond NG’s are in receipt of this wrap campaign also to include Ulmer Park express buses. There has to be a way to put these on the exisiting XD40’s and also to see more wraps in the division.  

Outfront and/or the transit agencies must have changed the rate card, and ad customers are scaling back. SMART has been getting those applied (BJ's Wholesale Club [coming to Michigan], Shipt grocery delivery service, some health system) within the past two months, except they go into the headliner. So on your example, "ybrid Electric Bus" would get covered. Those ads in the past would more than likely have been a full side wrap, leading me to believe prices have gone up somewhat significantly.

Haven't been out scoping the DDOT action in the City due to work scheduling, but on a few recent brief visits, it's looking like DDOT has relegated its 2004 D40LF fleet with Detroit Diesel DD50s to spare status. ALL of the Xcelsiors are out weekdays (2015-2018 with 19's on the way), the 2012 Gilligs and 2010 D40LFs also pounding the pavement. XD40s are out in force on weekends, even the most recent 17s/18s, something that wasn't done before (when the 15/16 XD40s came in, they were weekday only with maintenance on weekends). Maybe some of the DD50s are out on weekends, but on fill-in status only. Another era ends.

Edited September 9, 2019 by DetSMART45

[Around the Horn]

7 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

New driverside wrap for Brooklyn Division. So far: Flatbush, Grand Avenue and Fresh Pond NG’s are in receipt of this wrap campaign also to include Ulmer Park express buses. There has to be a way to put these on the exisiting XD40’s and also to see more wraps in the division.  

I've seen these on Manhattanville buses too

[Iron Valiant]

7 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

New driverside wrap for Brooklyn Division. So far: Flatbush, Grand Avenue and Fresh Pond NG’s are in receipt of this wrap campaign also to include Ulmer Park express buses. There has to be a way to put these on the exisiting XD40’s and also to see more wraps in the division.  

4424 from Flatbush Depot has it. I saw it on the B41 this morning.

[Future ENY OP]

2 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

I've seen these on Manhattanville buses too

MHV, MCH and Quill all have the wrap. 

[Calvin]

No standard Xcelsiors on the B38 outside today. Currently, the B38 has over 40+ 4700 XD-60s to cover service. 

[MysteriousBtrain]

56 minutes ago, Calvin said:

No standard Xcelsiors on the B38 outside today. Currently, the B38 has over 40+ 4700 XD-60s to cover service. 

One 72xx unit was out this afternoon.

[BreeddekalbL]

As they should, we don't want tires falling off now

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156469543587541&id=268914272540

[Q43LTD]

I have this funny feeling that the crosstowns in Manhattan will be left alone and the north-south routes will be tinkered with in the redesign. 

[Calvin]

On board 5550 on the Bx12 +Select from Fordham University to Fordham Rd train, the rear of the LFSA: the aqua blue was peeled off (but not entirely). 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Calvin

[WestFarms36]

24 minutes ago, Calvin said:

On board 5550 on the Bx12 +Select from Fordhan University to Fordham Rd train, the rear of the LFSA: the aqua blue was peeled off (but not entirely). 

Typical Gun Hill... You should've seen the tagged up rear of 5561

[Jdog14]

2 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

I have this funny feeling that the crosstowns in Manhattan will be left alone and the north-south routes will be tinkered with in the redesign. 

You can't do much with the crosstowns besides send them up or down different streets to the terminal. North and South routes have more room to be messed with. 

[Future ENY OP]

3 hours ago, Calvin said:

On board 5550 on the Bx12 +Select from Fordham University to Fordham Rd train, the rear of the LFSA: the aqua blue was peeled off (but not entirely). 

 

Damm. Gun Hill can't take care of it's buses.. Lowkey Gun Hill is the old Yukon with shotty maintenance..

[EastFlatbushLarry]

23 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

As they should, we don't want tires falling off now

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156469543587541&id=268914272540

now we're doing a blasted slowdown... anything they can do to slander us, they'll do. how ironic is it that only during contract time are we painted as villains. this isn't out of the norm for management or the union to do, especially at MJQ or ENY (letalone ANY division hq, such as WF, etc... there are always a multitude of managerial eyes around Quill, WF, ENY during am and midday pullouts... nothing new) there's been alot of mileage swaps and other moving parts at all 3 yards, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the union to take interest in ensuring that the units received from MaBSTOA or Staten Island are road ready. and by the way, on pull outs, we're supposed to conduct full inspections anyway... hazard lights, wheelchair ramps, engine door security, etc. such a non story. 

[paulrivera]

5 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

 

Damm. Gun Hill can't take care of it's buses.. Lowkey Gun Hill is the old Yukon with shotty maintenance..

They’ve gone thru 3 fleet changes with SBS just to rotate their shit buses out. In contrast, the M15 just had their first fleet change this year.

