Bus Stories

[Lil 57]

Whats your best and Whats your worst experience ever on a  bus? Put it down here.

[WestFarms36]

5 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Whats your best and Whats your worst experience ever on a  bus? Put it down here.

Today, on 8344 a Gun Hill Depot LFS Bus, on the Local Shuttle. After the B/O made the announcement of the bus making local stops, a young man boards the bus and he politely asked "Excuse me sir, is this bus local?" Then he starts making these crazy and disturbing lunatic faces to him for like about a minute then he goes like "No shit this is local, I just finished saying it." Seriously needs to make sure these frontline employees act professional on the Job and not like @$$holes in an intimidating posse, cursing infront of people and touching innapropiate subjects outloud. Also the public humiliation is outrageous, sometimes I even wonder that just because they are not supervised inside the bus, it entitles them to berate these poor customers who pay the system daily, I would go directly to 2 Broadway and make sure that little prick would get fired.

[MysteriousBtrain]

Once I held up a M15 SBS for 5 minutes because the bus driver closed the door on me even though I was at the stop, she clearly saw me get my ticket, and barely left the stop. Held her door until the one arrived. Yes I am a psycho I don't need a lecture.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Well this happened yesterday on the B62. I was on the bus heading to Queens Plaza, and the thing got really crowded, really fast. Somewhere along Wythe, the BO pulls into the stop, and just stays there. I saw another bus pass, empty. Well, okay, I thought it was just going to be another case of two buses bunching together for the rest of the trip. But no...

Right after that bus passes, the bus I was on leaves, and THEN the BO says "the last stop on this bus is McGuinness Boulevard". Like wtf, why didn't you say anything before that other bus passed us. At the Bedford Avenue  stop, he says it one more time, but then adds "if you need to go past McGuinness Boulevard, please take the bus in front". Well yay, thanks for telling us when the bus in front is at the next stop. I got off that bus and just walked to Nassau Avenue . 

[MysteriousBtrain]

34 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

Once I held up a M15 SBS for 5 minutes because the bus driver closed the door on me even though I was at the stop, she clearly saw me get my ticket, and barely left the stop. Held her door until the next bus arrived. Yes I am a psycho I don't need a lecture.

 

[RTSTdrive]

I'll recount my most recent worst experience...though this was not on an MTA bus but rather on a NICE bus (let's face it, in our minds it's still MTA-like but more bootleg at this point)

Was waiting for the n6X by Hempstead Tpk. &  New Hyde Park Rd. after a day of hanging out with my cousin. Bus arrives but sign was stuck on n6 for some reason so a white paper sign with N6X written on it was placed by the windshield.

Right as I was about to get on, the operator and an elderly passenger were arguing over the confusion with the passenger holding up the front door throwing cusses while the driver returned the sentiments while repeatedly calling him a monkey. Clever Devices was apparently not working that day on that bus (an XN40) so driver made exceedingly loud and passive aggressive manual announcements over his speakerphone/Speakeasy(?). 

Took note that some passengers addressed his attitude to which he responded with "Well get the f**k off my bus!"

[Deucey]

A thread:

and he hasn’t been reassigned yet.

[Brillant93]

This homeless guy was on the bus and he must of came from the first stop. So he was sitting far away from me but I could still smell him as he stunk up the bus but it was bearable. I was on the B41 taking it to the gym and when the bus got to the junction a lot of people got on. So this lady sat next to him and she must of been freaked out and he moved but two seats closer to me. I was mad and laughing at the same time. Mad he was closer to me and I could smell him more so now but laughing because people were looking at him. Their expressions were just priceless. Was laughing until I got to the gym. 

[B35 via Church]

11 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Well this happened yesterday on the B62. I was on the bus heading to Queens Plaza, and the thing got really crowded, really fast. Somewhere along Wythe, the BO pulls into the stop, and just stays there. I saw another bus pass, empty. Well, okay, I thought it was just going to be another case of two buses bunching together for the rest of the trip. But no...

Right after that bus passes, the bus I was on leaves, and THEN the BO says "the last stop on this bus is McGuinness Boulevard". Like wtf, why didn't you say anything before that other bus passed us. At the Bedford Avenue  stop, he says it one more time, but then adds "if you need to go past McGuinness Boulevard, please take the bus in front". Well yay, thanks for telling us when the bus in front is at the next stop. I got off that bus and just walked to Nassau Avenue . 

