Express Bus Advocacy Group

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

These buses are brand new.  Destination signage, poor HVAC and a host of other issues... Most of the drivers say that these buses are garbage and quite frankly, I have to agree with them.

Yes they are brand new but any bus is subject to the rough roads of NYC with all the potholes everywhere.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

33 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Yes they are brand new but any bus is subject to the rough roads of NYC with all the potholes everywhere.

Except none of the issues with these buses have to do with rough roads. lol

[Lawrence St]

7 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Except none of the issues with these buses have to do with rough roads. lol

…except sign problems, which was my point.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

…except sign problems, which was my point.

The sign issues are the least of the problems. Putting the sign issues aside, none of the other major problems are attributed to any street conditions whatsoever.  

[7-express]

Well actually the one redeeming feature of the newer Prevosts is that the suspension is a bit nicer than the MCIs.

I was on a newer bus this morning and while it wasn't as crazy hot as Monday, it was definitely warm with your jacket on.  As I was exiting, I saw the driver had set the temp to 76 degrees on his dash.  I'm not sure if that's the driver temp or the cabin temp but it does seem like a rather high setting when everyone has winter jackets on.

[trainfan22]

The Prevost bus most likely passed the shaker table test so potholes damaging the bus shouldn't be an issue. 

[QM1to6Ave]

21 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

These buses are brand new.  Destination signage, poor HVAC and a host of other issues... Most of the drivers say that these buses are garbage and quite frankly, I have to agree with them.

Yeah, I have heard BOs say they will only take out an MCI from the depot 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Yeah, I have heard BOs say they will only take out an MCI from the depot 

Some of the drivers hate those buses.  They also don't like being enclosed behind those shields.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Has anyone been experiencing leaks from the roof on the new Prevost express buses when it rains? I know this has been an issue on the older Prevosts, particularly those on the Staten Island lines. Ridiculous.

[QM1to6Ave]

On 12/16/2022 at 11:53 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Has anyone been experiencing leaks from the roof on the new Prevost express buses when it rains? I know this has been an issue on the older Prevosts, particularly those on the Staten Island lines. Ridiculous.

I have not personally seen that occur, but I still get MCIs a majority of the time, so my data may be skewed

[QM1to6Ave]

The Prevosts' HVACs are definitely getting fixed slowly but surely. And now I know why those buses were almost creepily quiet when they first came out...the HVAC wasn't turned on properly! I can't believe no one in quality control realized this for almost a year.

[7-express]

59 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The Prevosts' HVACs are definitely getting fixed slowly but surely. And now I know why those buses were almost creepily quiet when they first came out...the HVAC wasn't turned on properly! I can't believe no one in quality control realized this for almost a year.

Until people started getting sick from it being too hot or sweating it out in the summer!  The MCIs I still catch still have good temperatures on board, especially while everyone is wearing a winter coat in these 30 degree temps.  Though the MCIs are slowly rattling themselves apart.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

11 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The Prevosts' HVACs are definitely getting fixed slowly but surely. And now I know why those buses were almost creepily quiet when they first came out...the HVAC wasn't turned on properly! I can't believe no one in quality control realized this for almost a year.

Yes, and I let the  know that it's better, but we'd like the overhead blowers circulating air, esp. now with COVID cases increasing again.

10 hours ago, 7-express said:

Until people started getting sick from it being too hot or sweating it out in the summer!  The MCIs I still catch still have good temperatures on board, especially while everyone is wearing a winter coat in these 30 degree temps.  Though the MCIs are slowly rattling themselves apart.

I got MCIs both ways today.  It was cold enough for me to eventually close the overhead vents.

[QM1to6Ave]

13 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yes, and I let the  know that it's better, but we'd like the overhead blowers circulating air, esp. now with COVID cases increasing again.

I got MCIs both ways today.  It was cold enough for me to eventually close the overhead vents.

Yes, please! I think the overheads are tbe ones connected to the HEPA filters, so they are so important!

[7-express]

I don't ever recall the overhead vents in the Prevosts working any time I've been on them.  Or it was so weak it wasn't worth the effort.

[Lawrence St]

@Via Garibaldi 8 can you ask DOT to replace the faded BxM2/3 sign at Madison & 84th St?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

@Via Garibaldi 8 can you ask DOT to replace the faded BxM2/3 sign at Madison & 84th St?

