BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Cait Sith]

5 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

The MTA getting caught with egg on their face again when they retired too many buses early before receiving a new fleet that now has teething problems?

The city really is coming back!

To be fair, a lot of those MCIs that went to scrap didn't leave without issues. Several of them at College Point's graveyard lot were sitting with blown engines, transmission problems and other issues that were not worthwhile to repair in the long term. And then there was 3059, most famously known for its overhaul, but ended up becoming the most problematic one in the fleet.

As for the OG Hybrids, it only made sense to part out the worst performing ones to keep the others running.

Every new bus order will have their teething problems. Just wait till we get our electric buses, I just hope they don't go through the same fiasco as our current 40ft electric buses!

Edited May 28, 2021 by Cait Sith

[B35 via Church]

20 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

All those people standing around and they couldn’t just work together to lift the gate arm lol?

19 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Moe, Larry and Curly all standing around...

"That's not my job"

19 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Ha! I get that the B/Os don’t care because they get paid one way or the other, but if I was a passenger on there, I’d go out myself and try to lift it , maybe get some other passengers to help out 

If I was a passenger, I'd have gotten off & found some other way to get to *wherever*.... Not gonna say I exacerbated anything.

[Lawrence St]

The Bx12 and M15 SBS have gotten progressively worse since their debuts as SBS routes. No one respects the bus lanes, traffic is worse, delays in loading the bus, just revert them back to LTD's at this point 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

37 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

The Bx12 and M15 SBS have gotten progressively worse since their debuts as SBS routes. No one respects the bus lanes, traffic is worse, delays in loading the bus, just revert them back to LTD's at this point 

That falls on the  . They are supposed to be working with the DOT on camera installation on the buses for enforcement of bus lanes and all we've been hearing is "it's coming". 

[paulrivera]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

The Bx12 and M15 SBS have gotten progressively worse since their debuts as SBS routes. No one respects the bus lanes, traffic is worse, delays in loading the bus, just revert them back to LTD's at this point 

Also, the speed limit on the Pelham Pkwy portion of the Bx12 has gone down a whole 10mph since SBS started thanks to Vision Zero.

[Around the Horn]

3 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

The Bx12 and M15 SBS have gotten progressively worse since their debuts as SBS routes. No one respects the bus lanes, traffic is worse, delays in loading the bus, just revert them back to LTD's at this point 

I almost agreed until you mentioned the M15...

All door boarding alone has made a vast improvement in the service as have the on board cameras for bus lane enforcement. The problem is that the lanes are only part time and revert to parking in off-hours and on weekends.

[Lex]

6 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

I almost agreed until you mentioned the M15...

All door boarding alone has made a vast improvement in the service as have the on board cameras for bus lane enforcement. The problem is that the lanes are only part time and revert to parking in off-hours and on weekends.

I can't even begin to describe how much the B44 suffers for this one thing.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

I almost agreed until you mentioned the M15...

All door boarding alone has made a vast improvement in the service as have the on board cameras for bus lane enforcement. The problem is that the lanes are only part time and revert to parking in off-hours and on weekends.

The M15 should continue to have all door boarding, but make no mistake about it. The line has not improved much. Those SBS buses bunch a ton and I'm only talking about weekends. I haven't used it with any regularity in a long time, but often times I would prefer to hop in an Uber to get South over waiting for it. The lines that seem to get priority are the M79 and M86. I would say that the M79 is probably one of the best SBS lines in the system. For a while I would take it from Yorkville over to the Upper West Side and it was pretty reliable.  That line also uses Transit Signal Priority at a few intersections, which definitely helps.

The M86 varies, and is pretty bad during rush hour, but they try to have buses start further along the line to avoid bunching. I don't see any of that with the M15. 

[paulrivera]

That moment when someone uses the BxM4 wholly within the Bronx.

this dude went from Burnside to 158 this morning.

Well I guess if you’re willing to pay $7 for a nice bus… and the BxM4 needs all the riders it can get, I guess…

[Future ENY OP]

3 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

That moment when someone uses the BxM4 wholly within the Bronx.

this dude went from Burnside to 158 this morning.

