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MTA Bus Time has officially arrived to Staten Island


Via Garibaldi 8

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There are some ghastly Orion Vs from Castleton roaming the streets of SI! They don't show up on any bustime website but are in service. It gives the impression that no bus is on the way, but if the schedule says a bus is supposed to be there, it's an Orion V. I figured it would be Castleton depot to be the one to not have all the buses GPS ready.

 

YESS i agree!! Because one night i was coming home off the S79...and i take the S52 home because that comes faster than the S78 on hylan...so im at the bus stop checking out when it comes...and it shows no buses coming...im sitting here thinking wheres the bus...and the bus stop doesn't have the time schedule on it. then later a Nova LFS 8028 comes around 6:30...so i figure most of the buses dont have the bus time in them yet. and also i think the Orion VII 3g's dont have them either, because i havent seen any yet!

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YESS i agree!! Because one night i was coming home off the S79...and i take the S52 home because that comes faster than the S78 on hylan...so im at the bus stop checking out when it comes...and it shows no buses coming...im sitting here thinking wheres the bus...and the bus stop doesn't have the time schedule on it. then later a Nova LFS 8028 comes around 6:30...so i figure most of the buses dont have the bus time in them yet. and also i think the Orion VII 3g's dont have them either, because i havent seen any yet!

 

That's not quite correct. I've been tracking several different lines, and have seen plenty of 6XXXs running on the S48 and S61 and S62, so it could be that only some of them don't have tracking. In fact I tracked a S61 Saturday night after getting off the X10 at Slosson and Reon. I took that over to the S53 (yes I backtrack because I feel safer getting off at Slosson and it's well lit amongst other things) and timed everything perfectly. Normally I get off at Slosson and wait for car service if the cab hasn't already come, but if it's not too late now with this Bus Time, I will take the local bus from the express bus. What you may want to do is refresh the route you're tracking, which is what I do sometimes when I'm not sure if the information displayed on the map is correct or not. Has anyone tried tracking the buses using text messages?? I'm curious because I use the desktop version on my phone and laptop, which is easier to use to track the buses and pretty accurate; at least on the network I use anyway.

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I have noticed this as well and I have no problem with it as it will mean that X10s and other buses known for unreliability (A) won't "disappear" anymore and (^_^ they will show up according to the schedule and not whenever. The B/Os will adjust accordingly. I have been using Bus Time since Thursday and my waits for the bus have been very short because I know where the buses are, and am very familiar with the traffic patterns so I show up about 5 - 10 minutes before the bus is due to arrive at the stop, all the while tracking the location of the bus and making sure that I allot enough time for delays in the tracking as well. Sometimes I time it so good that I meet the bus as I make it to the bus stop, which is perfect. :cool:

 

This weekend, my commutes into and from the city were faster than usual (that's right, faster) because I was able to time my commutes and since the buses adhered to the schedule, making my connections was very easy, as opposed to me trying to take a local bus to the express bus and hoping for the best, even though I give enough time for the connection. In fact I have not used car service since I started using Bus Time and have already saved almost $60.00 last week alone, which I just take and put into one of my savings accounts automatically. :tup: The only thing I would like to see is if they can note when a bus is scheduled and for some reason doesn't show up. For example, I am working today and planned on taking the last X30 in to the office. They were running on a modified schedule but they didn't really say what that is so you don't know what bus will show and what won't. The last bus apparently didn't come since I had the tracking on before I left the house and while walking to the bus stop. It wasn't a big deal. I just took the S48 a few stops over to the X14 and got in around my usual time. :cool:

 

This will be even better once the whole city has it. A real improvement in service for the passengers, especially with the brutal cold the last few days. Kudos to the (MTA). :tup::tup:

 

Personally I don't think I've seen any passengers complain about B/O's driving anyway. Has anyone complained???

 

No complaints on my end yet. Lots of questions ad to why we are driving slower. Rides have noticed the difference in the way buses are running. I see it like this, if we the drivers and the riding public can come to agree about how the system works, then it just might lead to more service even if minimal at the least.

