BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[koolmazin]

After getting off the S93, in Brooklyn, I caught 920 on the B16 which is a very decent bus and has excellent A/C as well.

Nice what time were you there I live really near there? Saw the same bus a few weeks ago I thought it retired cause I seen it OOS and it wasnt going towards the depot

[S78 via Hylan]

Nice what time were you there I live really near there? Saw the same bus a few weeks ago I thought it retired cause I seen it OOS and it wasnt going towards the depot

It was around 6:30 in the evening. And as for the bus being out of service, I don't know about that.

[checkmatechamp13]

There was an accident by Richmond Avenue & Jules Drive that screwed up the Richmond Avenue routes terribly.

 

Northbound: S44 & S59 took Richmond-Goethals Road North-South-Forest and then took their normal route.

 

Southbound: S44 took Morningstar-Forest-Willow Road West-MLK-Victory-Richmond, S59 took Richmond-Jules-Goethals-South-Fahy-Lamberts-Richmond (at least, that's what the S44 B/O told us).

 

I don't know what the S89, and X10/12/42 were doing (I assume the X12/42 just went straight up South, and the X10 went back across Forest with the S59, and the S89 went across Forest with the S44)

 

The stupid thing is that if the buses had just used Willow Road East/West between Deppe Place & Forest Avenue, they could've avoided these long detours and inconvenienced way fewer passengers.

 

I guess while I'm at it, here's a planned detour:

 

 Posted: 05/31/2013 12:12AM

S61, S62 and S66 bus detoured due to emergency road work on Victory Blvd and Sommers
 

Detour is as follows:

East bound: Saint George Ferry Bound via Victory Boulevard, Right turn on Manor Road, Left turn on Schmidts Lane, Left turn on Slosson Avenue, Right turn on Victory Boulevard and regular route.

West Bound: S62 to Travis, S66 to Port Richmond Square and S61 to K-Mart via Victory Boulevard, Left turn on Slosson Avenue, Right turn on North Gannon Avenue, Right turn on Manor Road, Left turn on Victory Boulevard and regular route.

 

Allow additional travel time.

[ciboii22]

ZF's 4797-4799 now with GPS 4798-99 as of last night x

 

245 [Gleason C40] also equipped with GPS.

[checkmatechamp13]

SMH. The S40 driver crawled and arrived to St. George 13 minutes late, missing the ferry by a mile. He argued with some elderly woman about using the back ramp, and then two guys came on with a trash can (who probably wouldn't have been on had he been on time) and slowed us down.

[Cait Sith]

SMH. The S40 driver crawled and arrived to St. George 13 minutes late, missing the ferry by a mile. He argued with some elderly woman about using the back ramp, and then two guys came on with a trash can (who probably wouldn't have been on had he been on time) and slowed us down.

 

Another reason why the S66 prevails. I got tired of that S40.

[Orion VII 4 Life]

9891 on the Q53.

[Q43LTD]

9891 on the Q53.

That was on the Q47 yesterday

[R32sdabest]

Is LaGuardia still gonna use Orion V CNGs at this point?

[Orion VII 4 Life]

Was looking at some of the "driver graffiti" as I call it in the front of 9114 on the Q11, one said "one hell of a BITCH" (and that bus sure is something) and something like "NO ROOKIES - 10 YR+ ONLY HA HA". Does JFK have some kind of policy that only senior B/Os can pull out RTS?

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

.

Edited May 31, 2013 by XcelsiorBoii4888

[Guest Charles]

Is LaGuardia still gonna use Orion V CNGs at this point?

Usage is presumably decreasing in the near future, but 9889 was on the Q72 this morning. 

[-CT1660-]

LaGuardia will continue to get V CNG's, but in a decreasing amount on weekdays only. Usually the buses are returned to CP for refueling around 8PM (the operators deadhead to CP instead of LG and they get picked up to return to LG around that time). You'll be lucky if you see a V CNG doing an LG route after 8PM, as the operator needs to find a way to return to LG from CP as they won't get picked up past that time.

 

Here's 9889 chilling at LaGuardia earlier:

 

[Fresh Pond]

Was looking at some of the "driver graffiti" as I call it in the front of 9114 on the Q11, one said "one hell of a BITCH" (and that bus sure is something) and something like "NO ROOKIES - 10 YR+ ONLY HA HA". Does JFK have some kind of policy that only senior B/Os can pull out RTS?

