BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Lawrence St]

7 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I finally saw the Eagle Team enforcing fares on the M34 this week. I constantly see a van with those guys at Main and Union, but I never see them actually go on and check the Q44

Anyway, with OMNY, if you have a tapping card, couldnt someone avoid paying 99% of the time and just stay near the scanner and tap it if they see the Eagle Team at the stop? They don't exactly blend in like plainclothes cops lol. 

 

Of course, that won't work if you don't have a tappable card, but once the OMNY card.comes out, everyone can get it

This is exactly why I don't like OMNY on buses. This just calls for a higher amount of fare evasion, and the is already in a financial hardship as it is.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I finally saw the Eagle Team enforcing fares on the M34 this week. I constantly see a van with those guys at Main and Union, but I never see them actually go on and check the Q44

Anyway, with OMNY, if you have a tapping card, couldnt someone avoid paying 99% of the time and just stay near the scanner and tap it if they see the Eagle Team at the stop? They don't exactly blend in like plainclothes cops lol. 

 

Of course, that won't work if you don't have a tappable card, but once the OMNY card.comes out, everyone can get it

I have a Customer Service Rep. in my group that responds on Twitter. I asked them how the Eagle Teams check if you paid with OMNY on SBS. Apparently, they have a scanner they use and you tap your card for them to check that you paid. 

[LegoBrickBreaker101]

17 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I have a Customer Service Rep. in my group that responds on Twitter. I asked them how the Eagle Teams check if you paid with OMNY on SBS. Apparently, they have a scanner they use and you tap your card for them to check that you paid. 

That scanner still works if you use your phone, right? I tend to use Apple Pay when I take the subway / local bus and haven’t used it on the SBS routes yet.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

40 minutes ago, LegoBrickBreaker101 said:

That scanner still works if you use your phone, right? I tend to use Apple Pay when I take the subway / local bus and haven’t used it on the SBS routes yet.

I would imagine so. No other way to check unless you log into your OMNY account, but that shouldn't be necessary. They are apparently doing blitzes again. Out by Hylan Blvd this morning... 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

This is exactly why I don't like OMNY on buses. This just calls for a higher amount of fare evasion, and the is already in a financial hardship as it is.

Oh please. There was high fare evasion on SBS lines well before OMNY came out. The trick was to just pass your SBS ticket to someone as you got off. I've seen that and had it happen to me before. I just looked at them like they were crazy and kept it moving. In any event, there were so many broken SBS machines on lines like the M15SBS that I'm sure the  made some of it back for the overcharges. I had one at 86th and Columbus. Went to pay. No receipt... So I go to another machine. Get a receipt. Transfer at 86th and 3rd for the BxM1, and it takes off two express bus fares instead of the one with the $2.75 already paid, so in essence, I paid $5.50 for the M86 and $8.00 for the express bus. I never bothered to even contest it, since it would be ages before I got my money back anyway.

[trainfan22]

On NJ Transit, you can use the app to buy light rail tickets and there's an three minute timer from when you activate until the ticket is active, perhaps OMNY will have an similar feature for SBS routes.

[MysteriousBtrain]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Oh please. There was high fare evasion on SBS lines well before OMNY came out. The trick was to just pass your SBS ticket to someone as you got off. I've seen that and had it happen to me before. I just looked at them like they were crazy and kept it moving. In any event, there were so many broken SBS machines on lines like the M15SBS that I'm sure the  made some of it back for the overcharges. I had one at 86th and Columbus. Went to pay. No receipt... So I go to another machine. Get a receipt. Transfer at 86th and 3rd for the BxM1, and it takes off two express bus fares instead of the one with the $2.75 already paid, so in essence, I paid $5.50 for the M86 and $8.00 for the express bus. I never bothered to even contest it, since it would be ages before I got my money back anyway.

In that case I take a picture of the machine in case eagle decides to appear especially if multiple don't want to work.

Apparently the official policy is if the SBS machine(s) don't work you let the bus driver know and they must wait for you at the next stop so you can get a ticket. But it doesn't always work in your favor because at times we have so many broken machines and that in itself eats up time. I heard during the beginning of the Q44-SBS a whole set of machines were out at Jamaica for months because of a Con Ed power problem and that's exactly what happened.

Edited January 29, 2021 by MysteriousBtrain

[Via Garibaldi 8]

25 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

In that case I take a picture of the machine in case eagle decides to appear especially if multiple don't want to work.

Apparently the official policy is if the SBS machine(s) don't work you let the bus driver know and they must wait for you at the next stop so you can get a ticket. But it doesn't always work in your favor because at times we have so many broken machines and that in itself eats up time. I heard during the beginning of the Q44-SBS a whole set of machines were out at Jamaica for months because of a Con Ed power problem and that's exactly what happened.

