BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[B35 via Church]

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

That is wild. Are the local buses free overnight or what? The express buses that don't normally run overnight are now $2.75.

They're not supposed to be, but apparently they are for the "undesirables".....

While you still got people boarding through the front feigning like they don't know the fare is in effect, I will admit that most pax. are boarding through the front & paying......

=============================

Side note: I don't think it's a coincidence that the M99 & the Bx99 both end around UPS facilities... I didn't know that hub (or whatever the industry term is) along Greenwich, south of Houston was still open.... Saw the garages open with all the trucks lined up & everything....

[NBTA]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Yeah, I've been seeing some buses having those first 6 seats (the wheelchair passenger areas) folded up on the locals too.... Either there's been a stark influx of wheelchair pax. during those hours , or that's being done intentionally to deter riders from sitting in those seats.....

Be there as it may, the M99 I took last night had them folded up, but the B99 going back (which was almost SRO btw) had them down, with 4 out of a possible 6 people sitting in those seats.... Both of those b/o's opened the back doors for passenger entry at random points along the ride.... Still got homeless people sleeping on the buses & shit... I mean, I get that b/o's are trying to minimize altercations with (erratic) pax. during those hours, but at the same time, IDRC for the fact that people are still being able to waltz through the back like that....

At least those buses has seats..

1206 has the whole right side gone (yes I'm bringing this bus up again, cause it's funny).

[Deucey]

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Right, but did the b/o actually announce/apprise onboarding pax. that they were over 10 mins. late?

Nope, but we boarded at St George - so it's a given.

The S44 earlier was rushing to try and make the ferry.

[MHV9218]

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Side note: I don't think it's a coincidence that the M99 & the Bx99 both end around UPS facilities... I didn't know that hub (or whatever the industry term is) along Greenwich, south of Houston was still open.... Saw the garages open with all the trucks lined up & everything....

They're open that late? I always see them closing up shop by 9 or so, all the trucks are coming back by 8. Otoh, I bet the morning shift starts at 5 or 6 to get ready for the AM, so maybe they need the services for that.

Real random thought: who knew UPS was still using those big old trucks with a stick-shift and no power steering? There aren't many of them but there're a number, have to be 20-30 years old in some cases. Pretty cool for fleet vehicles, sure don't see that in the transit world.

[checkmatechamp13]

26 minutes ago, Deucey said:

Nope, but we boarded at St George - so it's a given.

The S44 earlier was rushing to try and make the ferry.

Did he only wave on the passengers at St. George or throughout the whole line?

Both situations I can understand (though I'm sure the MTA wouldn't condone it). Making that ferry is serious business out here.

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Did he only wave on the passengers at St. George or throughout the whole line?

Both situations I can understand (though I'm sure the MTA wouldn't condone it). Making that ferry is serious business out here.

PM it was the 42; AM it was the 44 but I live right at the end of the run to the Ferry so I dunno what happened before it got to Westervelt.

[Future ENY OP]

2 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

They're open that late? I always see them closing up shop by 9 or so, all the trucks are coming back by 8. Otoh, I bet the morning shift starts at 5 or 6 to get ready for the AM, so maybe they need the services for that.

Real random thought: who knew UPS was still using those big old trucks with a stick-shift and no power steering? There aren't many of them but there're a number, have to be 20-30 years old in some cases. Pretty cool for fleet vehicles, sure don't see that in the transit world.

The one on Greenwich Street is definitely open late. I believe the 43rd Street facility is open until 11 or 12 for parking trucks for the night.. Most of the trailers park on the Greenwich Street side for the night.  Those trucks head to Newark Airport to drop off freight for 2 flights than return back via the Holland and Lincoln tunnels to their respective garages. 

[B35 via Church]

4 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

They're open that late? I always see them closing up shop by 9 or so, all the trucks are coming back by 8. Otoh, I bet the morning shift starts at 5 or 6 to get ready for the AM, so maybe they need the services for that.

Real random thought: who knew UPS was still using those big old trucks with a stick-shift and no power steering? There aren't many of them but there're a number, have to be 20-30 years old in some cases. Pretty cool for fleet vehicles, sure don't see that in the transit world.

2 nights ago, I took the whole M20 (towards S. Ferry)... Left W. 63rd at 3:21am & we got to the Ferry at 3:53... Still scratching my head at the shake shack on the corner of Clarkson/Varick (where was that shit when I was working in the Village!!)... Anyway, I kept looking out the window along the ride & I said to myself, wait a minute, I thought that shit (referring to the UPS hub or w/e) was closed.... When I say closed, I mean permanently closed - as in, no longer in operation..... So long story short, this was within the 3am hour when all those bays/garages were open

There's this thing called "preload", where basically loaders start loading trucks for the AM run.... UPS/FedEx shifts are atypical; I know someone that starts at damn 2:30 in the morning at that FexG (fedex ground) facility out there in Spring Creek, and my (elder male) cousin's best friend works at that UPS in Maspeth & he gotta be out there for 4am.... Most of those package handler positions are part time gigs, although with covid & what not, they're probably double & triple shifting the f*** out of those guys.... 