Everyone gets whatever they are assigned.

[checkmatechamp13]

Another reason why the S66 prevails. I got tired of that S40.

 

IMO, when everything is running normally (all the runs are sent out on time, B/Os move at a reasonable pace, and there's no unannounced road construction or anything), the S40 is a pretty good route. There's nothing inherently bad about the S40 (for instance, a bunch of traffic chokepoints, or sheer length making it unreliable).

 

With the S66, that actually does have a traffic chokepoint (Victory Blvd between say, Jewett & Slosson), so you could be sitting there figuring "well, the S40 I would've taken is going to miss the ferry anyway, so I'll just take the scenic route to get there", and then you end up missing the second ferry as well.

 

In any case, I finally got to see what you go through on the Q112. I waited a good 20 minutes (and some people were waiting even longer), and the bus ended up getting packed. Then as we're going down the wider, more industrial portion of Liberty (I think like 140th Street or something), another Q112 passes us with like 2 people on board. Then when we got to Rockaway Blvd, the took a while to come (I was fanning, otherwise I would've just got off at Lefferts).

[Turbo19]

Speaking of which, if given the option, I'd choose the S66 over the S40 simply because of the greater likelihood to get a seat on a trip on that route.

 

Speaking of which, the old S67 was generally most reliable in the area compared to other routes a few years back.

[North Shore Line]

The S40 is the only option to the ferry between that or the S66. Victory Blvd has entirely too much traffic.

 

 

The S40 needs an entirely new schedule though because it does not make sense. Each day should run like the Sunday Schedule with each run meeting a ferry with time to catch it. The introducing of some off-peak S90 service ahead of the north shore changes would help a great deal as well because that's what the new bus way will be albeit a bit more fancy.

[Q43LTD]

I wonder if that B84 was approved

[North Shore Line]

I think the fact that there has been no news regarding Staten Island's local bus future, there may be some big changes in store down the line. There's new development happening on Staten Island, particularly at the St George Ferry itself with the New York Wheel, new retail and a giant new mall. The Staten Island Mall is being expanded with a few new stores including Target. Bustime has certainly made traveling by bus on staten island easier and possibly more popular? The large tolls on the vz bridge should fund a S53 limited, which is getting more and more crowded each year and already exceeds the criteria needed for a limited route.

 

One difference now, is the when service expansion comes to Staten Island they will be prepared with four depots now rather than 2. Charleston and Meredith may have simply opened at the wrong time when all the service cuts took place.

[BreeddekalbL]

I think the fact that there has been no news regarding Staten Island's local bus future, there may be some big changes in store down the line. There's new development happening on Staten Island, particularly at the St George Ferry itself with the New York Wheel, new retail and a giant new mall. The Staten Island Mall is being expanded with a few new stores including Target. Bustime has certainly made traveling by bus on staten island easier and possibly more popular? The large tolls on the vz bridge should fund a S53 limited, which is getting more and more crowded each year and already exceeds the criteria needed for a limited route.

 

One difference now, is the when service expansion comes to Staten Island they will be prepared with four depots now rather than 2. Charleston and Meredith may have simply opened at the wrong time when all the service cuts took place.

 

there is already an ltd version of the s53...  what do you think the s93 is?

[Culver]

there is already an ltd version of the s53...  what do you think the s93 is?

He might be referring to the once-proposed S83.

[Guest Charles]

111 (run 509) and 164 (run 510) are running on the Q23 this afternoon.

 

 

[Fresh Pond]

I wonder if that B84 was approved

It was...along with the B32, B67 extension and the other crap like the Q70, the Q53 & 64 running all night.

Edited June 1, 2013 by Fresh Pond

[Q43LTD]

It was...along with the B32, B67 extension and the other crap like the Q70, the Q53 & 64 running all night.

Thanks. All starting this fall I presume

[Cait Sith]

IMO, when everything is running normally (all the runs are sent out on time, B/Os move at a reasonable pace, and there's no unannounced road construction or anything), the S40 is a pretty good route. There's nothing inherently bad about the S40 (for instance, a bunch of traffic chokepoints, or sheer length making it unreliable).

 

With the S66, that actually does have a traffic chokepoint (Victory Blvd between say, Jewett & Slosson), so you could be sitting there figuring "well, the S40 I would've taken is going to miss the ferry anyway, so I'll just take the scenic route to get there", and then you end up missing the second ferry as well.