Sure. You mean the BxM3/BxM4 stop right? I think I took a photo a while ago when I was shopping on the Upper East, but I can't recall if I asked them. I will check my e-mails and see.

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Sure. You mean the BxM3/BxM4 stop right? I think I took a photo a while ago when I was shopping on the Upper East, but I can't recall if I asked them. I will check my e-mails and see.

I’m not sure, that stop has a weird setup but both poles have faded signs that need to be changed.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, Lawrence St said:

I’m not sure, that stop has a weird setup but both poles have faded signs that need to be changed.

I believe it's the BxM3/BXM4 together at one stop and then at the corner, the BxM2/BxM11 has a stop.

[Lawrence St]

15 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I believe it's the BxM3/BXM4 together at one stop and then at the corner, the BxM2/BxM11 has a stop.

Oh and at Sedgwick & Kingsbridge. The express sign is so faded you can barely read it and the sign is also in the wrong place, the south end is suppose to be the Bx3/9 stop (and the pole for the local buses are also missing), and the BxM3 stop is suppose to be on the north end.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

Oh and at Sedgwick & Kingsbridge. The express sign is so faded you can barely read it and the sign is also in the wrong place, the south end is suppose to be the Bx3/9 stop (and the pole for the local buses are also missing), and the BxM3 stop is suppose to be on the north end.

The Sedgwick & Kingsbridge Road stop going towards Midtown is noted.  Unless something changed several months ago, the pick-up for that stop has always been where the faded sign is (I do take the BxM3 on occasion) and the location has been the same for years. Going towards Yonkers, the stop is where it has been for as long as I remember (the stop has the old signage, but since it's drop-off only and in good condition, I won't request the new lollipop style signage for now because the DOT only replaces those as a favor, as they did with about five Bronx express stops I had done a few years ago - since the signs aren't faded, they leave them - budgetary and labor constraints).

As for your local bus comments, I don't (and will not) handle anything on the local end (my group covers only express), so can't tell you anything about that.    

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The Sedgwick & Kingsbridge Road stop going towards Midtown is noted.  Unless something changed several months ago, the pick-up for that stop has always been where the faded sign is (I do take the BxM3 on occasion) and the location has been the same for years. Going towards Yonkers, the stop is where it has been for as long as I remember (the stop has the old signage, but since it's drop-off only and in good condition, I won't request the new lollipop style signage for now because the DOT only replaces those as a favor, as they did with about five Bronx express stops I had done a few years ago - since the signs aren't faded, they leave them - budgetary and labor constraints).

As for your local bus comments, I don't (and will not) handle anything on the local end (my group covers only express), so can't tell you anything about that.    

We all know you don’t do local buses, we heard it plenty of times.

if you re-read what I told you, according to what the GTFS feeds say, the express stop is where the LOCAL STOP is suppose to be, and the LOCAL STOP is where the express is suppose to be. So either that’s the way they want it or the feed is wrong.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

13 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

We all know you don’t do local buses, we heard it plenty of times.

if you re-read what I told you, according to what the GTFS feeds say, the express stop is where the LOCAL STOP is suppose to be, and the LOCAL STOP is where the express is suppose to be. So either that’s the way they want it or the feed is wrong.

Good, and I'm saying it again to be crystal clear since people keep bringing up local buses. I'm not getting dragged into that Pandora's box.

The BxM3 stop going to Yonkers is officially south of Kingsbridge Rd, and not north of it and not where any of the local buses stop. My contacts are on vacation, but I will flag this and e-mail them and ask them to work on it with the tech team, as we are due to chat again after the New Year. Maybe it'll be fixed in January or whenever the next BusTime update happens.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lawrence St]

15 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Good, and I'm saying it again to be crystal clear since people keep bringing up local buses. I'm not getting dragged into that Pandora's box.

The BxM3 stop going to Yonkers is officially south of Kingsbridge Rd, and not north of it and not where any of the local buses stop. My contacts are on vacation, but I will flag this and e-mail them and ask them to work on it with the tech team, as we are due to chat again after the New Year. Maybe it'll be fixed in January or whenever the next BusTime update happens.

Thank you.

[GreatOne2k]

 

https://www.silive.com/news/2022/12/express-bus-riders-left-out-in-the-cold-in-free-mta-bus-ride-proposal-for-nyc-opinion.html