I would need more than 2 hands to count the # of times in 2017 alone that I've been on a B12 (when I used to take the LIRR > B12 home) that was originally signed as going to Lefferts Gardens & ended up being a trip, mid-route, whose last stop was (announced as being) New York av...... Luckily, that never affected me (as I'd get off at Albany/Clarkson & walk back east)...... The irony (compared to your situation) was, the B12 that would pass us were always sardine cans.

While many people take the B12 to/from the hospital, it isn't the biggest ridership generator, west of Albany like some tend to believe.....

But yeah, IDK WTF the MTA's doing to the B62 (like I said in other posts, the B32 is more reliable) - it's almost as if they want to deter people from taking it & having folks shift over to the B32 instead..... Hell, yesterday when I got off the B60 at WBP, I wasn't looking to catch no B62 (even though it ends at QBP, right across the street from the Q66)... I caught the B32 & took it to the last stop & f***ing walked to QBP for the Q66..... Screw that.

While I'm fond of short turns, I'm not fond of sweeping the rug up from under people (so to speak) & THEN having the b/o's announce (b/c it's not their fault) that they're going to be short-turning somewhere......

[B35 via Church]

12 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

Once I held up a M15 SBS for 5 minutes because the bus driver closed the door on me even though I was at the stop, she clearly saw me get my ticket, and barely left the stop. Held her door until the one arrived. Yes I am a psycho I don't need a lecture.

So you were motioning towards the bus after having gotten your ticket & then you got the door closed on you?

Being honest, I care less about any psychotic episode of you holding up a particular bus up for 5 minutes, over whatever amount of b/o's being good samaritans for people while they're at the machine in the midst of getting their POP to board some SBS route.... I tend to say this to myself if I'm on a bus where that happens; this defeats the very purpose of the benefit of pre-paid boarding - Decreased dwell times.... I find that there is too much of that going on, on SBS routes & b/o's need to be more insouciant about it.....

I don't bother trying to hurry up & get an SBS ticket.... I wave the b/o off & catch the next bus (or take another route altogether, if applicable)...... Upon boarding a bus, I don't like that feeling of *being the reason some bus left later than it normally would have otherwise*.....

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I think some of my worst incidents have occurred on the BxM1 due to breakdowns.  We had one bus going via Inwood on a Sunday.  After around 230th, the bus started making a beeping noise.  We get to 207th and Broadway and now all of these people get on and pay and take a seat while the bus continues to beep.  After sitting there for a bit, the driver decides to take the bus out of service and did not offer anyone any transfers.  Instead he directed people to take the  which was pointless.  If we wanted West Side access we wouldn't have been on the BxM1 to begin with.  There were some really pissed off people, particularly the ones that had just paid $6.50 and had nothing to show for it and may have been forced to pay additional monies after having to make transfers to reach the East Side.  

Yonkers Depot refused to send another bus, which meant a wait of an hour for the next one. After considering the  train and however many transfers would've been involved, I backtracked with the Bx7 to Marble Hill and took Metro-North down.  When I arrived at the station, some poor sap was complaining to everyone that he had paid with cash but that the machine had taken his money and not issued any tickets, so here he was with to tickets and no other way to obtain them since apparently he only had cash on him.  

On another Sunday morning, the first bus due on the BxM1 broke down at the very first stop (261st and Riverdale Avenue).  Crowds began to form at the stop I was at.  15 minutes later I decided to call Yonkers Depot to get clarity on why the bus hadn't moved and they confirmed that the bus had broken down and that another one would not be sent out, so now all of these people had to decide to either wait for the next BxM almost an hour later, take the BxM2 which would now be slammed, or take a taxi.  Three of us opted for a taxi to Manhattan and we split the ~$30.00 fare.

My most frustrating experience had to be years ago during New Year's Eve.  BxM2 buses were rerouted Northbound and were skipping the West Side entirely.  So I missed something like three buses because the information online had the wrong information.  The buses were basically running via Madison and not making any official stops until 80th and Madison, so they were all running empty and making all of three stops. By the time I finally figured out what to do I was on bus #4 and furious having wasted a good two hours (the missing buses, plus the time to travel to 80th and Madison).  When I got on I refused to pay given the amount of aggravation I had encountered.  The driver often reminds me of that time. He said I was so angry that he told his wife about the incident.  

My best story... That would be on the BxM2... Stumbled out of a bar I frequent, made my way to 35th and 6th and got the 00:30 bus. I was the only person on it.  I was piss drunk and was home in about 35 minutes. 