As far as those old trucks, yeah, I would sometimes pass by those UPS trucks along Old Country rd. (I believe there's a facility out there in Garden City or Uniondale or something)....

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

The one on Greenwich Street is definitely open late. I believe the 43rd Street facility is open until 11 or 12 for parking trucks for the night.. Most of the trailers park on the Greenwich Street side for the night.  Those trucks head to Newark Airport to drop off freight for 2 flights than return back via the Holland and Lincoln tunnels to their respective garages. 

In regards to what I said above, they were backed up inside the facility (meaning, I could see their headlights... as the M20 I was on, was panning along Varick).....

So in regards to what MHV said above, I wonder at what time between around 9pm & 3am does that facility open up..... Just for shits & giggles, I should do a quick drive & back around that UPS facilty & see what's up.... Lol.

The 43rd st. UPS facility IDK anything about.

Edited September 11, 2020 by B35 via Church

[RapidoNewLook]

Is the  still printing route timetables for the "Take One" holders on the buses? 

[trainfan22]

Just now, RapidoNewLook said:

Is the  still printing route timetables for the "Take One" holders on the buses? 

Yes, I was on an ENY bus yesterday with a bunch of B83 schedules.

[RapidoNewLook]

If they would print timetables for the new -99 series routes, which depot would they be distributed at?

[Iron Valiant]

5 minutes ago, RapidoNewLook said:

Is the  still printing route timetables for the "Take One" holders on the buses? 

I was on a 2019 XD40 on the B52 that had Q55 timetables the other day.

[Cait Sith]

16 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

They're open that late? I always see them closing up shop by 9 or so, all the trucks are coming back by 8. Otoh, I bet the morning shift starts at 5 or 6 to get ready for the AM, so maybe they need the services for that.

Real random thought: who knew UPS was still using those big old trucks with a stick-shift and no power steering? There aren't many of them but there're a number, have to be 20-30 years old in some cases. Pretty cool for fleet vehicles, sure don't see that in the transit world.

I've seen them around on the West Side and in parts of Queens. The 43rd Street facility has at least one. I saw it go into the facility when I had to pick up a package there.

11 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

2 nights ago, I took the whole M20 (towards S. Ferry)... Left W. 63rd at 3:21am & we got to the Ferry at 3:53... Still scratching my head at the shake shack on the corner of Clarkson/Varick (where was that shit when I was working in the Village!!)... Anyway, I kept looking out the window along the ride & I said to myself, wait a minute, I thought that shit (referring to the UPS hub or w/e) was closed.... When I say closed, I mean permanently closed - as in, no longer in operation..... So long story short, this was within the 3am hour when all those bays/garages were open

There's this thing called "preload", where basically loaders start loading trucks for the AM run.... UPS/FedEx shifts are atypical; I know someone that starts at damn 2:30 in the morning at that FexG (fedex ground) facility out there in Spring Creek, and my (elder male) cousin's best friend works at that UPS in Maspeth & he gotta be out there for 4am.... Most of those package handler positions are part time gigs, although with covid & what not, they're probably double & triple shifting the f*** out of those guys.... 

As far as those old trucks, yeah, I would sometimes pass by those UPS trucks along Old Country rd. (I believe there's a facility out there in Garden City or Uniondale or something)....

In regards to what I said above, they were backed up inside the facility (meaning, I could see their headlights... as the M20 I was on, was panning along Varick).....

So in regards to what MHV said above, I wonder at what time between around 9pm & 3am does that facility open up..... Just for shits & giggles, I should do a quick drive & back around that UPS facilty & see what's up.... Lol.

The 43rd st. UPS facility IDK anything about.

That Sh*t Shack(never been a fan of Shake Shack) is also a test kitchen, similar to what Starbucks and Taco Bell does in some locations.

[Deucey]

48 minutes ago, Snorunts said:

I was on a 2019 XD40 on the B52 that had Q55 timetables the other day.

So stupid that they get rid of the schedules at bus stops people actually used to save $500k, but keep printing paper ones for distribution after saying folks could 'just use their phones' to see when the bus is scheduled to arrive.

[Lawrence St]

24 minutes ago, Deucey said:

So stupid that they get rid of the schedules at bus stops people actually used to save $500k, but keep printing paper ones for distribution after saying folks could 'just use their phones' to see when the bus is scheduled to arrive.

Are those new timetables or the old ones? Sometimes they have a surplus of the old ones they put on there.

[Deucey]

7 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Are those new timetables or the old ones? Sometimes they have a surplus of the old ones they put on there.

If they're not current timetables...

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

1 hour ago, Deucey said:

So stupid that they get rid of the schedules at bus stops people actually used to save $500k, but keep printing paper ones for distribution after saying folks could 'just use their phones' to see when the bus is scheduled to arrive.

