BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[MTAbus677]

1 minute ago, paulrivera said:

That's pretty much by design. The has had a long-term plan to standardize (to an extent) the local bus fleets by borough. For example: The Bronx is planned to go all-Nova, and Brooklyn is planned to go all-New Flyer.

Yep, I got a taste of what's to come. The units were 8719 (Yukon), 8259 (Charleston), 8208 (The unit I rode for the S46, Castleton), 8716 (Castleton), 8295 (Yukon), 8604 (Yukon), 8593 (Yukon) and 8249 (Castleton).

[Lawrence St]

23 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

That's pretty much by design. The has had a long-term plan to standardize (to an extent) the local bus fleets by borough. For example: The Bronx is planned to go all-Nova, and Brooklyn is planned to go all-New Flyer. The idea is that having Nova buses in one borough and New Flyer buses in another is to keep the associated parts and supplies in their respective general areas, which could potentially save on costs.

And what is Manhattan suppose to be? Cause right now its a mix of everything.

[paulrivera]

25 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

And what is Manhattan suppose to be? Cause right now its a mix of everything.

Half baked ideas and the , what can I tell ya?

[Iron Valiant]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

That's pretty much by design. The has had a long-term plan to standardize (to an extent) the local bus fleets by borough. For example: The Bronx is planned to go all-Nova, and Brooklyn is planned to go all-New Flyer. The idea is that having Nova buses in one borough and New Flyer buses in another is to keep the associated parts and supplies in their respective general areas, which could potentially save on costs.

West Farms is almost entirely New Flyer and it looks like that won't change in the foreseeable future. Manhattan looks like it's going to be split between Novabus and New Flyer. Brooklyn is probably going to be the first division to use buses from only one manufacturer (New Flyer).

Edited August 9, 2021 by Snorunts

[Future ENY OP]

24 minutes ago, Snorunts said:

West Farms is almost entirely New Flyer and it looks like that won't change in the foreseeable future. Manhattan looks like it's going to be split between Novabus and New Flyer. Brooklyn is probably going to be the first division to use buses from only one manufacturer (New Flyer).

That only depends on 2 things.. What will happen on the next artic bus order with East New York, and Flatbush moving those 9 LFSA's to the Manhattan Division.  However, for  most of what you stated is correct.

[trainfan22]

1 hour ago, MTAbus677 said:

I rode the S46 and other Staten Island bus routes yesterday. All of the Staten Island buses I rode were LFSs. Aside from the Orion VII 3GS, the local fleet is pretty bland.

Off peak & weekends the express fleet in SI is pretty bland as well. These days its basically 99 percent 2014-2015 Prevosts. Before the new Prevost order started coming in 2200 MCI were common on the SIM3C/33C, now a bunch of them got scrapped so its mostly Prevosts.

 

From a fanner perspective it really sucks that Meredith got those new Cuomo Prevosts. IMO CAS and YUK should have gotten 25 Cuomo Prevosts each. Or 25 split between YUK & CHR or CAS and CHR. At least then the buses would be in service off peak and offer some variety.

 

[Lawrence St]

Speaking of Prevosts, is is true MTA exercised the remaining 25 bus option order from Prevost to take over the x22/x23?

[Iron Valiant]

34 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

That only depends on 2 things.. What will happen on the next artic bus order with East New York, and Flatbush moving those 9 LFSA's to the Manhattan Division.  However, for  most of what you stated is correct.

It depends on more than two things: A possible remainder of 2009-10 NG Hybrids and future electric bus orders.

[checkmatechamp13]

28 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Speaking of Prevosts, is is true MTA exercised the remaining 25 bus option order from Prevost to take over the x22/x23?

You mean the SIM23/24?

[Lawrence St]

37 minutes ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

You mean the SIM23/24?

x, SIM, whatever, same thing, LMAO!

Edited August 9, 2021 by Lawrence St

[Iron Valiant]

27 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

x, SIM, whatever, same thing, LMAO!

Ngl, I had no idea what you were talking about. 😂😂

[checkmatechamp13]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

x, SIM, whatever, same thing, LMAO!

Neither the X22 nor SIM22 has ever been operated by Academy. That was my point.

[Iron Valiant]

16 is running on the B57 today.

[Transit Enthusiast]

One thing I'm gonna miss about the Old Gen Hybrids, is that familiar face, and that unmistakable sound of the roaring Cummins and screaming Hybridrive.

Just like how I already miss the roaring Detroit Diesel Series 50G from the CNGs, both Allison and ZF.

[QM1to6Ave]

Half the B/O's must be on vacation this week, the number of missing trips on all three routes I took today was immense, and the traffic wasn't even light! Thankfully I have some WFH days for the rest of the week, though I bet the remainder of August won't be much better

[BreeddekalbL]

Wow! 

Dude wants to keep going

https://www.facebook.com/112032985481195/posts/6163585660325867/

[paulrivera]

So now that the so-called mastermind behind today's blue and gold paintscheme is on his way out, when are we going back to the old paintjob to "save costs"?

