BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Calvin]

There used to be some of the 2400s numbered Prevosts out of Yukon while the other 1/2 is at Ulmer Park. Being moved to Meredith depot, was it all for mileage or that Yukon perfer to have 1 batch of the Prevost units in 1 group (being 2490-2789 series)

Edited May 7, 2021 by Calvin

[SevenEleven]

4 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Just a random question, since the Staten Island Ferry operates once an hour overnight now, why didn't the  revert the staten island buses that meet the ferry back to hourly headways overnight since most of the ridership is to/from the ferry at that hour. I remember when the  tried to do that a couple years ago and it failed, but that was when the ferry was running every 30 minutes overnight. And they did revert the SIR to hourly overnight as well.

And take away our work? Nah. 

And as @Deucey and @Via Garibaldi 8 mentioned, people do ride on the non boat headways overnight. The train really doesn't have that kind of ridership overnight plus there's a bus alternative for like 95% of the stops.

[SevenEleven]

12 minutes ago, Calvin said:

There used to be some of the 2400s numbered Prevosts out of Yukon while the other 1/2 is at Ulmer Park. Being moved to Meredith depot, was it all for mileage or that Yukon perfer to have 1 batch of the Prevost units in 1 group (being 2490-2789 series)

Mileage. Yukon can easily subject a bus to a 24 hour duty cycle. Maybe more if it doesn't get held by maintenance. 

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

Now with the Castleton 22xxs being retired prematurely, I wonder if the 4300s have less than 90 days remaining. That would make the  Staten Island Express fleet like 96% Prevost. Makes me think those 2012 CTs might get transferred out soon as well. 

[Future ENY OP]

4 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Now with the Castleton 22xxs being retired prematurely, I wonder if the 4300s have less than 90 days remaining. That would make the  Staten Island Express fleet like 96% Prevost. Makes me think those 2012 CTs might get transferred out soon as well. 

2013 CT’s are staying on the island. No room at Ulmer Park unless they load off their 2012 prevosts to MTA bus than I could see it happening (possibly).  
UP hasn’t gotten anything new since 2012. 

[Lil 57]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

This is the third night in recent days (might be more if it happened a few days I didn't check recently) that all overnight M101 bus departures were suspended:

 

Delays  Posted:  05/07/2021 12:11 AM

The following M101 trips will not run tonight: 

Northbound: 1:01AM, 1:21AM, 1:32AM, 2:32AM, 3:32AM, 4:47AM and 5:18AM

Southbound: 12:53AM, 1:26AM, 2:26AM, 3:26AM, 3:46AM, 4:26AM, 5:26AM and 5:40AM

We are running as much service as we can with the bus operators we have available. Check for updates before traveling.

Some tend to be running, over the past few days there tends at least 2 buses on the map during the night, guess they just say that in order for people to not be surprised if a trip isn't filled overnight.

It is ridiculous to just unofficially cut a service overnight. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

58 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Some tend to be running, over the past few days there tends at least 2 buses on the map during the night, guess they just say that in order for people to not be surprised if a trip isn't filled overnight.

It is ridiculous to just unofficially cut a service overnight. 

There are a lot of short-turns at those times, to 96th Street, so there is some service still during those hours. However the trips going the full route, is different. They usually would announce when they reinstate specific bus trips on Twitter, and I haven't seen that happen. 

Update: Apparently the 2:32 AM NB M101 bus is operating per bustime. It's the only bus on the entire route.  

Edited May 7, 2021 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

2013 CT’s are staying on the island. No room at Ulmer Park unless they load off their 2012 prevosts to MTA bus than I could see it happening (possibly).  
UP hasn’t gotten anything new since 2012. 

Ulmer Park doesn't expect to get anything, but stranger things have happened. They've been struggling with express bus shortages off and on even before the pandemic.

[danielhg121]

What are the differences between 8755 and the older LFS we already have? I believe this one is just a demo and we’ll receive another 8755 down the road in the production order. Also, is 8755 going to visit all the depots that are supposed to get 2021 LFS so that drivers get familiar with them because the actual production order doesn’t happen till November?
 

