BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Statty]

33 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Wait, if one operator does a run on the M101 and then does a run on the M102, how does that show up in the run sheet?

That's the run number not the route. That's 101 and 102 on the Q19 that you're looking at.

 

48 minutes ago, BreeddekalbL said:

Try this

https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fapp.box.com%2Fs%2Fcfe5eec5df2516027491/view/308495137108

Try this 

Yes, I thought correctly. So if for whatever reason that run is cut for a certain day ex. Holiday or snow days etc. That person would be on the extra list 

[BreeddekalbL]

43 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

The link a few posts up has a bunch of those examples. CP ops tend to do several routes in a run.

42 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

No I mean't a single run sheet for a specific pick, not for all the picks.

You also have lgapick to look at 

Edited August 5, 2018 by BreeddekalbL

[Mtatransit]

Alright I just have to rant because the bus system is getting ridiculous. So I got to 74 St- Broadway and the Q49 was supposed to leave at 9:55, but then nope missing buses and buses going out of service. No buses until 10:25PM then two buses shows up... How do you mess up the Q49? There’s no traffic, and it’s a short route. This is why MTA’s service guideline is absolute garbage. There is only “guidelines” if the buses come on time, or even shows up. No wonder they keep experiencing ridership declines because the service is getting so infrequent off peaks (a lot of the routes get 30 min headway’s after 7PM now) and people don’t even know if it will show up on time.

[JeremiahC99]

3 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

Already? Most ENY hybrids are at or close to retirement age. The youngest ones are 6800s which are from 07 IIRC.

 

IMO, the hybrids aged pretty well, they aged better than our Orion V's IMO. No signs of rust and they aren't rattle traps.

So they were built better than the 350 Orion Vs from 1999 (6000-6349) that we’re retired early due to frame corrosion, which was a result of the production of the buses being rushed and not built throughly?

[Q43LTD]

I wonder what will be the fate of the Q100 if and when Rikers Island closes?

[Jdog14]

2 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

I wonder what will be the fate of the Q100 if and when Rikers Island closes?

 

If they turn Rikers into something else, they may end up just renaming the destination to whatever it will be (like a new mall, Hudson Pier for example or whatever)

[B35 via Church]

41 minutes ago, Q43LTD said:

I wonder what will be the fate of the Q100 if and when Rikers Island closes?

I'll just put it this way.... While I'm not exactly high on 21st st exactly needing a LTD, what I think should happen & what I think will happen with the route are two different things....

What I think will end up happening, is that they'll have some Q69 trips run the same course from LIC to Steinway st., then run up Steinway st. & shoot across 20th, etc., to Hazen..... They'll claim that as alternative service, completely & purposefully ignoring Steinway (the neighborhood) north of Ditmars & west of Steinway (street)..... Service-wise, how they'll go about it, is that they'd mathematically determine the amt. current of service on 21st (on the Q69 & Q100 combined) & then determine how much of that service would run up to 19th/hazen.... In short, there'd be an overall service cut along 21st....

[GojiMet86]

I have a friend who lives up west of 31st Street and 20th Avenue, near Con Ed. She and her husband have a car and that is used most of the time going into the city. But she told me, knowing I was a bus guy, that one day she decided to the Q100  where she could take it to Queensbridge and couldn't believe how fast or how convinient it was compared to walking to the Q69 (or walking to the subway, which has sucked these days).

[B35 via Church]

2 hours ago, GojiMet86 said:

I have a friend who lives up west of 31st Street and 20th Avenue, near Con Ed. She and her husband have a car and that is used most of the time going into the city. But she told me, knowing I was a bus guy, that one day she decided to the Q100  where she could take it to Queensbridge and couldn't believe how fast or how convinient it was compared to walking to the Q69 (or walking to the subway, which has sucked these days).

More power to them, because there's no way I'm going to primarily rely on driving into Manhattan (even for all the frustrations with the MTA)....

But what always trips me out w/ people is - How can you live in an area & be as oblivious, or having a certain nonchalance to the public buses running in your own backyard..... Astoria's one of the few neighborhoods in all of Queens that are vocal when it comes to public transportation, which I give them all the credit in the world for...

