BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[B35 via Church]

31 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

Kind of sad that you feel that way tbh

I highly doubt anything will happen to you if you say something. 
If you ask me, the roles would be reversed. Not you per se, but from my experience, those in a uniform usually face the verbal abuse from the customer not the other way around. 
 

we all have our own views and experiences though. I personally feel you should speak up when you feel it’s necessary

Yeah, it is sad that b/o's aren't as approachable as they used to be... Many reasons for that; a lot of which I don't even necessarily blame b/o's for - including what you mention here.

Speaking of which, and just to be clear, I'm not remotely saying or implicating that b/o's are more verbally abusive than passengers.... Infinitely more a**hole passengers I have to worry about.... At the same time though, I can't (and won't) act like attitudinal/high-strung & even verbally abusive b/o's aren't out there...

[Calvin]

With the requirement of a mask is optional now, I got on the B49 from Manhattan Beach up to Avenue Y, the bus was crowded when it got to the Sheepshead Bay station, bus ops are still implying passengers to step back through the white line. The new line that's close to the seats, not the old one that's close to the front door. There are times that the bus does not move unless everyone is back from that line. 

[NewFlyer 230]

New Flyer C40LF 610 is looking like one of the 98/99 C40LF’s with the blue MTA logo under the front stripe on the bus. 

[IAlam]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:02 PM, B35 via Church said:

I figured that much.... There definitely would've been a verbal altercation if you'd have done that (and in such a scenario, I wouldn't blame the b/o either).....

Not that you have to take my word for it, but it's citywide (regardless of depot)... Pretty sure other people on here from various parts of the city can attest to it.

On 9/12/2022 at 9:14 PM, KDGallagher said:

Kind of sad that you feel that way tbh

I highly doubt anything will happen to you if you say something. 
If you ask me, the roles would be reversed. Not you per se, but from my experience, those in a uniform usually face the verbal abuse from the customer not the other way around. 
 

we all have our own views and experiences though. I personally feel you should speak up when you feel it’s necessary

On 9/12/2022 at 9:53 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's not sad at all. It's the truth. This entire pandemic has made me realize how much some bus operators despise the riding public. Some of the things I have seen are just unreal. I have personally witnessed a few confrontations with passengers and drivers. 

On 9/12/2022 at 9:54 PM, B35 via Church said:

Yeah, it is sad that b/o's aren't as approachable as they used to be... Many reasons for that; a lot of which I don't even necessarily blame b/o's for - including what you mention here.

Speaking of which, and just to be clear, I'm not remotely saying or implicating that b/o's are more verbally abusive than passengers.... Infinitely more a**hole passengers I have to worry about.... At the same time though, I can't (and won't) act like attitudinal/high-strung & even verbally abusive b/o's aren't out there...

Over the course of the pandemic I've noticed a more drivers seem so dead. a couple years ago I'd say ~75% of bus ops would respond back if I said hello, go morning, or a thank you when I got off. Now it's down to ~25% which is honestly sad. A lot of them don't even look at people let alone speak to them, they just straight ahead or to the left. I usually consider the "nicer" ones to be the ones just that acknowledge you nowadays.

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, IAlam said:

Over the course of the pandemic I've noticed a more drivers seem so dead. a couple years ago I'd say ~75% of bus ops would respond back if I said hello, go morning, or a thank you when I got off. Now it's down to ~25% which is honestly sad. A lot of them don't even look at people let alone speak to them, they just straight ahead or to the left. I usually consider the "nicer" ones to be the ones just that acknowledge you nowadays.

Well, when we are constantly getting assaulted, talked down to, cursed at, etc that’s what happens.

[MHV9218]

I've been seeing Quill buses on the Flatbush Extension getting on the Manhattan Bridge around 5-7pm for the past couple days. What are those buses doing out there?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 hours ago, IAlam said:

Over the course of the pandemic I've noticed a more drivers seem so dead. a couple years ago I'd say ~75% of bus ops would respond back if I said hello, go morning, or a thank you when I got off. Now it's down to ~25% which is honestly sad. A lot of them don't even look at people let alone speak to them, they just straight ahead or to the left. I usually consider the "nicer" ones to be the ones just that acknowledge you nowadays.

