Which depot maintains their fleet the best?

[RSMG106]

Since 2020, I decided to go on almost all of the bus fleet, from 2004-onwards. With everything I went through throughout these two years as a busfanner, I wanted to know on which bus depot maintains their fleet best? The best one for example I went on, would be Jackie Gleason. The worst example would be West Farms (1042 has a moderate dent on the back of the streamline).

[R68ACTrain]

2 hours ago, RSMG106 said:

Since 2020, I decided to go on almost all of the bus fleet, from 2004-onwards. With everything I went through throughout these two years as a busfanner, I wanted to know on which bus depot maintains their fleet best? The best one for example I went on, would be Jackie Gleason. The worst example would be West Farms (1042 has a moderate dent on the back of the streamline).

We can both agree the Bronx has the worst maintenance, but if I would choose the best depot with an unbiased opinion I'd say Yonkers express wise, and Kingsbridge local wise. Kingsbridge and Gun Hill are arguably better than one another to an extent, but I personally find Gun Hill at fault for not properly maintaining their fleet after having them on the roads all day, and not taking proper care of the fleet used on routes with many hills, bumpy roads, etc (Bx12.) Not by a long shot, I think Kingsbridge is the depot with the best from Bronx. They maintain decently, as they have the best LFSAs in the Bronx, but they seriously need to check out those streaks on some of the buses, and they need to repaint all Blue and White LFSAs. (Excluding 1287-1289).

[Via Garibaldi 8]

22 minutes ago, R68ACTrain said:

We can both agree the Bronx has the worst maintenance, but if I would choose the best depot with an unbiased opinion I'd say Yonkers express wise, and Kingsbridge local wise. Kingsbridge and Gun Hill are arguably better than one another to an extent, but I personally find Gun Hill at fault for not properly maintaining their fleet after having them on the roads all day, and not taking proper care of the fleet used on routes with many hills, bumpy roads, etc (Bx12.) Not by a long shot, I think Kingsbridge is the depot with the best from Bronx. They maintain decently, as they have the best LFSAs in the Bronx, but they seriously need to check out those streaks on some of the buses, and they need to repaint all Blue and White LFSAs. (Excluding 1287-1289).

Kingsbridge has great maintenance? That must be a joke. I rarely use the local buses in my area, but the times that I have over the years, some of those buses have been absolutely terrible. Banged up on the outside and trashed on the inside. Yonkers had the best maintenance on the express side, but they don't do nearly as good of a job as they used to. The new buses are not cleaned as regularly as they should and I've been on some express buses with sticky floors for the morning commute that clearly should've just come from the depot.

[trainfan22]

Just because a bus has a dent on it doesn't mean their maintenance is bad.

 

 

For example ENY has good maintenance yet one of their 4800s has an damaged railing or A/C cover or w/e it is on the roof.

 

 

Ppl hate on GH but I never hear anybody complain about the service quality on their routes. While depots with good maintenance out there have routes that run poorly. Always wanted to point that out.

 

As for the best, I'd say it's an toss up between all the Brooklyn depots (except for Ulmer Park) all the years I've been riding SC routes I only had an issue once where an C40 HVAC wasn't working properly on a hot day, kept shutting on and off and it was warm inside the bus. But I'm pretty sure every depot a couple of buses out on the road with minor defects.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Just because a bus has a dent on it doesn't mean their maintenance is bad.

 

 

For example ENY has good maintenance yet one of their 4800s has an damaged railing or A/C cover or w/e it is on the roof.

 

 

Ppl hate on GH but I never hear anybody complain about the service quality on their routes. While depots with good maintenance out there have routes that run poorly. Always wanted to point that out.

 

As for the best, I'd say it's an toss up between all the Brooklyn depots (except for Ulmer Park) all the years I've been riding SC routes I only had an issue once where an C40 HVAC wasn't working properly on a hot day, kept shutting on and off and it was warm inside the bus. But I'm pretty sure every depot a couple of buses out on the road with minor defects.