Takes all the accountability out of the MTA's hand. Should they decide to change the headways on bus routes (which almost never is publicly noted), riders would be SOL if they coordinate around a certain time. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Deucey]

32 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Takes all the accountability out of the MTA's hand. Should they decided to change the headways on bus routes (which almost never is publicly noted), riders would be SOL if they coordinate around a certain time. 

Damn shame government agencies can't be sued for false advertising - damned sovereign immunity

[Iron Valiant]

I noticed that Navy St & Sands St on the B57 was changed to Sands St & Navy St on the MTA Bus Time app. On the B62, it’s still Navy St & Sands St. Did the stop on the B57 get moved?

[R10 2952]

On a side note, NJ Transit also been playing games- with the PDF schedules on their website.  Couldn't find them on the NJT site, this was a few weeks ago.  Real strange.

Edited September 11, 2020 by R10 2952

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, Snorunts said:

I noticed that Navy St & Sands St on the B57 was changed to Sands St & Navy St on the MTA Bus Time app. On the B62, it’s still Navy St & Sands St. Did the stop on the B57 get moved?

The temporary stop got moved back south of the Wegmans entrance so the B57 doesn't go north on York St anymore and instead makes a left on Sands St.

[QM1to6Ave]

17 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

2 nights ago, I took the whole M20 (towards S. Ferry)... Left W. 63rd at 3:21am & we got to the Ferry at 3:53... Still scratching my head at the shake shack on the corner of Clarkson/Varick (where was that shit when I was working in the Village!!)... Anyway, I kept looking out the window along the ride & I said to myself, wait a minute, I thought that shit (referring to the UPS hub or w/e) was closed.... When I say closed, I mean permanently closed - as in, no longer in operation..... So long story short, this was within the 3am hour when all those bays/garages were open

There's this thing called "preload", where basically loaders start loading trucks for the AM run.... UPS/FedEx shifts are atypical; I know someone that starts at damn 2:30 in the morning at that FexG (fedex ground) facility out there in Spring Creek, and my (elder male) cousin's best friend works at that UPS in Maspeth & he gotta be out there for 4am.... Most of those package handler positions are part time gigs, although with covid & what not, they're probably double & triple shifting the f*** out of those guys.... 

As far as those old trucks, yeah, I would sometimes pass by those UPS trucks along Old Country rd. (I believe there's a facility out there in Garden City or Uniondale or something)....

In regards to what I said above, they were backed up inside the facility (meaning, I could see their headlights... as the M20 I was on, was panning along Varick).....

So in regards to what MHV said above, I wonder at what time between around 9pm & 3am does that facility open up..... Just for shits & giggles, I should do a quick drive & back around that UPS facilty & see what's up.... Lol.

The 43rd st. UPS facility IDK anything about.

Yeah, whenever I track a package on UPS or Fedex websites, it always shows "loaded onto delivery vehicle" at some ungodly hour like 3:32 am, but the truck doesn't seem to pull out until 9 am  LOL

[Iron Valiant]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

The temporary stop got moved back south of the Wegmans entrance so the B57 doesn't go north on York St anymore and instead makes a left on Sands St.

Navy and Sands was temporary for the B57?

[B35 via Church]

6 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

That Sh*t Shack(never been a fan of Shake Shack) is also a test kitchen, similar to what Starbucks and Taco Bell does in some locations.

There is (or at least was, don't know if it's still there now) a five guys in that area also along Varick.... Mad at myself for never having gone there, before we got shipped out to LI..... I just used to stick to the lunch buffets along Hudson...

2 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

On a side note, NJ Transit also been playing games- with the PDF schedules on their website.  Couldn't find them on the NJT site, this was a few weeks ago.  Real strange.

Ever since they revamped their website, they now got them hidden off in a drop-down menu towards the bottom right side of the page (bus section, I'm referring to).... They pretty much want potential passengers to type in their O/D, instead of making it feasible to access the individual route schedules.... I don't like it either & AFAIC, it's a poor webpage layout......

We can clearly see that they're using Amazon Cloudfront...
This is a URL for the NJT #156 → https://d2g63oyneaimm8.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/bus_schedules/T0156.pdf

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Yeah, whenever I track a package on UPS or Fedex websites, it always shows "loaded onto delivery vehicle" at some ungodly hour like 3:32 am, but the truck doesn't seem to pull out until 9 am  LOL

Now imagine if preload started at 9am - it would render overnight delivery null & void for a lot of people & it would completely eradicate the concept of Early AM delivery (UPS) / First Overnight delivery (FedEx)....

Edited September 12, 2020 by B35 via Church

[B35 via Church]

8 hours ago, Deucey said:

So stupid that they get rid of the schedules at bus stops people actually used to save $500k, but keep printing paper ones for distribution after saying folks could 'just use their phones' to see when the bus is scheduled to arrive.

I thought they stopped printing the portable/tangible schedules also, when they started extracting/stopped updating the schedules on the bus stop poles.... You waste FAR more ink mass producing the former, compared to the latter.... Yet another example of money mismanagement from this agency....

Edited September 12, 2020 by B35 via Church