New Jersey Transit - Random Thoughts Thread

[mfs NJT459]

spotted 7224 on the 137 taking a detour off Exit 14 to the Holland Tunnel, on MyBusNow

[biGC323232]

I think NJT should split the #1 line with either ironbound or orange.....all jersey city runs should be managed by hilton...But the other 3 that dont come as far as jc should be taking over by ironbound in my opinion 

[go25]

22 hours ago, biGC323232 said:

I think NJT should split the #1 line with either ironbound or orange.....all jersey city runs should be managed by hilton...But the other 3 that dont come as far as jc should be taking over by ironbound in my opinion 

With Orange doing some of the Ironbound's routes (namely the 62), why would they do the 1? It makes sense, location wise, but I rather it stay with Hilton.

[biGC323232]

51 minutes ago, go25 said:

With Orange doing some of the Ironbound's routes (namely the 62), why would they do the 1? It makes sense, location wise, but I rather it stay with Hilton.

Im not saying Hilton should completely give up the route...But during rush hours outside of newark(6:30-10:00am-3:00pm-7:00pm) the 1 line sees increased ridership and  needs help and i think ironbound should provide it..sometimes when the path train  comes across a problem the 1 gets slammed like no other or if drivers call out buses become missing in action.....from time to time a bus from  ironbound or orange will show up on the 1......few years back greenville helped with a couple of trips...   

[go25]

51 minutes ago, biGC323232 said:

Im not saying Hilton should completely give up the route...But during rush hours outside of newark(6:30-10:00am-3:00pm-7:00pm) the 1 line sees increased ridership and  needs help and i think ironbound should provide it..sometimes when the path train  comes across a problem the 1 gets slammed like no other or if drivers call out buses become missing in action.....from time to time a bus from  ironbound or orange will show up on the 1......few years back greenville helped with a couple of trips...   

Agreed. What I'm trying to say is with the still ongoing shitshow (if it ended then kudos to them, but still) in Ironbound and seeing Orange operators covering down for Ironbound routes. If anything Orange needs to step away from that. Hell I'm ok with Greenville doing one or two trips on the 1, coming from Exchange Place or Journal Square

[biGC323232]

3 minutes ago, go25 said:

Agreed. What I'm trying to say is with the still ongoing shitshow (if it ended then kudos to them, but still) in Ironbound and seeing Orange operators covering down for Ironbound routes. If anything Orange needs to step away from that. Hell I'm ok with Greenville doing one or two trips on the 1, coming from Exchange Place or Journal Square

I understand your point...I didnt know orange was helping with the 62....But yes i cant agree with you more that greenville should help out of jersey city especially when the 1 have problems coming out of newark...twice a month i deal with the 6:58 am out of exchange not showing up at all forcing everyone on the next one which is like 7:45am all the driver says is that the driver before him or her didnt show up for work or bus broke down....If im not mistaking i saw a nabi surburban #5249 a couple of months ago doing the 1 to ivy hill....I thought i was bugging when i saw it...

[go25]

15 minutes ago, biGC323232 said:

I understand your point...I didnt know orange was helping with the 62....But yes i cant agree with you more that greenville should help out of jersey city especially when the 1 have problems coming out of newark...twice a month i deal with the 6:58 am out of exchange not showing up at all forcing everyone on the next one which is like 7:45am all the driver says is that the driver before him or her didnt show up for work or bus broke down....If im not mistaking i saw a nabi surburban #5249 a couple of months ago doing the 1 to ivy hill....I thought i was bugging when i saw it...

I've seen that happen before... but with the 54XX suburbans that Hilton has.

[biGC323232]

15 minutes ago, go25 said:

I've seen that happen before... but with the 54XX suburbans that Hilton has.

yeah from time to time youll see the 54xx series on the 1....The day i saw 5249 on the was like 1230pm and it was the bus that serve the hudson county correctional  probably was a fill in for that  trip only....

[go25]

9 hours ago, biGC323232 said:

yeah from time to time youll see the 54xx series on the 1....The day i saw 5249 on the was like 1230pm and it was the bus that serve the hudson county correctional  probably was a fill in for that  trip only....

That's possible

[Tranzitfan81]

I don't understand the summer time MCI swapping in South Jersey;

 

So Egg Harbor is borrowing 18010 and 18011 for the summer from Washington Twp..

The problem is this Washington Twp has already been short a couple of MCis.  ANd in turn they still have to borrow MCIs for trips on the 551 and 554.

Tonight..18091 is on the 551 yet EHT has 18010 and 18011.  It has happened almost every night last week too.  Why loan buses to a garage when you still have to borrow theirs?

