BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Cait Sith]

14 hours ago, Jdog14 said:

 

The engine is a cummins L9 so its a different engine entirely (though similar)

It's 95% the same engine, just with a few changes.

[Future ENY OP]

@BreeddekalbL: Don’t ask me how I saw it. Did a double take. Couldn’t get back to my car in time to take picture. 

[paulrivera]

The Bx12 SBS seems to be de facto split in two sections this afternoon: The main Bx12 is running Inwood to Pelham Bay and there’s a shuttle Bx12 doing Pelham Bay to Bay Plaza.

It minimizes the service gaps on the Bay Plaza side of things and the intelligent riders can take the local 12 west of Pelham Bay and maybe even the Bx23/29/Q50 between Pelham Bay and the mall.

Now for those who don’t know the setup and are looking for thru service in and out of the mall? May God have Mercy on their poor souls. Thank goodness for the Bx23/29/Q50 and the local Bx12.

[Orion6025]

West Farms has taken in loaners again. 8398 and 4083 are both on the Bx33

[bobtehpanda]

Was there ever a discussion thread on the Northeast Queens Bus Study? It's got pretty interesting data in it.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, bobtehpanda said:

Was there ever a discussion thread on the Northeast Queens Bus Study? It's got pretty interesting data in it.

No, create one so we can discuss! 😆

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

I'm on an M4 going LIMITED right now, and this bus is moving in record time. We went from 32 Street & 6 Avenue to 110 Street & Broadway in exactly 30 minutes. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I'm on an M4 going LIMITED right now, and this bus is moving in record time. We went from 32 Street & 6 Avenue to 110 Street & Broadway in exactly 30 minutes. 

The Madison Avenue buses run very good on weekends in terms of run time. I've done 42nd to the Upper East Side (86th Street) in about 10 minutes.

[bobtehpanda]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

No, create one so we can discuss! 😆

It's dated 2015, so I was wondering if a fellow old-timer knew if there ever was a discussion

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, bobtehpanda said:

It's dated 2015, so I was wondering if a fellow old-timer knew if there ever was a discussion

I created a thread anyway, just in the wrong area...  

[Lil 57]

Can local bus drivers drive express buses and vice versa, or does local stay with local and express with express? If that's the case express bus drivers out of depots like QV would only have to work in the rush hours, right?

Edited June 3, 2018 by Lil 57

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

1 minute ago, Lil 57 said:

Can local bus drivers drive express buses and vice versa, or does local stay with local and express with express? If that's the case express bus drivers out of depots like QV would only have to work in the rush hours, right?

It's done everywhere including on Staten Island. Sometimes the AM work is on the express, and the PM work is on the local, or vice versa.

[SevenEleven]

1 hour ago, Lil 57 said:

Can local bus drivers drive express buses and vice versa, or does local stay with local and express with express? If that's the case express bus drivers out of depots like QV would only have to work in the rush hours, right?

Yes, we get trained to operate all of the buses that our particular depot has. Coming out of qualification, I was trained on all the local fleet. (RTS, LFS, Xcelsior and NG) The NGs cross train with all of the Orion VII models and the Xcelsior does with the C40. When I went to SI, I was trained on the Prevost and MCIs. Had I went to a depot with artics, I would had been trained on the D60s, XD60s and the LFSAs. Like @BM5 via Woodhaven mentioned, the run that we have may be straight local, straight express or a mixture of both. If you're on the list or Vacation Relief (like I am), you can switch up between local and express everyday. The express runs out of QV have the work sorted out to be rush hours only but there are runs where you'll do your work during the AMs, or solely in the PMs.

[East New York]

Just my random bus moment and thoughts for the day:

How much I miss the variety in NYC, and am thankful that as a modeler I can keep a bit if this history in my living room. 😎

Work, play, and hobby. That means buses for me all day everyday! 

I also have to admit that even though this is a career for me, NYCTF, TTMG made me appreciate the fan side of it. I may come off strong at times and a few may not care for me much but you all here are the reason I am who I am. You all created ENY, and MTA personnel gave me the nick name and I have to thank you all for that because it has been a blessing. 

I've also learned to appreciate the opinion of you all and the rest of those who are on the other side of the industry, meaning the transit fans and everyday riders. I did not understand you people prior to the internet! Lol

So for those that may not care for me much, I apologize if I ever offended anyone. I'm just a Brooklyine who pationate about what I do, and do not play when it comes to facts, information, or my career within this industry. 

Thanks for all of you guys support over the last decade!  

Also, please respect what we do and remember we take time out of our regular careers to provide fans, the average rider, and fellow industry employees information that was not available to even us once upon a time.

We are not under any obligation to provide the general public of internal information and I was once repremanded for providing info here prior to MTA Brass authorization.

For those that don't know, I posted MTA would award Standard Test Bus Orders to Nova, NewFlyer and Orion, and would then simultaneously resurrect the C40LF because the neither the Xcelsior nor the C40LFR were approved for MTA ops, and I would later explain why when I introduced the Bus Test & Evaluation Program. 

