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4 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

You confined this to just express bus ops, but I'm still going to give my take on this in a general sense... As with any forum post, you can take it or leave it.

I've opined on the notion of b/o's being more cordially talkative back in the days of yesteryear (namely, back during the PBL days), compared to that of in the now.... Those days are toast, for a range of personal reasons that a myriad of b/o's will give... I'd say more b/o's started being more stoic/cold not too long before the unfortunate Edwin Thomas incident, and it (the stoicness) has only increased/gotten worse (as you may see it) over time.... I say "as you may see it", because for me, IDRC b/c I'm not a "good morning" person anyway - always came off disingenuous as shit to me... How many people that tell you good morning/good night honestly & truly give a f*** about you & your day (rhetorical)....

To sum it up, given all that they have to put up with as time has progressed (considering what you might dub as a societal regression in the process), I'm with the b/o's on this one.... The question I more have (not posing this at you) is, do b/o's see passengers in general as nuisances - or being blunt/vivid, potential aggressors that pose a threat to their physical person.... I have always wondered that, even before the assaults on b/o's started becoming more commonplace... One of many reasons why I could never be a b/o, which I've professed numerous times on this forum....

See, I'm not a small talker & I'm big on the how & why things are said, moreso than the mere content of what's being said.... That said, the thing with salutations is that there is this expectation that it has to be reciprocated... Just because I don't want to play the social acceptance game with you ("you" in general) right then & there, doesn't necessarily mean I'm impolite, miserable, or whatever other negative character traits.... You don't know what people are going through; what you may classify as impolite, I classify as maybe, damn, the b/o could be/or is going through some shit, so let me leave this dude/chick alone... Live & let live.... Guess what I'm saying in a nutshell is that people's situations in life won't easily have them having sunny dispositions... Too many damn crazies roaming around & about & apparently, the frequency of 'em & the amplitude/blatancy of their crazy is increasing...

With all that said, NEVER change who you are, to conform to anything.... You don't have to force yourself to get off & not say anything... Just because you're not getting acknowledgments back after being salutatory doesn't mean you have to stop being kind... As a pessimist, I feel weird even saying this, but I can be objective by meeting people in the middle - For you, this is where that whole "kill em with kindness" bit applies... Meaning, you can still say your good mornings/afternoons/evenings - regardless of reciprocity - knowing that you'll still feel good about yourself at the end of the day...

Yeah I purposely only referred to express bus operators because they deal with the same passengers up close as they get on and off. With the local bus, they're all in their cabin, and with the SBS buses and people boarding at any door, the driver isn't essentially near or interfering with any riders. And majority of local bus riders just walk on so the respect isn't necessarily there. Local buses are looked at mainly as people movers, whereas the express bus is a more commuter type service. When I take the LIRR and they come check my ticket, they always greet me and I greet them back and its almost always a normal and friendly exchange (90% of the time). I do agree that drivers go through a lot and perhaps some just don't be in the mood. Regardless, like you said, I'm not gonna let it stop me from being nice and greeting them. I would take offense sometimes because multiple people would be getting off, I'd hear someone ahead say "thank you" and the driver would say "you're welcome", then I say "thank you,,take care" and its silent, then the person behind me says thank you and they receive acknowledgement. That's what really triggered me this morning. It had me thinking should I just not speak to these people or should I continue to be who I am and not take offense to it. I'll do the latter, because I don't want to come off as disrespectful to the ones who are friendly and try to engage with their riders, and its always good to be polite on a daily basis, especially knowing that everyone is going through a lot, especially during these times. 

 

40 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

Exactly. Don't get me wrong, my parents raised me with some sort of respect, so if you talk to me up front, (and if I'm paying attention -- the other important part), then imma say something in return. It goes both ways though. There's been several times where express bus passengers don't say anything. I remember one morning I was doing the SIM25 replacing the operator for the week and I'm somewhere on Rossville picking up. Said "Good morning" to everyone. It took the 7th person on the line to say it back to me. The way that a lot of people go on about not getting a response is like we HAVE to send something back. Like @B35 via Church said, you don't know what's going on in our minds OR can't come to terms that not everyone was raised with the manners to say it back or are just miserable all the time or are just fed up with the job. This is NYC after all, not the South. Some of my neighbors don't even say hi to me.