Meanwhile up the Freeway in Camden, they're severely short MCIs now.

Today and even on Friday an NABI was used the 317, which goes from Camden and Philadelphia all the way up to Asbury Park.  And NABIs show up on the 409, 417 and 418 daily now.  Sometimes the 409  even has to borrow NABIs from Mercer County for their trips.   It is about to get worse the 316 starts up next weekend and they use MCIs from all 3 South Jersey garages.  

[mfs NJT459]

Caug

4 minutes ago, Tranzitfan81 said:

Meanwhile up the Freeway in Camden, they're severely short MCIs now.

Today and even on Friday an NABI was used the 317, which goes from Camden and Philadelphia all the way up to Asbury Park.  And NABIs show up on the 409, 417 and 418 daily now.  Sometimes the 409  even has to borrow NABIs from Mercer County for their trips.   It is about to get worse the 316 starts up next weekend and they use MCIs from all 3 South Jersey garages.  

 I checked the GTFS this week on the summer bus schedule and found there will be 4 Newton Ave, 2 Egg Harbor, 1 Washington Twp drivers for the 316

Majority of the 316 trips would be the older MCI D4000s from Newton Ave.  Newton Ave trip times are 8:30am, 9:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm from Philly.  We could see 2 Newton Ave MCI cruisers at a time on the 316

[B35 via Church]

Alright, good, so this autosaved right before that forum update earlier....

--------------------------

 

Here's a thought...

If you're not going to run the #73 (save for a few morning trips) on the weekend to Newark-Penn (due to the facts that there's [more demand for the #70 to/from Livingston Mall], that the [#71 runs as many trips out of Newark-Penn, due to exclusivity {since it runs to the Caldwells instead}]), and that the [#21 is KING along Main st],, then they may as well opt to save more money by having these #73's on weekends run b/w either NJT Brick Church or NJT East Orange.... The fact that the immediate area constitutes a city line (and it terminating there) means much of nothing when you have #21's filling the gap (so to speak)... An argument could be made for running the thing b/w Galento Plaza (Orange, NJ) & Livingston Mall, but I'd hedge my bet & terminate it at one of the 2 aforementioned rail stations....

TL;DR or TL;DU (don't understand...lol😞 The #73 on the weekend could be made more efficient than what it currently is.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Did some busfanning out in New Jersey to get some pics of the newer MCI's. For what was suppose to be a quick one, It was interesting.

I was at PABT waiting for a Boulevard East bus going towards Fairview to get a shot a bus that would show up on the 127S. The line was, long to say the least. In comes one of the shorty clunkers (what I call the D4000s) on the 165, and then people get on. I was thinking on getting on that bus, didn't, because I wasn't going to stand on those bus (plus I still had time). That bus leaves, and the next bus was a 128 (which was useless for me since it only goes up to North Bergen by the park), which I had to let go. About a minute later, a bus pulls into the gates, one of the newer MCI's (18115).  The dispatcher there says that it is a 166. On the other side, those waiting for the 166T/166X buses on the adjacent gate looked MISERABLE. Not one bus in sight and the whole place was crowded. Sucked to be them. I was also able to get a shot of the bus I was on after getting off, so I was pretty content.

I waited for 127, which didn't go too well. For starters, the B/O already opened the door before the bus came to an actual stop. Two people got off; dude gets off and heads to the intersection, while the chick stops right in front of the bus for a split second, before moving. Unfortunately for me, the bus was already moving before the B/O closed the doors, so the front was basically behind a telephone pole 😒😒😒. I did get a shot of the bus, but I don't like the angle, so maybe I'll do it again later. I wish I could get some shots at the terminal, but NJT B/Os tend to really want to put that Not In Service sign up real quick. Literally the second the bus pulls in to the last stop, the sign changes to 'Not In Service'. Like damn!

The Fairview short-turn (which goes back to New York) was running pretty late (which is suppose to show up with the Ridgefield bus). So I decided that I would just take a Blvd East bus instead. Well, the shorty clunker that shows up (a 165), but the BO gets off the bus and calls someone. I thought the damn thing stopped working properly. Since the street it was on is narrow, and the light for Broad Avenue being green for an eternity, the traffic backup that caused was drastic. People get off that bus, and make their way to a bus which shows up. Two others got on a jitney which pulled up later. I waited for the next bus, because that bus was full with standees. Eventually, the police arrive, and yells at an Asian woman crossing the street to come back, so I was curious as to what was going on. Turns out the woman and some Hispanic dudes got into an altercation on the bus (the 165) , where the woman allegedly hit one of the dudes. I don't know if it was over a seat or something, but that's what I got out of it. 

