BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[P3F]

10 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

If i am not mistaken the only "circulator style" route is the bx23?

B74

[Calvin]

10 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

If i am not mistaken the only "circulator style" route is the bx23?

M35 is another route. 

[Cait Sith]

10 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

If i am not mistaken the only "circulator style" route is the bx23?

If by circulator, do you mean routes that only end/go out of service at one terminal? If so, the Q70 +SBS+ is one of them and the Bx23 isn't.

[checkmatechamp13]

19 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

If i am not mistaken the only "circulator style" route is the bx23?

The Bx24 circulates around Country Club and the Bx18 circulates around Morris Heights. The B74 is fairly direct, so it's more of a shuttle than a circulator. 

[BreeddekalbL]

9 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

If by circulator, do you mean routes that only end/go out of service at one terminal? If so, the Q70 +SBS+ is one of them and the Bx23 isn't.

 Circulator as in one terminal end

[Cait Sith]

1 hour ago, BreeddekalbL said:

 Circulator as in one terminal end

Then that would be the Q70 SBS. The Bx23 ends at both Co-Op City & Pelham Bay.

[GreatOne2k]

8 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Then that would be the Q70 SBS. The Bx23 ends at both Co-Op City & Pelham Bay.

 

Bx23 starts/ends at Pelham Bay only, there are two route patterns, 1-2-3-4-5, 5-4-3-2-1, but only one terminal.

[Cait Sith]

2 minutes ago, GreatOne2k said:

 

Bx23 starts/ends at Pelham Bay only, there are two route patterns, 1-2-3-4-5, 5-4-3-2-1, but only one terminal.

Hmm, there have been a few times where Bx23s started from Section 5(where the Q50 and the rest lay over). I guess those few times, I got some trippers/interlines of some sort.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Cait Sith

[checkmatechamp13]

1 hour ago, Cait Sith said:

Hmm, there have been a few times where Bx23s started from Section 5(where the Q50 and the rest lay over). I guess those few times, I got some trippers/interlines of some sort.

When they did that Co-Op City bus study, they did away with those Section 5 shuttles.

On a side note, I found an interesting report made by a Fordham University student. I wonder if he's a member on here: https://www.fordham.edu/download/downloads/id/5700/thomas_dorante_-_improving_transit_in_southeast_queens.pdf

[Calvin]

In the future, we'll have outlets in all local buses

Edited January 24, 2018 by Calvin

[BreeddekalbL]

So the bx23 would qualify as a circulator and there is no section 5 only?

[ViaWaterViaChurch]

So I decided to drive down to Fresh Meadows on Monday and take the QM7/8 downtown.  I managed to catch a QM8 on 188th and 73rd Avenue about a stop or two before it turns onto Union Turnpike and it was practically SRO.  All in all, it takes that bus about an hour and a half to two hours to get downtown from 260th and Union Turnpike in the morning when there's generally less people on the roads compared to the PM rush and you still get the benefits of the HOV lane on the expressway.  The bus I got on left 260th/Union at 6:27am.

That run from Glen Oaks up to around 188th seems to be no joke.  Considering the bus was practically full by the time it got to 188th, I'm surprised the QM5/8 pick up and drop off on Union Turnpike at all during the AM and PM rushes.   You would think they would try and do anything they could to trim time off of those runs, especially considering there's the QM7 for downtown folks, and midtown folks get the QM1 and the overlap from the QM6 as well.

I would hate to be driving a QM8 during the PM rush, surely some of those runs have to take well over 2 hours, pretty crazy to think you can catch a jitney from midtown and be way out in Suffolk County in that amount of time.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

22 minutes ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

So I decided to drive down to Fresh Meadows on Monday and take the QM7/8 downtown.  I managed to catch a QM8 on 188th and 73rd Avenue about a stop or two before it turns onto Union Turnpike and it was practically SRO.  All in all, it takes that bus about an hour and a half to two hours to get downtown from 260th and Union Turnpike in the morning when there's generally less people on the roads compared to the PM rush and you still get the benefits of the HOV lane on the expressway.  The bus I got on left 260th/Union at 6:27am.

