BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Iron Valiant]

Just now, R10 2952 said:

Would love to see the MTA go back to the no-frills white with blue stripe.  I can't stand the Cuomo scheme.

How come you can’t stand it? The white buses look very dirty and are very bland. The new scheme is more futuristic IMO.

[R10 2952]

3 minutes ago, Snorunts said:

How come you can’t stand it?

Because I don't want to ride around in a bus that looks like it's been pimped out by Xzibit.  

Edited October 31, 2020 by R10 2952

[Around the Horn]

4 hours ago, paulrivera said:

Wait until Cuomo's out of office and they'll probably go back to the good ol' white bus with a blue stripe.

That livery was never Cuomo's he just accelerated it's rollout (and then spread it to everywhere else)

[Cait Sith]

My problem with the new scheme is the level of inconsistency it has brought to us, wrap vs paint, missing decals/scheme components, ect. The most telling signs of the inconsistency comes with the hybrids, some buses don't have the white stripe whereas 9500-9509 has them. 9500-9509 doesn't have all of those extra decals plastered all over the bus, whereas 9510/9560 and 0022 will have them.

The wraps, especially on the MTA Bus 5300s are looking quite awful now. Granted, those buses have been out 24/7 since they've arrived, but the wraps aren't aging quite well.

Edited October 31, 2020 by Cait Sith

[B35 via Church]

4 hours ago, Snorunts said:

....The white buses look very dirty and are very bland. The new scheme is more futuristic IMO.

Although the new scheme has grown on me, this is not an assessment I would make about the quote-unquote traditional scheme.... Buses get dirty; it's just that the color white makes it that much more conspicuous.... While you see the traditional scheme as being bland, I see the so-called Cuomo wrap/design as doing a little bit too much....

On 10/30/2020 at 5:41 PM, Cait Sith said:

.....But, this is an enthusiast's forum after all.

To me, the fact that some of you on here can keep track of (or otherwise remember) what quirks/oddities/minute distinguishable differences one particular/individual/specific physical bus has, I find quite astounding.... That, and keeping up with bus moves & what not.

...at the same token, I've often gotten similar assessments to how I'm able to realize/discern/remember/know (generally speaking) the riding patterns of each & every route in this city....

Point being, it's all relative.

[MHV9218]

9 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I get that, but still surprised anyone would remember such details.

We are all here for your amusement and astonishment. 

[Lawrence St]

Has anyone seen an XE60 recently? I think they're all OOS.

[Around the Horn]

6 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Has anyone seen an XE60 recently? I think they're all OOS.

there was at least one on the M86 today. You do have to remember there are only 15 of them.

[MHV9218]

5 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

My problem with the new scheme is the level of inconsistency it has brought to us, wrap vs paint, missing decals/scheme components, ect. The most telling signs of the inconsistency comes with the hybrids, some buses don't have the white stripe whereas 9500-9509 has them. 9500-9509 doesn't have all of those extra decals plastered all over the bus, whereas 9510/9560 and 0022 will have them.

The wraps, especially on the MTA Bus 5300s are looking quite awful now. Granted, those buses have been out 24/7 since they've arrived, but the wraps aren't aging quite well.

It's terrible, as far as I'm concerned. Buses should be painted, not wrapped. The appearance lifespan of a painted bus is 5-6 years (and even 12-15 if washed and maintained properly like the MCIs, though obviously that's cost-prohibitive for the rest of the system), but the wrapped buses start looking like ass after about a year. Not to mention the replacement panels in different colors, mismatched stripes, etc. What would make sense would be to just paint the buses blue and then use yellow decals, rather than to wrap the entire bus from the windows down like they did for all the XD40s and XD60s. It's a shame we're losing the SBS scheme, because at least you get to see the actual paint on the SBS XD60s and LFSAs, which looks makes them look way better. They could even lose the dumb yellow stripes and just do a nice blue/dark blue look, sort of like what the Fishbowls used to have. 

[Cait Sith]

19 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

It's terrible, as far as I'm concerned. Buses should be painted, not wrapped. The appearance lifespan of a painted bus is 5-6 years (and even 12-15 if washed and maintained properly like the MCIs, though obviously that's cost-prohibitive for the rest of the system), but the wrapped buses start looking like ass after about a year. Not to mention the replacement panels in different colors, mismatched stripes, etc. What would make sense would be to just paint the buses blue and then use yellow decals, rather than to wrap the entire bus from the windows down like they did for all the XD40s and XD60s. It's a shame we're losing the SBS scheme, because at least you get to see the actual paint on the SBS XD60s and LFSAs, which looks makes them look way better. They could even lose the dumb yellow stripes and just do a nice blue/dark blue look, sort of like what the Fishbowls used to have. 

KB already has a few 8500s with mismatched panels and it looks goofy as hell. 100th Street also has a bunch of XD60s with mismatched and/or miscolored panels.

