BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[B35 via Church]

Took long enough for the B35 to get back to its normal route... The construction on church av's been done for a good minute.

[Fresh Pond]

Took long enough for the B35 to get back to its normal route... The construction on church av's been done for a good minute.

They finished? Good, that Flatbush Av stop going towards my end was annoying me to death

[NewFlyer 230]

Bustime can be pretty inaccurate at times. On Saturday I was on Liberty and Lefferts walking down with my friend. He had to go somewhere with his mom so I'd figure if look on bus time to see where the bus is and if it's not close by I would walk with the. The Jamaica bound Q112 on bus time was shown at 102nd street the stop right after its first stop. And we walked and a few seconds later the bus was at 117th street. My and my friend where shocked because the bus still showed up as being near 104th street and this Q112 came out of nowhere. So lucky Liberty Ave always has some type of traffic so I was able to run to the bus stop which I though was on the side but they moved both stops of the Q112 on the other side of Lefferts Blvd and I caught the bus. That bus that I saw on bustime was the same bus that came bus there was no way in the world that the Q112 can go from 102nd to Lefferts in a matter for 20 seconds.

 

For the most part bustime is accurate but there has been a few times a bus was running but never showed up on bustime.

Does anyone think that the MTA would be willing to use the clever system or whatever it's called on MTA buses. I would love for them to have the stop called like Nice bus has. Maybe people would know what stop they want instead of rushing all the way up to the driver right when we are about to pull off and tell them to let them off.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Bustime can be pretty inaccurate at times. On Saturday I was on Liberty and Lefferts walking down with my friend. He had to go somewhere with his mom so I'd figure if look on bus time to see where the bus is and if it's not close by I would walk with the. The Jamaica bound Q112 on bus time was shown at 102nd street the stop right after its first stop. And we walked and a few seconds later the bus was at 117th street. My and my friend where shocked because the bus still showed up as being near 104th street and this Q112 came out of nowhere. So lucky Liberty Ave always has some type of traffic so I was able to run to the bus stop which I though was on the side but they moved both stops of the Q112 on the other side of Lefferts Blvd and I caught the bus. That bus that I saw on bustime was the same bus that came bus there was no way in the world that the Q112 can go from 102nd to Lefferts in a matter for 20 seconds.

 

For the most part bustime is accurate but there has been a few times a bus was running but never showed up on bustime.

Does anyone think that the MTA would be willing to use the clever system or whatever it's called on MTA buses. I would love for them to have the stop called like Nice bus has. Maybe people would know what stop they want instead of rushing all the way up to the driver right when we are about to pull off and tell them to let them off.

NEVER use BusTime as THE guide.  It is A guide.  The QM2 bus I was waiting for on Sunday disappeared going towards Bay Terrace AND returning to Manhattan, and they were different buses too.  Going towards Bay Terrace, the bus disappeared coming up 6th Avenue (I was waiting at Madison and 57th for it).  Going towards Midtown, the bus disappeared making its way through Beechurst, then reappeared again.  Friday there was a similar problem when I used the QM2.  Bus disappeared coming up 6th (I was waiting at 6th & 56th) then reappeared, and going towards Midtown, the bus could not be tracked at all, and since it was late I was thinking about getting the QM20 instead.  Some areas of the city are known to have poor coverage for GPS, OR it could be the GPS on the bus itself that isn't working so good.  That's why it's always best to check the bus when it's starting its commute if you aren't getting on towards the beginning of the route, this way you can track it to see if anything funny is going on, etc.

[161 New York]

Yesterday Sunday (about 14:30 -> ?) the x17/x1/x10/x27 bypassed anything below Vesey Street due to road closure on Broadway. Buses went Park Row -> Frankfort -> Pearl ->Water -> State and resumed at Battery Place, no mention on Bus Time or on MTA website. Anyone on Broadway after Barclay was SOL in the afternoon unless they had signs posted (which they typically don't).

