BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Calvin]

19 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many buses are needed for service on each SBS route? (specifically the Manhttan ones out of Quil)

According to schedule (totals):
 

The Bronx:

Bx12 - 30, Bx41- 12: Gun Hill

Bx6- 12: West Farms

 

Brooklyn:

Q44: 40-42: Casey Stengel

Woodhaven Blvd - Q52: 8, Q53: 20

LGA link Q70: 6-8

 

Manhattan: 

M23- 10, M34/A: 12, M79- 14, M86-16 = 52, M14: 40, M60: 22 Pool total: 114/140

M15 out of 146 St: 30-40

 

Staten Island:

S79: 24 out of 52 2019 LFS units 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Calvin

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

I wonder if the MCH and MJQ XD60 swap has something to do with how sluggish the 2019 XD60s are? 

 

Anyways, personally I would've let MCH have the new LFSAs for the M15 SBS, Flatbush have all XD60s for the B44 SBS and soon to be converted B46 SBS, and Quill have the mixed artic fleet. 

 

The DOB is just proof that the MTA isn't getting right anytime soon. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by XcelsiorBoii4888

[Future ENY OP]

3 hours ago, Calvin said:

According to schedule (totals):
 

The Bronx:

Bx12 - 30, Bx41- 12: Gun Hill

Bx6- 12: West Farms

 

Queens: 

Q44: 40-42: Casey Stengel

Woodhaven Blvd - Q52: 8, Q53: 20

LGA link Q70: 6-8

 

Manhattan: 

M23- 10, M34/A: 12, M79- 14, M86-16 = 52, M14: 40, M60: 22 Pool total: 114/140

M15 out of 146 St: 30-40

 

Staten Island:

S79: 24 out of 52 2019 LFS units 

Just corrected you. You forgot to post Brooklyn figures. 

[Calvin]

45 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Just corrected you. You forgot to post Brooklyn figures. 

 

4 hours ago, Calvin said:

According to bus timetables (totals reflected on units each direction added together):
 

The Bronx:

Bx12 - 30, Bx41- 12: Gun Hill

Bx6- 12: West Farms

 

Queens:

Q44: 40-42: Casey Stengel

Woodhaven Blvd - Q52: 8, Q53: 20

LGA link Q70: 6-8

 

Manhattan: 

Michael Quill: M23- 10, M34/A: 12, M79- 14, M86-16 = 52, M14: 40, M60: 22 Pool total: 114/140

M15 out of 146 St: 30-40

 

Staten Island:

Yukon S79: 24 out of 52 2019 LFS units 

Brooklyn (edited):

Flatbush: B44: 22-24 articulated buses, B46: 40 standards **may change soon in articulated mentioning

Oh! The B82 out of East New York-  18 standards out of 22 during the weekday

Edited December 29, 2019 by Calvin

[Future ENY OP]

28 minutes ago, Calvin said:

 

Brooklyn (edited):

B44: 22-24 articulated buses, B46: 40 standards **may change soon

Accurate. 

[Iron Valiant]

33 minutes ago, Calvin said:

 

Brooklyn (edited):

B44: 22-24 articulated buses, B46: 40 standards **may change soon in articulated mentioning

B44-SBS and B46-SBS, correct?

[Calvin]

8 minutes ago, Snorunts said:

B44-SBS and B46-SBS, correct?

Yes. For now. 

 

Also, the unit swap that's going on at MCH and Quill has a thought to if Stengel will get the newer 6100s for mileage purposes

Edited December 29, 2019 by Calvin

[Future ENY OP]

3 minutes ago, Calvin said:

Yes. For now. 

 

Also, the unit swap that's going on at MCH and Quill has a thought to if Stengel will get the newer 6100s for mileage purposes

That might be a possibility. However, I don’t foresee that. 

[Lawrence St]

I don't understand what point was on splitting the M15 and M15 SBS into two different routes and depots. Anyone know why they did that?

[Calvin]

6 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

I don't understand what point was on splitting the M15 and M15 SBS into two different routes and depots. Anyone know why they did that?

I believe there's a specific number at Tuskegee Airmen, Besides the artic fleet plus the M31, there are also express buses that rest there during the weekdays so they cannot add more artic buses at the depot. Hale was the option for the Select. 

[Jdog14]

4 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I don't understand what point was on splitting the M15 and M15 SBS into two different routes and depots. Anyone know why they did that?

 

I want to bet it has something to do with the amount of buses hale can hold but who knows. 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

7 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I don't understand what point was on splitting the M15 and M15 SBS into two different routes and depots. Anyone know why they did that?

the reason was because (in DOB's mindset) there was no feasible way to house all the combined runs on the 15 in one of the two depots mentioned (100 Street & Hale) there are over 50 local runs on the 15, while the select portion of the 15 is over 60 runs... no way could 100 street do upwards of 130 runs on the 101/2/3 AND approx.110 runs between the select & local 15, aside from the number of artics it would take to cover those runs with spares. 100 street can't fit that many buses in house, believe it or not, and if you've ever actually been in that depot, you'd understand this fact. they'd have to park buses on the street for that, and seeing as the community surrounding 100 street despises that building, there's no way they'll tolerate losing parking spots as well. the Bus Company express midday layovers have no bearing on why 100 street houses the runs they currently do or don't. please remember, they stopped that practice for a certain amount of time, and the amount of runs in 100 street didn't increase, nor did employee parking become any easier. which brings me to my next point... there's no way a depot like 100 street could potentially accommodate the amount of bus operators it would take to make that work. 100 street is already rather congested/crowded as is, with the employee parking situation i previously mentioned.