That run from Glen Oaks up to around 188th seems to be no joke.  Considering the bus was practically full by the time it got to 188th, I'm surprised the QM5/8 pick up and drop off on Union Turnpike at all during the AM and PM rushes.   You would think they would try and do anything they could to trim time off of those runs, especially considering there's the QM7 for downtown folks, and midtown folks get the QM1 and the overlap from the QM6 as well.

I would hate to be driving a QM8 during the PM rush, surely some of those runs have to take well over 2 hours, pretty crazy to think you can catch a jitney from midtown and be way out in Suffolk County in that amount of time.

College Point Depot mismanages express bus service along Union Turnpike (and elsewhere for that matter), and quite frankly, if I lived in Northeast Queens, I would be raising hell to the politicians out there to get on that depot to get their together.  Management is horrendous and thus the B/Os get away with all sorts of crap.  Buses skipping portions of routes forcing riders to wait an hour for the next bus or buses coming extremely early or not at all, and the best one yet, you pay $6.50 for the bus going to Midtown and yet they force you off of the bus at 36th and 6th to wait for another express bus instead of doing the loop up to 57th street.  It's incredible.  That has to be coming from dispatch.  Who wants to pay $6.50 to then have to transfer when the bus is supposed to go to 57th street? The whole point of the express bus is to eliminate unnecessary transfers, not add more of them.  All of this nonsense is why bus service is hemorrhaging riders.

Additionally, the Union Turnpike corridor needs more Downtown express bus service in general because those buses are packed, but the  refuses to add any more service.  I'm curious to see how Byford is going to address these problems because express bus service in the morning in particular has been horrendous. I have moved up my commute now by almost an hour because I am sick of the problems with certain operators and leave early enough that I shouldn't have to be getting off and taking the subway or any of that nonsense.

We need drivers that know the damn routes and can come ON-TIME and stay ON-TIME.  I don't understand why that has become so incredibly difficult over the last few years, even as the schedules have been updated to allow for more run time and aligned with BusTime.   I get the impression that B/Os aren't even being monitored anymore in some cases.  It's just crazy.   

The other thing that the  has to a better job of is studying ridership fluctuations.  On some days ridership is very heavy (e.g. Mondays) and so the bus may be packed.  On other days it isn't, but that could also be due to people being turned off by the overcrowding.  They used to have buses on standby for such overcrowding.  They should go back to that.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Around the Horn]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

 The other thing that the  has to a better job of is studying ridership fluctuations.  On some days ridership is very heavy (e.g. Mondays) and so the bus may be packed.  On other days it isn't, but that could also be due to people being turned off by the overcrowding.  They used to have buses on standby for such overcrowding.  They should go back to that.

Oh this without question... For whatever reason, the early X27 and X37s from Midtown/Downtown in the 4PM hour get absolutely slammed on Thursdays, but Monday-Wednesday ridership is light... There was one time we were standing room only on the X37 before even getting to Herald Square.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

Oh this without question... For whatever reason, the early X27 and X37s from Midtown/Downtown in the 4PM hour get absolutely slammed on Thursdays, but Monday-Wednesday ridership is light... There was one time we were standing room only on the X37 before even getting to Herald Square.

There are a number of reasons for the fluctuations.  Some buses I suspect are used when people want to get to the office early or want to ensure that they beat traffic.  There are also days when buses don't arrive the way that they should and if you keep getting burned enough you switch buses.  The X27 and X37 are pretty frequent so that means that if a bus goes missing, it's very easy for the next one to be slammed.  You also have a lot of people only work a few days a week and are off on Fridays.  There were a few people that I took the express with on Staten Island that had such a setup.  

Edited January 24, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[B35 via Church]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 2:17 AM, BreeddekalbL said:

If i am not mistaken the only "circulator style" route is the bx23?