Before we hit the "Well, if you don't want to be "customer service friendly", get another...": I've worked the hawk last pick and if the sun wasn't up and you wasn't my regular, then I wasn't acknowledging you. Point blank period. It's either you just walked on, you acted like your ish was right and act dumb after the fact, you had the excuse and kept walking or you legit paid the fare and I never seen you before. Or you pay you fare but you're quick to glance away when you see me looking at you (to say good morning, throw the head nod, eyebrow raise with these masks on), or don't even glance at all. (Eyes straight from Metro to farebox or phone to OMNY reader) A lot of people get on with the notion that the bus operator don't exist but make an issue when you throw it back in their face.

Anyways... I've been threatened, spat at, cursed out about why I'm not leaving (when I leave in 20 mins), etc. So why should I be nice if people can talk and act any kind of way they want on the bus? Which is why a lot of ops don't show any acknowledgement.

Long rant over.

I definitely understand the scenarios. If I was a bus operator (especially in NYC like you said, this is not the south), personally I would not acknowledge anyone unless they greet me first. They are entering your bus, you don't know those people, but at least they know you're a professional certified driver. It's up to the respectful ones to speak up first and hopefully receive an acknowledgement back. And same thing getting off, if you want to, you should only be acknowledging people who say something first. 

In terms of level of customer friendliness, obviously the local bus is more problematic, so I wouldn't expect any customer engagement unless asked a question. Like I ride the local bus before getting on the express and those drivers either continue to look straight or out the other window when people are boarding and since I probably am not going to exit out the front, there is no tradition of saying thank you after riding. But with the express, knowing the majority of riders pay and there's way less incidents, the level of customer friendliness should increase a bit, especially since you have to see those same people when they get off again. 

 

All in all, the world needs more kindness and love, even in grimy NYC. I personally feel that being negative and miserable only leads to more negative situations, but if you keep a good positive energy and high level of courtesy, good things tend to come back to you. 

 

Side note: Any express bus operator that has the curtain covering them gets no acknowledgement, because I assume they don't want any conversations or anything because of the extra levels of safety they are taking. So I guess if operators doing express don't want to be bothered, close up the curtain and look forward during each stop, lol. 

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On 4/18/2021 at 1:57 AM, R10 2952 said:

I can easily see this seatbelt idea blowing up in the regulators' faces; big difference between a 5-6 person car and a full-size motor coach.  An overturned bus with 30+ people trapped hanging upside-down just seems like a recipe for a lawsuit.

Either way it's a lawsuit in America. Better to pay out a nuisance negligence claim to those litigious folks who wore seatbelts than a wrongful death claim bc there weren't any seatbelts.

FTR: on those rarest of occasions I use a cab or car service, or ride a coach bus, I wear a seatbelt. Collisions and rollovers can and do happen.

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7 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Question to express bus operators. Do yall get aggravated when people say hello/thank you when getting off the bus? 

 

I try to be polite and say good morning when getting on and thank you when getting off, but I'm tired of no acknowledgements back. Unfortunately my personality doesn't allow me to just walk pass and not say hello/thank you, so I have to force myself to just get off and not say anything if I haven't received any acknowledgement getting on.

 

We live in such a miserable world, especially a miserable city, and its just sad how being polite is not even accepted anymore. 

Not really relevant to the topic at hand, but if this would interest you one of the local bus operators here is a regular media contributor who writes about his experiences. He also has a book.

https://www.theurbanist.org/author/nathan-vass/

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8 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Question to express bus operators. Do yall get aggravated when people say hello/thank you when getting off the bus? 

 

I try to be polite and say good morning when getting on and thank you when getting off, but I'm tired of no acknowledgements back. Unfortunately my personality doesn't allow me to just walk pass and not say hello/thank you, so I have to force myself to just get off and not say anything if I haven't received any acknowledgement getting on.

 

We live in such a miserable world, especially a miserable city, and its just sad how being polite is not even accepted anymore. 

I once worked for a company that fired a manager for harassing us salespeople for not saying "Good Morning" when we came in. She'd hover over our desks - 30 of us - until we responded.

That was California.

I lived next to people for close to 10 years before we ever spoke to each other. 

That was California.

So not talking to randoms isn't a weird thing for me.

Irony is that in California I'd talk to the bus drivers regularly - because I'd see them daily (and Sac RT didn't used to reassign drivers to different routes for years).