 

In any case, I finally got to see what you go through on the Q112. I waited a good 20 minutes (and some people were waiting even longer), and the bus ended up getting packed. Then as we're going down the wider, more industrial portion of Liberty (I think like 140th Street or something), another Q112 passes us with like 2 people on board. Then when we got to Rockaway Blvd, the took a while to come (I was fanning, otherwise I would've just got off at Lefferts).

I would agree, but with all the times I've taken the S66 in and out of the rush hour, I've never missed my ferry connection and when I arrive to St. George, I have at least 3-5 minutes to wait for said ferry. I've gotten stuck in traffic, but it was no more than 10 minutes. The lack of passengers along Grymes Hill makes up for everything since the operators just go in and out of Grymes Hill like its nothing along with the lack of dropoffs & pickups between Forest Avenue and Bay Street along Victory Blvd. I've missed my ferry connection with the S40 one too many times and I stay faaarrrrr away from that S46. If all else fails, I have the x10.

 

I like the S40 for its stretches as it brings on a pretty good ride especially with its LTD variant, but during the rush hour and those school kids? Naaaah, I'll take the S66.

 

And the Q112, while it has its good moments, that line is a joke as a whole. Liberty Avenue between 127th and Lefferts(or more like 111th Street) screws up the line entirely.

 

Sidenote : This would make Via Garibaldi happy.

 

http://www.homereporternews.com/news/general/colton-forms-coalition-to-bring-back-x-weekend-service/article_5cb90cca-c8a7-11e2-8f80-001a4bcf887a.html

 

 

Assemblymember Bill Colton hopes to have as much success with a new endeavor – bringing back weekend service on the X28 express bus -- as he did with his coalition to restore B64 service to Coney Island.

 

The Southwest Brooklyn Transit Improvement Coalition, spearheaded by Colton, Transit Workers Union Local 100 and co-chairs Mark Treyger and Priscilla Consolo, is creating a campaign and petition to restore X28 weekend service, which was cut in June, 2010.

 

The route serves Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Seagate and Coney Island, providing an alternative to the subway in an area that already lacks public transportation.

 

“Senior citizens and disabled people are unable to climb the flights of stairs to access the elevated subway lines for public transit service to Manhattan. These groups depend on the X28 to travel to Manhattan,” explained Colton. “With the help of dozens of community organizations and the support of thousands of residents, the people of southwestern Brooklyn were able to restore B64 bus service to Coney Island. Now, the neighborhood is joining together again to fight for the restoration of weekend service to the X28. We are going to follow the same formula we used for the B64 and I believe that we will be successful once again.”

 

Colton said that he will be reaching out to community organizations and residents to discuss the importance of restoring the route. A petition is already being circulated around Southwest Brooklyn.

 

“The MTA used to have a reputation of ignoring the needs of our communities. However, last year they responded to our calls to restore the B64 here in southwest Brooklyn, and so I am hopeful with this new campaign to restore the X28,” said Consolo, who served as project coordinator for the B64 restoration effort.

 

“For the B64, the community came together for one common cause. Diverse groups and peoples joined as one to fight to restore the B64,” she went on. “This time, the neighborhood will come together again and fight to restore the X28. Our calls to the MTA are loud and clear: we want full weekend service back on the X28. The people of our community need it.”

 

Treyger concurred. "Cutting vital transportation services cripples our ridership, our local economy, and our neighborhoods. The most vulnerable of our population always gets hit the worst, particularly senior citizens, disabled persons and children,” he contended. “By working with Assemblymember Colton and the coalition we have built with labor, community groups, working families, and small businesses, I am confident we can build on our successful B64 model and bring back vital X28 weekend service for Southern Brooklyn residents.”

 

Charles Seaton, a spokesperson for the MTA, told this paper that the X28 route was eliminated on weekends due to “extremely low ridership.” In addition, it runs parallel to the D train.

 

“The MTA continues to try to reduce its costs and study opportunities to better serve its customers,” he said. “When we adjust our financial plan in July, we will be able to take into account this additional funding as well as other changes in our revenue and expenses in order to consider where to invest any additional resources.”

 

For more information about the campaign or to sign the petition, call Colton’s district office at 718-236-1598.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2013 by Cait Sith