I don't converse and do all of that. Just pay, take a seat and keep it moving. I'll speak if spoken to, otherwise, keep it moving. There is a general attitude that prevails now that the entire population of commuters are farebeaters and many other things. That I take issue with. Furthermore when people aren't bothering you and you lash out at them for no reason, that's just not cool. 

[trainfan22]

I figured those 80xx sent to GH was loaners, was about to say, wouldn't it make more sense for KB to get those LFS since KB still has NGs while Gun Hill does not. 

 

 

I wonder what the TA plan is to rid Quill/KB/MCH of those oddball NGs they got. Cannot make much sense to stock parts at those depots for those small batch of buses.

[Calvin]

41 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

I figured those 80xx sent to GH was loaners, was about to say, wouldn't it make more sense for KB to get those LFS since KB still has NGs while Gun Hill does not. 

I wonder what the TA plan is to rid Quill/KB/MCH of those oddball NGs they got. Cannot make much sense to stock parts at those depots for those small batch of buses.

If QV has extras, they can send the 2015-16 or 2019 units up there for replacements.

They'll probably wait till the order is completed for the HEVs to get rid of the oddball NGs they have. Similar to GA, they have 3 Next Gens left but they can swap one of each to FP/ENY/FB if they have the need to. 

[Lawrence St]

Just wondering: why do some passengers sit there and argue with the bus driver that the bus isn’t going to its regular terminal if it’s short turning? If they say it’s the last stop, it’s the last stop. Period.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Just wondering: why do some passengers sit there and argue with the bus driver that the bus isn’t going to its regular terminal if it’s short turning? If they say it’s the last stop, it’s the last stop. Period.

Because some drivers arbitrarily decide to terminate when they should not be. I've had it happen to myself. It's one thing if the bus is actually supposed to be short turning OR the driver is instructed to terminate some place, and another for the driver to decide to just throw passengers off wherever. If your destination signage says one thing, you drive and then suddenly decide to terminate elsewhere with no warning, then that's a problem and yes, I have seen arguments break out about it and rightfully so. I've had drivers ask me what stop I wanted, I tell them the stop, they are not officially short turning and then they decide later on that they don't want to go there and then call out last stop. Total BS.

I boarded a bus yesterday where it was a limited stop bus and the driver tried to act like he wasn't going to make the stop. He had two more stops to go that was half a mile away. I looked at him like don't you dare drive off. 

On the other hand when there are short turns, etc., people don't read the damn signs. People got on after me asking if the bus was going Downtown. The sign was clear as day.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[QM1to6Ave]

59 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Because some drivers arbitrarily decide to terminate when they should not be. I've had it happen to myself. It's one thing if the bus is actually supposed to be short turning OR the driver is instructed to terminate some place, and another for the driver to decide to just throw passengers off wherever. If your destination signage says one thing, you drive and then suddenly decide to terminate elsewhere with no warning, then that's a problem and yes, I have seen arguments break out about it and rightfully so. I've had drivers ask me what stop I wanted, I tell them the stop, they are not officially short turning and then they decide later on that they don't want to go there and then call out last stop. Total BS.

I boarded a bus yesterday where it was a limited stop bus and the driver tried to act like he wasn't going to make the stop. He had two more stops to go that was half a mile away. I looked at him like don't you dare drive off. 

On the other hand when there are short turns, etc., people don't read the damn signs. People got on after me asking if the bus was going Downtown. The sign was clear as day.

Yup, like that QM5 driver who pretended he was only going to 34th and 3rd, and we ultimately got him in trouble for these games. These bad apples ruin the credibility of all BOs 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

56 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Yup, like that QM5 driver who pretended he was only going to 34th and 3rd, and we ultimately got him in trouble for these games. These bad apples ruin the credibility of all BOs 

What's irritating is when I board and the driver asks what stop I want, I tell them and then we get into Manhattan and now suddenly you can't take me to the stop I asked for when I told you in advance. I don't give a rats' @ss where they go afterwards, but drop me off at the stop I asked for. I had a chick do that crap with me on the BxM2. I told her I needed 7th and 41st when I got on and she thinks it's ok to drop me off at 5th and 42nd after the fact, which means now I have a longer schlepp to where I'm going. Next time she got me, she dropped me where I needed to go and then went on her way, but this was after she was called in for it. Why not just make the stop from the get go? Ridiculous. 

