New Jersey Transit - Random Thoughts Thread

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, 553 Bridgeton said:

When they put those steel rims it f**ked up the suspension. Njt buses are not designed to run with steel rims. A bus with steel rims has to be built from factory; also it adds weight. 18118-119 run like crap. The other 17000s they are still in bad shape.

Wait, doesn’t Elizabeth and Community Coach also use steel rims on the 17000’s?

[553 Bridgeton]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

Wait, doesn’t Elizabeth and Community Coach also use steel rims on the 17000’s?

No they have the regular aluminum acolas 

[go25]

So it has been a few months since Academy lost the Hudson County bus routes to O.N.E. Bus, and for those that depend on the routes or whom fans them, any changes you may have noticed?

[46Dover]

On 12/21/2021 at 8:00 PM, go25 said:

So it has been a few months since Academy lost the Hudson County bus routes to O.N.E. Bus, and for those that depend on the routes or whom fans them, any changes you may have noticed?

May be more changes on the horizon

[go25]

1 hour ago, 46Dover said:

May be more changes on the horizon

In regards to...?

[Lawrence St]

I noticed something, why do all of New Jersey Transits MCI's not have rear steering axles? Kinda defeats the purpose of getting MCI's dont it?

[553 Bridgeton]

3 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I noticed something, why do all of New Jersey Transits MCI's not have rear steering axles? Kinda defeats the purpose of getting MCI's dont it?

All MCIS have rear steering axles. NJT locked them because when the D4000s/D4500s came in 2001-2003 drivers were getting into accidents not taking into account of the shorter turn radius with the tag steering on. 
 

The 7100s had came unlocked and some accidents happened so they were locked and for all future buses they now come locked. 
 

In turn NJTs MCIS wheelbase are spec'd different from any other other mci. A 45ft NJT mci turns the same as a 40ft NJT MCI. 
 

We used to be able to control the Jake brake on/off; but again speedy drivers would forget they had to brake earlier running with no Jake brake, so they disabled that. The 7100s came with the on/off switch and same outcome. 
 

All 16000s to 21000s have the C brake “hi/lo” switch but they were dead bolted at cmf prior to entering service. 
 

Only buses you can turn off are the hybrids, cngs, and 30ft nabis being they are Retarder equipped buses and are specd to run without  extra braking.

Edited December 24, 2021 by 553 Bridgeton

[46Dover]

On 12/23/2021 at 1:43 PM, go25 said:

In regards to...?

Sorry for the long delay 😬, but NJT may be taking over the 119 (if it hasn’t been said yet)

[JAzumah]

4 hours ago, 46Dover said:

Sorry for the long delay 😬, but NJT may be taking over the 119 (if it hasn’t been said yet)

Do they have the drivers as yet?

[Lawrence St]

NJT should operate any route that has high ridership, and leave the lower ridership routes to the private carriers.

[Lawrence St]

On 12/24/2021 at 3:01 PM, 553 Bridgeton said:

All MCIS have rear steering axles. NJT locked them because when the D4000s/D4500s came in 2001-2003 drivers were getting into accidents not taking into account of the shorter turn radius with the tag steering on. 
 

The 7100s had came unlocked and some accidents happened so they were locked and for all future buses they now come locked. 
 

In turn NJTs MCIS wheelbase are spec'd different from any other other mci. A 45ft NJT mci turns the same as a 40ft NJT MCI. 
 

We used to be able to control the Jake brake on/off; but again speedy drivers would forget they had to brake earlier running with no Jake brake, so they disabled that. The 7100s came with the on/off switch and same outcome. 
 

All 16000s to 21000s have the C brake “hi/lo” switch but they were dead bolted at cmf prior to entering service. 
 

Only buses you can turn off are the hybrids, cngs, and 30ft nabis being they are Retarder equipped buses and are specd to run without  extra braking.

When your talking about the Jake brake, were drivers basically braking at the last second not knowing the Jake brake wasn't on?

And that switch is deadbolted in what position?

[SevenEleven]

31 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

When your talking about the Jake brake, were drivers basically braking at the last second not knowing the Jake brake wasn't on?

When you disable the jake or the retarder on your bus, you need way more stopping distance since it’s all on the brakes. Combine that with brake fade and it’s easy to underestimate the actual braking effort you have. 

[553 Bridgeton]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

When your talking about the Jake brake, were drivers basically braking at the last second not knowing the Jake brake wasn't on?

And that switch is deadbolted in what position?

No they was stopping the same as if the Jake brake was on. You need more stopping distance without the Jake brake and Retarder. 
 