[Lil 57]

Bad trip 1: S57 to Port Richmond. The B/O arrived at the 1st stop on time but took an extra 15-20 minutes to look at his phone. When he finally took off, the bus was stuck in traffic and by the time it reached Victory Blvd, the next bus had caught up to us. The B/ O, being 30 minutes late, ended his trip there and made all of us cram onto another crowded S57 bus.

Bad trip 2: S44 to St. George. Last Summer, I got on an S44 bus for a 10-minute ride from Walker St. to Bard Ave. The B/O was driving the bus as part of training. (there was another B/O assessing him) Even though there was no traffic, the B/O went very slow (The highest he reached was around 15 Mph, and that 10-minute trip turned into a crowded 20-25 minute trip.

[IRT Bronx Express]

Bad trip from last year: There was this Bx15 BO that intentionally ran the bus so slow for no reason. What was once an 18 minute trip became double, and this other passenger berated him for that.

Bad trips from this year: Inconsistent Bx15 LTD BOs. Either they came in early than scheduled or they ran late. I hated it.

Excellent trips from last year: I wish I saw the first scheduled Bx41 SBS BO, he was always on point, period.

[JX248]

56 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Bad trip 2: S44 to St. George. Last Summer, I got on an S44 bus for a 10-minute ride from Walker St. to Bard Ave. The B/O was driving the bus as part of training. (there was another B/O assessing him) Even though there was no traffic, the B/O went very slow (The highest he reached was around 15 Mph, and that 10-minute trip turned into a crowded 20-25 minute trip.

I've been dealing with the same exact thing with the B4 in the morning. The guy drives so slow that I'm on the bus for upwards of a half hour for what should be a 15 minute trip... and this has been a daily occurrence for the past 3 weeks. His lateness makes me miss all of my potential connections (B63/B37/R train), which all of headways of 20-30 minutes at that time... so I'm left to walk the rest of the way, or be late... and there's nothing I can do about it. It's aggravating. 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

4 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Bad trip 1: S57 to Port Richmond. The B/O arrived at the 1st stop on time but took an extra 15-20 minutes to look at his phone. When he finally took off, the bus was stuck in traffic and by the time it reached Victory Blvd, the next bus had caught up to us. The B/ O, being 30 minutes late, ended his trip there and made all of us cram onto another crowded S57 bus.

Bad trip 2: S44 to St. George. Last Summer, I got on an S44 bus for a 10-minute ride from Walker St. to Bard Ave. The B/O was driving the bus as part of training. (there was another B/O assessing him) Even though there was no traffic, the B/O went very slow (The highest he reached was around 15 Mph, and that 10-minute trip turned into a crowded 20-25 minute trip.

I've experienced that on the M3 or M4 bus years ago. I was only going a short distance, but God this guy was just so damn slow obsessing about doing everything by the book. Clearly he needed that job because he was a mess. 

[78 via Stew Leonards]

Bad experience: coming home from Stew Leonard's in Yonkers one evening, the Getty Square bound 78 completely blows past the stop, so I had to catch the Central Park Ave bound 78, take a very indirect route of the 20 south to Bedford Park, and then catch the Bx10 back to Riverdale. But it doesn't end there. At 231st & Bway, the driver stops the bus and claims she has to use the bathroom and leaves to never return. Eventually a Bx7 shows up and I grab that back to Riverdale. A trip that shouldve been 30 min ended up being 1 hr, 45 min.

Good experience: a couple weeks ago, I caught the last northbound BxM1 on a Sunday night. The driver asked every passenger what stop they were getting off. He made it to 230th St in record time, and then at 230th St/Riverdale Ave, he made a RIGHT TURN to head north on Riverdale Ave up the hill to 239th, saving even more time. I gotta say that was the quickest ride back I've ever had

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 hours ago, 78 via Stew Leonards said:

Bad experience: coming home from Stew Leonard's in Yonkers one evening, the Getty Square bound 78 completely blows past the stop, so I had to catch the Central Park Ave bound 78, take a very indirect route of the 20 south to Bedford Park, and then catch the Bx10 back to Riverdale. But it doesn't end there. At 231st & Bway, the driver stops the bus and claims she has to use the bathroom and leaves to never return. Eventually a Bx7 shows up and I grab that back to Riverdale. A trip that shouldve been 30 min ended up being 1 hr, 45 min.