Bx23 is an unofficial subway shuttle that happens to encircle Co-op City (there Is a difference).... The purpose of the Bx23 isn't to transport Co-op City patrons within Co-op (although they are able to do so).....

NYC doesn't have any circulator routes.

 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

5 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The other thing that the  has to a better job of is studying ridership fluctuations.  On some days ridership is very heavy (e.g. Mondays) and so the bus may be packed.  On other days it isn't, but that could also be due to people being turned off by the overcrowding. They used to have buses on standby for such overcrowding. They should go back to that.

1) being on this jobs over the years, I've grown into a belief that some, if not most lines shouldn't have paddles that are uniform Monday-Friday, then separate paddles for Saturday & Sunday, holidays, etc. Based on recent trends, i firmly believe there should be a separate Monday paddle, Tuesday thru Thursday (depending on the line/run) a separate Friday paddle and so on. All runs & paddles really should reflect current day conditions. IINM, Alot of these paddles are based on runs from the 60's (aside from the newly created routes and SBS routes) so it's high time for change. To my understanding, Byford did a spectacular job reforming the TTC and leaving a damn good legacy, from an employee perspective, so I'm truly anticipating positive, sweeping changes in NYCTA, Surface & Rapid.

2) over the years, I've worked certain lines where I believed if true "wildcat" runs existed in TA Staten Island Express fashion,  alot of issues could be properly solved in regards to lateness, bunching & overcrowding. We'll see what Byford's plan will be. From all accounts, Byford is no slouch... He WILL make changes. He's never been all talk.

[checkmatechamp13]

1 hour ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

1) being on this jobs over the years, I've grown into a belief that some, if not most lines shouldn't have paddles that are uniform Monday-Friday, then separate paddles for Saturday & Sunday, holidays, etc. Based on recent trends, i firmly believe there should be a separate Monday paddle, Tuesday thru Thursday (depending on the line/run) a separate Friday paddle and so on. All runs & paddles really should reflect current day conditions. IINM, Alot of these paddles are based on runs from the 60's (aside from the newly created routes and SBS routes) so it's high time for change. To my understanding, Byford did a spectacular job reforming the TTC and leaving a damn good legacy, from an employee perspective, so I'm truly anticipating positive, sweeping changes in NYCTA, Surface & Rapid.

2) over the years, I've worked certain lines where I believed if true "wildcat" runs existed in TA Staten Island Express fashion,  alot of issues could be properly solved in regards to lateness, bunching & overcrowding. We'll see what Byford's plan will be. From all accounts, Byford is no slouch... He WILL make changes. He's never been all talk.

That was one of the things that they wanted to do with the SI bus study, but apparently that part of it went nowhere. He said "Oh, our schedule software can't really handle it, and we have to negotiate with the unions and so on". (Which is nonsense as far as being a legitimate excuse, because the Q100 used to have different schedules for different day of the week when it was the Q101R). 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

49 minutes ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

That was one of the things that they wanted to do with the SI bus study, but apparently that part of it went nowhere. He said "Oh, our schedule software can't really handle it, and we have to negotiate with the unions and so on". (Which is nonsense as far as being a legitimate excuse, because the Q100 used to have different schedules for different day of the week when it was the Q101R). 

I think he's right though to an extent.  I don't think the unions would be for it because it would mean fewer runs available.  Let's face it.  The idea would be to provide service to meet demand, but the  would be looking at such a setup to CUT costs, and that's the reality of it.  If they weren't doing underhanded things already, you could make the case that it could work, but there are more and more cases of scheduled buses not showing up at all as in the driver is out sick for one reason or another is isn't replaced, and there's no one to hold the  accountable to ensure that they provide the service that they have scheduled, so that's another issue.  

