BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[WestFarms36]

7 minutes ago, MHV184 said:

GunHill is GunHill what can we do

Hope for new Managament and a turn around to the culture and work ethic in the depot.

[MHV184]

10 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

Hope for new Managament and a turn around to the culture and work ethic in the depot.

Highly doubt that'll happen 

[Cait Sith]

4 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

One question, do you know what depot the X23 and X24 buses run out of?

Perth Amboy garage for Academy.

[trainfan22]

XD40 7171 has not ONE but two ads on the rear.

 

Btw this old gen hybrid I'm on it has weak a/c, years ago these buses used to be ice cold on days like this.

[Future ENY OP]

Just spotted 2 East New York buses with double rear ad of Vision Zero. Only If I could get the picture uploaded. 7138 and another 71xx bus has it. 

[Future ENY OP]

41 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

XD40 7171 has not ONE but two ads on the rear.

Hopefully, this could be the sign for full rear ads on the LFSAs too. Similar to what Philadelphia has. Also, the  needs to explore the return of rear wraps for adversting revenue. Some of these ads repeat themselves every year. Vision Zero is one of those ads that repeat. 

Noticeably there are no 30x244 regular size,  30x244 king size or 30x215 ads yet for vision zero for any of the boroughs.  

[WestFarms36]

31 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Hopefully, this could be the sign for full rear ads on the LFSAs too. Similar to what Philadelphia has. Also, the  needs to explore the return of rear wraps for adversting revenue. Some of these ads repeat themselves every year. Vision Zero is one of those ads that repeat. 

Noticeably there are no 30x244 regular size,  30x244 king size or 30x215 ads yet for vision zero for any of the boroughs.  

MTA has been very arrogant in terms of wrapping the new buses. They did state that interior ads and the ads displayed on the new screens will make up for revenue that used to be displayed on the exterior of the buses. Exterior ads were unfortunately an icon, which in todays world and in the future will cease to exist with all the upcoming technology bringing new forms of ad display. Also the numbers for advertising on buses has been going on a steady decline with advertisers finding better and much more profitable ways to market.

[Future ENY OP]

5 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

MTA has been very arrogant in terms of wrapping the new buses. They did state that interior ads and the ads displayed on the new screens will make up for revenue that used to be displayed on the exterior of the buses. Exterior ads were unfortunately an icon, which in todays world and in the future will cease to exist with all the upcoming technology bringing new forms of ad display. Also the numbers for advertising on buses has been going on a steady decline with advertisers finding better and much more profitable ways to market.

Good point. However, there are some buses in Queens. Newer XD60's from  bus are starting to have rear ads. However on the NYCT front for XD40's and XD60's . Those buses are empty. Ad free. The ads on the information screens would only be for . 

I feel that the exterior ads aren't really a thing of the past only because Manhattan division is a big market and most advertisers like to market in Manhattan, plus express buses that travel to Manhattan.  

[WestFarms36]

2 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Good point. However, there are some buses in Queens. Newer XD60's from  bus are starting to have rear ads. However on the NYCT front for XD40's and XD60's . Those buses are empty. Ad free. The ads on the information screens would only be for . 

I feel that the exterior ads aren't really a thing of the past only because Manhattan division is a big market and most advertisers like to market in Manhattan, plus express buses that travel to Manhattan.  

Manhattan Buses have a good Market due to the Broadway Shows which I like that fact. Don't get too hype cuz 5411 got wrapped, it may be the only and last bus to do so. Many ways of advertising are coming up and facilitate advertisers to use them. Outfront media is incharge of Bus ads, and they offer all the options, window wraps, entire bus wrap, rear wrap, king size ads, front ads, over the window ads, etc. But many of those options aren't opted by the advertisers. In the past 5 years Bus ad has seen a decline in numbers, going down 10% each year, Technology renders Bus Ads useless and much more cheaper to advertise without the strict Guidelines has in place with advertising. Manhattan has a very solid Market for advertising because mostly Broadway Shows, and NBC Shows get advertised on them, knowing that those Buses go through touristic sites in the city, and Manhattan being the hotspot for bus ads. is moving on to digital/interior advertising because it benefits them more, only gets a 45% of what the advertiser pays for the ad while Outfront gets the other 55%. With Digital advertising and interior ads on Buses the gets the full amount of money that the advertiser pays to display the ad, making it a much more profitable deal for the . Outfront also is incharge of ads on Subway Cars and Station Ad Panels.