Well I guess if you’re willing to pay $7 for a nice bus… and the BxM4 needs all the riders it can get, I guess…

Where is the facepalm emoji on this one.. I'm not paying no $7.00 just to get me to 158 if the is available.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

That moment when someone uses the BxM4 wholly within the Bronx.

this dude went from Burnside to 158 this morning.

Well I guess if you’re willing to pay $7 for a nice bus… and the BxM4 needs all the riders it can get, I guess…

 

2 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Where is the facepalm emoji on this one.. I'm not paying no $7.00 just to get me to 158 if the is available.

Walking to the  train from anywhere off of the Grand Concourse requires walking up hill or down hill depending on your location to the train, getting the stairs to the platform and then doing that again.  If you live or are going very close to the Grand Concourse, it's a pain. $6.75 is still cheaper than taking an Uber for sure and with all of the crazies riding the subway, he may feel safer on the bus either way. Plenty of people on Staten Island opt for the express bus within Staten Island, as they don't feel safe taking the local buses.

[NBTA]

Interestingly enough, there’s 2 ZFs (5364 being one of them) on the Q53 SBS.

My take on the M15, I don’t think the SBS has improved since probably 2018. There’s bunching, and then when there isn’t bunching, there’s a bus that comes in 20-30 minutes. Not only that, but ever since they started to change the fleet, the route got slower. Don’t know if that’s just me, the dispatchers telling the drivers to slow down, the drivers themselves, or vision zeros speed restrictions, but that’s been the M15 SBS recently for me.

[paulrivera]

50 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Where is the facepalm emoji on this one.. I'm not paying no $7.00 just to get me to 158 if the is available.

Me neither. I’d rather go for the Bx1/2 within the Bronx.

i only take the  between Woodlawn and 161 nowadays. Manhattan trips I bounce around between the BxM3 and 4, depending on the time.

[Future ENY OP]

2 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

 

Walking to the  train from anywhere off of the Grand Concourse requires walking up hill or down hill depending on your location to the train, getting the stairs to the platform and then doing that again.  If you live or are going very close to the Grand Concourse, it's a pain. $6.75 is still cheaper than taking an Uber for sure and with all of the crazies riding the subway, he may feel safer on the bus either way. Plenty of people on Staten Island opt for the express bus within Staten Island, as they don't feel safe taking the local buses.

I wish this option was available when I lived in Sheepshead Bay back in the day when the x29 was the primary source on Coney Island Ave. I could see how this could work in Staten Island, but The Bronx is entirely different. I totally forgot about the hills around the concourse area. However, to my memory Burnside Ave to 158th isn't really far at all. I get the whole safety issue with these trains.  Also ain't the the primary concourse line.

[Future ENY OP]

3 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

Me neither. I’d rather go for the Bx1/2 within the Bronx.

i only take the  between Woodlawn and 161 nowadays. Manhattan trips I bounce around between the BxM3 and 4, depending on the time.

See, this I agree. Intrabronx travel doesn't require express bus unless the driver is okay with it.

It was one winter many moons ago when the BM2 stopped on Flatbush/Nostrand and I needed to get to Canarsie and there was no B103 around and I opted to take the BM2 into the deep part of Canarsie. Driver asked me if I had the proper metrocard for the fare and I indicated that I have it. He gave me the exception as they are not supposed to pick up pax on the return back from Manhattan. Although, the exception was made. However, most times express buses are dropping off pax from Manhattan.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

29 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

I wish this option was available when I lived in Sheepshead Bay back in the day when the x29 was the primary source on Coney Island Ave. I could see how this could work in Staten Island, but The Bronx is entirely different. I totally forgot about the hills around the concourse area. However, to my memory Burnside Ave to 158th isn't really far at all. I get the whole safety issue with these trains.  Also ain't the the primary concourse line.

 

23 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

See, this I agree. Intrabronx travel doesn't require express bus unless the driver is okay with it.