Using that measure they could keep "adjusting" the schedules to meet demand and then keep cutting them, saying well our numbers show that ridership continues to be low on such and such day, so we're ensuring that our service meets demand. When I talk about adjusting service, it is ADDING service. I don't trust the  for a second to actually adjust service without trying to make some underhanded cut.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[checkmatechamp13]

5 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I think he's right though to an extent.  I don't think the unions would be for it because it would mean fewer runs available.  Let's face it.  The idea would be to provide service to meet demand, but the  would be looking at such a setup to CUT costs, and that's the reality of it.  If they weren't doing underhanded things already, you could make the case that it could work, but there are more and more cases of scheduled buses not showing up at all as in the driver is out sick for one reason or another is isn't replaced, and there's no one to hold the  accountable to ensure that they provide the service that they have scheduled, so that's another issue.  

Using that measure they could keep "adjusting" the schedules to meet demand and then keep cutting them, saying well our numbers show that ridership continues to be low on such and such day, so we're ensuring that our service meets demand. When I talk about adjusting service, it is ADDING service. I don't trust the  for a second to actually adjust service without trying to make some underhanded cut.

The thing that annoyed me is that it sounded like he didn't even try (even though he was the one who brought up the fact that they were studying it). I'm sure the union would be open to it if there were some concessions made (e.g. If it truly needs to be cost-neutral, then take the savings and make sure 100% of runs are covered. Or 99.9% or some other higher standard).

The thing is that on Fridays (and for that matter, days before holidays, such as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving), there's the issue of a lot of people having jobs that allow them to leave early. So you might have crushloaded buses at 1-2PM (especially on days before holidays), but then after say 5-6PM, the outbound buses are emptier than usual (though reverse-peak inbound buses might be a little more crowded with people going to Manhattan for a Friday night). So whether they like it or not, there are some time periods where they basically have no choice but to add service.

[GreatOne2k]

Bx5 could be extended to Bay Plaza on Fridays if a separate schedule is done.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

Deleted 

Edited January 26, 2018 by XcelsiorBoii4888

[161 New York]

Deleted. Too much "thinking out loud". LOL. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by 161 New York

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

21 hours ago, 161 New York said:

Deleted. Too much "thinking out loud". LOL. 

I was gonna ask if the new Nova LFS was going to come with the front scope like in the rendering, but then I saw there was a convo about it in the upcoming bus procurement thread. 

[BreeddekalbL]

I have a story to tell, on the way home with my mom on thursday night we witnessed the driver almost get assaulted twice.(i bolded almost because it was that close)It was all because people missed stops. Happened where i live in Florida. Let me set the scene for you 

Mom and i are on the bus going home after a doctors appointment ,paying a phone bill and dinner. We get on the bus driver is a nice lady. We get up to the cc  hospital(no one is at the stop so she does not stop i made same mistake before thinking they are supposed to stop at the hospital even if no one is there but i did not threaten to beat up the driver) and no one rang to stop, as we turn out on to the street young lady get up trying to push the back door then screaming hey let me off driver says it is not safe for me to do that i will let you off at the next stop, girl storms to the front screaming at the driver let me the f*** off you f***ing b***h and slammimg on the front door. Driver stops the bus calls on the radio telling them of the situation, she decides to open the doors after base tells her it is ok also her "boyfriend" intervenes asking for his charger and they get off. shortly after we get underway after leaving the c.c hospital the same situation with a male big build and ginger  who has a bike starts screaming at the driver to let him off sitting right behind my mom and I driver reminds him that its not safe she will let him off at next stop and hes really agitated so big ginger pulls the stop request so hard twice he nearly pulls it off the wall. Big ginger walks up to the front of the bus cursing at the driver i hear him call her a b**** and i hear various swear words i also hear him say "you gonna f***ing run me over b****?" she calls on the radio again, they say to eject him but he is getting off anyways. Big Ginger gets off says a few more parting swear words and the driver closes the door, he is standing outside making offensive gestures, driver is continuing talking on the radio and says she doesnt need assistance. If anything really popped off i would have intervined and my mom said she would have too. We ride to the end to transfer to our bus home 

Had to tell my story cause it got me shook never seen anything like that pop off like that in all my years of riding the bus in nyc nj and florida.