furthermore, DOB didn't want to house the number of artics it would take to accommodate 110 plus runs at Hale, including spares and the M1/7. basically, DOB is doing their best to keep Hale from turning into 100 street depot North, for reasons i previously stated. DOB has no desire to push the amount of buses, runs or employees in & out of that building that conventional wisdom would lend one to believe could feasibly run out of that yard. there was a rumor at one point about all m15 runs being assigned to Quill, but it quickly died on the vine. and before anyone asks "why not Quill" there would be too many dead miles (non revenue miles) from south ferry or from any created short sign/pull in sign from the east side to Quill. they didn't want to break apart paddles and basically divide m15's at 34 street or 42 street (which is why there are no built in m15 (local) short sign paddles to 96 street) the preferred method has always been for uptown yards to handle the 15... and keep the line paddles intact. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by EastFlatbushLarry

[EastFlatbushLarry]

also, to add to this convo, the reason why it was decided for the local 15 to be assigned to 100 street and not hale is because DOB had to accommodate the significant loss of RDO's/run pay 100 street suffered when they lost the 86 (first to SBS conversion, then to Quill)

the 86 once upon a time, was about the only way a B/O could see S/S (Saturday/Sunday) RDO's with decent run pay in 100 street. being on the M101/2/3 meant you did alot of hard work for a decent (not great) amount of run pay.. but you definitely had (what some would call) "shitty" RDO's (tues/wed, etc... any combination of days off that wasn't Saturday/Sunday or Friday/Saturday)

the 15 local throughout the day (ESPECIALLY the later pm runs (runs 045 and up) pay out (upwards of 9 hours) have a large amount of Saturday/Sunday RDO's, and no interlining, like the 86 used to be (the 86 eventually did interline paddles with the "avenue" (lex & 3rd) but it wasn't heavily utilized. if you did a 86 interlined paddle, it involved you doing at least 2 trips to fort George on the 101)

alot of senior operators pick the local 15 outta 100 street just as they probably would've picked the 86, avoiding the fight for "good" runs on the m101/2/3 altogether.

btw, you'll find quite a few former two-six operators on the 15 local (and the 31) as they refuse to pick anything else at 100 street. 

[Lawrence St]

So what did Tuskegee have before the M101/102/103/15 got transferred?

[Iron Valiant]

39 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

So what did Tuskegee have before the M101/102/103/15 got transferred?

I remember them having the M86 before it turned into an SBS route. I believe they also had the M96.

[Calvin]

1 hour ago, Snorunts said:

I remember them having the M86 before it turned into an SBS route. I believe they also had the M96.

With the M106 as well. 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

5 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

So what did Tuskegee have before the M101/102/103/15 got transferred?

originally 100 street had:

the M101/2/3 (runs 001 and so on, running into the 100's)

the M79 (before SBS conversion, runs 201 thru 207, then later on, runs 201 thru 204)

the M86 (runs 301 and so on)

when the m79 went SBS, 100 street acquired 4 runs on the M14 A/D (runs 201-204)

the M96/106 while at 100 street was assigned header number 4 (runs 401 and so on) 

[trainfan22]

The Bensonhurst bound B6 & B82 local have all door boarding at the new Rockaway Parkway bus terminal. No swiping on the local & limited buses just walk right on. ENY bound you still gotta swipe to transfer to the subway.

 

Also SBS 82 riders still gotta get a ticket from the machine.

 

 

[Lex]

10 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

The Bensonhurst bound B6 & B82 local have all door boarding at the new Rockaway Parkway bus terminal. No swiping on the local & limited buses just walk right on. ENY bound you still gotta swipe to transfer to the subway.

 

Also SBS 82 riders still gotta get a ticket from the machine.

 

 

It's not perfect, but it's a far cry from what it once was.

Waiting on the south side of the fence for a bus was awful, and everyone needed to pile on in the front.

[Lex]

Did 6040 really make it to Flatbush in a sorry state, or was there some sort of glitch that prevented the displays from working? I saw it a few hours ago, but I couldn't tell you where it was going, and if it wasn't for the fact that it was clearly in service on Nostrand Avenue, I wouldn't even be able to tell anyone what route it was on.

[Iron Valiant]

12 minutes ago, Lex said:

Did 6040 really make it to Flatbush in a sorry state, or was there some sort of glitch that prevented the displays from working? I saw it a few hours ago, but I couldn't tell you where it was going, and if it wasn't for the fact that it was clearly in service on Nostrand Avenue, I wouldn't even be able to tell anyone what route it was on.

It most likely still use the MTA BUS COMPANY codes and is unable to have the B44-SBS sign. Same thing happened with 6114 when it moved to Flatbush Depot.

[Calvin]

C40LF 231 was on the Q66 today with New York City attached between MTA and Bus.

[Cait Sith]

On 12/28/2019 at 6:57 PM, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

I wonder if the MCH and MJQ XD60 swap has something to do with how sluggish the 2019 XD60s are? 

 

Anyways, personally I would've let MCH have the new LFSAs for the M15 SBS, Flatbush have all XD60s for the B44 SBS and soon to be converted B46 SBS, and Quill have the mixed artic fleet. 

 

The DOB is just proof that the MTA isn't getting right anytime soon. 

Nothing to do with it. They wouldn't swap buses for that reason. They can't be as sluggish as they were in the summer since the heat is mostly on, it's the AC that slows them down. As for why they are doing this, I think they're installing the OMNY tech at Quill. I believe only a small amount of XD60s at Hale have them OMNY scanners.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Cait Sith

[Around the Horn]

1 hour ago, Cait Sith said:

As for why they are doing this, I think they're installing the OMNY tech at Quill. I believe only a small amount of XD60s at Hale have them OMNY scanners.

That would explain why those LFS's made the pit stop at Quill in the summer before moving to Staten Island

[MTAbus677]

Bus #3634 has no JFK decal on it. Spotted on the Q60 just now.