Anyways, the people waiting for 83 & 127 across the street were piling up. There were like 4 Blvd East buses in the distance, and then the Fairview short-turn arrives, with the BO immediately changing the sign to  127 NEW YORK , so I figured I might take that bus to save time. Then comes an 83 from the north, and everyone gets on. Out of nowehere, a BO who was DHing from the 128 appeared, with one of the newer MCI's, so I got  another pair of shots, and a turning shot at that. What immensely helped me there was that the 128 bus was stuck waiting for the 83 bus to leave, which caused another set of traffic on its own. Eventually, the 127 arrives and I wave it down. The BO's asks where I'm going, and I said "New York", to which she replies "I'm not going to New York". 

 

So I go back to the other stop to catch a bus, where the 165 was still there. A 166 showed up, and it was even more packed than the original bus I had let go (there were standees). Eventually I manage to get on a 168, since that wasn't too full. The views of Manhattan from Boulevard East were nice though. 

 

[B35 via Church]

On 7/4/2018 at 2:30 AM, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Did some busfanning out in New Jersey to get some pics of the newer MCI's. For what was suppose to be a quick one, It was interesting.

😒😒😒I was at PABT waiting for a Boulevard East bus going towards Fairview to get a shot a bus that would show up on the 127S. The line was, long to say the least. In comes one of the shorty clunkers (what I call the D4000s) on the 165, and then people get on. I was thinking on getting on that bus, didn't, because I wasn't going to stand on those bus (plus I still had time). That bus leaves, and the next bus was a 128 (which was useless for me since it only goes up to North Bergen by the park), which I had to let go. About a minute later, a bus pulls into the gates, one of the newer MCI's (18115).  The dispatcher there says that it is a 166. On the other side, those waiting for the 166T/166X buses on the adjacent gate looked MISERABLE. Not one bus in sight and the whole place was crowded. Sucked to be them. I was also able to get a shot of the bus I was on after getting off, so I was pretty content.

Just came from doing some 'fanning also.... Managed to do a RT on the #321 for shits & giggles....

Going there, I caught an artic - and almost missed the bus too, because it never pulled into gate 318 & instead, picked up pax in-between gates 318 & 319, holding up other DH-ing buses behind it... Stupid shit.... Had it not been for the dispatcher yelling "VINCE LOMBARDI", myself & this other dude that was inside waiting would have never known (strangely enough, there were 2 people already on the bus, so apparently, they're regulars that know that particular trip has that nonsensical, asinine pick up routine).... There was an (older) MCI parked at gate 318 itself, but IDK what that was all about.....

Anyway, coming back though, I managed to catch one of the new MCI's - bus #18111... Instead of risking getting caught (walking to the Burger King, then back to the bus stop; which is not an easy trek in the slightest - which of course is by design), i just sat tight for the thirty-something minutes for the next bus out.... It wasn't a new experience for me embarking on the things though, since I've previously rode them on the #559 on 2 separate occasions

[46Dover]

Just finished a day trip which I had to tell a girl/woman to Please use text instead of being on her cell phone (as per regulation).  She gets to Dover and tells dispatcher I was talking to a passenger as I was driving.  So she’s  gonna lie about me after I corrected her? Hope to God I never bump into her again....

[Tranzitfan81]

400 and 403 must be strapped with NABIs today: 18006 doing a 400 run and 18040 doing a 403 run currently.   It is just weird that this is happening since the 400 and 403 were converted to exact fare back in 2010.  I guess they couldn't borrow any buses from the Camden garage. 

 

And with the four 18000s at the Camden (Newton Avenue) Garage,  they still get very little usage on the 409.   Predominantly the new buses are doing 316 and 317 runs.  Only last Sunday, 18127 was used during the evening on the 409.  The 409 still sees NABIs, even on the weekends.   Anyone know why is this?

 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Coach USA was woefully unprepared to handle the loads at the Port Authority for the Jay-Z / Beyonce concert. There were only a handful of buses from Suburban out there, with one or two buses from Community Coach. The lines at PABT were really bad. Initially, because of the expected volume, they had the buses stop on 41st, but because of the amount of people, the stop was moved to 42nd Street. 

 

Coach USA said it would send its last buses out at 8 PM to the stadium, but at 8:30 PM, there were still business of people. NJT was called in to assist because it was so bad. The thing is, NJT sent out NABIs. The worst part was that people had to stand on those NABIs. Imagine paying $7 for that. 

Hopefully they're more prepared tomorrow for part 2. Jay-Z & Beyonce are no Taylor Swift. They could get away with that amount of service when she was at Meadowlands, but Jay-Z & Beyonce? Nah...