With that said though, if Rikers closes, I'd say that 21st still would end up taking a hit unfortunately... I don't think it'll be as simple as, say, just have the Q100 ending at 19th/Hazen via its current routing w/ its current service levels....

Edited August 5, 2018 by B35 via Church

[Cait Sith]

21 hours ago, JeremiahC99 said:

Why are East New York’s hybrids breaking down already?

 

16 hours ago, JeremiahC99 said:

So they were built better than the 350 Orion Vs from 1999 (6000-6349) that we’re retired early due to frame corrosion, which was a result of the production of the buses being rushed and not built throughly?

No offense dude, but you ask the dumbest questions sometimes when the answers are more than obvious.

They are 11 YEARS OLD....OF COURSE they're gonna break down! They're getting old and are close to retirement age!

I pose a question for you, what bus DOESN'T break down!?

And yes, they were built more better than the Orion Vs. It took DaimlerChrysler & Orion several years to get the VII right.

 

18 hours ago, Future ENY OP said:

Remember. 6589-6624 are already over 10 years old...

Yes, the hybrids have aged very well, and no rusts.

Stainless Steel frames do not rust.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Cait Sith

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Cait Sith said:

 

No offense dude, but you ask the dumbest questions sometimes when the answers are more than obvious.

They are 11 YEARS OLD....OF COURSE they're gonna break down! They're getting old and are close to retirement age!

I pose a question for you, what bus DOESN'T break down!?

And yes, they were built more better than the Orion Vs. It took DaimlerChrysler & Orion several years to get the VII right.

 

Stainless Steel frames do not rust.

There's no such thing as a stupid question. 

[Brillant93]

Seems like the Q53 is having overcrowding trouble to and from the beach. 

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/08/05/eyes-on-the-street-on-sunday-the-rockaway-bound-sbs-is-really-crowded/

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

24 minutes ago, Brillant93 said:

Seems like the Q53 is having overcrowding trouble to and from the beach. 

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/08/05/eyes-on-the-street-on-sunday-the-rockaway-bound-sbs-is-really-crowded/

Can confirm those buses are packed like sardines (when I ride them) and it's usually a nightmare in general. People have had issues going to Rockaway Beach (whether by train, bus, and even car) from since the past decade during this time and that's expected frankly. Knowing the MTA, im not surprised they are making little attempt to fix the congestion, but I do feel they should since ridership to Rockaway beach isn't slowing down. And past efforts like extending the Rock. Park Shuttle do benefit many greatly, same could apply to running more buses along Woodhaven/Cross Bay bvlds. 

[GojiMet86]

No surprise here. It's as if SOMEONE here predicted that would happen with SBS.

[checkmatechamp13]

9 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

More power to them, because there's no way I'm going to primarily rely on driving into Manhattan (even for all the frustrations with the MTA)....

But what always trips me out w/ people is - How can you live in an area & be as oblivious, or having a certain nonchalance to the public buses running in your own backyard..... Astoria's one of the few neighborhoods in all of Queens that are vocal when it comes to public transportation, which I give them all the credit in the world for...

With that said though, if Rikers closes, I'd say that 21st still would end up taking a hit unfortunately... I don't think it'll be as simple as, say, just have the Q100 ending at 19th/Hazen via its current routing w/ its current service levels....

I remember one time I had a tutoring client in Westfield, NJ and I mentioned that I had to take the #59 to get to his area and he said he never heard of it, even though it literally passed by his house (and as you know, the #59 runs full-sized buses and runs the entire day. So it's not like some of these suburban areas where you have minibuses running a few trips per day or anything where it's easier to miss).

His mother gave me a lift to the train station to catch the #59 (she dropped me off on the north side of the tracks where the #113 stops, so it seemed like they were at least familiar with NYC-bound service). 

BTW, we had the tutoring session at the Westfield library instead of their house (otherwise, I would've obviously just caught the #59 right there).