The Bx12 and M15 started SBS about a year apart (if not less)

Edited September 11, 2019 by paulrivera

[EastFlatbushLarry]

24 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

 

Damm. Gun Hill can't take care of it's buses.. Lowkey Gun Hill is the old Yukon with shotty maintenance..

most of MaBSOTA has NEVER given a damn about the cosmetic appearance of their buses, going back to the old Coliseum, Amsterdam & walnut days. LG, JFK/FR, ENY, JA, CS & UP all subscribe to the MaBSTOA philosophy... if the b***h can run, who cares how she looks? i intentionally left JG, GA, QV, BP, SC, YO & EC off that list. also, KB & WF are very wishy-washy when it comes to cosmetic dressing of buses. ultimately, it depends on who the GS is. Gun Hill (100 Street/MV) never gave a damn. and somehow, historically they always seem to hand their garbage (once they've turned units into garbage) off to Brooklyn, KB or 100 street

Edited September 11, 2019 by EastFlatbushLarry

[paulrivera]

36 minutes ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

most of MaBSOTA has NEVER given a damn about the cosmetic appearance of their buses, going back to the old Coliseum, Amsterdam & walnut days. LG, JFK/FR, ENY, JA, CS & UP all subscribe to the MaBSTOA philosophy... if the b***h can run, who cares how she looks?

They better be careful because they technically ain’t civil service. They’ll probably end up giving a damn if MaBSTOA’s ever spun off and whoever takes OA over ends up canning them all and TA doesn’t take them in. These upcoming budget crunches are no joke.

[EastFlatbushLarry]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

They better be careful because they technically ain’t civil service. They’ll probably end up giving a damn if MaBSTOA’s ever spun off and whoever takes OA over ends up canning them all and TA doesn’t take them in. These upcoming budget crunches are no joke.

you mean in the same way NICE gives a damn about how their buses look & run post MTA? doing cosmetic work on buses, painting, wraps & dents are overtime assignments, based on a depots budget. all the depots mentioned usually won't budget overtime for vanity. if a gang of buses need tranny work, shocks, struts, etc that will be accounted for. and, transit just said they'll be painting buses less frequently. so even transit doesn't give AF how they look, as long as they run. also, state legislation would have to dissolve the 2002 TA/OA consolidation and attempt to contract out MaBSTOA for what? when they've spent the better part of the past decade attempting to assimilate Bus Company to TA/OA standards. that's not even a viable threat or reality at this point in time. there's not a private company around with the resources or manpower to "reasonably" manage the DOB. and NYC itself truly wants no part of this. the unions & the state know this. By the way, MaBSTOA, although not civil service, has civil service protection under the law and union contract, hence why ALL MaBSTOA employees that were laid off were brought back. no civil service protection = all would've been terminated. the union included this stipulation after the formation of MaBSTOA to prevent exactly what you just insinuated... back in the 60's. again, state legislation would have to revoke civil service protection for all MaBSTOA employees for any dissolution of MaBSTOA to occur, which would certainly lead to lawsuits, state & federal. and if I'm not mistaken, there's a part of the union contract that prevents privatization, something that TWU local 252 didn't have with Long Island Bus.

Edited September 11, 2019 by EastFlatbushLarry

[DetSMART45]

7 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

most of MaBSOTA has NEVER given a damn about the cosmetic appearance of their buses, going back to the old Coliseum, Amsterdam & walnut days. LG, JFK/FR, ENY, JA, CS & UP all subscribe to the MaBSTOA philosophy... if the b***h can run, who cares how she looks? i intentionally left JG, GA, QV, BP, SC, YO & EC off that list. also, KB & WF are very wishy-washy when it comes to cosmetic dressing of buses. ultimately, it depends on who the GS is. Gun Hill (100 Street/MV) never gave a damn. and somehow, historically they always seem to hand their garbage (once they've turned units into garbage) off to Brooklyn, KB or 100 street

So much for the grand Cuomo-scheme being maintained then ... don't think His Majesty is gonna be too pleased with that news. Especially with another of his famous tongue-lashings of the MTA over recent publicity of crap-strewn (literally) subway cars being taken out of service causing delays. (MTA: "Oh, people are just reporting these conditions more now. Nothing to see here.")

DDOT, same as MaBSTOA, never had concern for DECADES over "cosmetic" appearance, and applied the same philosophy: If the bitch runs, that's all that matters. Except that school of thought went WELL beyond just cosmetics into mechanical upkeep. Until 2015, it was an extremely rare case that you could find a DDOT bus that did not have the 8/35 air conditioning (the bus version of hooptie 4/50 A/C--open the windows and drive 50). I've detailed some of the other occurrences of shoddy maintenance before, with seats off their moorings, gunshot windows, the RTS tooling around on a busted kneeler, and many more never told including an RTS with half the rear bumper gone, another RTS with a rear door that only one side opened (also meaning no lift), one of the Nova GM Classics with a very noticeable "dip"/sponginess in the rear door steps, and of course plenty of stanchions (floor-mount or seat-mount) that were anything but secure and able to take a good pull. Numerous layover locations with absolute puddles of oil on the pavement (some a good 4-5 feet in diameter), watching operators amusingly show off how much "play" they had in the steering wheel, and one of the D40HFs from the 90s that vibrated the floor significantly when making right turns. Even had one operator openly say he hoped the rain held off until the end of his runs because his right windshield wiper didn't work, and that another operator the day before wasn't so lucky.

