BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Lawrence St]

You know, I've just realized that for as long as I've lived in NYC, I have never once seen an RTS utilize a wheelchair ramp.

[MHV9218]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

You know, I've just realized that for as long as I've lived in NYC, I have never once seen an RTS utilize a wheelchair ramp.

Really? Damn, I feel like that was one of my basic memories with those...took mad long every time lmao. B/O throwing on the high idle, getting his keys to operate it, etc. And sometimes the bus would just die in the middle of it. 

[Cait Sith]

3 hours ago, Lex said:

Maybe I've said this before, but I wish we could outright buy these buses (as in, the exact units currently running under this program).

That's an option once the lease for both fleets are up.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Another night with missing trips for the overnight hourly service. The  should be ashamed of how they are planning this. They KNOW which trips won't run because they state which ones won't run when asked, so why can't they just post that such and such trips won't run due to driver shortage? The BM2 had no bus in either direction at 1am, and only one bus ran to Midtown at the 2am hour (no bus back to Brooklyn). Meanwhile, they post on Twitter that customers MAY experience longer waits. No, they WILL experience longer waits! Unbelievable. Unreal...

[bobtehpanda]

5 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

You know, I've just realized that for as long as I've lived in NYC, I have never once seen an RTS utilize a wheelchair ramp.

It was the worst. It could easily extend a bus trip 5-10 minutes all by itself. At least with low floors they just press a button and the ramp comes down. 

On an RTS, the bus driver had to walk to the back, key open a panel, the stairs had to turn themselves into a flat lift, the lift then has to deploy, bring the person up,  unfold itself, and then the bus driver walks to the front. It took a long ass time and there were so many moving parts it wasn't uncommon for it to fail.

[Lex]

3 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

It was the worst. It could easily extend a bus trip 5-10 minutes all by itself. At least with low floors they just press a button and the ramp comes down. 

On an RTS, the bus driver had to walk to the back, key open a panel, the stairs had to turn themselves into a flat lift, the lift then has to deploy, bring the person up,  unfold itself, and then the bus driver walks to the front. It took a long ass time and there were so many moving parts it wasn't uncommon for it to fail.

Back in 2018, I was heading home from Downtown Brooklyn. The first bus that showed up was 5052 on the B41 to Bergen Beach. Along Livingston Street, the bus picked up a person in a chair without much issue. At Atlantic Avenue, the person was looking to get off. The lift then proceeded to function properly up until the stopper arm was supposed to lower to let the poor soul off. (By this, I mean the arm failed to drop while the passenger was on the lift.) I can only imagine what was done to get the person off that wild ride, as I got on 4595, which also had someone in a chair.

(As an aside, what I saw on 5052 was more than enough to tell me that Alon Levy's "grand" plan for the B41 had gaping holes, and 4595 only reinforced that.)

[Iron Valiant]

Just imagine if the RTS-06 buses were still in service during a pandemic. Wheelchairs wouldn’t be able to board.

[NBTA]

2 hours ago, Snorunts said:

Just imagine if the RTS-06 buses were still in service during a pandemic. Wheelchairs wouldn’t be able to board.

Any of the high floors really. What do y'all think was the fastest high floor lift anyway? Never really had problems with the D60 lifts, never had a wheelchair on an Orion V, and those RTSes did take extremely long.

[MHV9218]

3 hours ago, Snorunts said:

Just imagine if the RTS-06 buses were still in service during a pandemic. Wheelchairs wouldn’t be able to board.

How come? 

[Lex]

1 minute ago, MHV9218 said:

How come? 

The accessible area is in the rear, which would put those buses in an odd place.

[MHV9218]

1 minute ago, Lex said:

The accessible area is in the rear, which would put those buses in an odd place.

Oh, yeah the B/O would have to walk through which isn't ideal. But then again the B/O still has to deal with a wheelchair being very close to the operator's seat now with some of the low-floors. I thought he meant physically or something. 

[bobtehpanda]

24 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

Oh, yeah the B/O would have to walk through which isn't ideal. But then again the B/O still has to deal with a wheelchair being very close to the operator's seat now with some of the low-floors. I thought he meant physically or something. 

I mean, a bus pushing 20 probably wouldn't have the lifts in the greatest shape.

[MHV9218]

1 hour ago, bobtehpanda said:

I mean, a bus pushing 20 probably wouldn't have the lifts in the greatest shape.

Over 20! Agree, though generally, the 4902-5249 didn't do that horribly with their lifts. It was 9350-9699 and 4900-4901 that had the particularly troublesome batch. On the other hand, great in covid times – lift gets stuck, nice gust of fresh air to clear things out.

[Around the Horn]

17 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

You know, I've just realized that for as long as I've lived in NYC, I have never once seen an RTS utilize a wheelchair ramp.

You should thank your lucky stars you haven't...

I once had three wheelchairs on an M57 trip and it was exactly the clusterf**k you would expect.