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That's not quite correct. I've been tracking several different lines, and have seen plenty of 6XXXs running on the S48 and S61 and S62, so it could be that only some of them don't have tracking. In fact I tracked a S61 Saturday night after getting off the X10 at Slosson and Reon. I took that over to the S53 (yes I backtrack because I feel safer getting off at Slosson and it's well lit amongst other things) and timed everything perfectly. Normally I get off at Slosson and wait for car service if the cab hasn't already come, but if it's not too late now with this Bus Time, I will take the local bus from the express bus. What you may want to do is refresh the route you're tracking, which is what I do sometimes when I'm not sure if the information displayed on the map is correct or not. Has anyone tried tracking the buses using text messages?? I'm curious because I use the desktop version on my phone and laptop, which is easier to use to track the buses and pretty accurate; at least on the network I use anyway.

 

yeah thats pretty much what i meant...some of the buses dont have them yet. and yes i refreshed it on my phone...but didnt show nothing going toward st george from si hospital, just to the hospital

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yeah thats pretty much what i meant...some of the buses dont have them yet. and yes i refreshed it on my phone...but didnt show nothing going toward st george from si hospital, just to the hospital

 

In the meantime, what I would do if I were you is plan your trips. Look at all of the options you have and the times the buses are scheduled and then plan out which one you can do. If I need to transfer, I track several buses in advance to see if I need to use on of my backup plans. Of course it's easy to do if you have an Unlimited card, which you may not have.

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That is very interesting cartmn1210. I've actually noticed like Via that my commutes were faster, a combination of less waiting at bus stops because of bustime and buses showing up. The ride times are about the same.

 

 

Yep... I've made it to the city in 40 minutes making two connections, which isn't bad at all using Bus Time. Meanwhile, I have B35 telling me that I shouldn't be checking to see if my bus is coming on my laptop before I leave in the morning and it's the last bus of the morning. Really??? Meanwhile, he has way more frequent service than I do. If I lived by the X1, I probably wouldn't bother because that runs every 5 minutes in some cases. My bus runs every 15 minutes around that time and like I said, it's the last bus.

 

 

No complaints on my end yet. Lots of questions ad to why we are driving slower. Rides have noticed the difference in the way buses are running. I see it like this, if we the drivers and the riding public can come to agree about how the system works, then it just might lead to more service even if minimal at the least.

 

Yeah, I mean you can't have it both ways. I support the new system totally. :tup:

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In the meantime, what I would do if I were you is plan your trips. Look at all of the options you have and the times the buses are scheduled and then plan out which one you can do. If I need to transfer, I track several buses in advance to see if I need to use on of my backup plans. Of course it's easy to do if you have an Unlimited card, which you may not have.

 

I have student pass lol

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Regarding the 7000s, I don't think any of them have had GPS units installed on them prior to the BusTime rollout on SI. I've checked both NextBus and the BusTime API and nothing shows up. I wonder if they are in the process of installing the system on these buses.

 

yeah they have them now...if you go onto the bustime site...Jan 19, 2012...

on the s52 as of right now...there #7083...as of 5:34 right now!! check it out!!

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Just said in the board meeting video: Bronx is the next borough, to come before the end of 2012. The other 3 will come next year.

 

WOO HOOO!! :cool: :tup: Not that we really need Bus Time in Riverdale, but this is still awesome for me since I'll be only a few blocks from the BxM1, BxM2 and BxM18 there by Henry Hudson Parkway & in the 230s if all works out with the current application I'm putting in today... They run right on time, but when it snows out, it can be tough for the express buses with all of the hills in Spuyten Duyvil and such. I've been up to Riverdale twice in the last two weeks and both going and coming I could almost set my watch to the express buses. The BxM18 was a little late Friday night, but not by much. They make sure they get everyone so it was fine since he made up the time anyway. Coming back to the city, I took the BxM2 (again the same B/O) and this time he was right on time.

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Just said in the board meeting video: Bronx is the next borough, to come before the end of 2012. The other 3 will come next year.

 

I can't wait till next year.Lol.Hopefully Brooklyn will come soon. Maybe someone will develop an iPhone app to track buses.

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i been using it and its been good for me so for, the only thing is calculating the time vs distance. I think they should also intergrate it with an app some how.

 

 

yesterday i was waiting for an x10 that showed up 15 mins late and if it wasnt for bus time i probably would of turned around and went back home and missed out on my OT lol

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