During all the years prior to 2015, the mechanics said they were overworked, even during the exodus years when population was dropping like a rock (2000s). When the service cuts were done before eventual City bankruptcy, the public began lashing out at operators, who were caught in the middle -- yet the mechanics kept saying they were "doing the best they could with those old buses." Yep--same mantra as the late 1970s until GM "gifted" the first RTS fleet off their Pontiac Truck and Bus assembly lines to the City.

Post-bankruptcy brought a new mayor, who canned the previous DDOT director and brought in someone who COULD do the job--Dan Dirks. One of the first things was to get a handful of Xcelsiors that were originally going to Massachusetts, and to get a rush-order for more placed. Service was brought back to more normal levels, with 24-hour on the three main routes in mere months. Dan Dirks talked to all of the DDOT  employees, from every level. He listened to the mechanics, told them he'd give them the hours/equipment they need -- BUT if MDBF did not improve, and in a BIG WAY, all bets were off. Operators were told the same: follow the rules, show up for work, run on-time, or find somewhere else to work.

So in the end, it all starts with not caring about the "cosmetic" stuff, which leads to further not caring. The public notices it, and starts leaving the system because the main thing they're interested in -- SERVICE -- isn't being met. Only so much blame can be put back on the public for the clogged roads due to traffic, because the whole thing is cyclical. Then when the money isn't there, jobs will get cut.

Trouble is, the MTA is such a huge monster of its own making that a DDOT-style turnaround isn't even possible. Cuomo can't do a Dan Dirks for the MTA. But his legacy will be for everyone to see daily through his buses on the street adorned with his livery.

[B35 via Church]

13 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

I have this funny feeling that the crosstowns in Manhattan will be left alone and the north-south routes will be tinkered with in the redesign. 

IDK, I don't see 2 local routes on 57th st, nor do I see the separate branches of the M14 lasting..... Some streamlining I believe is inevitable w/ those two corridors.....

Being blunt, I think they'll opt to make the M14 & M57 "true crosstowns" (hate that term btw).....

[paulrivera]

4 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

IDK, I don't see 2 local routes on 57th st, nor do I see the separate branches of the M14 lasting..... Some streamlining I believe is inevitable w/ those two corridors.....

Being blunt, I think they'll opt to make the M14 & M57 "true crosstowns" (hate that term btw).....

I can see both M14’s going down A, and a beefed up M9 holding it down on C. The M9 and M22 would then merge to achieve cost savings, because one consolidated route with 7.5 buses per hour on an 8 minute headway will be “better” than 5 buses per hour (12min headway) on the M9 and 3 buses per hour (20min headway) on the M22 separately.

This idea will be fatally flawed tho if a lot of people on Avenue C use the  train for any reason.

[Q43LTD]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

IDK, I don't see 2 local routes on 57th st, nor do I see the separate branches of the M14 lasting..... Some streamlining I believe is inevitable w/ those two corridors.....

Being blunt, I think they'll opt to make the M14 & M57 "true crosstowns" (hate that term btw).....

Well, since the M100 would no longer serve 125 east of Amsterdam, no one will bat an eye, the M104 loses service on 42 east of Times Square, everyone lost their minds. 

As far as those routes you mentioned, we may see this:

M31- no service west of York Av. (Goes back to its early '90's routing)

M57- no service on West End Av. Possible M12 extension?

M14- the Lower East Side Abingdon Square branch may get its own designation and/or extended on either end

[Future ENY OP]

Spotted in Downtown Brooklyn today. It appears that Outfront has the dimensions for Gleason’s buses. Bus 486. 

[Axis]

I miss the last Q44 bus by one light for 20 minutes because one stupid “Baby On Board” FUV didn’t want to move fast enough...and I now have to just miss the train from Jamaica to Cedarhurst, wait an hour for the next one, AND be late to work...because no advocacy group on here wants to care about the most underserved part of Queens/LI. Enjoy your stupid Patriot Day!

[S78 via Hylan]

13 minutes ago, Axis said:

I miss the last Q44 bus by one light for 20 minutes because one stupid “Baby On Board” FUV didn’t want to move fast enough...and I now have to just miss the train from Jamaica to Cedarhurst, wait an hour for the next one, AND be late to work...because no advocacy group on here wants to care about the most underserved part of Queens/LI. Enjoy your stupid Patriot Day!

The last Q44 bus? It runs 24/7.