Pre-covid, if I saw @SevenEleven driving my 52 to the ferry, we'd talk. But never conversed with another driver in NY. Bus layouts on buses after Orion Vs make that an inconvenience since there's no seat by the door anymore. Thinking about it, only time I speak to drivers now is if I'm getting off through the front door, or they give some lame "you didn't wave so I didn't know you wanted to get on" rationale for trying to not stop at a stop on Richmond Terrace.

Take from that whatever you will.

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Checked bustime, and it's good to see the Queens express buses having usage that was similar or greater than before the pandemic began. The 4:10 PM QM2 trip to Bay Terrace is leaving Manhattan with 25 people onboard. There's also an inbound QM6 at this time with ten people onboard (I think that's even higher than a lot of inbound buses at that time pre-covid).

Edited by BM5 via Woodhaven
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On 4/22/2021 at 6:05 AM, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Looking at bustime, it's interesting to see some of the ridership stats on the express buses. The very first QM4 trip of the day has 29 riders after picking up. There's a BM2 bus towards Midtown (combo route) with 27 riders on at Kings Highway. Saw a BM1 in the tunnel with 25 people on. Good to see, although further up the line in the BM2 case, crowding may be an issue.

EDIT: Seems like the BM2 bus didn't make too many stops after Kings Highway, as the bus is on it's express segment with 30 riders. 

The majority of the BM2 ridership comes from the eastern portion of the route. If the Prospect Expressway were extended further east through Flatbush (not saying it should be), I'm sure the BM2 would run nonstop to/from East 32nd Street.

On 4/22/2021 at 12:49 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We've been trying to get them to adjust some runtimes on some lines for several picks, and they have a song and dance for everything.

You can say that again.

11 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Question to express bus operators. Do yall get aggravated when people say hello/thank you when getting off the bus? 

I try to be polite and say good morning when getting on and thank you when getting off, but I'm tired of no acknowledgements back. Unfortunately my personality doesn't allow me to just walk pass and not say hello/thank you, so I have to force myself to just get off and not say anything if I haven't received any acknowledgement getting on.

We live in such a miserable world, especially a miserable city, and its just sad how being polite is not even accepted anymore. 

After driving a lot more due to the pandemic, I can say that I completely understand wanting to keep both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road. 

In any case, the way I see it, if I say "Good morning" or "Thank you" it's up to them if they want to respond. For all I know they could be distracted by something (on the road or something personal) and they don't hear me, so either way it's all good.

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5 hours ago, SevenEleven said:

Exactly. Don't get me wrong, my parents raised me with some sort of respect, so if you talk to me up front, (and if I'm paying attention -- the other important part), then imma say something in return. It goes both ways though. There's been several times where express bus passengers don't say anything. I remember one morning I was doing the SIM25 replacing the operator for the week and I'm somewhere on Rossville picking up. Said "Good morning" to everyone. It took the 7th person on the line to say it back to me. The way that a lot of people go on about not getting a response is like we HAVE to send something back. Like @B35 via Church said, you don't know what's going on in our minds OR can't come to terms that not everyone was raised with the manners to say it back or are just miserable all the time or are just fed up with the job. This is NYC after all, not the South. Some of my neighbors don't even say hi to me.

Before we hit the "Well, if you don't want to be "customer service friendly", get another...": I've worked the hawk last pick and if the sun wasn't up and you wasn't my regular, then I wasn't acknowledging you. Point blank period. It's either you just walked on, you acted like your ish was right and act dumb after the fact, you had the excuse and kept walking or you legit paid the fare and I never seen you before. Or you pay you fare but you're quick to glance away when you see me looking at you (to say good morning, throw the head nod, eyebrow raise with these masks on), or don't even glance at all. (Eyes straight from Metro to farebox or phone to OMNY reader) A lot of people get on with the notion that the bus operator don't exist but make an issue when you throw it back in their face.

Anyways... I've been threatened, spat at, cursed out about why I'm not leaving (when I leave in 20 mins), etc. So why should I be nice if people can talk and act any kind of way they want on the bus? Which is why a lot of ops don't show any acknowledgement.

Long rant over.

I look at the farebox, dip the card in the thing, make sure I hear that "beep" (signifying fare acknowledgment), and proceed past the farebox & b/o towards the seating area... Some fareboxes you don't hear that "beep" in question though, which is where I take a longer look at the farebox than normal.... That's all & that's it.... No harm, no foul.... I'm not in it to make anyone's job that much more difficult.... You have passengers that do just the opposite - make all kind of snarky remarks (and then some) towards b/o's, while expecting that b/o to be respectful & "professional" (I've grown to detest that word over time, btw) at all times - which isn't much more than code for "I can do whatever I want to you, but you can't do shit in retaliation to me because you're on the job"....