At my time of posting, MTA had not notified any manufacturer of these pending awards except for Orion. This caused major issues as all the manufactureing firms and MTA Brass read NYCTF. I posted a were earlier than I was supposed to, and MTA had to issue an emergency statement validating my claims which I was accused of lying about from everyone from regular posters to SEPTA, to multiple MTA employees who did not know about the pending plans.

I almost lost my entire career providing you all exclusive information, and it bothers me sometimes when people here think they are entitled to this information that we provide. Appreciate what we do, because we won't be here forever, and we didn't have anything remotely close to this as children. We didn't even know people shared the same passions and thought we were weird. There's too much negativity in this community at times, and many have gotten so used to this information, and complacent, that they have become ungreatful for it and have even used it against the MTA or myself and filed complaints for one reason or another. 

God forbid we all just decide to quit one day, shut down NYCTF and TTMG, then privatize MTA....  

Rant over. 

-ENY

 

 

 

 

[Calvin]

With the new LFSAs at MJQ, are the older ones with the luggage racks remain on the M60 or to be moved on the newer model?

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

I've finally been able to get home from Roosevelt Avenue station on the Q47 in 20 minutes during the rush hour. Many were glad, some were a bit ticked off that they had to get off at Calamus and walk down 69th.

Edited June 4, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Jdog14]

2 hours ago, Calvin said:

With the new LFSAs at MJQ, are the older ones with the luggage racks remain on the M60 or to be moved on the newer model?

They'll end up putting the racks on a group of the new ones eventually. 

[Gleasonbus7560]

I for one appreciate everything that you do East New York ,I don't really post here much at all just read what you write and myself am a big Transit buff ,I almost made a career in becoming a Bus operator in 2006 ,did my road training in Manhatanville Depot ,I Qualified on the first try on the 7th day ,a lot of going on in my life then and decided not to become a Driver ,partially because of the pay cut I would take as a rookie at 7 and a half dollars less than what I was currently making back then ,I loved buses and was one of those kids who hung out at Ulmer Park Depot in my teenage years ,The other part was actually seeing what I dreamed of being in a different way when having the chance to become a bus operator and realized it is only a hobby for me ,I utmost respect goes to you in taking the time to give everyone here your time to give them and me great info and new Knowledge that I learn from you everyday, speaking for myself even though I don't know you personally thank you for what you do ,Working for transit isn't a walk in the park     

[trainfan22]

I rode an 96 Nova out of JFK today, one of the best RTS rides I had in quite some time, the driver didn't haul ass or anything like that, it was Nostalgia of riding an 96 RTS. I rode 96 RTS's to elementary school in the early 2000s and today I'm in my mid 20s and these buses are still running in service. Loved the old school feel of the bus, the white headboard, the old school stop requested bell, etc. The 99 RTS's don't feel as old school as the 96's do, maybe its because visually 99's have the same spec's as the OG hybrids which I still view as new buses in my eyes. 

 

 

The bus was also in pretty good shape for a bus that's 22 years old and never got an major rebuild, 9027 is in a lot better shape than 5016 which 2 seaters in the middle rattle violently when the bus is IDLE. I always thought of the three batches the of Nova RTS's the TA bought the 96's were the best ones. I Miss those 96 Novas.

Edited June 6, 2018 by trainfan22

[Lil 57]

Quick question: What are swing shifts for a bus driver? I don't really get what it is.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Lil 57

[Via Garibaldi 8]

35 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Quick question: What are swing shifts for a bus driver? I don't really get what it is.

A shift between day and night. Something like starting at 16:00 and finishing at 00:00.

[Lil 57]

Just now, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

A shift between day and night. Something like starting at 16:00 and finishing at 00:00.

but what happens if you have like a 2-hour swing between bus runs.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

27 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

but what happens if you have like a 2-hour swing between bus runs.

What about it? When you pick runs, the runs pay differently based on a number of things such as if you're driving an artic, driving an express bus run and if you're driving overnight. Too many variables to go into quite frankly. The senior drivers generally pick the runs that pay the most and can get them in and out quickly. It's God send to have weekends and holidays off. That's not a given, but some guys will eat up overtime. There are some runs where you have a long break in between. Some guys will take advantage of it and do other things in between. 

Something else B/O's will do is switch with each other. Something may come up where you need to take a day and the only way it works is switching with another B/O and you do what he would normally do.

Some guys like nights because it pays more, and they don't have to deal with tons of passengers and traffic. The flip side is if the route you're driving on goes through some not so savory areas.

Something else that is built in for B/O's is time off. Some guys will let the time off build up. Eventually you have to use it though, so they'll take it at some point and use it.

Let's use some of the express bus runs as an example. You do one rush hour trip, then dead head over to MJQ. You have a long layover, then you pull out and do some more runs and you're done. Well what are you going to do to kill that layover time? Some guys take classes if they can or other things. 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[checkmatechamp13]

3 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Quick question: What are swing shifts for a bus driver? I don't really get what it is.

It's basically their lunch break. The rule is if it's 1 hour or less they get paid the whole thing, if it's 1-2 hours they get paid one hour, and if it's over 2 hours they get paid half of it.

[paulrivera]

So all the buses in NYC have “Museum of Sex” ads on the front....

Whoever takes a pic of bunched up buses with that ad on it automatically gets a thumbs up 😆