[Iron Valiant]

17 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

So now that the so-called mastermind behind today's blue and gold paintscheme is on his way out, when are we going back to the old paintjob to "save costs"?

I doubt we'll go back to the old, boring paint scheme.

[MHV9218]

20 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

So now that the so-called mastermind behind today's blue and gold paintscheme is on his way out, when are we going back to the old paintjob to "save costs"?

 

You're hurting me with these pictures. It was such a better paint scheme, for so many reasons. Cleaner look, less messy, less noisy, attracted less heat on hot days, more recognizable, iconic, etc. The simplest flaw with the new scheme isn't even discussed enough: with the exception of the SBS buses, now it's all wrap! Fine for the first year or two, but then every dent, ding, and scratch gets half-ass replaced and it looks dreadful. The Tuskegee XD60s are all starting to look bad thanks to the cheap wraps getting torn up and patched badly. That's not a sustainable solution for a big transit system that has buses in and out of the shop frequently. Maybe some podunk system with constant maintenance and non-24/7 lines, but not in NYC. I remember hearing a city official say when the Cuomo scheme was debuted: "it looks like some small town bus network." And to me that's right. Compare to any major city and it's clearly too messy, too much wrap, too much noise. LACMTA is doing it best right now, imo.

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

13 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

You're hurting me with these pictures. It was such a better paint scheme, for so many reasons. Cleaner look, less messy, less noisy, attracted less heat on hot days, more recognizable, iconic, etc. The simplest flaw with the new scheme isn't even discussed enough: with the exception of the SBS buses, now it's all wrap! Fine for the first year or two, but then every dent, ding, and scratch gets half-ass replaced and it looks dreadful. The Tuskegee XD60s are all starting to look bad thanks to the cheap wraps getting torn up and patched badly. That's not a sustainable solution for a big transit system that has buses in and out of the shop frequently. Maybe some podunk system with constant maintenance and non-24/7 lines, but not in NYC. I remember hearing a city official say when the Cuomo scheme was debuted: "it looks like some small town bus network." And to me that's right. Compare to any major city and it's clearly too messy, too much wrap, too much noise. LACMTA is doing it best right now, imo.

Personally, the old scheme made it pretty obvious how aged the bus looked as many buses did not stay pearly white for long. The current scheme has held on better than I thought it would back in 2016, although the MTA could do better on getting spare parts that fit the scheme. Some of the newer Novas tend to have some of their body parts replaced with white ones which sticks out badly. There are pros and cons with both schemes, but I personally like the new scheme (except for the scheme on the SBS units).

[Future ENY OP]

43 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

So now that the so-called mastermind behind today's blue and gold paintscheme is on his way out, when are we going back to the old paintjob to "save costs"?

Only wish we had this paint again. I hope the possible new leadership could see that this paint is a lot more cost effective than the current wrap/paint whatever you want to call it. As someone mentioned the current fleet at Tuskegee those wraps are looking horrible and the buses are about 4 years old  not saying they need to be overhauled, but some of those buses are horrendous.  

[Jdog14]

58 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

So now that the so-called mastermind behind today's blue and gold paintscheme is on his way out, when are we going back to the old paintjob to "save costs"?

 

 

Problem is, cuomo didn't create the scheme. HE only expedited it being rolled out. Highly doubt the scheme is getting reverted back. 

[Iron Valiant]

52 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

You're hurting me with these pictures. It was such a better paint scheme, for so many reasons. Cleaner look, less messy, less noisy, attracted less heat on hot days, more recognizable, iconic, etc. The simplest flaw with the new scheme isn't even discussed enough: with the exception of the SBS buses, now it's all wrap! Fine for the first year or two, but then every dent, ding, and scratch gets half-ass replaced and it looks dreadful. The Tuskegee XD60s are all starting to look bad thanks to the cheap wraps getting torn up and patched badly. That's not a sustainable solution for a big transit system that has buses in and out of the shop frequently. Maybe some podunk system with constant maintenance and non-24/7 lines, but not in NYC. I remember hearing a city official say when the Cuomo scheme was debuted: "it looks like some small town bus network." And to me that's right. Compare to any major city and it's clearly too messy, too much wrap, too much noise. LACMTA is doing it best right now, imo.

They only look clean and shiny when they're brand new. Recognizable? I'd say blue with gold stripes stands out more considering how many white vehicles are on the road. The older scheme is iconic, yes, but over the next few years, people are going to say the same thing about the newer scheme.

[paulrivera]

19 minutes ago, Snorunts said:

They only look clean and shiny when they're brand new.

The back panels would look really disgusting with the white paint scheme whenever it's not cleaned.

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

So now that the so-called mastermind behind today's blue and gold paintscheme is on his way out, when are we going back to the old paintjob to "save costs"?

 

Don't mean to go off topic, but what the heck is an M60 doing in Soundview?

Also, if the really wants to save on costs, I highly hope they revert to the old scheme. The new gold scheme costs somewhere between $9k-$11k for one.