Not me, not never... It's f*** the MTA & any other agency/organization/company that expects me to be the "bigger person", or otherwise take one for the team (so to speak) when it comes to defending myself.... I'll be the smallest MF-er walking in that case..... My name is not garfield, heathcliff, or sylvester & I aint got 9 damn lives.... Company loyalty, my left nut.... Not worth it...

Nope.

4 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Yeah I purposely only referred to express bus operators because they deal with the same passengers up close as they get on and off. With the local bus, they're all in their cabin, and with the SBS buses and people boarding at any door, the driver isn't essentially near or interfering with any riders. And majority of local bus riders just walk on so the respect isn't necessarily there. Local buses are looked at mainly as people movers, whereas the express bus is a more commuter type service. When I take the LIRR and they come check my ticket, they always greet me and I greet them back and its almost always a normal and friendly exchange (90% of the time). I do agree that drivers go through a lot and perhaps some just don't be in the mood. Regardless, like you said, I'm not gonna let it stop me from being nice and greeting them. I would take offense sometimes because multiple people would be getting off, I'd hear someone ahead say "thank you" and the driver would say "you're welcome", then I say "thank you,,take care" and its silent, then the person behind me says thank you and they receive acknowledgement. That's what really triggered me this morning. It had me thinking should I just not speak to these people or should I continue to be who I am and not take offense to it. I'll do the latter, because I don't want to come off as disrespectful to the ones who are friendly and try to engage with their riders, and its always good to be polite on a daily basis, especially knowing that everyone is going through a lot, especially during these times.

While disembarking an express bus, I was usually the person behind the person that exchanged salutations with the b/o.... What I used to mentally struggle with, was whether if I should say anything b/c the person in front of me exchanged salutations with the b/o, or not..... Eventually I got over that & started looking towards the steps whilst getting off the bus (if you're getting off on the street [instead of the curbside] & the b/o doesn't lower the bus, there's a stark difference in height b/w the bottom step & the black top, as you know).... One time I f***ed up my ankle getting off along Shore rd (don't remember if it was the x27 or the 37, but that's irrelevant), being that the b/o didn't pull up to the curb... At least he asked if I was okay or whatever.... I was the only person that got off at that stop (after having overslept) & I did say goodnight right after he said "take it easy" - before I mis-stepped, that is....

UP drivers used to be the most talkative & down-to-earth out of the bunch .... Can't speak to if that's the case anymore though.

4 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

I definitely understand the scenarios. If I was a bus operator (especially in NYC like you said, this is not the south), personally I would not acknowledge anyone unless they greet me first. They are entering your bus, you don't know those people, but at least they know you're a professional certified driver. It's up to the respectful ones to speak up first and hopefully receive an acknowledgement back. And same thing getting off, if you want to, you should only be acknowledging people who say something first. 

In terms of level of customer friendliness, obviously the local bus is more problematic, so I wouldn't expect any customer engagement unless asked a question. Like I ride the local bus before getting on the express and those drivers either continue to look straight or out the other window when people are boarding and since I probably am not going to exit out the front, there is no tradition of saying thank you after riding. But with the express, knowing the majority of riders pay and there's way less incidents, the level of customer friendliness should increase a bit, especially since you have to see those same people when they get off again. 

All in all, the world needs more kindness and love, even in grimy NYC. I personally feel that being negative and miserable only leads to more negative situations, but if you keep a good positive energy and high level of courtesy, good things tend to come back to you.

I don't hold people that happen to embark on a mode of transit where the fare is higher than that of the base fare, to any higher of a standard than anyone that embarks on "local" transit (buses/subways).... This is coming from a former daily LIRR rider & a lot of those riders are as classless as you can get.... Whether passive aggressive, tantamount to snotraggery, or being straight gully with the BS, I don't split hairs when it comes to disrespect from someone that's of a lower, higher, or same income class/bracket....

To your last point though, you are right - negativity begets negativity & society in general could stand to be way more positive than what it is.... At the same token, I learned a long time ago that humanism is a farce & human beings are self-serving by nature....

18 minutes ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

- The majority of the BM2 ridership comes from the eastern portion of the route. If the Prospect Expressway were extended further east through Flatbush (not saying it should be), I'm sure the BM2 would run nonstop to/from East 32nd Street.