[QM1to6Ave]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

What's irritating is when I board and the driver asks what stop I want, I tell them and then we get into Manhattan and now suddenly you can't take me to the stop I asked for when I told you in advance. I don't give a rats' @ss where they go afterwards, but drop me off at the stop I asked for. I had a chick do that crap with me on the BxM2. I told her I needed 7th and 41st when I got on and she thinks it's ok to drop me off at 5th and 42nd after the fact, which means now I have a longer schlepp to where I'm going. Next time she got me, she dropped me where I needed to go and then went on her way, but this was after she was called in for it. Why not just make the stop from the get go? Ridiculous. 

Wow, that's really bad. Unbelievable. Nothing seems to be improving so my days of using the express bus are goijg to come to an end

[IAlam]

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Because some drivers arbitrarily decide to terminate when they should not be. I've had it happen to myself. It's one thing if the bus is actually supposed to be short turning OR the driver is instructed to terminate some place, and another for the driver to decide to just throw passengers off wherever. If your destination signage says one thing, you drive and then suddenly decide to terminate elsewhere with no warning, then that's a problem and yes, I have seen arguments break out about it and rightfully so. I've had drivers ask me what stop I wanted, I tell them the stop, they are not officially short turning and then they decide later on that they don't want to go there and then call out last stop. Total BS.

I boarded a bus yesterday where it was a limited stop bus and the driver tried to act like he wasn't going to make the stop. He had two more stops to go that was half a mile away. I looked at him like don't you dare drive off. 

On the other hand when there are short turns, etc., people don't read the damn signs. People got on after me asking if the bus was going Downtown. The sign was clear as day.

Not only that some ops just outright don't have the right sign up. I usually see this happening 3-4 times a month and then some of them get angry at passengers asking them if they're going to their stop. You can't get mad at passengers asking if you're going past Flushing if you are but have the sign set to Flushing only. 

In some cases signs are just bad ie Q44 to Sutphin doesn't tell the passengers if that's Hillside or Archer.

[BreeddekalbL]

Very bad idea 

https://new.mta.info/press-release/mta-announces-citywide-open-stroller-pilot-program

[B35 via Church]

8 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Just wondering: why do some passengers sit there and argue with the bus driver that the bus isn’t going to its regular terminal if it’s short turning? If they say it’s the last stop, it’s the last stop. Period.

I'll bring up a situation where I can understand it (although not condone it)....

If a bus was originally signed up as heading to the full (or "normal") end terminal when passenger{s} boarded, then somewhere mid-route (for whatever the reason), the b/o announces that the last stop is *somewhere* mid-route, you can't not expect passengers to feel some type of way about that.... While not the fault of the b/o, at the same time, nobody likes the rug drug up from under them (so to speak), whether it's anything transit-related or not....

59 minutes ago, IAlam said:

Not only that some ops just outright don't have the right sign up. I usually see this happening 3-4 times a month and then some of them get angry at passengers asking them if they're going to their stop. You can't get mad at passengers asking if you're going past Flushing if you are but have the sign set to Flushing only. 

In some cases signs are just bad ie Q44 to Sutphin doesn't tell the passengers if that's Hillside or Archer.

Yep, I've seen that very thing play out a decent amount of times myself.... It's why you're getting passengers becoming more prone to (loudly) blurting out their questions/concerns in the open (as in, inside of the bus) to other passengers, instead of asking the b/o.... Far more common on the subway for obvious reasons, but that is a trend I've been noticing over the years on buses....

[Via Garibaldi 8]

23 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Wow, that's really bad. Unbelievable. Nothing seems to be improving so my days of using the express bus are goijg to come to an end

Actually there have been some improvements. Those incidents were a while back.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

18 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I'll bring up a situation where I can understand it (although not condone it)....

If a bus was originally signed up as heading to the full (or "normal") end terminal when passenger{s} boarded, then somewhere mid-route (for whatever the reason), the b/o announces that the last stop is *somewhere* mid-route, you can't not expect passengers to feel some type of way about that.... While not the fault of the b/o, at the same time, nobody likes the rug drug up from under them (so to speak), whether it's anything transit-related or not....

Something similar happened to me, but it was worse than how you put it there.