They should've just had the local scheme as the base and the SBS scheme as the wrap altogether, having the SBS scheme as the base in some of these buses was just a terrible idea altogether.

I lowkey miss when the wraps were brand new, they shined real nice in certain areas. I watched one of my videos of 5382 when it was brand new and man, did it look and sound good lol. You can even hear the ZF Ecolife howl as it goes up the hill it goes up via the Q37 route.
 

 

 

6 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Although the new scheme has grown on me, this is not an assessment I would make about the quote-unquote traditional scheme.... Buses get dirty; it's just that the color white makes it that much more conspicuous.... While you see the traditional scheme as being bland, I see the so-called Cuomo wrap/design as doing a little bit too much....

To me, the fact that some of you on here can keep track of (or otherwise remember) what quirks/oddities/minute distinguishable differences one particular/individual/specific physical bus has, I find quite astounding.... That, and keeping up with bus moves & what not.

...at the same token, I've often gotten similar assessments to how I'm able to realize/discern/remember/know (generally speaking) the riding patterns of each & every route in this city....

Point being, it's all relative.

I've ended up learning more and more over time, and some of the bigger things stuck with me over time, like when the 3000s came from MTA Bus to Staten Island in exchange for the 1800s and 1900s, when Staten Island temporarily ran local buses on the express routes due to deferred maintenance, and various other swaps and such with particular fleets that I personally like. I guess having a large library of photos and videos also helps lol.

[MHV9218]

9 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

That livery was never Cuomo's he just accelerated it's rollout (and then spread it to everywhere else)

 

I'm about 90% sure it was a directive from his office given that it's in the State of NY Excelsior color scheme, which is what he dictated they repaint all the Bridge and Tunnels/TBTA cars in, as well as the new colors for the SAS and other MTA branding. The city's colors are different and the MTA's corporate colors are different too.

 

Quote

KB already has a few 8500s with mismatched panels and it looks goofy as hell. 100th Street also has a bunch of XD60s with mismatched and/or miscolored panels.

They should've just had the local scheme as the base and the SBS scheme as the wrap altogether, having the SBS scheme as the base in some of these buses was just a terrible idea altogether.

I lowkey miss when the wraps were brand new, they shined real nice in certain areas. I watched one of my videos of 5382 when it was brand new and man, did it look and sound good lol. You can even hear the ZF Ecolife howl as it goes up the hill it goes up via the Q37 route.

See that actually looks clean enough that it could pass as paint. But you're right, that gloss was just when they were new, and now they all have that dull/matte look to them. Only gonna get worse from there too, cause it's not like they can be waxed/I doubt the sun is that good for them.

Agree that I have no idea why the SBS was the base on so many buses. How many SBS routes were they planning on lol?

Edited November 1, 2020 by MHV9218

[Cait Sith]

4 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

 

I'm about 90% sure it was a directive from his office given that it's in the State of NY Excelsior color scheme, which is what he dictated they repaint all the Bridge and Tunnels/TBTA cars in, as well as the new colors for the SAS and other MTA branding. The city's colors are different and the MTA's corporate colors are different too.

 

See that actually looks clean enough that it could pass as paint. But you're right, that gloss was just when they were new, and now they all have that dull/matte look to them. Only gonna get worse from there too, cause it's not like they can be waxed/I doubt the sun is that good for them.

Agree that I have no idea why the SBS was the base on so many buses. How many SBS routes were they planning on lol?

The ones I can recall from the top of my head are 96th Street, and two east-west Brooklyn routes.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

We are all here for your amusement and astonishment. 

Good job... 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

My problem with the new scheme is the level of inconsistency it has brought to us, wrap vs paint, missing decals/scheme components, ect. The most telling signs of the inconsistency comes with the hybrids, some buses don't have the white stripe whereas 9500-9509 has them. 9500-9509 doesn't have all of those extra decals plastered all over the bus, whereas 9510/9560 and 0022 will have them.

The wraps, especially on the MTA Bus 5300s are looking quite awful now. Granted, those buses have been out 24/7 since they've arrived, but the wraps aren't aging quite well.

How long are these wraps supposed to last anyway? I laugh because I don't see how that sort of material would last very long anyway.

[Infamous85]

I greatly prefer the new scheme over the bland blue stripe. I don’t feel any sense of nostalgia towards the old scheme, it’s so boring.

[B35 via Church]

Bus inside WBP earlier this morning was on a tow truck.... My connection was instant, so I didn't get a chance to jot it down or anything.... IIRC, it was #6582 or #6852 (bus had the FP decal sticker on it).... Wasn't physically damaged from the outside or anything, but regardless, tough break.....

edit: I got off the Q54 at 9:08am, so if that helps any.....

Edited November 1, 2020 by B35 via Church

[NewFlyer 230]

I have to say as much as I like the new scheme, there was nothing like seeing a freshly repainted RTS and or Orion V rolling down the block. Even a good rewash could do the trick, but I do have to agree the wraps on these new buses start looking somewhat nasty after a while.  