There have always been a TON broken on the M15. I once got off the BxM1 at 34th and Lex. Walked over to the M15 at 34nd and 2nd. All of the machines were out of order, so myself and several other passengers just rode by the front of the bus, got off at the next stop, and got tickets and he waited. I have not taken an SBS line in over a year though. Too much aggravation with that. I just grab an Uber if anything.  If it isn't Southbound, it's Northbound where you have stops where all of the ticket machines are broken, and then if you get slammed with a summons for not paying, you've got to try to fight it and take off from work to do so. No thanks. Granted, I don't take the SBS lines very often at all, but in all of the years that SBS has existed, I have only been checked I think four or five times. Twice on the M79, once on the M15, and twice on the M86. What's stupid is they will hold up the entire bus at a stop, have four of them get on and go around checking tickets.  That can take a good 10 minutes. Some people aren't too bright and misplace their receipt or lose it in the time they get on (don't ask me how). I have seen people pulled off of the M79 for that reason. They try not to give tickets if it's a situation where the person can't find their ticket or have an unlimited Metrocard. They try to give warnings because some people don't read or pay attention, but still. Your ticket should be close by so they can check and keep it moving, which is what I do.  Put in your shirt pocket or somewhere where you can get it quickly.

  

2 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

On NJ Transit, you can use the app to buy light rail tickets and there's an three minute timer from when you activate until the ticket is active, perhaps OMNY will have an similar feature for SBS routes.

NJ Transit makes it super easy to buy tickets on your phone for the bus or train. I occasionally take the express bus in New Jersey for work when I have meetings just across the river, and I buy my tickets wherever.  They save the bus lines you use too, so you don't have to input that each time, and you don't have to figure out which zone either. Just put your two and from destination and it gives you the price and zone, activate the ticket before you board and show it to the driver. On the express buses, they have a scanner, which verifies the ticket, but it seems very few drivers even bother with it, and when I have used it, they STILL ask where I'm going, which is annoying, so no point in verifying it if I have to show them the ticket anyway.  They'll be an OMNY app at some point, and I expect it to be similar in some ways to the e-tickets you buy for the LIRR and Metro-North.

 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[NBTA]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There have always been a TON broken on the M15. I once got off the BxM1 at 34th and Lex. Walked over to the M15 at 34nd and 2nd. All of the machines were out of order, so myself and several other passengers just rode by the front of the bus, got off at the next stop, and got tickets and he waited. I have not taken an SBS line in over a year though. Too much aggravation with that. I just grab an Uber if anything.  If it isn't Southbound, it's Northbound where you have stops where all of the ticket machines are broken, and then if you get slammed with a summons for not paying, you've got to try to fight it and take off from work to do so. No thanks. Granted, I don't take the SBS lines very often at all, but in all of the years that SBS has existed, I have only been checked I think four or five times. Twice on the M79, once on the M15, and twice on the M86. What's stupid is they will hold up the entire bus at a stop, have four of them get on and go around checking tickets.  That can take a good 10 minutes. Some people aren't too bright and misplace their receipt or lose it in the time they get on (don't ask me how). I have seen people pulled off of the M79 for that reason. They try not to give tickets if it's a situation where the person can't find their ticket or have an unlimited Metrocard. They try to give warnings because some people don't read or pay attention, but still. Your ticket should be close by so they can check and keep it moving, which is what I do.  Put in your shirt pocket or somewhere where you can get it quickly.

  

NJ Transit makes it super easy to buy tickets on your phone for the bus or train. I occasionally take the express bus in New Jersey for work when I have meetings just across the river, and I buy my tickets wherever.  They save the bus lines you use too, so you don't have to input that each time, and you don't have to figure out which zone either. Just put your two and from destination and it gives you the price and zone, activate the ticket before you board and show it to the driver. On the express buses, they have a scanner, which verifies the ticket, but it seems very few drivers even bother with it, and when I have used it, they STILL ask where I'm going, which is annoying, so no point in verifying it if I have to show them the ticket anyway.  They'll be an OMNY app at some point, and I expect it to be similar in some ways to the e-tickets you buy for the LIRR and Metro-North.

 

 

Both machines didn't work at the terminal stop of the Q44 (in the Bronx), so that shows you a bit of trickery.

[MHV9218]

3861 still rocking the TU stickers after a while moved.

[QM1to6Ave]

8 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I would imagine so. No other way to check unless you log into your OMNY account, but that shouldn't be necessary. They are apparently doing blitzes again. Out by Hylan Blvd this morning... 

I wonder how much info they see on the scanner (can they see all my recent purchases with the card?), and like @trainfan22 said, I wonder if they can tell when you scanned it or if they just see a green "okay" screen or something like that. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I wonder how much info they see on the scanner (can they see all my recent purchases with the card?), and like @trainfan22 said, I wonder if they can tell when you scanned it or if they just see a green "okay" screen or something like that. 

Probably just verification info.

[danielhg121]

On the citizen app, there are reports of an MTA Bus Fire in the Bronx at Bartow and Edson Avenues. There's are some recordings from the firefighters confirming it was an MTA Bus involved. Anyone have more info on this?