I was on the Bx12 local getting on at Orchard Beach, and I specifically looked for a bus to Inwood (not the Sedgwick Avenue). The operator comes in signed in as a bus to Inwood - 207 Street. There happened to be an operator change at Pelham Bay Park (as people were getting on). 

Somewhere in between Pelham Bay Park and White Plains Road, I noticed that the inside announcements changed from "Inwood Bway-207 St" to "Sedwick Avenue". However no announcements were being made, so IDK maybe it was the operator making a mistake or something. That's what I also thought because after passing Grand Concourse, the signs went back to displaying the stops for Inwood. Just to also make clear, there hasn't been a single announcement indicating a change in route. 

The bus gets to Sedgwick Avenue, then makes a right turn instead of continuing on and just kept hauling it up Sedgwick (and the inside announcements and displays said Inwood). Some lady (middle age looking) went up to the BO and was like "wtf are you doing? The sign said Inwood when I got on why did you turn" (she got on at Pelham Bay Park, BTW). The operator didn't say anything back except for "LAST STOP". She was furious especially since there were no announcements (I was furious that the bus didn't go into Manhattan as well, but for a different reason). We all had to walk back to Fordham Road, and several of us were also wondering what the hell happened (including that lady that was fuming at the operator earlier).

There was another Bx12 Local bus that arrived as soon as we got to the Fordham Road stop, signed up for Sedgwick Avenue (this one though, proceeded the scheduled Inwood bus and actually was supposed to end there), and when those doors opened that same lady from earlier went in and vented to that operator what had happened, and that 'your idiot friend didn't say shit and didn't tell us he wasn't ending here', or something similar to that effect. She definitely called the operator of the scheduled Inwood bus an idiot, LOL. 

Anyways, this lady was so pissed, she ended up walking back east across Fordham Road (and we never saw her again)...she did not get onto the proceeding Bx12 SBS. Maybe she took a walk to cool off or something, IDK. Me and another were chatting about that afterward (and also how some operators tend to do whatever they want). 

Edited September 18, 2022 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Calvin]

Buses are going to equipped with a license plate scanner that'll be located on top of the windshield close to the farebox. So far, an ENY unit is seen with one. If a car is parked on the bus lane and a bus with the scanner arrives that's next to it, the scanner will capture the plate and will send a ticket by mail. 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Calvin

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

What's the deal with all the standards on the Q53 today? Like half the route was all XD40s. What makes this even worse because the Manhattan-bound is running express this weekend in Queens, so everyone is piling on the Q53. This couldn't have happened at a worst moment.

[aemoreira81]

With the new XD40 order, I notice that all of the 7900 series will be used for numberings of buses. I have two questions:

1. What numbers in the 4 digits have never been used to number a bus (excluding a demo) between 1000 and 9999?
2. What numbers if any are the XD40s using for the first time ever?

[trainfan22]

2 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

What's the deal with all the standards on the Q53 today? Like half the route was all XD40s. What makes this even worse because the Manhattan-bound is running express this weekend in Queens, so everyone is piling on the Q53. This couldn't have happened at a worst moment.

I always assume when LGA does this they have a bunch of XD60s due for inspection and maybe they try to inspect them all on a Sunday when they think ridership might be at its lowest. On weekdays during rush hour nearly all the XD60s are in use according to a LGA B/O that use to post here. 

 

As for doing it during the train G.O, outside of shuttle bus G.Os I doubt subway and bus management be on the same page with that type of stuff.

[Calvin]

2 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I always assume when LGA does this they have a bunch of XD60s due for inspection and maybe they try to inspect them all on a Sunday when they think ridership might be at its lowest. On weekdays during rush hour nearly all the XD60s are in use according to a LGA B/O that use to post here. 

The ridership on the Q53 weekends isn't heavy compared to the months of July thru August (and Memorial/Labor Day weekend). That's probably one factor as a result of the headways being 15 minutes for the current schedule up to next summer (that's almost 8-10 minutes). 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Calvin

[MHV9218]

Lot of Aesys-sign XD40s getting their fonts adjusted. Not all of them have the angular "NOT IN SERVICE" reading anymore, that's been re-coded to have the same rounded letters as a lot of the standard Luminator/Hanover buses.