A dent? Multiple dents and the buses sounded horrible to boot... Kingsbridge has received a number of new buses recently, which makes their fleet look great. Quite frankly, a number of depots aren't doing such a great job, but the best maintenance wise for local is Michael J. Quill. Since they got newer fleet they've done a good job keeping them up.

Oh an nobody is hating on Gun Hill Depot's buses. They don't good job and it shows. Just the truth. Between them and Kingsbridge, they both do a poor job.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[MysteriousBtrain]

Kingsbridge is the Bronx Depot of hand me downs, as in when it comes to retirement many buses go to KB before they go and KB somehow is the one Bronx Depot with 5-10 older buses before they become fully retired or moved. They don't have as bad of maintenance of GH, but KB still has some notable moments, most notably on the articulated side especially given now that the 1200's are getting ran down and would definitely need to be retired before 2025.

[R68ACTrain]

2 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

Kingsbridge is the Bronx Depot of hand me downs, as in when it comes to retirement many buses go to KB before they go and KB somehow is the one Bronx Depot with 5-10 older buses before they become fully retired or moved. They don't have as bad of maintenance of GH, but KB still has some notable moments, most notably on the articulated side especially given now that the 1200's are getting ran down and would definitely need to be retired before 2025.

Around 2021 (when the HEVs were being delivered), some of the glass covering the signs themselves used to be cracked, but Kingsbridge has seen resolved that issue.

[RSMG106]

 Based on the buses I rode on per depot:

Bronx:

Kingsbridge (Okay maintenance), Gun Hill (Good maintenance on 8730 when ridden in January 2021, but I don't know the rest of the fleet), West Farms (Mid maintenance), Eastchester (Questionable maintenance), and Yonkers (Alright maintenance).

 

Manhattan:

Tuskegee Airmen (Mid maintenance), Mother Clara Hale (Good maintenance), Manhattanville (Great maintenance), and Michael J. Quill (Best maintenance).

Brooklyn:

East New York, Fresh Pond, Flatbush, Grand Avenue, Spring Creek, and Jackie Gleason (Great maintenance). Ulmer Park (Alright maintenance)

 

Queens:

College Point, Queens Village, and Casey Stengel (Good maintenance). Far Rockaway, JFK, LaGuardia, and Baisley Park (Okay maintenance). I have yet to ride on Jamaica's fleet.

 

The Staten Island depots also have great maintenance.

[Calvin]

1 hour ago, RSMG106 said:

 Based on the buses I rode on per depot:

Bronx:

Kingsbridge (Okay maintenance), Gun Hill (Good maintenance on 8730 when ridden in January 2021, but I don't know the rest of the fleet), West Farms (Mid maintenance), Eastchester (Questionable maintenance), and Yonkers (Alright maintenance).

 

Manhattan:

Tuskegee Airmen (Mid maintenance), Mother Clara Hale (Good maintenance), Manhattanville (Great maintenance), and Michael J. Quill (Best maintenance).

Brooklyn:

East New York, Fresh Pond, Flatbush, Grand Avenue, Spring Creek, and Jackie Gleason (Great maintenance). Ulmer Park (Alright maintenance)

 

Queens:

College Point, Queens Village, and Casey Stengel (Good maintenance). Far Rockaway, JFK, LaGuardia, and Baisley Park (Okay maintenance). I have yet to ride on Jamaica's fleet.

 

The Staten Island depots also have great maintenance.

Yukon's fleet falls to the somewhat alright maintenance. Express Prevosts are a bit run down but it maybe just because the SIM1C is a 24 hour route that carries passengers every time, every trip. 

[Gotham Bus Co.]

4 hours ago, RSMG106 said:

 Based on the buses I rode on per depot:

Bronx:

Kingsbridge (Okay maintenance), Gun Hill (Good maintenance on 8730 when ridden in January 2021, but I don't know the rest of the fleet), West Farms (Mid maintenance), Eastchester (Questionable maintenance), and Yonkers (Alright maintenance).

 

Manhattan:

Tuskegee Airmen (Mid maintenance), Mother Clara Hale (Good maintenance), Manhattanville (Great maintenance), and Michael J. Quill (Best maintenance).

