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MTA installing/retrofitting key start ignition on MTA buses


Lawrence St

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https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-mta-bus-keys-security-thefts-20190124-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2_xsVpN8x-eLG0FmJI-Y_ke4Tv4cJEmbUjD79FMne2-NTUhmkdNFt_KlE

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A trio of bus thefts has led the MTA to roll out an old-tech security measure: keys.

The city’s newest buses are equipped with push-start ignitions, which let anyone who manages to break into a bus easily start its engine, a source told the Daily News.

The MTA is “aggressively and rapidly” installing keys in buses’ ignitions, the source said. The agency plans to have the whole fleet outfitted with keys in the next few months.

The MTA has more than 5,700 buses. Most are stored in garages when not in use, but a fraction of them are temporarily left out on the street in “comfort stations” between shifts, the source said.

In the early hours of Jan. 15, someone stole an MTA bus from the corner of 165th St. and South Road in Jamaica, Queens.

Three hours later, the 12-ton vehicle was found undamaged seven miles away at the corner of Liberty Ave. and Conduit Blvd. in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.

On Dec. 23, a teenage crew rolled off with two MTA buses in separate incidents in the Bronx and Queens, officials said. Both buses were recovered undamaged after the thieves’ joy rides.

No one has been arrested in the thefts, but police believe all three incidents are linked to one young man.

After the first crime last month, the MTA immediately began strengthening its security practices.

An MTA spokesman said its response included deploying additional security personnel to depots and buses and outfitting vehicles with GPS technology that send out an alert when a bus is stolen.

“We are exploring technologies to further harden and secure the process by which buses can be started and operated,” said MTA spokesman Shams Tarek.

At least in the short term, one of those technologies is a good old-fashioned key.

Adding to the problems is that it’s quite easy to open MTA bus doors, which are controlled by an air pressure system that is also triggered by the push of a button.

Bus thefts are not a new problem.

Last October, prolific serial bus and train thief Darius McCullom was sentenced to be treated in a secure psychiatric hospital after being arrested more than 30 times for stealing buses or trains by impersonating train operators or bus drivers and running their routes.

In 2014, Staten Island man Nickolas Ellias was arrested after he stole a bus parked at the St. George Ferry Terminal. Cops caught up with him two blocks from his home in Stapleton. “I want to be a bus driver,” he told police.

Three years later, Ellias was busted again after he made off with another bus from the ferry terminal. He was sentenced to a year in prison.

I wonder if these "keys" will be universal for all buses or certain keys will be made for certain brands.

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4 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Not only do I think they'll be universal, especially with some of the Operators going from depot-to-depot, and driving different types of buses in each one, from the Commuter Coach buses to the Orions to the New Flyers to the Novas to the articulated buses, but I think they'll link the "key" to the specific Operator, just like how they're able to link an Operator's pass to the specific person.

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20 minutes ago, Interested Rider said:

We'll this is long overdue and as usual it took a series of incidents for action to be taken.

Rest assured as the persons who are intent on stealing buses are already working out how to find a way to beat the system.

 

Most of the people doing the stealing were kids. They should’ve addressed this a while ago.

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4 hours ago, +Young+ said:

Not only do I think they'll be universal, especially with some of the Operators going from depot-to-depot, and driving different types of buses in each one, from the Commuter Coach buses to the Orions to the New Flyers to the Novas to the articulated buses, but I think they'll link the "key" to the specific Operator, just like how they're able to link an Operator's pass to the specific person.

Yep, just like T/O have their own brake handles assigned to them to operate SMEE trains.

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On 1/27/2019 at 4:43 PM, trainfan22 said:

Yep, just like T/O have their own brake handles assigned to them to operate SMEE trains.

I don’t believe that’s what the person you quoted was suggesting. I have two brake handles, heavy duty and today’s plastic, and four sets of keys for the R142/142A cars. I also have the keys used on every type of SMEE equipment. These are universal and not linked to any one person. My pass is linked to me. That’s the way I took the OP post. I could be wrong. Carry on.

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11 hours ago, Chris Alleyne said:

I wonder if any of those idiots were transit fans or belonged to this site?

You seem awfully familiar....

Ha, welcome back R62ACNG.....

Can't seem to live without this place, can ya? With your 5+ accounts.....

 

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2 hours ago, GojiMet86 said:

 

Didn't want to say anything about it.

He's doing the same over at the CPTDB.

Wouldn't surprise me honestly.

He also has multiple accounts on YouTube....to a point where he has had conversations with himself.

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54 minutes ago, Chris Alleyne said:

No clue what you're talking about tbh. Just wanted to know if those bus thieves were foamers.

Since you intend on playing dumb(again), allow me to refresh your memory(again).

Did you get a clue now?

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1 hour ago, Chris Alleyne said:

How do you even remember this after all these years?

 

On 2/7/2019 at 6:44 PM, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

Lol, the wonders of knowing other member's IP addresses 😄...

 

On 2/7/2019 at 6:46 PM, Cait Sith said:

More like his posting habits have become more than obvious....

....but, that works too.

 

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