MTA Bus Operations: Fleet & Depots

[Future ENY OP]

3 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

That went to Grand too.

So B38 and Q58 to Grand

B48, 57, 60 to Fresh Pond.

48 and 57 come back home to Fresh Pond.

I wonder how this Q58 move is going to work b/c the current Q58 pulls out of Fresh Pond and stops in front.

B60 move to Fresh Pond doesn't make sense. However, the interline with the Q54 at WBP isn't too bad.

 

[Ultimategamer12c]

20 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

48 and 57 come back home to Fresh Pond.

I wonder how this Q58 move is going to work b/c the current Q58 pulls out of Fresh Pond and stops in front.

B60 move to Fresh Pond doesn't make sense. However, the interline with the Q54 at WBP isn't too bad.

 

Isnt the B13 moving to FP again as well?

[Future ENY OP]

10 minutes ago, Ultimategamer12c said:

Isnt the B13 moving to FP again as well?

I'm lost on that one.

All the other mentioned routes are moving from GA to FP and vice versa.

[Orion6025]

1 hour ago, SevenEleven said:

In January, the M35 is going to be split between Quill and Hale.

Does this mean that the M35 will be completely converted over to artic operations or will 40 footers continue to operate on that line (especially quill's 40 footers...)

[Brillant93]

56 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

48 and 57 come back home to Fresh Pond.

I wonder how this Q58 move is going to work b/c the current Q58 pulls out of Fresh Pond and stops in front.

B60 move to Fresh Pond doesn't make sense. However, the interline with the Q54 at WBP isn't too bad.

 

I’m guessing the B38 and Q58 are prepping for future sbs. Reason for it going to grand. 

[JeremiahC99]

1 hour ago, SevenEleven said:

That went to Grand too.

So B38 and Q58 to Grand

B48, 57, 60 to Fresh Pond.

I can see the B38 and Q58 going artic with these moves (since GA can maintain articulated buses unlike FP).

 

The B57 move to FP does make sense from an operations standpoint since the terminal of the line in Queens is at Fresh Pond Road in Maspeth. With this move, I can see deadheads between the depot and the Fresh Pond Road terminal being quicker, especially in the morning since the deadhead would be direct. Would this improve reliability for the Maspeth end of the B57 in the morning?

 

Speaking of FP and GA, I have a question. Since the routes serve almost the same areas of North Brooklyn, why can't the two depots operate in a similar fashion to JFK and Far Rockaway Depots, wherein one depot rotates part of a fleet to the other depot (in the case of JFK/Far Rockaway, JFK rotates 52 Orion VII OG Hybrids to Far Rockaway). Why can't this be done to other depots that run through the same area (like Fresh Pond and Grand Avenue or Manhattanville and Mother Clara Hale)? What makes JFK and Far Rockaway depots so special that FR has to be reliant on JFK to provide service in the Rockaways?

[T J Trainman]

The B13 is also going to FP as well. 

[Orion6025]

1 hour ago, Brillant93 said:

I’m guessing the B38 and Q58 are prepping for future sbs. Reason for it going to grand. 

I was told that the SBS issue was separate from the b38/q58 issue. Grand was getting artics for the brand new brooklyn crosstown SBS, so to facilitate artic operations of the b38/q58, they were going to move those routes there to keep all articulated buses at grand as opposed to splitting them Fp/ga.

57 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said:

Speaking of FP and GA, I have a question. Since the routes serve almost the same areas of North Brooklyn, why can't the two depots operate in a similar fashion to JFK and Far Rockaway Depots,

Why the hell would you want to do that lmao.

 

[JeremiahC99]

5 minutes ago, Orion6025 said:

Why the hell would you want to do that lmao.

Maybe for fleet rotation. I was just asking a question.

 

23 minutes ago, T J Trainman said:

The B13 is also going to FP as well. 

Wouldn't it be best for it to remain out of Grand Avenue since the Wyckoff Hospital Terminal is by Grand Avenue Depot, or is Fresh Pond closer to Wyckoff Hospital?

[Orion6025]

1 minute ago, JeremiahC99 said:

Maybe for fleet rotation. 

That's what moving buses between depots and loaning are for. There's no point in trying to squish two depots into one megadepot unless you're trying to interline FP and GA routes and that can create a mess

Edited December 8, 2018 by Orion6025

[JeremiahC99]

12 minutes ago, Orion6025 said:

That's what moving buses between depots and loaning are for. There's no point in trying to squish two depots into one megadepot unless you're trying to interline FP and GA routes and that can create a mess

Then why does that operation work at JFK and Far Rockaway Depots?

[Future ENY OP]

9 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said:

Then why does that operation work at JFK and Far Rockaway Depots?

What works in one area doesn’t necessarily have to work in another. 

[Brillant93]

42 minutes ago, Orion6025 said:

I was told that the SBS issue was separate from the b38/q58 issue. Grand was getting artics for the brand new brooklyn crosstown SBS, so to facilitate artic operations of the b38/q58, they were going to move those routes there to keep all articulated buses at grand as opposed to splitting them Fp/ga.

 

 

I guess local routes would stay at FP depot and SBS would be at grand. The logistics would make sense. 

[JeremiahC99]

10 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

What works in one area doesn’t necessarily have to work in another. 

Okay. What makes JFK and FR special that FR has to rotate buses from JFK rather than having a dedicated fleet to themselves? Is it because FR is a smaller depot that there is a daily fleet rotation there from JFK?