It was one winter many moons ago when the BM2 stopped on Flatbush/Nostrand and I needed to get to Canarsie and there was no B103 around and I opted to take the BM2 into the deep part of Canarsie. Driver asked me if I had the proper metrocard for the fare and I indicated that I have it. He gave me the exception as they are not supposed to pick up pax on the return back from Manhattan. Although, the exception was made. However, most times express buses are dropping off pax from Manhattan.

 

32 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

Me neither. I’d rather go for the Bx1/2 within the Bronx.

i only take the  between Woodlawn and 161 nowadays. Manhattan trips I bounce around between the BxM3 and 4, depending on the time.

There are no intraborough pick-ups and drop-offs unless they are noted by the (MTA), but riders do it on occasion for one reason or another. If the rider has a pass, then they don't care. If there is no local bus coming and an express is coming then you get on and it is what it is.

[Lawrence St]

12 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

I almost agreed until you mentioned the M15...

All door boarding alone has made a vast improvement in the service as have the on board cameras for bus lane enforcement. The problem is that the lanes are only part time and revert to parking in off-hours and on weekends.

It has in some cases, but mostly everyone uses the front door and without traffic signal priority, the load times are basically the same.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

It has in some cases, but mostly everyone uses the front door and without traffic signal priority, the load times are basically the same.

The load times are in no way comparable when everyone is paying in advance, regardless of what door they board in.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lawrence St]

7 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The load times are in no way comparable when everyone is paying in advance, regardless of what door they board in.

Then you haven't ridden the M15/Bx12 during rush hour prior to SBS conversion and right now.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Then you haven't ridden the M15/Bx12 during rush hour prior to SBS conversion and right now.

I have. Yes, people should be encouraged to board through all doors, but the elderly and disabled especially board at the front because the front can kneel. The other entrances don't offer that. Regardless, the boarding process is still faster having everyone pay at the SBS kiosks in advance. We're talking only about boarding, not the actual trip. The trip itself can and should be faster, but that's a separate issue.

[Lawrence St]

@SevenEleven how are the trip paddles in Staten Island? I'm looking to transfer there once I'm done with probation, but im wondering if the dispatchers throw you on random assignments like you could be doing a straight s46 trip and they throw you on an S96 run instead?

[paulrivera]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There are no intraborough pick-ups and drop-offs unless they are noted by the (MTA), but riders do it on occasion for one reason or another. If the rider has a pass, then they don't care. If there is no local bus coming and an express is coming then you get on and it is what it is.

I heard the BxM3 and 4 used to allow both pickups and dropoffs in Harlem for service within Manhattan. If it even did exist, I don't think it's a thing anymore tho...

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

49 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

I heard the BxM3 and 4 used to allow both pickups and dropoffs in Harlem for service within Manhattan. If it even did exist, I don't think it's a thing anymore tho...

Yeah, the 125th Street stop used to be a pick-up and drop-off point. I forgot when it became drop-off only, it might have been shortly after MTA takeover.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

I heard the BxM3 and 4 used to allow both pickups and dropoffs in Harlem for service within Manhattan. If it even did exist, I don't think it's a thing anymore tho...

Yes, you could board from 125th and 5th. It is still a thing at Madison and 123rd as well (dropping off, not just pick-up), just not officially. There was also a pick-up stop in the 70s for the Upper East Side residents back in the day to get to Midtown faster.

26 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Yeah, the 125th Street stop used to be a pick-up and drop-off point. I forgot when it became drop-off only, it might have been shortly after MTA takeover.

Some drivers will still pick-up from there, especially if someone is waiting there. 125th and 5th that is. Just don't see it too often.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[paulrivera]

The BxM4 I went on in the afternoon today actually had like 10 or 11 people on it.

That seems high to me. And if it is high, in my honest opinion it might be proving that the subway scare is real. The few times I've ridden the BxM4 (off-hours; I've never ridden during rush hours), that thing never had more than like 5 or 6 people on it, even before COVID.

The bus emptied out at Fordham.

Edited May 29, 2021 by paulrivera