[Jdog14]

16 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

What are the differences between 8755 and the older LFS we already have? I believe this one is just a demo and we’ll receive another 8755 down the road in the production order. Also, is 8755 going to visit all the depots that are supposed to get 2021 LFS so that drivers get familiar with them because the actual production order doesn’t happen till November?
 

 

Roof A/C, backup camera, sliding rear doors, different seats, and different seating layout to name a few cosmetic changes. 

[Cait Sith]

On 5/6/2021 at 11:51 PM, Future ENY OP said:

I'll say this if those buses didn't come with so many defects the MTA would of had a nice fleet of D4500CT's instead of going the prevost route..  However, the prevosts don't look bad at all. It would be nice if the MTA could get a stab on those 2022/23 MCI's.. Maybe some for MTA bus, and some for NYCT- Queens Village and possibly Ulmer Park.

Well, no. Only the 2008s came with defects. Prevost moving to Plattsburgh increased their chances of winning orders.

On 5/7/2021 at 1:01 AM, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Now with the Castleton 22xxs being retired prematurely, I wonder if the 4300s have less than 90 days remaining. That would make the  Staten Island Express fleet like 96% Prevost. Makes me think those 2012 CTs might get transferred out soon as well. 

I wouldn't say prematurely, some of those buses got bad frames. When you factor in their mileage, it was a wrap.

[Future ENY OP]

50 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Well, no. Only the 2008s came with defects. Prevost moving to Plattsburgh increased their chances of winning orders.

Full agreement with this statement overall.  Prevost overall has improved since the move to Plattsburgh and the quality of over the road transit buses especially with the .  
 

Just hoping in 2023/2024 or when the next express bus order commences for TA that MCI’s are on there. However, from the looks of things we may be going all Prevost at this point. 

[R10 2952]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of these contractual provisions that give preference to manufacturers just because they set up an in-state facility.  There's something to be said for freedom of choice.

Just picture the deep shit the TA would've been in if Grumman had a plant in New York State in the late '70s.  They'd have been stuck with several hundred defective, unusable lemons instead of the RTSes. 

[Ultimategamer12c]

Looks like 2926 is operating on the BxM8 as we speak rn.

[R32 3838]

2 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Yeah, I'm not a fan of these contractual provisions that give preference to manufacturers just because they set up an in-state facility.  There's something to be said for freedom of choice.

Just picture the deep shit the TA would've been in if Grumman had a plant in New York State in the late '70s.  They'd have been stuck with several hundred defective, unusable lemons instead of the RTSes. 

the buses had their issues but they weren't lemons, Jamaica Buses and NJT proves that point. 20+ years of reliable service. most of the TA ones went to other systems across the US and had lasted between 15-20 years.

[B35 via Church]

 

1 bus in each direction south of Linden Blvd. is SMH worthy in its own right, but that's not the reason I screen capt'd this.....Peep the routing in this part of Brooklyn though.... For those not familiar, I'll explain:

The yellow arrow points to the (poor rendering of the) B13 loop in/out of the Mail Facility... I'm not even tripping over that, as at least that loop represents what the B13 actually does in the area....

However, there is no way in hell that buses are looping around that block of single family residences adjacent the postal facility (where I have the red arrow pointing).... Why in all the hell would they, anyway ?

------------------

The MTA is getting sloppy with these route renderings in Bustime.... I saw one goofy gaffe of the B12 earlier this week, that had buses running down Utica to Winthrop, then taking Winthrop to New York av, then New York to Clarkson, to regular route - with the regular route correctly rendered within it.... It was a perplexing mess.

TM5 (@Trainmaster5) has notified me in the past on 2 separate occasions of one screw-up along the B44 route in Bed Stuy around Fulton st., east of New York av... Let's see if they corrected it....

 

Edit: Nope.... Months after the fact, the shit is still improperly rendered in the area... Incredible... Stupendous....

The B26 stops on the Halsey side of that school & it isn't shared with the B44 (yellow bus stop signage for school trippers) or anything, either.... There are no bus stops anywhere around the opposite side/Macon st. side of the school (yes, I physically ventured around the area a couple days after the last time TM5 notified me of this)...