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Yesterday Sunday (about 14:30 -> ?) the x17/x1/x10/x27 bypassed anything below Vesey Street due to road closure on Broadway. Buses went Park Row -> Frankfort -> Pearl ->Water -> State and resumed at Battery Place, no mention on Bus Time or on MTA website. Anyone on Broadway after Barclay was SOL in the afternoon unless they had signs posted (which they typically don't).

Not the first time it's happened. I remember years ago being on an X1 like that.  I was ON the bus and even I was annoyed at the idea of all of the people being bypassed.  Really annoying. We had a situation like that a few weeks ago with the BxM2.  They had it posted on select lines that the protest would be causing detours on some lines, but didn't mention the BxM2, so all of these buses were heading Southbound to 34th, and then being forced to detour instead of coming up 6th to 35th.  We saw QM express buses coming up 6th so the assumption was that there was no problem, but the QM's come across on 34th and then come up 6th.  I hadn't been waiting long but some folks had been waiting over an hour.  After seeing two BXM2's make their final stop on BusTime, and seeing sirens down near 34th, I decided to walk from 41st and 6th to the first stop to get a better look.   It became apparent that the protesters were stopping anything from coming across on 32nd and coming up 6th as 32nd and south of that on 6th was blocked.  I tried telling a few old ladies at the stop but they were convinced that the bus would come.  I wind up walking over to 33rd and 3rd for the BxM1, so I only lost maybe 30 minutes out of the ordeal.

[B35 via Church]

They finished? Good, that Flatbush Av stop going towards my end was annoying me to death

I didn't realize it until I was on the bus this past tuesday, when I woke up from dozing off & we were on church, at Rogers....

 

Funny thing is, this morning heading towards the (I was in a dollar cab, right behind a B35), there were still people getting off at New York av, walking towards Nostrand.... You'd think they would realize that the bus didn't make the turn onto New York av.... Needless to say, none of them caught that 5:12 at church av, b/c I had to run down the stairs after I got out the cab... Just caught the thing.

[paulrivera]

Why do some slow B/O's even pick SBS runs?

 

The guy I had today on the 12 kept riding the brakes and while he would barely crack 20 on Pelham Parkway, he wouldn't think twice on borderline slamming the brakes the second the light turned yellow (or maybe you just feel it more when you're standing on a full bus, IDK.)

 

And yes, the bus behind him caught up to us. Maybe the should change the timetables from "bus every 5 minutes" to "12 buses per hour" lol.

[Cait Sith]

Why do some slow B/O's even pick SBS runs?

 

The guy I had today on the 12 kept riding the brakes and while he would barely crack 20 on Pelham Parkway, he wouldn't think twice on borderline slamming the brakes the second the light turned yellow (or maybe you just feel it more when you're standing on a full bus, IDK.)

 

And yes, the bus behind him caught up to us. Maybe the should change the timetables from "bus every 5 minutes" to "12 buses per hour" lol.

 

It's not a matter of them being slow.

 

Remember that this Vision Zero shit is being enforced along with BusTrek tracking the performance of the operators...if he's running hot, late, etc etc etc.

[MHV9218]

It's not a matter of them being slow.

 

Remember that this Vision Zero shit is being enforced along with BusTrek tracking the performance of the operators...if he's running hot, late, etc etc etc.

Vision Zero is only affecting pedestrian-dangerous streets without a lot of space. The limit on say, Canal Street, is 20 now. I think everybody would agree that's a good thing. But Pelham Parkway is 100% not a 20mph limit, nor are most all fast-paced arteries like that. Just a slow op.

[S78 via Hylan]

Caught 2838 on the X17J this afternoon. It felt good riding an MCI again.

[paulrivera]

Vision Zero is only affecting pedestrian-dangerous streets without a lot of space. The limit on say, Canal Street, is 20 now. I think everybody would agree that's a good thing. But Pelham Parkway is 100% not a 20mph limit, nor are most all fast-paced arteries like that. Just a slow op.

Pelham Parkway (main road) has been able to retain its 35mph speed limit. Only the service road (which other than the Jacobi Hospital stop for the local 12 and the occasional detour, the buses don't use) is the default 25.

 

Vision Zero did get a B/O arrested recently, which is why (understandably) some B/O's have been slowing down and sticking to the rule book.