Brooklyn:

East New York, Fresh Pond, Flatbush, Grand Avenue, Spring Creek, and Jackie Gleason (Great maintenance). Ulmer Park (Alright maintenance)

 

Queens:

College Point, Queens Village, and Casey Stengel (Good maintenance). Far Rockaway, JFK, LaGuardia, and Baisley Park (Okay maintenance). I have yet to ride on Jamaica's fleet.

 

The Staten Island depots also have great maintenance.

 

Staten Island maintainers have a reputation of fixing buses only on overtime, not on straight time. Some buses have to be moved to Brooklyn just to get them fixed.

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

On 10/23/2022 at 9:11 PM, MysteriousBtrain said:

Kingsbridge is the Bronx Depot of hand me downs, as in when it comes to retirement many buses go to KB before they go and KB somehow is the one Bronx Depot with 5-10 older buses before they become fully retired or moved. They don't have as bad of maintenance of GH, but KB still has some notable moments, most notably on the articulated side especially given now that the 1200's are getting ran down and would definitely need to be retired before 2025.

I think the maintenance of their standard fleet is solid given that 90% of their fleet have been there since the time they were delivered. The articulated fleet not so much as almost all of their artics were hand me downs. I tend to see their artics break down a lot more than their standard fleet.

In terms of cosmetics, KB (to put it nicely) hasn't done well with their blue units with many of their units having painfully obvious white replacement panels on them. At least Gun Hill and West Farms do put the effort of masking the replacement panels on their Novas.

Cleanliness is just bad across the board in The Bronx, and its more obvious in the articulated fleet for the three Bx transit depots.

I have no solid opinion of the manhattan depots as whenever I do take buses there, they're usually the MHV routes.

[MHV9218]

This seems like an easy one for me. Quill has been best in the city ever since the new West Side building opened around twenty years ago. ENY probably second best in terms of mechanical shape, cosmetically not always quite as much (some of the customers don't help).

[RSMG106]

Yesterday, I decided to use the BX23 from Eastchester. I rode on 4141 (originally from JFK). The ride quality is good, except for the fact that when I was in the back, some part of the cloth insert of right side was pulled. Whether or not the passenger caused it, they had no time to check on it and at least stitch it back.

[Jdog14]

23 hours ago, RSMG106 said:

Yesterday, I decided to use the BX23 from Eastchester. I rode on 4141 (originally from JFK). The ride quality is good, except for the fact that when I was in the back, some part of the cloth insert of right side was pulled. Whether or not the passenger caused it, they had no time to check on it and at least stitch it back.

 

As long as its not a safety issue I dont think this they will bother with cloth on the walls. 

[RSMG106]

While I was heading home, I got on 6094 (MCH). Based on it's usage, the bus doesn't sound that good. The grinding sound was the issue. Based on the M15+ ridership, I cannot blame them. Some units need a break and get maintained. 

[TheMTAEmprie]

On 11/3/2022 at 12:13 AM, RSMG106 said:

 Based on the buses I rode on per depot:

Bronx:

Kingsbridge (Okay maintenance), Gun Hill (Good maintenance on 8730 when ridden in January 2021, but I don't know the rest of the fleet), West Farms (Mid maintenance), Eastchester (Questionable maintenance), and Yonkers (Alright maintenance).

 

Manhattan:

Tuskegee Airmen (Mid maintenance), Mother Clara Hale (Good maintenance), Manhattanville (Great maintenance), and Michael J. Quill (Best maintenance).

Brooklyn:

East New York, Fresh Pond, Flatbush, Grand Avenue, Spring Creek, and Jackie Gleason (Great maintenance). Ulmer Park (Alright maintenance)

 

Queens:

College Point, Queens Village, and Casey Stengel (Good maintenance). Far Rockaway, JFK, LaGuardia, and Baisley Park (Okay maintenance). I have yet to ride on Jamaica's fleet.

 

The Staten Island depots also have great maintenance.

This wasn't always the case as that only became noticable once SI got their NG Hybrids back in the late 2000s. Before that, people often complained about dirty buses, loads of breakdowns, missed trips, and just bad upkeep in general.