Edited May 8, 2021 by B35 via Church

[R10 2952]

1 hour ago, R32 3838 said:

the buses had their issues but they weren't lemons, Jamaica Buses and NJT proves that point. 20+ years of reliable service. most of the TA ones went to other systems across the US and had lasted between 15-20 years.

The ones sold off by NYCT were all refurbished before entering service with other operators.  The A-frames as built at the factory were defective; fixing the buses solved a lot of problems, but the point is they should not have rolled off the production line with major frame defects in the first place.

Grumman knew about the problem, but signed off on the uncorrected design anyway- that's why they got sued.

Edited May 8, 2021 by R10 2952

[checkmatechamp13]

@B35 via Church One that annoyed me for a while (still active in BusTime) is the S46 looping around Wemple Street (I think they might've had another one involving Amity Place/Lisk Avenue, but that was at least removed).

If you look closely, the S53 has a weird loop right around Clove & Hylan, the S55 has some weird loops by Tottenville High School (I know there's a Hylan & Bertram tripper, but there's a bunch of loops aside from that), the S59 Moore High School tripper is apparently running through the little parking lot. 

[QM1to6Ave]

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

 

1 bus in each direction south of Linden Blvd. is SMH worthy in its own right, but that's not the reason I screen capt'd this.....Peep the routing in this part of Brooklyn though.... For those not familiar, I'll explain:

The yellow arrow points to the (poor rendering of the) B13 loop in/out of the Mail Facility... I'm not even tripping over that, as at least that loop represents what the B13 actually does in the area....

However, there is no way in hell that buses are looping around that block of single family residences adjacent the postal facility (where I have the red arrow pointing).... Why in all the hell would they, anyway ?

------------------

The MTA is getting sloppy with these route renderings in Bustime.... I saw one goofy gaffe of the B12 earlier this week, that had buses running down Utica to Winthrop, then taking Winthrop to New York av, then New York to Clarkson, to regular route - with the regular route correctly rendered within it.... It was a perplexing mess.

TM5 (@Trainmaster5) has notified me in the past on 2 separate occasions of one screw-up along the B44 route in Bed Stuy around Fulton st., east of New York av... Let's see if they corrected it....

 

Edit: Nope.... Months after the fact, the shit is still improperly rendered in the area... Incredible... Stupendous....

The B26 stops on the Halsey side of that school & it isn't shared with the B44 (yellow bus stop signage for school trippers) or anything, either.... There are no bus stops anywhere around the opposite side/Macon st. side of the school (yes, I physically ventured around the area a couple days after the last time TM5 notified me of this)...

The number of errors Ive pointed out to the bustime folks that go uncorrected is unbelievable. I know @Via Garibaldi 8 mentioned that the work has to be done out-of-house, but thats still no excuse for leaving errors for years and years. 

It affects things like buses appearing to fall off the map when they are in fact operating correctly, etc--these are real world consequences!

[B35 via Church]

4 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The number of errors Ive pointed out to the bustime folks that go uncorrected is unbelievable. I know @Via Garibaldi 8 mentioned that the work has to be done out-of-house, but thats still no excuse for leaving errors for years and years. 

It affects things like buses appearing to fall off the map when they are in fact operating correctly, etc--these are real world consequences!

Although a good while back, my personal favorite was when they had the Bx13 going to Ft. Lee - somehow turning around at the toll booth.... SMFH...

Man I wish I would have snapshotted that BS.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

I've reported so many issues with the Staten Island BusTime errors, only to hear "our BusTime team is working quickly to address these issues". 

You complacent f**ks. 

