IAlam Posted March 23, 2018 Share #22826 Posted March 23, 2018 6 hours ago, Cait Sith said: Cosmetic issues means they have bad maintenance? You have no idea what bad maintenance really is. Let's not even get started on the Yukon & Castleton horror stories Pre-2010....... Well, cosmetic issues can be a good indication of how they maintain their fleet. 1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: I've wondered about this myself. It seems to vary. I think the senior guys pick what they want. The newer guys may either get whatever or get assigned a bus. Well after a certain point all the buses are "technically" the same so in those cases maybe the drivers don't care what they get. If you wanted a 2002 MCI and those were all gone chances are you wouldn't care what bus you'd get after that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 23, 2018 Share #22827 Posted March 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, IAlam said: Well after a certain point all the buses are "technically" the same so in those cases maybe the drivers don't care what they get. If you wanted a 2002 MCI and those were all gone chances are you wouldn't care what bus you'd get after that. Perhaps, but I got the impression that some drivers are indeed assigned buses. 6 hours ago, Cait Sith said: Cosmetic issues means they have bad maintenance? You have no idea what bad maintenance really is. Let's not even get started on the Yukon & Castleton horror stories Pre-2010....... I haven't seen it but somebody here said that Kingsbridge uses duct tape on their buses. Talking about the horror stories of Yukon and Castleton pre-2010, they'd do the same thing. Using duct tape to replace screws and such, or duct tape on the outside. LOL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAlam Posted March 23, 2018 Share #22828 Posted March 23, 2018 Oh yeah on a side note, I finally got to ride both of the electric buses yesterday. While the XE40 felt pretty similar to all the other Xcelsiors, the Pro Terra was very interesting. I'm not sure if this was mentioned before but the main thing I noticed that the rear doors aren't passenger operated. I thought that was extremely odd considering the demo was already built to NYC specs. Additionally, the stop request buttons were weird too there were these weird small red circles. While I hated the Gilig like design with the high windows in the low floor section, the bus was actually quite impressive. The bus was extremely smooth and accelerated pretty fast even though it struggled to go over 30. The final thing I noticed that is pretty important about these buses is the fact that the low floor portion it longer than on a standard bus, much can probably help with fitting more standing passengers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Sith Posted March 23, 2018 Share #22829 Posted March 23, 2018 3 hours ago, IAlam said: Well, cosmetic issues can be a good indication of how they maintain their fleet. Well after a certain point all the buses are "technically" the same so in those cases maybe the drivers don't care what they get. If you wanted a 2002 MCI and those were all gone chances are you wouldn't care what bus you'd get after that. By that logic, the whole city is bad! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAlam Posted March 23, 2018 Share #22830 Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, Cait Sith said: By that logic, the whole city is bad! Well ... it's not that far from the truth. Edited March 23, 2018 by IAlam 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViaWaterViaChurch Posted March 24, 2018 Share #22831 Posted March 24, 2018 On 3/23/2018 at 8:17 AM, RestrictOnTheHanger said: Do express bus drivers get to pick what bus they take out of the depot? Whenever I take a certain time bus with the same driver from CP in the morning, he always has a 2002 MCI, and I'm thinking that can't be a coincidence given how few are left there. I know at least some of them can pick what they want. I heard a CP Driver who frequently picks the 2002 MCIs telling a passenger one day that he always picks the 2002s because they're faster than the 2006s. This guy has a lot of time on, I think he was one of the old Queens Surface drivers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Around the Horn Posted March 24, 2018 Share #22832 Posted March 24, 2018 On March 23, 2018 at 8:17 AM, RestrictOnTheHanger said: Do express bus drivers get to pick what bus they take out of the depot? Whenever I take a certain time bus with the same driver from CP in the morning, he always has a 2002 MCI, and I'm thinking that can't be a coincidence given how few are left there. Local bus ops too. I know a guy at Spring Creek who always tries to get an Orion 7 and usually does. Same thing for a few ops at Ulmer and their 4900s. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion6025 Posted March 24, 2018 Share #22833 Posted March 24, 2018 Every depot has that operator that always tries to shoot for the old or unusual equipment. There are 2 people at Eastchester who try for the 2002/2008 CTs, multiple who try for the RTS and LGA, RTS at MQ, CP for D4500s (For certain buses in some cases), RTS and Grand Avenue, etc. Nothing new. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22834 Posted March 25, 2018 An MCI with usb ports was on the 2 train Shuttle bus in the Bronx. Before, it was a prevost. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22835 Posted March 25, 2018 55 minutes ago, Calvin said: An MCI with usb ports was on the 2 train Shuttle bus in the Bronx. Before, it was a prevost. Huh??? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22836 Posted March 25, 2018 Quote One question: Why are the X23 and X24 buses operated by Academy Bus instead of MTA? Couldn't the MTA just lease those two routes just like the B100 and B103, which were formerly part of the Command Bus Company, or all the Queens routes that are operated under MTA Bus? It's been that way and that's the way the wants it. For now they don't want to absorb the lines as official lines, and the new lines will still be operated by Academy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22837 Posted March 25, 2018 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: It's been that way and that's the way the wants it. For now they don't want to absorb the lines as official lines, and the new lines will still be operated by Academy. Not according to the ATU 726 union rep that was at the last meeting. He said that once they get enough buses to cover those lines, they will be operated by the MTA (which should be by June, and the new lines take effect in August). He said something to the effect of "they're ours already but they're waiting for an order of buses to come in". Edited March 25, 2018 by checkmatechamp13 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM5 via Woodhaven Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22838 Posted March 25, 2018 58 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: Huh??? There are multiple MCI's out on the shuttle this weekend. Most of Charleston's buses up there are MCI's. I saw 3 or 4 of them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22839 Posted March 25, 2018 (edited) 9 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said: Not according to the ATU 726 union rep that was at the last meeting. He said that once they get enough buses to cover those lines, they will be operated by the MTA (which should be by June, and the new lines take effect in August). He said something to the effect of "they're ours already but they're waiting for an order of buses to come in". Yeah well the has yet to place that order for new express buses. In fact they haven't even awarded the contract. The excuse was always a lack of space and a lack of buses. When Charleston was built supposedly that space was accounted for before they even had buses in that depot because of the overcrowding at Yukon and Charleston, and I didn't think they took the X23 an X24 into account then, so the question is what depot would these buses be out of? #depotofrelax @BM5 via Woodhaven That must've been a mess, especially with that protest. Edited March 25, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Train92 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22840 Posted March 25, 2018 If anybody is on the Train Shuttle Bus today, is there a MCI or Prevost running? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahC99 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22841 Posted March 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: Yeah well the has yet to place that order for new express buses. In fact they haven't even awarded the contract. The excuse was always a lack of space and a lack of buses. When Charleston was built supposedly that space was accounted for before they even had buses in that depot because of the overcrowding at Yukon and Charleston, and I didn't think they took the X23 an X24 into account then, so the question is what depot would these buses be out of? #depotofrelax @BM5 via Woodhaven That must've been a mess, especially with that protest. I think they could be based out of Castleton or Yukon. Castleton has capacity for 340 buses and Yukon has capacity for 400, yet the former has 209 buses and the latter has 267 buses at this point. If the X23 and X24 need more than 10-20 buses for the services, which I am doubting, then either depot would have capacity for the two routes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22842 Posted March 25, 2018 54 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said: I think they could be based out of Castleton or Yukon. Castleton has capacity for 340 buses and Yukon has capacity for 400, yet the former has 209 buses and the latter has 267 buses at this point. If the X23 and X24 need more than 10-20 buses for the services, which I am doubting, then either depot would have capacity for the two routes. I see... Then the question is when or if Castleton will be rehabilitated... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahC99 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22843 Posted March 25, 2018 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: I see... Then the question is when or if Castleton will be rehabilitated... I’m guessing the rehabilitation of the depot would be for accommodation of new buses and for structural repairs? Edited March 25, 2018 by JeremiahC99 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22844 Posted March 25, 2018 40 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said: I’m guessing the rehabilitation of the depot would be for accommodation of new buses and for structural repairs? That depot is rundown so definitely to get it looking like something in the 21st century. I don't know about accomodating more buses. I think the plan was to build another depot. No idea what happened with that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future ENY OP Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22845 Posted March 25, 2018 40 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: That depot is rundown so definitely to get it looking like something in the 21st century. I don't know about accommodating more buses. I think the plan was to build another depot. No idea what happened with that. Is there any room out in Staten Island for a possible 5th depot? From the looks of things the is clearly not in the business of building new depots right now. Only reason I'm pointing this b/c look how long it took to get Charleston (SI) and Grand Avenue (BK) live. 14 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said: Not according to the ATU 726 union rep that was at the last meeting. He said that once they get enough buses to cover those lines, they will be operated by the MTA (which should be by June, and the new lines take effect in August). He said something to the effect of "they're ours already but they're waiting for an order of buses to come in". From what I'm reading will the Academy contract with the city expire 6/30/18? Are both lines near Yukon, Castelton or Charleston? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteriousBtrain Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22846 Posted March 25, 2018 3 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said: Are both lines near Yukon, Castelton or Charleston? I'd say the closest/most convenient is Charleston, but Yukon can be a good choice too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM5 via Woodhaven Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22847 Posted March 25, 2018 4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: @BM5 via Woodhaven That must've been a mess, especially with that protest. Most, if not all the MCI's ran the express shuttle (direct from 96 Street to 149 Street) , so it likely did not carry as much as the other shuttles. However, it probably was still packed. The MCI I got had a little more than half a load on, given that it was 10:30, and the buses were being sent out every 1.5-2 minutes combined. The shorties on the express though were brutal Bronx-bound. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 25, 2018 Share #22848 Posted March 25, 2018 45 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said: Is there any room out in Staten Island for a possible 5th depot? From the looks of things the is clearly not in the business of building new depots right now. Only reason I'm pointing this b/c look how long it took to get Charleston (SI) and Grand Avenue (BK) live. It took at least 20 years to get Charleston built. When it was, at that time there was talk of looking to secure space for a fifth depot. If and when that will happen is anyone's guess. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
161 New York Posted March 26, 2018 Share #22849 Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) No-one really can say for sure what is going on with the x23 and x24, whose operations are completely and totally separate from the MTA (aside from total or catastrophic farebox issues). Right now the NYC DOT dictates their routes and is their overall management of those lines, funding is provided by the NYC Economic Development Corp with additional subsidies from NYS. Looking at the language in the Staten Island Bus Study: Reimagining Express Buses report (p.19): Quote Finally, the X23 and X24 express bus routes are funded by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and operated by Academy Bus. Given the comprehensive nature of this study, they are considered in the redesign plan. Changes to the X23 and X24 routes are expected to be cost-neutral or cost-saving to the operator. Pay attention to the word "considered" and the that "Operated by Academy Bus" are included in both the report and proposed SIM23 and SIM24 diagrams. Again, no-one really knows what is going on, I suspect the ATU SI Bus Operator's labor union would ideally desire to absorb the routes as additional work for their membership, but one has to really question if the MTA were to absorb these routes - why in the most recent release of the route maps would they include that these proposed routes would be operated by Academy? There has been no formal Board paperwork that I have seen mentioning any of the express bus changes, right now everything seems to be preliminary and proposed. Right now, the MTA is using the term "open house" to solicit public feedback for the plans. Again, pay attention to the wording, an "open house" is very different from the legal/agency-imposed/etc mandates of a public meeting where the MTA would have to provide legal, financial and other information to implement the new service. Then and only then will we see everything, hours of service, headways, etc. (which then in turn would likely be provided to the public in something that is easily digestable = readable). Presumably, the SIM23 and SIM24 would represent and require a substantial revision/rewriting or a simply a brand new contract. This again, brings important questions, as the NYC EDC is the administrator of the contract with the NYC DOT delegated to oversee Academy's operations. With such major and material changes, would such a contract be subject to open-competitive bidding? (Since the routes are being shortened, I would imagine NYC would like to save money). Since the MTA is driving these changes, would the MTA be party to the contract process? Right now everything is behind the scenes. The only way we can see information is either through leaks, official MTA documentation from the Board or making public record requests, requesting: - Correspondence between NYC EDC/DOT and Academy regarding its relationship since the takeover from Atlantic Express. (Dec 13 - Jan 14) - Correspondence between NYC EDC/DOT and Academy regarding the ending of the contract and whatever expectations concerning continuity of service (Sep 16? - Sept '17) - Correspondence between NYC/EDC DOT and Academy regarding the proposed changes. - Correspondence between MTA and Academy regarding the possible implementation of the SIM23 and SIM24. Let's see official documentation everything else is simply speculation. Edited March 26, 2018 by 161 New York 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteriousBtrain Posted March 27, 2018 Share #22850 Posted March 27, 2018 Does anyone know which C40s have the on-board display screens? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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