Good experience: a couple weeks ago, I caught the last northbound BxM1 on a Sunday night. The driver asked every passenger what stop they were getting off. He made it to 230th St in record time, and then at 230th St/Riverdale Ave, he made a RIGHT TURN to head north on Riverdale Ave up the hill to 239th, saving even more time. I gotta say that was the quickest ride back I've ever had

I've been wondering why you folks use the Riverdale express buses if you live in Yonkers? Why not Metro-North?  Last night my BxM2 had several people on it that very clearly lived in Yonkers.  You just know these things.  I'm not sure how it's convenient when you still have to transfer anyway or walk quite a ways?  So how does that work?

That right turn via Riverdale Avenue only happens if no one is getting off along Henry Hudson Parkway south of 239th which is a rarity, since most of the ridership comes from Central Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil where the money is.  Ridership in North Riverdale is hit or miss and I'd argue that sometimes most of it comes from people who don't live in Riverdale at all but rather Yonkers.  It saves about 5 minutes late nights, so in your case, getting off at 263rd, that means you're off the bus in another 5 minutes or so.

[BrooklynBus]

Neither of these two experiences were my best or worst, but the two most important unusuaI experiences and ones I will never forget. Both happened a long time ago. The first one happened about 50 years ago on the B49. We were coming home from the beach in a jam packed crowded bus. This was when there was no sign that lit up when someone rang the bell to get off and you could ring more than once. The bus driver went a little crazy from all the bells ringing and announced that if anyone rings more than once he will not stop the bus. One passenger who wanted to get off at Avenue W didn't listen and rang more than once. So the driver skipped Avenue W. The next block the man rang a second time just before the stop just in case the driver forget so he skipped that stop also. Now angry the man purposely rang about 15 times at the next block. The driver repeated his announcement of one ring only. To make a long story short, the man finally rang only once and the bus stopped at Avenue K. Now he had to pay an extra fare and had to take the bus back. For some reason no one else had to get off the bus and the bus was too crowded to pick up anyone else. 

The other incident was the most fulfilling experience I had working for the MTA and I wasn't even on the clock. It was when I was head of Brooklyn Planning. It was also in the summer, 1982, specifically, at about 7:30 PM on a weekend, when I noticed about 300 people waiting to get on the B49 at McKenzie Street, and buses were arriving one every 30 minutes. That went those people would be waiting two hours to get on a bus. So I called the chief bus dispatcher at home who worked for me. He told me he would call the dispatcher on duty and I should meet him there at Mackenzie Street, Dispatcher Monahan, who was very much disliked because he did his job. He invited me in the car with him and told me we would get some buses and put on his lights and siren. When we got to about Avenue W, we saw two south bound buses, each traveling about 10 mph with zero traffic. Each bus had only about four passengers. He ordered the first bus to discharge the four passengers and have them go into the second bus and directed the bus to follow him to Mackenzie Street. The driver protested saying his day was over, but the dispatcher ordered him to make one more trip on overtime and pick up at least 80 of the waiting passengers. We did that about two more times and got all 300 people on the buses in about 45 minutes, saving some of them an hour or more of waiting. All the buses the dispatcher forced to make extra trips were all purposely going very slowly to avoid making their final trip of the day to pick up those passengers. I really felt I accomplished something that day. Never had another fulfilling experience like that for the next 25 years I worked for the MTA. 

[R68OnBroadway]

2 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

Neither of these two experiences were my best or worst, but the two most important unusuaI experiences and ones I will never forget. Both happened a long time ago. The first one happened about 50 years ago on the B49. We were coming home from the beach in a jam packed crowded bus. This was when there was no sign that lit up when someone rang the bell to get off and you could ring more than once. The bus driver went a little crazy from all the bells ringing and announced that if anyone rings more than once he will not stop the bus. One passenger who wanted to get off at Avenue W didn't listen and rang more than once. So the driver skipped Avenue W. The next block the man rang a second time just before the stop just in case the driver forget so he skipped that stop also. Now angry the man purposely rang about 15 times at the next block. The driver repeated his announcement of one ring only. To make a long story short, the man finally rang only once and the bus stopped at Avenue K. Now he had to pay an extra fare and had to take the bus back. For some reason no one else had to get off the bus and the bus was too crowded to pick up anyone else. 