[NewFlyer 230]

I remember being on a 1993 RTS back during the days before the MTA takeover of Queens Surface and the other PBL’s and I was on the Q65A that was dropping off a wheelchair passenger and the lift got stuck as the driver was trying to bring the lift back up. We all had to get off and board the next bus which was an Orion V CNG. That was just one of the few times I was on an RTS that had trouble with its lift returning. There has also been a couple of times I was on an RTS and the driver had to pass up a wheelchair passenger because he/she knew the lift was broken. So honestly it’s good that wheelchair boarding is much better on low floor buses. At least if the wheelchair ramp does want to move on its own the driver can always pull the wheelchair ramp down themselves.

[danielhg121]

I was riding D60HF 5762 and the wheelchair ramp couldn’t get power, luckily he could slide it back in to continue his remaining runs. Bus op was courteous enough to get out of his seat, step off the bus and show his OVCR card to the wheelchair person every single time. Didn’t want anyone calling in saying they were skipped because supposedly the wheelchair was broken. 

[trainfan22]

I've rode RTS countless number of times over the years, wheelchair lift always worked flawlessly.

 

The only issues I came across with RTS is they sometimes had trouble getting back up from keeling when having a SRO load.

 

Also rode one once that couldn't shift out of first gear, so the bus was redlining at 15-20 MPH. Awesome sound effects though, it basically sounded like an ungoverned RTS did at highway speeds and on the Q35 & Q53, etc.

 

....years later I ridden an JG Orion 7 CNG which also was stuck in 1st gear and couldn't shift any higher, sound effect wasn't nearly as cool as the RTS was though.

[Trainmaster5]

Changing focus for a minute. Did anyone else see the names Polly Trottenberg and Sarah F. from NYCT floated as potential US Transportation Secretary in the Biden administration ? I saw it for a hot minute between the Electoral College story and the Barr “ resignation “. Carry on. 

[MHV9218]

1 hour ago, Trainmaster5 said:

Changing focus for a minute. Did anyone else see the names Polly Trottenberg and Sarah F. from NYCT floated as potential US Transportation Secretary in the Biden administration ? I saw it for a hot minute between the Electoral College story and the Barr “ resignation “. Carry on. 

Feinberg seems like a long shot. At least, I pray she's a long shot – she's horrible. Trottenberg I've heard repeatedly as a candidate, particularly given her past federal experience as Under-Secretary at the DOT. I have mixed feelings. Maybe she's somebody who shines under a strong leader.

Edit: guess that just changed. It's Buttigeg.

Edited December 15, 2020 by MHV9218

[Lex]

3 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

Feinberg seems like a long shot. At least, I pray she's a long shot – she's horrible. Trottenberg I've heard repeatedly as a candidate, particularly given her past federal experience as Under-Secretary at the DOT. I have mixed feelings. Maybe she's somebody who shines under a strong leader.

Edit: guess that just changed. It's Buttigeg.

And what the hell does he know?

[Deucey]

On 12/14/2020 at 4:14 AM, bobtehpanda said:

It was the worst. It could easily extend a bus trip 5-10 minutes all by itself. At least with low floors they just press a button and the ramp comes down. 

On an RTS, the bus driver had to walk to the back, key open a panel, the stairs had to turn themselves into a flat lift, the lift then has to deploy, bring the person up,  unfold itself, and then the bus driver walks to the front. It took a long ass time and there were so many moving parts it wasn't uncommon for it to fail.

I remember being a kid watching drivers do that in LA on the RTS’ that had doors that were flush with the exterior body.

Saw one lift malfunction halfway through the maneuver with the wheelchair on it. Same with Orion V in Sacramento.

Thank the gods for low floors and ramps so fire departments don’t have to show up to rescue people from faulty lifts.

[Deucey]

On 12/14/2020 at 4:10 PM, Around the Horn said:

You should thank your lucky stars you haven't...

I once had three wheelchairs on an M57 trip and it was exactly the clusterf**k you would expect.

Worst was a Hoveround-type scooter on an Orion V - passenger took 5 minutes to get on and past the fare box, couldn’t turn it around so the Sac RT driver could put the safety restraints on the anchor point, couldn’t go faster than 20mph so the passenger didn’t move when the bus was braking or accelerating, and he had to reverse out to get off the bus.

Ended up 20 minutes late to my connecting bus, and missed a midterm at Sacramento State.

[Calvin]

4448 is at Tuskegee but in preparation for this week's snowstorm. 

[Iron Valiant]

22 minutes ago, Calvin said:

4448 is at Tuskegee but in preparation for this week's snowstorm. 

Now I’m wondering if 4128, 4132, 4171 from Queens were transferred to Manhattan or are there for the upcoming snowstorm?

[Lawrence St]

Does the M35 not have designated fleet for itself? Whenever I see the route it always has a mix of random buses running on it, including SBS buses.

EDIT: While also on the topic, what depot does the X80 run from and what fleet does it use?

Edited December 16, 2020 by Lawrence St