[Future ENY OP]

46 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

Bus inside WBP earlier this morning was on a tow truck.... My connection was instant, so I didn't get a chance to jot it down or anything.... IIRC, it was #6582 or #6852 (bus had the FP decal sticker on it).... Wasn't physically damaged from the outside or anything, but regardless, tough break.....

edit: I got off the Q54 at 9:08am, so if that helps any.....

I’d go with 6582.  6852 is at Queens Village. 

[Ultimategamer12c]

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

Bus inside WBP earlier this morning was on a tow truck.... My connection was instant, so I didn't get a chance to jot it down or anything.... IIRC, it was #6582 or #6852 (bus had the FP decal sticker on it).... Wasn't physically damaged from the outside or anything, but regardless, tough break.....

edit: I got off the Q54 at 9:08am, so if that helps any.....

It has be to be #6582, dang... it was in service  last Friday too.

[B35 via Church]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

I’d go with 6582.  6852 is at Queens Village. 

45 minutes ago, Ultimategamer12c said:

It has be to be #6582, dang... it was in service  last Friday too.

I'll take y'all guys word for it - #6582 it was then... A QV bus would have no reason to have been in WBP, Lol....

So it must have been a Q54..... For dam sure it wasn't a B44, the B46 wouldn't have been lined up that far north inside the terminal (It looked like the tow truck & it (the bus in question) was hooked up a few yards behind lane 1 & lane 2.. it wasn't at, or south of lane 3, that much I do know), and the B24, B32, B39, and Q59 are all out of Grand... The driver of the Q54 I got off, let me off under that electric bus charger inside the terminal, so it was a quick scamper to the TVM before I boarded....

Outside of the B39, B44, & the B46, I don't even know the lane assignments inside WBP anymore; they keep moving the B60, B24, and Q54 around.... Which one does the Q54 leave out of?

 

side note: looks like they had eagle team at the junction this morning (well, Av. H/Nostrand) for the B44 SBS in the other direction... There was no more than 5 people on that bus, so looks like they aint have to do much ...

Edited November 1, 2020 by B35 via Church

[Around the Horn]

10 hours ago, Infamous85 said:

I greatly prefer the new scheme over the bland blue stripe. I don’t feel any sense of nostalgia towards the old scheme, it’s so boring.

The old scheme also just doesn't work as well on the modern, more streamlined buses as it did on the RTSes, Orion V's, C40LFs etc etc.

This straight across front stripe painted over 6 different creases or indents with super tiny front numbers so they fit on that one panel while also still aligning on the blue stripe just looks extremely tacky (it's likely trying to paint an ACS-64 in the same livery as an AEM-7. It just doesn't work.

And don't get me started on the LFSes with the straight front stripe that gets cut off by the windshield...

[MHV9218]

All I'm saying is, this looked better than anything they're running today...

 

 

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

We can all agree that the Nova LFS/LFSA wear the new scheme the best. Especially Novas with the front roof flares. The arched stripes over the windows align the flare, the bottom blue stripes that shoot upward towards the front of the bus aligns with the rounded curvature of the front bottom of the LFS/A, and the yellow stripes that shoot up towards the rear align with the systems on the rear roof part of the bus. 

 

A question based on new observations....I'm not liking how these new buses, 0022, 9510 and 9560, are coming with these aisle facing individual seats on the left hand side of the low floor section of the bus. Why must they always correct what isn't broken?  

Edited November 2, 2020 by XcelsiorBoii4888

[Lex]

14 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

We can all agree that the Nova LFS/LFSA wear the new scheme the best. Especially Novas with the front roof flares. The arched stripes over the windows align the flare, the bottom blue stripes that shoot upward towards the front of the bus aligns with the rounded curvature of the front bottom of the LFS/A, and the yellow stripes that shoot up towards the rear align with the systems on the rear roof part of the bus.

Speak for yourself.

[Cait Sith]

56 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

We can all agree that the Nova LFS/LFSA wear the new scheme the best. Especially Novas with the front roof flares. The arched stripes over the windows align the flare, the bottom blue stripes that shoot upward towards the front of the bus aligns with the rounded curvature of the front bottom of the LFS/A, and the yellow stripes that shoot up towards the rear align with the systems on the rear roof part of the bus. 

 

A question based on new observations....I'm not liking how these new buses, 0022, 9510 and 9560, are coming with these aisle facing individual seats on the left hand side of the low floor section of the bus. Why must they always correct what isn't broken?  

In terms of local schemes, it's between both LFS and LFS Hybrid, and the XDE40 for me. The XNs...if they didn't have the SBS scheme underneath, they'd be perfect, but the wrap ruins it. I gotta see the LFSAs in person.

In terms of Select, most definitely the XN60s and XE60s. I am not a fan of the Select scheme on the new Novas.