 

People should take advantage of the 160 though. Even though it stops outside Meadowlands during these events, it's roughly the same distance in walking as the 351 (maybe a little more), since the 351 stops at the furthest parking lot from MetLife. Another problem though is the miscommunication. The 160 I got on is scheduled to go via  Meadowlands, but the B/O said he wasn't gonna go in (essentially, making stops on Patterson Plank Road). However, he ends up going into the Meadowlands like normal, although being detoured through the area. 

Edited August 3, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[GojiMet86]

I'm thinking about walking the GW bridge (never done it) with someone. However, said person just wants to walk one way. I am seeing that you can catch a bus from Bridge Plaza to the terminal for a special fare of $1.85 (cash). Where exactly do I catch the bus, and what are all the lines that have the special fare?

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

2 hours ago, GojiMet86 said:

I'm thinking about walking the GW bridge (never done it) with someone. However, said person just wants to walk one way. I am seeing that you can catch a bus from Bridge Plaza to the terminal for a special fare of $1.85 (cash). Where exactly do I catch the bus, and what are all the lines that have the special fare?

You have to catch the buses at the Bridge Plaza. Any NJT bus that stops there goes to GWB, and will charge you that fare. I don't know if the 11C and 84 (Saddle River) buses charge the same. They may charge $1.75, but I'm not sure.

You enter from Lemoine Avenue. There's stairs that take you downward, and the buses stop by the red shelters. 

Edited August 8, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Tranzitfan81]

Wacky bus sighting in Camden area:

 

7512 is being used right now on the 452...Very unusual for an MCI to be used on the 452 period especially on a Saturday evening!?!?

Not so uncommon anymore 6004 ( Newton Ave) was being used on the 400 ( Wash Twp Route) all day today.

Also with the new buses 18128 has been MIA...Only 18126 , 18127 and 18129 on the 316 and 317 daily. Did something happen to 18128?

Still no answer on why besides the one Sunday night a few weeks ago; no new MCIs have been placed on the 409. 

[Tranzitfan81]

So an update from last week: 18010 and 18011 are back at Washington Twp.  18010 was on the 406 Friday, 18011 was on the 551 last night.  I am guessing since EHT has the 18120s, they no longer needed 18010-18011.

Speaking of 18120s: The New Kids in Camden finally made Weekday trips on the 409.  18128 ( is back) and 18129 were used on the 409 this past Friday.

Now more awkwardness; it has become usual for Turnersville to borrow NABIs from Camden for trips on the 400 and 403... 5578 and 5908 were on the 403 yesterday HOWEVER it is NOT usual to see them borrowing from the Mercer County, 5542 is on the 403 on a SUNDAY.  Even more odd that they didn't borrow from Camden today since 3 Camden Routes do not even operate on Sundays. 

[46Dover]

So yesterday I’m in bed on my day off and got called by Lakeland to do a job.  That job happened to be a Gladstone Branch trip.  I operated the 4:56 out of Gladstone and had to let people know as much as possible via my horn that there was no train, just a bus.  I get back to the terminal in Dover when I’m done and ask the dispatcher:  How much you wanna bet this is due to engineer shortage?

[Joel Up Front]

Does Hamilton Mall only have that 1 stop by the old race track?  I took an NJT bus for the first time earlier in the month because I didn't want to pay for the parking garage in AC twice.  I took the 553 from AC to the mall and the ride was nice, but the store I wanted to go to was nowhere near the main mall itself.  I had to walk to this other strip mall for the store I went to, and when I was done there, I couldn't find any other stop, but on my way there I saw a 319 drive through part of the parking lot.

[biGC323232]

Just saw 5391from greenville on the 1 from exchange place to ivy hill....like said before the 1needs help....hilton in my opinion can't handle it alone

[Tranzitfan81]

Washington Twp garage is out with the backward assignments again:

This whole week during the evening rush; the 403 and 459 which are EXACT FARE lines have been receiving new 18000s while

Two Full Service MCI lines 406 and 412 are using NABIs.  This evening has been no exception:

403:18044 enroute to Camden

459: 18006 enroute to Voorhees

412:5346 headed towards Glassboro

406: 5357 towards Berlin.

Ironically 5357 was on the 459 earlier in the day.  I wonder why NJ Transit doesn't operate like a lot of the West Coast agencies.  For instance, Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority has their drivers switch shifts at the end of the line. The drivers switch, the relieving driver takes over the bus while the finishing driver usually gets in an agency car or SUV and drives back to the garage. I think that will help with the bus shortage and maybe there wouldn't be so many odd bus assignments.