 

- After driving a lot more due to the pandemic, I can say that I completely understand wanting to keep both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road. 

In any case, the way I see it, if I say "Good morning" or "Thank you" it's up to them if they want to respond. For all I know they could be distracted by something (on the road or something personal) and they don't hear me, so either way it's all good.

- Yep, and being specific, east of Utica (inclusive)..... It wouldn't even be at all far-fetched to say east of Ralph.

- Well at least you're one of the very few people that realizes that salutary reciprocity is optional & not mandatory..... @SevenEleven is spot on when he mentions passengers feeling some type of way about being ignored by a b/o.... Not only do some of these people want the first right to refusal, they want the only right to refusal.... Disrespectful & entitled as shit... It's of no wonder why people that know me personally have grown to respect my misanthropic disposition..... I don't get the "oh, he's just shy" shit anymore :lol::lol::lol:

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Thought I'd weigh in on this little discussion, while I'm not a driver myself it does irk me that some passengers just treat them as part of the furniture. Just because it's his job doesn't mean you don't have to acknowledge him... at the end of the day, he is doing you a service. I always try to greet my driver when I get on, I just feel it's the right thing to do. And if it's possible, I try to exit at the front, so I can wish the operator a good day as I leave. If they don't respond, so be it, but I just think it's right. B/Os are people too.

Edited by RapidoNewLook
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11 minutes ago, RapidoNewLook said:

Thought I'd weigh in on this little discussion, while I'm not a driver myself it does irk me that some passengers just treat them as part of the furniture. Just because it's his job doesn't mean you don't have to acknowledge him... at the end of the day, he is doing you a service. I always try to greet my driver when I get on, I just feel it's the right thing to do. And if it's possible, I try to exit at the front, so I can wish the operator a good day as I leave. If they don't respond, so be it, but I just think it's right. B/Os are people too.

Hell, if it's anyone I treat as (part of the) furniture, it's other passengers....

Edited by B35 via Church
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6 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Checked bustime, and it's good to see the Queens express buses having usage that was similar or greater than before the pandemic began. The 4:10 PM QM2 trip to Bay Terrace is leaving Manhattan with 25 people onboard. There's also an inbound QM6 at this time with ten people onboard (I think that's even higher than a lot of inbound buses at that time pre-covid).

Yeah, weekday AM peak usage is back up on my routes to pre-pandemic levels. The PMs havent quite picked up, but then again I head out at the "usual" peak times and I think many people come in at the "usual" times but are leaving early to avoid crowds or whatever

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3 hours ago, RapidoNewLook said:

Thought I'd weigh in on this little discussion, while I'm not a driver myself it does irk me that some passengers just treat them as part of the furniture. Just because it's his job doesn't mean you don't have to acknowledge him... at the end of the day, he is doing you a service. I always try to greet my driver when I get on, I just feel it's the right thing to do. And if it's possible, I try to exit at the front, so I can wish the operator a good day as I leave. If they don't respond, so be it, but I just think it's right. B/Os are people too.

Considering the fact that someone literally tried to sit on me on a bus, I'm also sure that some passengers simply don't give a dam or are just oblivious to their surroundings.

Edited by Lawrence St
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19 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Question to express bus operators. Do yall get aggravated when people say hello/thank you when getting off the bus? 

 

I try to be polite and say good morning when getting on and thank you when getting off, but I'm tired of no acknowledgements back. Unfortunately my personality doesn't allow me to just walk pass and not say hello/thank you, so I have to force myself to just get off and not say anything if I haven't received any acknowledgement getting on.

 

We live in such a miserable world, especially a miserable city, and its just sad how being polite is not even accepted anymore. 

Not on the express bus side, but I had a fellow operator back during the fall pick who brought up that he got called into the office one day because a customer had complained that he wasn't "courteous" enough to say anything. He pretty much said the same thing where he does not say a word to people, even when spoken to. Someone just happened to complain about it.

Myself on the other hand, I'll respond if people greet me/thank me, but that's all they're going to get. You get on, pay your fare, sit down and shut up. I don't even get into it with people who get on my bus with the stink attitude because they had to wait longer for a bus due to missing runs or a leader who got placed for running late. I just stare at them until they finish ranting. No time for it.

At the end of the day, I'm trying to get back home to my family.