[Q64 To Forest Hills]

6023 out of Casey, 7348 out of Flatbush and 6098 all have the same vision zero ads as 5411. They’re simply starting to put ads on new scheme and sbs wrapped buses. 

[Lil 57]

I've updated the list of new SI Routes, Tell me What you think. Maps are also in the doc. file.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rO_mP36pv_uJYzR8nPginT62XA2bAm_rIBplsA5XYr0/edit?usp=sharing

[Lawrence St]

They really should extend the Bx15 LTD past Fordham Plaza like how the Bx55 was.

[Calvin]

I wonder how come the local buses no longer have the cloth on the seats

Edited May 3, 2018 by Calvin

[Lil 57]

7 minutes ago, Calvin said:

I wonder how come the local buses no longer have the cloth on the seats

They're harder to clean, Some NG's on SI still have cloth seats.

[trainfan22]

25 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

They're harder to clean, Some NG's on SI still have cloth seats.

I remember back in the day when you got a freshly rehabbed bus with all new carpet seats... gave the bus an "new car smell" even though the bus wasn't new. There's still RTSs and OG hybrids that still have the cloth seats as well.

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

One thing I find very disappointing is that PM Rush Hour is scheduled from 4 to 7 pm yet around 6 pm everyday I see a bunch of buses Not In Service heading to their home depots (especially at GunHill). Why is that a significant amount of rush hour service ends before rush hour is finished leaving the back end of rush hour (6 to 7 pm) a rougher trip than the front end (4 to 5 pm)?

[B35 via Church]

11 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

They really should extend the Bx15 LTD past Fordham Plaza like how the Bx55 was.

Before the Bx41 SBS was ever created, they should've left the Bx55 in operation.... [Having done away with the Bx55] & [having the Bx39 & Bx41 swap NB terminals] pretty much ensured the solidification of a future Webster av. SBS.... They could (I'd argue should) have still had the Bx15 LTD (more to benefit interborough riders) & the Bx55 (benefitting intra-Bronx riders) running concurrently on 3rd, but being frugal, they ended up consolidating & cutting back on overall 3rd av. service... The Bx55 was one of those routes that that was well patronized, but the MTA decided to have it thinned down to nothing....

What you're intimating is a consolidation of the two routes.... That would have made matters worse for both aforementioned sets of Bx15 riders.... The Bx15 LTD's ending at Fordham Plz. from the south, isn't the problem.....

[Future ENY OP]

Random sighting:  0017 on the B47 on Tuesday. Spotted it on Ralph Avenue. Grand Avenue is really putting these buses to good use. Something tells me these proterra buses will be a hit in NYC streets in the future. 

 

[bwwnyc123]

They should've kept BX55 service could operate local between 3 Av -149 St and Gun Hill Rd - White Plains Rd and BX15 Limited weekdays.

[B35 via Church]

24 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Random sighting:  0017 on the B47 on Tuesday. Spotted it on Ralph Avenue. Grand Avenue is really putting these buses to good use. Something tells me these proterra buses will be a hit in NYC streets in the future. 

Yeah, I've been seeing them quite a bit on the B32 lately.... Good catch though.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, JubaionBx12+SBS said:

One thing I find very disappointing is that PM Rush Hour is scheduled from 4 to 7 pm yet around 6 pm everyday I see a bunch of buses Not In Service heading to their home depots (especially at GunHill). Why is that a significant amount of rush hour service ends before rush hour is finished leaving the back end of rush hour (6 to 7 pm) a rougher trip than the front end (4 to 5 pm)?