The switch is dead-bolted in the off position. Then they used the computer to set it to the low position.  

[Lex]

On 12/24/2021 at 3:01 PM, 553 Bridgeton said:

All MCIS have rear steering axles. NJT locked them because when the D4000s/D4500s came in 2001-2003 drivers were getting into accidents not taking into account of the shorter turn radius with the tag steering on. 
 

The 7100s had came unlocked and some accidents happened so they were locked and for all future buses they now come locked. 
 

In turn NJTs MCIS wheelbase are spec'd different from any other other mci. A 45ft NJT mci turns the same as a 40ft NJT MCI. 
 

We used to be able to control the Jake brake on/off; but again speedy drivers would forget they had to brake earlier running with no Jake brake, so they disabled that. The 7100s came with the on/off switch and same outcome. 
 

All 16000s to 21000s have the C brake “hi/lo” switch but they were dead bolted at cmf prior to entering service. 
 

Only buses you can turn off are the hybrids, cngs, and 30ft nabis being they are Retarder equipped buses and are specd to run without  extra braking.

What's this? NJT was skimping on driver training? Who would've thought? /s

[B35 via Church]

16 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

NJT should operate any route that has high ridership, and leave the lower ridership routes to the private carriers.

So much for a free market....

[Lex]

18 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

NJT should operate any route that has high ridership, and leave the lower ridership routes to the private carriers.

If NJT wouldn't want to run those routes, what makes you think a private carrier would?

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

So much for a free market....

 

49 minutes ago, Lex said:

If NJT wouldn't want to run those routes, what makes you think a private carrier would?

I'm not saying NJT dosent want to run them, I'm saying to balance it out. To me it makes more sense for NJT to run the 119 in exchange for let's say the Vince Lombardi one.

[JAzumah]

1 hour ago, Lex said:

If NJT wouldn't want to run those routes, what makes you think a private carrier would?

Academy ran the 119 out of the farebox.

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, JAzumah said:

Academy ran the 119 out of the farebox.

What?

[JAzumah]

3 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

What?

Academy did not take a subsidy to run the 119.

They took a small number (~$50,000 - $100,000) to run the 10.

[B35 via Church]

10 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I'm not saying NJT dosent want to run them, I'm saying to balance it out. To me it makes more sense for NJT to run the 119 in exchange for let's say the Vince Lombardi one.

...and I'm saying that's not how a free market works... Matter fact, that's not how life works.... Having one carrier operate all (or any, as you put it) of the routes that carry heavy in a jurisdiction, and having other carrier{s} operate the scraps.... LMAO....

Having NJT run the CoachUSA #24a/b in exchange for having Coach USA operate the #321 (which is the Vince Lombardi route btw) for example is balanced to you? YGBFKM with that....

8 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

10 hours ago, JAzumah said:

Academy ran the 119 out of the farebox.

What?

To cover operating costs for the route, Academy chose to wholly rely on the route's farebox revenue.... In other words, No other funding sources were used to help cover operating costs - just the fares paid by passengers...

Edited December 27, 2021 by B35 via Church

[Lawrence St]

12 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

...and I'm saying that's not how a free market works... Matter fact, that's not how life works.... Having one carrier operate all (or any, as you put it) of the routes that carry heavy in a jurisdiction, and having other carrier{s} operate the scraps.... LMAO....

Having NJT run the CoachUSA #24a/b in exchange for having Coach USA operate the #321 (which is the Vince Lombardi route btw) for example is balanced to you? YGBFKM with that....

To cover operating costs for the route, Academy chose to wholly rely on the route's farebox revenue.... In other words, No other funding sources were used to help cover operating costs - just the fares paid by passengers...

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the #119 part of that full contract, so don't they get paid for the entire contract anyway including the 119? @JAzumah

Edited December 27, 2021 by Lawrence St

[JAzumah]

The 10 and 119 are two separate contracts.

[R10 2952]

@553 Bridgeton Shame the higher-ups at NJT chose to permanently disable such a useful feature, instead of just reworking training procedures.  They'll do anything to penalize the front-line, instead of admitting their own mistakes.

[SevenEleven]

1 hour ago, R10 2952 said:

@553 Bridgeton Shame the higher-ups at NJT chose to permanently disable such a useful feature, instead of just reworking training procedures.  They'll do anything to penalize the front-line, instead of admitting their own mistakes.

Buses crashing from not maintaining control, not sizing up turns properly and not checking mirrors all comes down to lack of judgment… which is the operator’s fault.
 

FWIW, the tags on the MTA Prevosts don’t turn much (if at all) either.