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On 4/23/2021 at 10:01 PM, danielhg121 said:

So #2910 will most likely be making a final trip on the QM6 (10:30 PM) to North Shore Towers and it's unlikely that it'll see service again. The last MTA-operated D4500 with the green flipdot signs and Detroit Diesel engine. Apparently, the operator had to practically beg to pull it out for the afternoon run. I'm sure VG8 will be happy about this haha. 

Very, as will a lot of other people. All I get asked is when are we getting new buses? lol

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9 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Yeah, weekday AM peak usage is back up on my routes to pre-pandemic levels. The PMs havent quite picked up, but then again I head out at the "usual" peak times and I think many people come in at the "usual" times but are leaving early to avoid crowds or whatever

Yeah, in my office building, it's like rush hour at 3pm at least earlier on in the week anyway, as that seems to be when people head out, and on my floor, it seems as if most offices (there's only about three actually open, and three or four that are closed, including ours) have VERY light Thursdays and Fridays, so in order to avoid crowds, I come in on days when I know it will be dead (and after rush hour). I never come in on Mondays since I always hated coming to the office anyway on Monday (lol), so unless it's absolutely necessary, and I need to do something that can't be done at home, I work from home that day. There are also people coming in on Sundays, this way they basically can stay home until the middle or the end of the week, which is another good idea I do some weeks. If you do that, you probably can work from home until Wednesday or Thursday. I've found overall doing one or two days a week in the office allows me to be the most productive (I did not set up a real home office since I hate working at home), and there is always something I need that can't be done remotely, so that has worked best. My e-mails are synced, so those I can check anywhere.

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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11 hours ago, RapidoNewLook said:

Thought I'd weigh in on this little discussion, while I'm not a driver myself it does irk me that some passengers just treat them as part of the furniture. Just because it's his job doesn't mean you don't have to acknowledge him... at the end of the day, he is doing you a service. I always try to greet my driver when I get on, I just feel it's the right thing to do. And if it's possible, I try to exit at the front, so I can wish the operator a good day as I leave. If they don't respond, so be it, but I just think it's right. B/Os are people too.

It's a difficult balance. Some passengers have that same attitude, that is they board and speak and get off and speak, but stop speaking or whatever when they don't get a response back. I don't take offense at all. As you said, they are people too, and sometimes, they don't want to be bothered. lol I still remember years ago, some lady actually held up the damn line for us to get off one morning Downtown. We get to the first drop-off stop in the City and she's asking the driver what's wrong because he didn't say anything back to her as she was getting off. The driver goes, "Just leave me alone, God", or something along those lines. I chuckled to myself, and thought yes lady, the driver doesn't need to be your best friend. If it's a driver I know is cranky or doesn't want to be bothered, I keep it moving and say nothing, and you can usually tell because all other passengers do the same, otherwise, I say "Thank you" as I'm getting off and keep it short and sweet, or perhaps more if I know the driver, as was the case yesterday, and they reciprocate, but I'm also understanding that greeting every passenger is tiresome in and of itself, which is why I've learned to keep it short and sweet.

If I have an issue with service, I don't bother the driver either. Only time I'll say something is if the bus is on detour and no announcement was made or something like that. On local buses, I don't say anything, not unless a driver greets me or something, or holds the bus for me, then I will thank them.

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On 4/23/2021 at 10:01 PM, danielhg121 said:

So #2910 will most likely be making a final trip on the QM6 (10:30 PM) to North Shore Towers and it's unlikely that it'll see service again. The last MTA-operated D4500 with the green flipdot signs and Detroit Diesel engine. Apparently, the operator had to practically beg to pull it out for the afternoon run. I'm sure VG8 will be happy about this haha. 

Nobody here went full-foam and took 400 photos of the bus as it pulled out of 36th and 6th?? I'm shocked LOL. Good riddance...

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10 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Nobody here went full-foam and took 400 photos of the bus as it pulled out of 36th and 6th?? I'm shocked LOL. Good riddance...

Well, express buses don’t get as much attention from bus fans here as the local buses do so I’m not surprised that not many people went gaga for the coaches as some expected.

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I like that “new bus” (and train - mostly train) smell, so I’d much rather catch a Prevost on the QM20. So far I haven’t had very much luck outside of the three mornings I got a Prevost last month. I’m also not a fan of flip dot signs. They’re much harder to see than the LED signs are. 