Good question. They do this across the board, and I find it annoying.  They still have this 9-5 mentality and a lot of people now work at different hours, so rush hour is far from over at say 18:00.

[WestFarms36]

10 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Good question. They do this across the board, and I find it annoying.  They still have this 9-5 mentality and a lot of people now work at different hours, so rush hour is far from over at say 18:00.

Similar thing here... I hate the fact about the Mid Day construction on the and ending at 3:30pm, kids coming out of school who need the trains to get home sometimes have no choice. I was forced to stand on a crowded platform for 45 Minutes waiting for the first local uptown to stop, I had to squish my way into the doors to get in becauase CROWDED PLATFORM + CROWDED TRAIN = CHAOS. needs to rethink their work times because it has become a big inconvenience for people. The demographics are changing and is oblivious to change because their go 2 option is "We've always done it this way" but you can't be using data from 30+ years ago to state your point, or plan scheduling in 2018.

Edited May 3, 2018 by WestFarms36

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, WestFarms36 said:

Similar thing here... I hate the fact about the Mid Day construction on the and ending at 3:30pm, kids coming out of school who need the trains to get home sometimes have no choice. I was forced to stand on a crowded platform for 45 Minutes waiting for the first local uptown to stop, I had to squish my way into the doors to get in becauase CROWDED PLATFORM + CROWDED TRAIN = CHAOS. needs to rethink their work times because it has become a big inconvenience for people. The demographics are changing and is oblivious to change because their go 2 option is "We've always done it this way" but you can't be using data from 30+ years ago to state your point, or plan scheduling in 2018.

Not just data, but also schedules. Seriously, having off-peak schedules on some lines that go back almost 10 years with few changes is absurd, and now, in 2018, they're finally realizing that they need to improve service.  I'm very anxious to see what off-peak improvements look like in their mind when the new Staten Island schedules come out once they approve the new network.

[WestFarms36]

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Not just data, but also schedules. Seriously, having off-peak schedules on some lines that go back almost 10 years with few changes is absurd, and now, in 2018, they're finally realizing that they need to improve service.  I'm very anxious to see what off-peak improvements look like in their mind when the new Staten Island schedules come out once they approve the new network.

I wonder if any of these people have seen a bus or a train during off peak hours, seriously people get tired of having to wait 30+ minutes at a Bus Stop during certain times of day making them opt on taking Uber or Lyft, degrading the route further more to the point where not even a fly is seen on the bus. These supposedly "Improvements" kill these routes which causes no one to take them, promping the to think that no one at all uses buses at that time, automatically cutting service without identifying root cause based on the loss of ridership. Their mentality is "We don't give any flying f*cks, we'll go with our plan anyways."

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

I wonder if any of these people have seen a bus or a train during off peak hours, seriously people get tired of having to wait 30+ minutes at a Bus Stop during certain times of day making them opt on taking Uber or Lyft, degrading the route further more to the point where not even a fly is seen on the bus. These supposedly "Improvements" kill these routes which causes no one to take them, promping the to think that no one at all uses buses at that time, automatically cutting service without identifying root cause based on the loss of ridership. Their mentality is "We don't give any flying f*cks, we'll go with our plan anyways."

Last Sunday I waited almost 30 minutes for a BxM1 bus.  It was due at 18:50 and arrived at 19:18, with the driver smiling and speaking like nothing happened .  I was too tired from waiting to say anything so I just spoke and took a seat.  It was yet another trip that should've taken 40 minutes, but took almost two hours when all was said and done.  I got off early in frustration because we had a wheelchair on top of it and I didn't feel like going through a 20 minute ordeal just for that, but yeah I see lots of people using Uber when waiting for buses on weekends, and you really can't blame them.  Getting anywhere has become such an ordeal.  I may very well start putting Uber into my budget when the bus becomes a mess.