[MHV9218]

Pelham Parkway (main road) has been able to retain its 35mph speed limit. Only the service road (which other than the Jacobi Hospital stop for the local 12 and the occasional detour, the buses don't use) is the default 25.

 

Vision Zero did get a B/O arrested recently, which is why (understandably) some B/O's have been slowing down and sticking to the rule book.

 

Failing to yield on a left-hand turn and running over somebody inside the crosswalk got a B/O arrested recently. The only victim in that situation was the man run over while he had right of way. B/Os shouldn't feel or act like victims, because they aren't. That was a lone case of bad driving that cost a life.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Failing to yield on a left-hand turn and running over somebody inside the crosswalk got a B/O arrested recently. The only victim in that situation was the man run over while he had right of way. B/Os shouldn't feel or act like victims, because they aren't. That was a lone case of bad driving that cost a life.

You could've fooled me.  You would've thought that the B/O was killed the way some folks are carrying on in that thread.  Still not one post giving any condolences to the family of the man that was killed.  Disgusting.

[paulrivera]

Any life lost is a tragedy, but the arrest wasn't necessarily because of the fatality. The arrest might have happened anyway even if the guy lived, since he had the right of way in the crosswalk.

 

There was another pedestrian fatality that involved an Access-A-Ride vehicle a week or two before, but the AAR driver was not charged. Anyone know the details there?

[NewFlyer 230]

This doesn't really relate to buses but Happy New Years everyone! Let's make 2015 a good year.

[NYSubwayBuff]

With the new XD's,novas and the new Prevosts being delivered, i was never quite sure about this;

What other depots are getting them besides the depots that have them now (ENY, Charleston, JAM (?))

Edited January 1, 2015 by NYSubwayBuff

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

With the new XD's,novas and the new Prevosts being delivered, i was never quite sure about this;

What other depots are getting them besides the depots that have them now (ENY, Charleston, JAM (?))

Jamaica, Queens Village, Castleton, Charleston, Yukon, Kingsbridge, Gun Hill & Ulmer Park are the depots receiving Novas.

 

ENY, FB, FP, GA, UP, and LGA are receiving the new XD40's.

[S78 via Hylan]

On the way home from work tonight, I passed an Orion 7 on the Q10 since the next one was an artic and I wasn't in a rush.

 

Speaking of that, I've been seeing more and more 40 footers on that route. I wonder what's going on.

Edited January 2, 2015 by S78 via Hylan

[paulrivera]

TBH some of the artics on the Q10 do look somewhat empty (relatively speaking), even the ones that go to the airport. Sometimes I found the artics to be roomier than the Airtrain. Meanwhile when the Q10's were all 40-footers, every third bus would be packed (but other then when the aviation school is in session, it wouldn't be so bad south of Rockaway Blvd)

Edited January 2, 2015 by paulrivera

[S78 via Hylan]

They usual look empty south of Rockaway Blvd because most people aren't traveling to the Airport. If they are JFK-bound, most passengers get off at the Lefferts Blvd AirTrain Station and go from there. Coming from JFK though at night, it's a completely different story as I've said before Even with artics, buses are SRO with some standees.

Edited January 2, 2015 by S78 via Hylan

[MysteriousBtrain]

Besides the Bx5 extension, Jamaica bus rerouting, and the implementation of 2 SBS routes, does anyone think there will be tweaks or reroutes to any bus routes this year?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Just saw the new X1 schedule... The headways are getting smaller and smaller on the weekends... The has to add the service, as those buses are almost SRO in some cases.

[trainfan22]

Just saw the new X1 schedule... The headways are getting smaller and smaller on the weekends... The has to add the service, as those buses are almost SRO in some cases.

A couple standees won't hurt... happens on the local bus and subways on weekends as well.

 

 

SRO express buses regularly would be a nice sight, from what I seen its rare on the MTA express bus routes, only seen it once on one of those via NJ routes and that was only because the run before it didn't show up. Heard of it happening on the BM's during the AM Rush every and now then.

[S78 via Hylan]

I see they also added an extra X21 trip in the AM Rush which is very good.