Edited by T to Dyre Avenue
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30 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Nobody here went full-foam and took 400 photos of the bus as it pulled out of 36th and 6th?? I'm shocked LOL. Good riddance...

I got my vaccine shot the day before and I felt a few muscle aches later, so obviously I missed that. It is what it is. I knew it was out on that run that day, and could have made the outbound QM8 trip if that wasn't the case (that run starts on the QM8). Towards the last few days, it would rotate between a QM7 run, a QM6 run (the one I mentioned above), and a QM36 trip in the PM. Was trying to get an onboard video before they were retired. 

It was somewhat annoying to notice how unlucky I was catching those buses. There was a trip on the QM20 that used to operate it every day (5:30 PM out of Bay Terrace), but then whenever I went to catch it, it stopped using. One day I was gonna catch that bus, but I bought a plate of food and wanted to eat it, and it was raining, so I went home thinking it probably wouldn't use that bus. Lo and behold, the operator ended up using one of those units that day 😑. All the other times I went up, it was mostly Prevosts, but the D4500CLs on occasion. Prevosts was nice the first time, the other times, whatever...

I also tried catching 2926 the other week, since I noticed that it did the 3:00 PM BxM7 into Midtown, and then going out as a BxM10. Well of course the one day I went, it was on a different run (it did the 3:00 PM BxM10 , before going out again as a BxM10). 

The Prevosts though, I was able to catch like water, even as I wasn't expecting to. I was able to ride 2209 on the QM5 one evening about a week and a half ago, as it randomly popped up and I was in the area, but it was already nighttime. So I was able to get one ride in before they were retired. 

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38 minutes ago, Kingsbridgeviewer382 said:

Well, express buses don’t get as much attention from bus fans here as the local buses do so I’m not surprised that not many people went gaga for the coaches as some expected.

Ironically I caught it around a month ago, little did I know, it was gonna be the last flipdot in NYCT, so, bye bye that era.

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1 hour ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

They were too focused on catchin the R68 (C) and the R179 (C) in the Bronx.

It came out on Friday night and there were a few bus fans onboard, they took a few pictures here and there and the operator was pretty chill. He printed out a couple of transfers for the fans as souvenirs. All in all, a quiet retirement party so to speak. LOL

 

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I got my vaccine shot the day before and I felt a few muscle aches later, so obviously I missed that. It is what it is. I knew it was out on that run that day, and could have made the outbound QM8 trip if that wasn't the case (that run starts on the QM8). Towards the last few days, it would rotate between a QM7 run, a QM6 run (the one I mentioned above), and a QM36 trip in the PM. Was trying to get an onboard video before they were retired. 

It was somewhat annoying to notice how unlucky I was catching those buses. There was a trip on the QM20 that used to operate it every day (5:30 PM out of Bay Terrace), but then whenever I went to catch it, it stopped using. One day I was gonna catch that bus, but I bought a plate of food and wanted to eat it, and it was raining, so I went home thinking it probably wouldn't use that bus. Lo and behold, the operator ended up using one of those units that day 😑. All the other times I went up, it was mostly Prevosts, but the D4500CLs on occasion. Prevosts was nice the first time, the other times, whatever...

I also tried catching 2926 the other week, since I noticed that it did the 3:00 PM BxM7 into Midtown, and then going out as a BxM10. Well of course the one day I went, it was on a different run (it did the 3:00 PM BxM10 , before going out again as a BxM10). 

The Prevosts though, I was able to catch like water, even as I wasn't expecting to. I was able to ride 2209 on the QM5 one evening about a week and a half ago, as it randomly popped up and I was in the area, but it was already nighttime. So I was able to get one ride in before they were retired. 

Yea, I started religiously tracking it on Wednesday? In it's final days, it was pretty consistent doing that same Qm20 run in the morning (7:16-8:41 AM) but that run returns to the depot right after. Operator has a second half but he pulls out a different bus. 

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4 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

It came out on Friday night and there were a few bus fans onboard, they took a few pictures here and there and the operator was pretty chill. He printed out a couple of transfers for the fans as souvenirs. All in all, a quiet retirement party so to speak. LOL

 

Yea, I started religiously tracking it on Wednesday? In it's final days, it was pretty consistent doing that same Qm20 run in the morning (7:16-8:41 AM) but that run returns to the depot right after. Operator has a second half but he pulls out a different bus. 

How did all those fans know the bus was coming out for its final run? Certainly no MTA official sendoff like the RTS had

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