[MysteriousBtrain]

You guys forget that 1. Ridership rises like hell during summer weekends 2. NYCT already loaned more buses this summer and 3. There is a thing called traffic most notably on Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue. Not that I'm excusing any drivers on the Q53 however.

[Brillant93]

35 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

You guys forget that 1. Ridership rises like hell during summer weekends 2. NYCT already loaned more buses this summer and 3. There is a thing called traffic most notably on Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue. Not that I'm excusing any drivers on the Q53 however.

Ridership on the B41 also rose up as well during the summer. I was coming from the gym and the bus was packed with people going to the junction to catch the Q35 to Riss beach. A lot of those transplants like going there. This was on a Sunday. I think the mta needs to send more buses for this time of year. 

[Around the Horn]

4 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

There is a thing called traffic most notably on Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue. Not that I'm excusing any drivers on the Q53 however.

So then run extras from Hoffman Drive south... It's not that hard.

[NewFlyer 230]

2 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

So then run extras from Hoffman Drive south... It's not that hard.

That’s what I say, but of course that would make too much sense.

I took the Q53 yesterday at Hoffman and Woodhaven and 3 Q53’s showed up all of which were packed. There were no Q11/Q21 and or Q52’s set to come according to the countdown clock at the stop and the app I have on my phone. I know local service has diminished greatly on woodhaven so I would argue that perhaps more service be added on the Q52 SBS. I don’t think the MTA really cares about the Q11/Q21 anymore which is sad. 

The problem I see with the Woodhaven routes is that the MTA kept throwing routes on it and didn’t work on improving the actual routes themselves. There are too many routes to work with and most except the Q53 are treated like supplementary routes. You really can’t make one service more frequent without reducing the useful of another route which is why the MTA should have kept the Q11 and Q53 as the sole Woodhaven Blvd routes. The Q21 could have changed up to follow the current Q52 route from Beach 54th Street to the Rockaway Blvd Station. It didn’t need to go to Elmhurst.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by NewFlyer 230

[Cait Sith]

1 hour ago, Around the Horn said:

So then run extras from Hoffman Drive south... It's not that hard.

It actually is. Almost all of the artics are used for service on the Q53 with only very little spares and buses needed for maintenance. Jackson Heights also gets hit pretty hard during the summer months on the Q53.

At the current time, there's only about 12 or so artics out, but during the rush hour, almost every artic is out in service.

[Brillant93]

I think that’s why they’re ordering about 53 artics. The extra 10 I guess will go for extra runs. But being how the mta is terminating the bus loan program I don’t see how an extra set of 10 buses would help for the summer months. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

I feel that if/when they have the resources, the MTA should look into having Q53X buses. Basically, pick-ups at Woodside, Jackson Heights, and Woodhaven, then non-stop to the Rockaways (making both pick-ups and drop-offs there).

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

20 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I feel that if/when they have the resources, the MTA should look into having Q53X buses. Basically, pick-ups at Woodside, Jackson Heights, and Woodhaven, then non-stop to the Rockaways (making both pick-ups and drop-offs there).

This may work as a summer only route (for people going to Rockaway) , but I highly doubt it would work during all times of year. If done though, also add Rockaway Bvld.  stop., since that's another way for passengers (on the ) to get to the beach.

Edited August 6, 2018 by NoHacksJustKhaks

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

9 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

This may work as a summer only route (for people going to Rockaway) , but I highly doubt it would work during all times of year. If done though, also add Rockaway Bvld.  stop., since that's another way for passengers to get to the beach quicker.

Yes it would be a summer only service. As for a Rockaway Boulevard stop, it's not needed. The Rockaway Park and the current Q53 service would continue to exist, and the current Q53 to the Rockaways from there is relatively fast. The point is to distribute loads on buses so that regular commutes and users can get on, instead of being left behind because of severe overcrowding on buses. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[MysteriousBtrain]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I feel that if/when they have the resources, the MTA should look into having Q53X buses. Basically, pick-ups at Woodside, Jackson Heights, and Woodhaven, then non-stop to the Rockaways (making both pick-ups and drop-offs there).

Basically the triboro Q53. Or something similar. Maybe it can be looked at during the bus restructuring program.