Edited December 8, 2018 by JeremiahC99

[Orion6025]

8 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said:

Then why does that operation work at JFK and Far Rockaway Depots?

I can only speak from what I see of their operations, but both depots look like they run as largely separate entities. Aside from swapping buses there seems to be little interlining, aside from some FR school trippers going on to do JK routes. I avoided commenting on this earlier since i feel others would be much more qualified to speak to this as they are more knowledgeable of queens bus history, but far rockaway is a satellite depot off of JFK, as far as I know it was created as a standalone facility(?). I don't want to compare it to meredith avenue since far rockaway does have some maintenance facilities, but it's main function seems to be maintaining and housing the express bus fleet, as well as holding some of the local fleet to lower deadhead times from JFK depot.

Regardless of the reason for Far rockaway's existence, grand avenue and fresh pond have no reason to pool a fleet like JK does with FR. Both depots loan to each other when one gets short and it keeps everything simpler to have a set fleet for each depot instead of playing hot potato throwing buses around northern brooklyn. I don't see any compelling reason to propose turning FP/GA, OF/MVJ or whatever other depot pair into some JK/FR relationship. Could you present some compelling reason that would improve bus service by recreating the JK/FR relationship elsewhere?

4 minutes ago, Brillant93 said:

I guess local routes would stay at FP depot and SBS would be at grand. The logistics would make sense. 

That makes no sense. You can't just throw the B24, b32, b47, b62, etc to fresh pond and have Grand just handle some hypothetical sbs in the future (plus i assume you include the articulated routes there also). Fresh pond would be overwhelmed with that setup

[Brillant93]

1 minute ago, Orion6025 said:

That makes no sense. You can't just throw the B24, b32, b47, b62, etc to fresh pond and have Grand just handle some hypothetical sbs in the future (plus i assume you include the articulated routes there also). Fresh pond would be overwhelmed with that setup

No the B38 and Q58 local would stay at FP while their sbs counterparts would be at Grand avenue. The other routes I can't comment on because other people have commented on them already. I was just thinking off my head of why they are now splitting the routes. 

[Orion6025]

3 minutes ago, Brillant93 said:

No the B38 and Q58 local would stay at FP while their sbs counterparts would be at Grand avenue. The other routes I can't comment on because other people have commented on them already. I was just thinking off my head of why they are now splitting the routes. 

Ah, I' m sorry i misunderstood what you said. Yeah I suppose that could work as long as Fresh pond gets compensated by grand with another local route. If it were up to me I'd put 100% of the 38 and 58 in the same depot but there's nothing wrong with splitting them like that.

[Around the Horn]

Wasn't Far Rockaway completely separate before Sandy?

[Future ENY OP]

49 minutes ago, Brillant93 said:

No the B38 and Q58 local would stay at FP while their sbs counterparts would be at Grand avenue. The other routes I can't comment on because other people have commented on them already. I was just thinking off my head of why they are now splitting the routes. 

Cite your sources on the B38 local and Q58 local staying at Fresh Pond????.  The last I read on here and some discussions was that the 38 was definitely leaving Fresh Pond for Grand Avenue. Meaning both branches will now become Grand Avenue unless I'm wrong.  Grand Avenue already took over the other 1/2 of the B38 which is the Metro branch.

Now, I really want to see how Grand Avenue does with the new work of routes effective 1/6/19. I've been very critical about this depot since day one. Thank god they are not taking the B43 from Gleason. Le sigh.

[Brillant93]

4 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Cite your sources on the B38 local and Q58 local staying at Fresh Pond????. 

What I was saying was hypothetically, nothing factual at all. 

[trainfan22]

1 hour ago, Around the Horn said:

Wasn't Far Rockaway completely separate before Sandy?

Yes, it had its own depot logo and everything.

 

When it was Green Lines they was separate as well as FR never had the MCI Classics with the local bus seats, but JFK did... well in the late 90s/early 2000s at least. Post takeover JFK usually had all of the DC reject Orion V but some strayed over to FR from time to time.

[T J Trainman]

Before GA was built, FP had the B13. So with that said, FP gets the B13, B48, B57, and the B60.

Edited December 9, 2018 by T J Trainman

[Cait Sith]

22 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

Wasn't Far Rockaway completely separate before Sandy?

Yep, with their entire fleet having Far Rockaway decals at that.

It was sometime after Sandy that they started doing regular fleet rotation between JFK and FR, with most of the fleet between both depots now having JFK decals

....hell, artics stay at FR overnight sometimes too.

Edited December 9, 2018 by Cait Sith

[Future ENY OP]

30 minutes ago, NovaLFSSeeker said:

Sheesh they have to retire the whole bus instead of replacing the tank?

Wanted to take this conversation over here instead of bus moves. However, the answer to your question is yes. These buses are already 14-16 years old. The CNG tank lasts on those 12 to 15 years on the 2002-2004 fleet. (Correct me please). 

[Orion6025]

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

Wanted to take this conversation over here instead of bus moves. However, the answer to your question is yes. These buses are already 14-16 years old. The CNG tank lasts on those 12 to 15 years on the 2002-2004 fleet. (Correct me please). 

Small numbers things. It's 14-15 years old and the tanks on those buses are 15 years old. The buses with 12 year tanks were retired years ago