BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Yo0910]

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Edited September 17, 2019 by Yo0910

[Yo0910]

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Edited September 17, 2019 by Yo0910

[Yo0910]

That’s a crazy dent

Edited September 17, 2019 by Yo0910

[mtahopefully]

I recently pulled a bus out, when I finish and pulled it in I notice a scratch on it. I panic and didn’t write it up, whats the likely outcome?

[Lil 57]

Random thought: The  really needs to add more the AM service towards New Dorp on the S57. The early buses (eapically the 6:50 AM SB bus) get crushloaded to the point people are being flagged and students are late to school. A simple solution could be to split the 6:50 AM trip towards New Dorp to a 6:45 AM and a 6:55 AM trip. 7:06, 7:14 and 7:22 trips could be modified to leave at 7:05, 7:15 and 7:25 to provide 10 minute service towards New Dorp from 6:25 AM - 7:35 AM instead of every 8-16 minutes.

[Around the Horn]

15 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Random thought: The  really needs to add more the AM service towards New Dorp on the S57. The early buses (eapically the 6:50 AM SB bus) get crushloaded to the point people are being flagged and students are late to school. A simple solution could be to split the 6:50 AM trip towards New Dorp to a 6:45 AM and a 6:55 AM trip. 7:06, 7:14 and 7:22 trips could be modified to leave at 7:05, 7:15 and 7:25 to provide 10 minute service towards New Dorp from 6:25 AM - 7:35 AM instead of every 8-16 minutes.

The B64 going towards Coney Island has the same problem in the AM rush as well...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

On 9/16/2019 at 8:52 PM, Jdog14 said:

 

Those are what you see the most. You don't see the NG hybrids much anymore on those routes. 

Seems like a ton of those hybrids went to Manhattan...

[MHV9218]

4254 has a run-box from an Orion V, must have been swapped while an SI bus. That's a nice little throwback to see driving around Manhattan (and the 10 year-old paint helps too).

[Jdog14]

18 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Seems like a ton of those hybrids went to Manhattan...

 

And Flatbush unfortunately lol

[Future ENY OP]

On 9/16/2019 at 8:52 PM, Jdog14 said:

Those are what you see the most. You don't see the NG hybrids much anymore on those routes. 

Whatchu mean. Kingsbridge still has NG's.. 4365-4391, 4421 to be exact and Gun Hill has a mixed bag of NG's left.

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Seems like a ton of those hybrids went to Manhattan...

85% of KB's NG's are in Manhattan and a mixed bag of Gun Hill NG's

41 minutes ago, Jdog14 said:

And Flatbush unfortunately lol

Flatbush mostly has Grand Avenue and Fresh Pond and very few from Kingsbridge and Gun Hill.

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

31 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Whatchu mean. Kingsbridge still has NG's.. 4365-4391, 4421 to be exact and Gun Hill has a mixed bag of NG's left.

Both depots are down to 28 NG’s each and they’re spread thin on multiple routes so it feels like both depots don’t have much hybrids running up here or at all. Its mostly LFS’ up here. Compare that to the beginning of this year when KB had nearly 80+ hybrids.

[Calvin]

Looking at the Bronx division articulated fleet, both Kingsbridge and Gun Hill, almost 95% of the local fleet (not SBS articulated) are LFSAs  with 5% that are 4700 XD-60s.

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Calvin

[EastFlatbushLarry]

2 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

4254 has a run-box from an Orion V, must have been swapped while an SI bus. That's a nice little throwback to see driving around Manhattan (and the 10 year-old paint helps too).

casey stengel also has a 42xx NG with a orion V run box... can't remember the unit number off hand. 

[Future ENY OP]

On 9/14/2019 at 12:12 PM, Snorunts said:

If there is a list, then so far there’s 232, 380, 428, and 442.

Got another spotting for you. Gleason 395 also with the same wrap. 

[Future ENY OP]

8 hours ago, Kingsbridgeviewer382 said:

Both depots are down to 28 NG’s each and they’re spread thin on multiple routes so it feels like both depots don’t have much hybrids running up here or at all. Its mostly LFS’ up here. Compare that to the beginning of this year when KB had nearly 80+ hybrids.

Something tells me in the near future The Bronx Division could be losing its NG’s to Manhattan/Queens/Brooklyn. Most of the Division’s routes are articulated with exception of a few. 

[JeremiahC99]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

Something tells me in the near future The Bronx Division could be losing its NG’s to Manhattan/Queens/Brooklyn. Most of the Division’s routes are articulated with exception of a few. 