The S84 and S90 are the most inaccurate routes in the system as they list/announce all the local stops during the limited stop sections and its so irritating. That's my two biggest peeves. Every route has at least 4-5 stops incorrectly pronounced, or the screens announce stops that are discontinued, or some stops are duplicated on BusTime, and forget about the green stop positions on the desktop version...so many premature announcements or late announcements because the stops internally do not align with the stop locations on the street. They have Hylan Blvd/Clove Road in the middle of the intersection which is about 200ft away from the actual stop. 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

4 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

 

1 bus in each direction south of Linden Blvd. is SMH worthy in its own right, but that's not the reason I screen capt'd this.....Peep the routing in this part of Brooklyn though.... For those not familiar, I'll explain:

The yellow arrow points to the (poor rendering of the) B13 loop in/out of the Mail Facility... I'm not even tripping over that, as at least that loop represents what the B13 actually does in the area....

However, there is no way in hell that buses are looping around that block of single family residences adjacent the postal facility (where I have the red arrow pointing).... Why in all the hell would they, anyway ?

------------------

The MTA is getting sloppy with these route renderings in Bustime.... I saw one goofy gaffe of the B12 earlier this week, that had buses running down Utica to Winthrop, then taking Winthrop to New York av, then New York to Clarkson, to regular route - with the regular route correctly rendered within it.... It was a perplexing mess.

TM5 (@Trainmaster5) has notified me in the past on 2 separate occasions of one screw-up along the B44 route in Bed Stuy around Fulton st., east of New York av... Let's see if they corrected it....

 

Edit: Nope.... Months after the fact, the shit is still improperly rendered in the area... Incredible... Stupendous....

The B26 stops on the Halsey side of that school & it isn't shared with the B44 (yellow bus stop signage for school trippers) or anything, either.... There are no bus stops anywhere around the opposite side/Macon st. side of the school (yes, I physically ventured around the area a couple days after the last time TM5 notified me of this)...

 

2 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@B35 via Church One that annoyed me for a while (still active in BusTime) is the S46 looping around Wemple Street (I think they might've had another one involving Amity Place/Lisk Avenue, but that was at least removed).

If you look closely, the S53 has a weird loop right around Clove & Hylan, the S55 has some weird loops by Tottenville High School (I know there's a Hylan & Bertram tripper, but there's a bunch of loops aside from that), the S59 Moore High School tripper is apparently running through the little parking lot. 

 

2 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The number of errors Ive pointed out to the bustime folks that go uncorrected is unbelievable. I know @Via Garibaldi 8 mentioned that the work has to be done out-of-house, but thats still no excuse for leaving errors for years and years. 

It affects things like buses appearing to fall off the map when they are in fact operating correctly, etc--these are real world consequences!

The way it works is one of the planners will contact the vendor or their tech team to make whatever changes they request. Since they use an outside vendor for this (at least last I heard anyway), obviously they don't make updates very often. I've been waiting over a month now for them to update the changed BxM1 bus stop on BusTime. If no one brings these changes to their attention, they won't get addressed, so that's how it works. They fix the stuff people complain about and that's about. They don't have anyone there to comb over these bus maps. I also wonder if some of these changes are because of the way BusTime works. There are some routes that have quite a few deadspots, and just every bus temporarily disappears. Can't do much about that.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[LegoBrickBreaker101]

A bus on the Bx11 was involved in a fire around an hour ago near Jennings Street: at the time, police are saying the fire may have been caused after a motorcycle collided with the bus, and that folks were evacuated before the fire broke out. The bus (which was an XN40, number unknown) looks pretty scorched and in a bad state. Videos and info are on the Citizen app for anyone who's curious.

 

Link: https://go.citizen.com/VXnh3jLE6fb

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by LegoBrickBreaker101
Adding Citizen link

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, LegoBrickBreaker101 said:

A bus on the Bx11 was involved in a fire around an hour ago near Jennings Street: at the time, police are saying the fire may have been caused after a motorcycle collided with the bus, and that folks were evacuated before the fire broke out. The bus (which was an XN40, number unknown) looks pretty scorched and in a bad state. Videos and info are on the Citizen app for anyone who's curious.

Let me guess... An illegal motorcycle more than likely... 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Re: BusTime... I really wish that the  could've found a way to keep those Tech geeks around. Remember that BusTime was done in-house (basically for free, similar to the live subway map), but once the BusTime project was over, the tech geeks moved on shortly after. I used to communicate with directly to fix the small things like typos, etc. and they would fix it quickly versus now.