The other incident was the most fulfilling experience I had working for the MTA and I wasn't even on the clock. It was when I was head of Brooklyn Planning. It was also in the summer, 1982, specifically, at about 7:30 PM on a weekend, when I noticed about 300 people waiting to get on the B49 at McKenzie Street, and buses were arriving one every 30 minutes. That went those people would be waiting two hours to get on a bus. So I called the chief bus dispatcher at home who worked for me. He told me he would call the dispatcher on duty and I should meet him there at Mackenzie Street, Dispatcher Monahan, who was very much disliked because he did his job. He invited me in the car with him and told me we would get some buses and put on his lights and siren. When we got to about Avenue W, we saw two south bound buses, each traveling about 10 mph with zero traffic. Each bus had only about four passengers. He ordered the first bus to discharge the four passengers and have them go into the second bus and directed the bus to follow him to Mackenzie Street. The driver protested saying his day was over, but the dispatcher ordered him to make one more trip on overtime and pick up at least 80 of the waiting passengers. We did that about two more times and got all 300 people on the buses in about 45 minutes, saving some of them an hour or more of waiting. All the buses the dispatcher forced to make extra trips were all purposely going very slowly to avoid making their final trip of the day to pick up those passengers. I really felt I accomplished something that day. Never had another fulfilling experience like that for the next 25 years I worked for the MTA. 

The first one - 😂

As for the second, I wouldn't be surprised if there are that many B/Os like that in the TA right now. Wish they put in speed trackers on the buses to see which ones are crawling.

[WestFarms36]

39 minutes ago, R68OnBroadway said:

The first one - 😂

As for the second, I wouldn't be surprised if there are that many B/Os like that in the TA right now. Wish they put in speed trackers on the buses to see which ones are crawling.

You gotta hate those B/O's, seriously its like they're following a trail of ants and cannot exceed 10 MPH. Bus Time also provides logistics for speed, and has access to DATA on road conditions, especially with deBalsio and his Vision Zero tantrum, new hires are being trained to operate like snails on literally everything in the name of "Safety" I had this guy on the Bx4 about 2 weeks ago, he was a damn snail, I was up front and he was not exceeding 15 MPH, all you could see is angry drivers going around him and flipping the finger to him, and when he got to a stop, Jesus Christ... He waited 20 Seconds to open the door at each stop, and another 20 to move after they closed. He also would take his sweet time to make his announcements like some laid back couch potato. A 20 Minute ride took 40 Minutes which is unncessary... He was so slow that another Bx4 was bitting his ass behind. I just pray to not get snails operating the bus I get on.

[Lil 57]

Some More S57 Stories:

Story #1: Last year we had this bus driver that took me home from school, It left the New Dorp terminal @2:50 PM for Port Richmond. (This wasn't a school tripper, The trippers from my school were too crowded) When the bus reached Forest Ave, some guy cut him off. Instead of going on with his day, he opens the door and cures the guy out. He then told the bus that if he could, he would of beat him up.

Story #2: Valentine's day of 2018, I had to take the S57 bus to school, I usually catch the 2nd Bus of the day, (Leaves my stop @6:37 AM) but that day there were 2 buses, (The 1st bus of the day, usually leaves @6:27 AM) My bus (later realized I was on the late 6:27) Made one more stop, where the 6:37 passes him. He then turns his bus into drop-off only mode (About 7 People were on the bus at this time) and skips every single stop, bypassing the hospital (that cuts off 3-5 of time) and doesn't stop till the new dorp train station, after that, I was the only that was on the bus until the last stop. The bus arrived at Ebbits Street right on time @7:14 AM. The funny thing is that during that March 7th snowstorm, when DeBlasio didn't close the schools, this thing happens again, (The 6:27 bus arriving 10 mins late) But the bus driver didn't skip any stops and the 6:37 AM Bus speed past him and we got to Ebbits Street, 5-10 mins later than the 6:37 bus did.

Story #3: More like something I spotted but one morning in the winner, all of the S57's at that time was running out of Charleston Depot. It wasn't a day with bad weather so no buses were loaned to the other boroughs but that was strange.

[BrooklynBus]

One more B49 story from 1982. Back then, the MTA had no idea how many passengers buses carried on weekends. Dispatchers only recorded trip arrivals and made rough passenger counts on major routes during rush hours. Beach ridership was way overcrowded and a mess. I got permission to do accurate traffic counts on the B49 and the B68 on several occasions by getting a team of ten counters placed at different parts of the route. It was not uncommon for buses to bypass the same stops four three or four hours every Beach weekend which I knew about since the 1960s and the MTA new nothing about. 

Here is the story. One B49 arrived at Manhattan Beach with around 100 passengers. (Yes, you can get that many people in a 40 foot bus.) The driver was so pissed that he was forced to carry so many passengers we recorded him making his two or three next round trips on the route with his "Not in Service " sign on. So he actually refused to pick up passengers for the rest of his run. 