I’m thinking the same way as well. I do assume the following quantities:

East NY: 69

Flatbush: 61

Fresh Pond: 95

Grand Avenue: 36

Manhattanville: 200

Casey Stengel: 95

JFK, Far Rockaway: 55

LaGuardia: 50

Queens Village: 36 

This is credit to this lovely Not-a-prediction spreadsheet I made:

 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_B8Hu1hRaZ4hjToejxvy-FDPlBGSxEn3k_sW1-Vfc64

[paulrivera]

I like how finally the lawmakers and the media have finally woken up and have realized that artic bus route conversions = service cuts and longer wait times.

It only took them 23 years to come to that realization, but I'm glad it's happened. Now for future conversions everyone's gonna hold the  's feet to the fire.

[Calvin]

On the Bx16, does 1/2 of the route go through Westchester County?

Edited September 20, 2019 by Calvin

[Brillant93]

7 hours ago, paulrivera said:

I like how finally the lawmakers and the media have finally woken up and have realized that artic bus route conversions = service cuts and longer wait times.

It only took them 23 years to come to that realization, but I'm glad it's happened. Now for future conversions everyone's gonna hold the  's feet to the fire.

Longer wait times beat over crowded buses in my opinion. Especially if it’s by a minute or two. You don’t know how many times there’s been high ridership bus routes that are standards that are way overcrowded and you have to pass up several standard buses till you can get one that isn’t crowded. 

[B35 via Church]

6 hours ago, Calvin said:

On the Bx16, does 1/2 of the route go through Westchester County?

The Fordham bound buses technically run in Westchester for two separate small stints....

[along Mundy Lane] and [along Nereid av. from the eastern edge of the river, to just before it makes the turn down Webster].

Edited September 20, 2019 by B35 via Church
simplicity....

[Future ENY OP]

Today’s wrap campaign is Postmates. As spotted on a Manhattanville bus. Caught as I was driving thru 96th and West End. I will try to snap a picture if I see in MQ territory. More than likely this wrap won’t be in Brooklyn Division. However, it all depends. 

 

[Trainmaster5]

9 hours ago, Brillant93 said:

Longer wait times beat over crowded buses in my opinion. Especially if it’s by a minute or two. You don’t know how many times there’s been high ridership bus routes that are standards that are way overcrowded and you have to pass up several standard buses till you can get one that isn’t crowded. 

If wait times are increased but they run fewer buses, no matter the size, how is this better? If the ridership numbers remain the same all it adds up to is longer waits. The same amount of people are still being transported by my calculations. When it’s 20 degrees outside and Mr. Wind, aka the Hawk, is kicking butt I doubt if everyone will feel the same way you do. I never expected to see someone agreeing with a service cut , as per the Daily News article, on a transit advocacy forum. Just my opinion. Carry on.

Edited September 20, 2019 by Trainmaster5
Added content

[WestFarms36]

36 minutes ago, Trainmaster5 said:

If wait times are increased but they run fewer buses, no matter the size, how is this better? If the ridership numbers remain the same all it adds up to is longer waits. The same amount of people are still being transported by my calculations. When it’s 20 degrees outside and Mr. Wind, aka the Hawk, is kicking butt I doubt if everyone will feel the same way you do. I never expected to see someone agreeing with a service cut , as per the Daily News article, on a transit advocacy forum. Just my opinion. Carry on.

Do not even get me started on the Bx39's morning headways.

7AM - :05, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55

Now the Highlighted trip is my bus, but thing does not show up until 7:37 or later most of the time... Note that I get to the stop by 6:55am everyday, and none of those buses arrive before mine.

[Brillant93]

1 hour ago, Trainmaster5 said:

If wait times are increased but they run fewer buses, no matter the size, how is this better? If the ridership numbers remain the same all it adds up to is longer waits. The same amount of people are still being transported by my calculations. When it’s 20 degrees outside and Mr. Wind, aka the Hawk, is kicking butt I doubt if everyone will feel the same way you do. I never expected to see someone agreeing with a service cut , as per the Daily News article, on a transit advocacy forum. Just my opinion. Carry on.

Space and wait times are quite different and that’s what I’m trying to get at here. They’re giving more space due to overcrowding. Why should a customer have to skip two to three overcrowded buses at the peak of rush hour? Their wait time will be longer than usual. If an articulated bus runs and gives more space that person or persons wouldn’t have to wait for one more bus to arrive to get on due to it being overcrowded. I live in the southern part of Bk where they have several routes that have high ridership and growing up that’s what’s always happened. B41 overcrowded and left the house to catch a bus at a certain time, skip that bus and wait a few more minutes, B46, same, B82, same, B44, same, the list goes on. Now what should be the concern is the cut in service on standard routes without anything to accommodate it. 