 

In my opinion (based on observation, only doing NYCT Depots):

Brooklyn: Grand Avenue and Jackie Gleason are the best while Ulmer Park (and to a lesser extent, Fresh Pond) would be the worst.

Queens: Casey Stengel seems to be the best overall one and it's not even close.

Manhattan: MJQ and MHV has many lines that go through parts of the city with money and as such, their buses are rightfully up to the task, and they deliver. MCH isn't bad either.

Staten Island: Charleston , as it's basically the CMF for SI.

The Bronx: West Farms is alright, but the others are just terrible.

[RSMG106]

 Based on the buses I rode on per depot (As of February 20th 2023):

Bronx:

Kingsbridge, West Farms, Eastchester, and Yonkers (Decent maintenance), Gun Hill (Mid maintenance)

 

Manhattan:

Tuskegee Airmen (Decent maintenance, mid on the CS LFSAs), Mother Clara Hale (Good maintenance), Manhattanville (Great maintenance), and Michael J. Quill (Best maintenance).

Brooklyn:

East New York, Fresh Pond, Flatbush, Grand Avenue, and Spring Creek (Great maintenance), Jackie Gleason (Best maintenance), Ulmer Park (Decent maintenance)

 

Queens:

Queens Village and Baisley Park (Great Maintenance), College Point, Jamaica, and Casey Stengel (Good maintenance). Far Rockaway/JFK (Decent Maintenance), LaGuardia (Mid-Decent Maintenance)

 

Staten Island:

Castleton, Charleston, and Meredith (Great Maintenance), Yukon (Decent Maintenance due to SIM1C operating 24/7)

Edited February 20, 2023 by RSMG106

[Cait Sith]

4 hours ago, RSMG106 said:

 Based on the buses I rode on per depot (As of February 20th 2023):

Bronx:

Kingsbridge, West Farms, Eastchester, and Yonkers (Decent maintenance), Gun Hill (Mid maintenance)

 

Manhattan:

Tuskegee Airmen (Decent maintenance, mid on the CS LFSAs), Mother Clara Hale (Good maintenance), Manhattanville (Great maintenance), and Michael J. Quill (Best maintenance).

Brooklyn:

East New York, Fresh Pond, Flatbush, Grand Avenue, and Spring Creek (Great maintenance), Jackie Gleason (Best maintenance), Ulmer Park (Decent maintenance)

 

Queens:

Queens Village and Baisley Park (Great Maintenance), College Point, Jamaica, and Casey Stengel (Good maintenance). Far Rockaway/JFK (Decent Maintenance), LaGuardia (Mid-Decent Maintenance)

 

Staten Island:

Castleton, Charleston, and Meredith (Great Maintenance), Yukon (Decent Maintenance due to SIM1C operating 24/7)

Could've just made this easier by basically saying every depot lol....

[RSMG106]

16 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

Could've just made this easier by basically saying every depot lol....

I can understand what you are saying. I know most depots' maintenance varies, but I wanted to check every depot to see if they are basically the same when it comes to maintenance.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, RSMG106 said:

I can understand what you are saying. I know most depots' maintenance varies, but I wanted to check every depot to see if they are basically the same when it comes to maintenance.

What you're asking for is almost impossible because some depots have more demanding lines than others.  

[FLX9304]

My depot ratings for The Bronx & Manhattan will be base on the street is located (you already know the depot names, NYCTA only): 

Bronx Division: 

West 215th St in Manhattan: Good maintenance, OTP needs work. 
 

East 210th St: 

Good maintenance, OTP is ok, SBS needs more frequent. 
 

East 177th St: 

Better maintenance, OTP is good, needs to stop losing buses due to accidents. 
 

————————————-

Manhattan: 

West 146th St  

Great Maintenance & OTP. 
 

West 132nd St 

Good Maintenance, OTP ok (only M2 & M4 is great), needs extra space. 
 

East 100th St

Good Maintenance OTP needs improvement (except M125. Year evaluation is coming up)

West 41st St:

Mid Maintenance, OTP needs improvement, needs depot fixture and trim 3 or 4 routes to other depots since that depot is focused more on SBS routes.