Another guy sat for 45 minutes at Mackenzie Street. I asked him why and he told me he had radiator problems. When we checked the official records, no bus reported radiator problems that day. Buses typically pulled stunts like that so as not the make all the required trips on days when they were consistently running late because of the beach crowds. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

14 hours ago, WestFarms36 said:

You gotta hate those B/O's, seriously its like they're following a trail of ants and cannot exceed 10 MPH. Bus Time also provides logistics for speed, and has access to DATA on road conditions, especially with deBalsio and his Vision Zero tantrum, new hires are being trained to operate like snails on literally everything in the name of "Safety" I had this guy on the Bx4 about 2 weeks ago, he was a damn snail, I was up front and he was not exceeding 15 MPH, all you could see is angry drivers going around him and flipping the finger to him, and when he got to a stop, Jesus Christ... He waited 20 Seconds to open the door at each stop, and another 20 to move after they closed. He also would take his sweet time to make his announcements like some laid back couch potato. A 20 Minute ride took 40 Minutes which is unncessary... He was so slow that another Bx4 was bitting his ass behind. I just pray to not get snails operating the bus I get on.

All B/Os care about now (especially if they are new) is not screwing up during their probation period.  This is actually something that the  needs to examine. They really need to re-examine how drivers are being trained and how long that lasts.  Right now it seems like it's a revolving door with drivers coming and going.  Overall I'd say more of them are courteous in terms of them kneeling the bus, checking for passengers at stops when cars or trucks are parked in the stop, etc.  All commonsense things that you would think doesn't require "training", but not that long ago, you'd have B/Os that would see a car or truck parked in the stop and they thought that gave them carte blanche to just fly by the stop.  A lot of the issues regarding worsening bus service are due to a lack of commonsense. There's also the whole "management is against us" crap that needs to be addressed.  If the work environment is toxic, it pushes more B/Os to go by the book and not do anything extra, so you get late buses, missing buses, etc.  

Finally the idea that if passengers don't like the service they can just drive or take a cab... Well this is exactly what is happening.  Then when a route is cut or several trips are cut, here comes the union crying about a loss of work.  You can't have it both ways....

 

[BrooklynBus]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

All B/Os care about now (especially if they are new) is not screwing up during their probation period.  This is actually something that the  needs to examine. They really need to re-examine how drivers are being trained and how long that lasts.  Right now it seems like it's a revolving door with drivers coming and going.  Overall I'd say more of them are courteous in terms of them kneeling the bus, checking for passengers at stops when cars or trucks are parked in the stop, etc.  All commonsense things that you would think doesn't require "training", but not that long ago, you'd have B/Os that would see a car or truck parked in the stop and they thought that gave them carte blanche to just fly by the stop.  A lot of the issues regarding worsening bus service are due to a lack of commonsense. There's also the whole "management is against us" crap that needs to be addressed.  If the work environment is toxic, it pushes more B/Os to go by the book and not do anything extra, so you get late buses, missing buses, etc.  

Finally the idea that if passengers don't like the service they can just drive or take a cab... Well this is exactly what is happening.  Then when a route is cut or several trips are cut, here comes the union crying about a loss of work.  You can't have it both ways....

 

Agreed especially the part about a toxic work environment. I remember hearing a longtime ago about how a supervisor had it in for a B/O so he wrote him up because he loosened his tie a minute before he was about to punch out for improper attire. You also have to look at how the dispatchers and other supervision are being trained. 

[78 via Stew Leonards]

On 5/7/2018 at 10:54 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I've been wondering why you folks use the Riverdale express buses if you live in Yonkers? Why not Metro-North?  Last night my BxM2 had several people on it that very clearly lived in Yonkers.  You just know these things.  I'm not sure how it's convenient when you still have to transfer anyway or walk quite a ways?  So how does that work?

That right turn via Riverdale Avenue only happens if no one is getting off along Henry Hudson Parkway south of 239th which is a rarity, since most of the ridership comes from Central Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil where the money is.  Ridership in North Riverdale is hit or miss and I'd argue that sometimes most of it comes from people who don't live in Riverdale at all but rather Yonkers.  It saves about 5 minutes late nights, so in your case, getting off at 263rd, that means you're off the bus in another 5 minutes or so.

I was getting off at 259th, not 263rd. And I don't live in Yonkers.