50 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

Do not even get me started on the Bx39's morning headways.

7AM - :05, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55

Now the Highlighted trip is my bus, but thing does not show up until 7:37 or later most of the time... Note that I get to the stop by 6:55am everyday, and none of those buses arrive before mine.

And yet how would that be any fault of the equipment being used for a standard or an articulated bus? Seems like this is quite common across the city on a lot of routes. 

Thats a whole other issue, not bus type. 

[WestFarms36]

39 minutes ago, Brillant93 said:

Space and wait times are quite different and that’s what I’m trying to get at here. They’re giving more space due to overcrowding. Why should a customer have to skip two to three overcrowded buses at the peak of rush hour? Their wait time will be longer than usual. If an articulated bus runs and gives more space that person or persons wouldn’t have to wait for one more bus to arrive to get on due to it being overcrowded. I live in the southern part of Bk where they have several routes that have high ridership and growing up that’s what’s always happened. B41 overcrowded and left the house to catch a bus at a certain time, skip that bus and wait a few more minutes, B46, same, B82, same, B44, same, the list goes on. Now what should be the concern is the cut in service on standard routes without anything to accommodate it. 

And yet how would that be any fault of the equipment being used for a standard or an articulated bus? Seems like this is quite common across the city on a lot of routes. 

Thats a whole other issue, not bus type. 

Well  has been using Articulation as a way to CUT service. The Bx36 literally got murdered in the Spring Pick back in April. A route who's headways would be 5-7 Minutes, turned into 12-14 Minute waits. Of course there are Articulated routes out there with short headways, but in those instances they are routes which NEED demand, but it isn't fair for the rider who has to wait during the scorching heat in July, and Hand Freezing cold in January to endure such a cut. The purpose of Articulation is to provide more capacity for a given route, not to use it as a way to quietly eliminate trips while at it. In other words, you are not increasing capacity when you are eliminating far more trips to carry even more people that will overcrowd the Articulated Buses instead.

Let me create a scenario:

Paul lives by the Bx35 and the route is currently running 40 Foot Standards. Paul has to be at work everyday by 8:30am, and his Job is in Washington Heights on the last stop. Paul starts his trip at E 167 St/Grand Concourse. Now his trip according to myMTA is 22 Minutes from his stop all the way to Washington Heights, Paul wants to allow an extra 10 Minutes onto his trip, so he wants to be there by 8:20am. Now according to the Bx35 Schedule for the Spring Pick, Effective April 28, 2019 during the 7am Hour there are 14 Buses scheduled to arrive at his stop, those trips are the :00, 04, 10, 14, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39, 43, 47, 52, 57. Now According to the Bx35 Schedule for the Fall Pick, Effective September 1, 2019 during the 7am Hour there are now 10 Buses Scheduled to arrive at his stop, those trips are the :00, 06, 12, 19, 25, 31, 38, 44, 51, 57. Paul used to take the 7:57 trip which would arrive fairly crowded, that bus would be due in Washington Heights by 8:14am, if he would run a bit late, he'd have another bus due at his stop by 8:01am allowing him to arrive by 8:17am, still giving him time to go and clock in. Now post articulation, guess what happened to the people who would be on the 04, 10, 14, 23, 27, 35, and 47 Buses, well they are now packing onto the :00, 04, 10, 14, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39, 43, 47, 52, 57 trips. So now that you've eliminated a few trips those people are coming out of their homes earlier or later to pack onto whatever they get, and when the bus is exceeding its passenger load, far more people who are at the Bus Stops are screwed since they can't get on the buses that pull up and have to wait for the next bus which arrives way later than what it used to be, hence making people late to work, school, appointments, etc, and all while INCREASING the WAIT TIMES at a stop. So in this case if Paul has to toss up his 7:57am bus because its overcrowded, he has to wait for the next one which arrives by 8:03am, dumping him off exactly at 8:20am at his stop, then making him late for work, let alone if he were to toss up the 8:03am bus because it was also overcrowded, he'd end up in the Heights by 8:26am, now leaving him 6 minutes late to work. Now, I am being generous to talk about the AM Rush, but if I made a scenario based during off-peak, or Sunday Service, then it would be far worse than this. Now the problem here aren't the artics, it's the way  is utilizing it to cut service by making a fantasy land and telling riders that bigger capacity buses will solve the woes of their lives, without letting them know about trip changes, and/or headway increases which will pack buses even worse, and have riders waiting even longer for a transportation choice that should be prioritized instead.

Edited September 20, 2019 by WestFarms36