[Shawn Williams]

14 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

On the citizen app, there are reports of an MTA Bus Fire in the Bronx at Bartow and Edson Avenues. There's are some recordings from the firefighters confirming it was an MTA Bus involved. Anyone have more info on this?

the fire happened on the Bx12 smartbus Novas

[DCTransitFilms]

10 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

On the citizen app, there are reports of an MTA Bus Fire in the Bronx at Bartow and Edson Avenues. There's are some recordings from the firefighters confirming it was an MTA Bus involved. Anyone have more info on this?

 

10 hours ago, Shawn Williams said:

the fire happened on the Bx12 smartbus Novas

I heard it was 5480 one of the 2016 ones. Gunhill bus

Edited January 30, 2021 by DCTransitFilms

[R10 2952]

Doing my best to not single out individuals in particular, but who cares about the bus? It's an inanimate object.  The more important question is whether the driver and passengers made it out okay.

Edited January 31, 2021 by R10 2952

[MysteriousBtrain]

13 minutes ago, R10 2952 said:

Doing my best to not single out individuals in particular, but who cares about the bus? It's an inanimate object.  The more important question is whether the driver and passengers made it out okay.

Always one or two people that are gonna point out a bus instead of caring about irreplaceable lives especially with the recent incidents so at this point I don't even pay them mind anymore.

[Iron Valiant]

33 minutes ago, R10 2952 said:

Doing my best to not single out individuals in particular, but who cares about the bus? It's an inanimate object.  The more important question is whether the driver and passengers made it out okay.

In their defense, this is the BUS - Random Thoughts Thread.

[trainfan22]

I wonder if BK div will give Manthattan div depot loans like they did in years past. Quill and the BX got loaners from SI and Queens but who will loan to 100th street depot..? Too bad FLA most likely will not loan out NGs to UP for B1 service, as last time the artics were pulled Ulmer had enough spare 40 footers to cover the B1 without loaners from other depots. 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by trainfan22

[MHV9218]

31 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

I wonder if BK div will give Manthattan div depot loans like they did in years past. Quill and the BX got loaners from SI and Queens but who will loan to 100th street depot..? Too bad FLA most likely will not loan out NGs to UP for B1 service, as last time the artics were pulled Ulmer had enough spare 40 footers to cover the B1 without loaners from other depots. 

I would look to the last storm for a blueprint - probably some FP and/or EN buses in the mix, but it's way easier to pull from SI than BK as a rule. Any Brooklyn buses that are coming have not yet been moved. But Quill has enough SI buses to ground its artics and to loan to some other depots. 

[happy283]

Does the MTA have a plan yet regarding the snow and what days artics will be grounded?

[MHV9218]

1 hour ago, happy283 said:

Does the MTA have a plan yet regarding the snow and what days artics will be grounded?

I would look at what happened during the last storm. MJQ kept SI loans for 2 full days of service – as long as there is significant accumulation on the ground and artics are grounded/buses are chained, expect at least some of the loans to stay. In that case, the storm hit on an afternoon, so the loans were out before and after the snowfall. In this case, I think we're expecting overnight Sunday, so it's possible they'll run loans Monday only. If it ends up 5" of snow and they plow it quickly, it could be a one day affair. If it's 12" and it freezes over night, then it could be a couple days. Really depends on what kind of storm hits and the condition of the streets.

For what it's worth, OH had artics chained just the other day this week (I forget what day it was, Tuesday or something) when we had flurries. DOB has been burned before on this (2010 was the year that changed everything) and I wouldn't expect them to mess around here.

[happy283]

3 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

I would look at what happened during the last storm. MJQ kept SI loans for 2 full days of service – as long as there is significant accumulation on the ground and artics are grounded/buses are chained, expect at least some of the loans to stay. In that case, the storm hit on an afternoon, so the loans were out before and after the snowfall. In this case, I think we're expecting overnight Sunday, so it's possible they'll run loans Monday only. If it ends up 5" of snow and they plow it quickly, it could be a one day affair. If it's 12" and it freezes over night, then it could be a couple days. Really depends on what kind of storm hits and the condition of the streets.

For what it's worth, OH had artics chained just the other day this week (I forget what day it was, Tuesday or something) when we had flurries. DOB has been burned before on this (2010 was the year that changed everything) and I wouldn't expect them to mess around here.

From what I am hearing, Snow is expected from sunday night until tuesday afternoon with a total of 6-10 inches. Doesnt that look like the loans will stay for two days like last. Based on timing, the storm looks like it will stay for a longer duration than last time, and then the loans stayed for 2 days. Even the Bronx kept their loans through mid afternoon on the second day.

[Cait Sith]

4 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Doing my best to not single out individuals in particular, but who cares about the bus? It's an inanimate object.  The more important question is whether the driver and passengers made it out okay.

See below.

4 hours ago, Snorunts said:

In their defense, this is the BUS - Random Thoughts Thread.

^This.

Also, at least the comment isn't really about omgwillthatbusberepaired!? or anything like that. Those comments in particular are the ones folks should call out.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Cait Sith

[Calvin]

From the snowstorm that happened last month, was Staten Island Limited service suspended or running regularly? This reflects the rush hour service as S.I units were in Manhattan and the Bronx to prevent the Articulated routes running their buses through the heavy snow.