BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

28 minutes ago, Iron Valiant said:

And of course, someone reports it in the scrap thread lol

I still don't get why some people here still do that.

[QM1to6Ave]

10 hours ago, TyBusLover1 said:

@QM1to6Ave @7-express So it seems that BusTime has bought back the passenger count & the traffic light system is no where to be seen.

Go figure! Either they took my complaint email VERY seriously lol, or maybe they were just beta testing it. I wouldn't be shocked if it reappeared suddenly again. I know @Via Garibaldi 8 had previously been in touch with the BusTime team, but who knows if that team even still exists

[QM1to6Ave]

@TyBusLover1 and @7-express, believe it or not, I actually got the following response from the MTA today from my email about the passenger count disappearing. I wonder how many other complaints they got--I find it hard to believe they actually changed it back just because of my one little email!

 

Thank you for using MTA Bus Time. We piloted the color-coded system in Bus Time, which can be more meaningful to less frequent bus riders, in place of providing specific passenger counts. We heard your feedback, and have restored the passenger counts. We are looking at how to present this information in a way that is helpful for all our customers.

We take the concerns of our customers very seriously and thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Ben D.
MTA Customer Experience

[TheNextGen2009]

One thing that's got me thinking is that, judging that the MTA is going forward with the Local, Limited, and Rush stuff, how are they going to tell the routes apart? Are bus stops going to color code the routes? Maybe have the destination signs change color to that appropriate service (which I know is pretty much not possible)? I really do wonder how this is all going to fare with passengers once this thing is implemented.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

On 8/8/2024 at 6:27 PM, QM1to6Ave said:

Go figure! Either they took my complaint email VERY seriously lol, or maybe they were just beta testing it. I wouldn't be shocked if it reappeared suddenly again. I know @Via Garibaldi 8 had previously been in touch with the BusTime team, but who knows if that team even still exists

A lot of people in the express bus commuting groups were pissed (mine and the Staten Island ones) about the change and I had everyone in those groups file formal complaints demanding that they change it back since I had heard from Customer Service that they were piloting the change. That's basically what happened. They received a ton of complaints and backtracked. When there is an uproar in the groups about service issues, I try to get those commuters to direct their issues at the  and not just complain on social media. It's been successful more times than not. Surprisingly, a lot of people also received personal responses, something else riders have complained about. They DO follow a large number of the commuter groups (I won't go into details, but there are a lot of  personnel in them), and sometimes I would "imagine" they even have meetings on things that transpire in them. 

A few of the bigwigs have retired, but I've been in meetings previously with the folks at the very top. How long all of this lasts... Who knows, but it's about time the riders have some say in the service they're paying for. I forgot that the SI Advance is in the groups. I should've reached out to one of the reporters I've spoken with before that has interviewed me, but they did a story on this, so yes, as I said, the  received a ton of complaints about it, which I encouraged express bus riders to do.

https://www.silive.com/news/2024/08/mta-restores-express-bus-seat-counts-on-mobile-app-heres-what-you-should-know.html

Edited August 10 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Calvin]

I wonder if Gun Hill is keeping those 2 LFS that isn't in the blue wrap (8356 and 8357). They can swap those two for either Kingsbridge's blue units but, that's my guess. 

Edited August 10 by Calvin

[7-express]

17 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

@TyBusLover1 and @7-express, believe it or not, I actually got the following response from the MTA today from my email about the passenger count disappearing. I wonder how many other complaints they got--I find it hard to believe they actually changed it back just because of my one little email!

 

Thank you for using MTA Bus Time. We piloted the color-coded system in Bus Time, which can be more meaningful to less frequent bus riders, in place of providing specific passenger counts. We heard your feedback, and have restored the passenger counts. We are looking at how to present this information in a way that is helpful for all our customers.

We take the concerns of our customers very seriously and thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Ben D.
MTA Customer Experience

Great that they gave you a real response rather than canned garbage.  At least they listened to the feedback quickly.

They could just have a traffic light AND passenger count to give the best of both worlds so they could appeal to the casual user and the power user/frequent commuters.  But that would make too much sense right?

[xD4nn]

6 hours ago, Calvin said:

I wonder if Gun Hill is keeping those 2 LFS that isn't in the blue wrap (8356 and 8357). They can swap those two for either Kingsbridge's blue units but, that's my guess. 

The only reason why I think GH is keeping those 2 units is that the swap between GH and JA isn't permanent long-term.

Edited August 10 by xD4nn

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

56 minutes ago, xD4nn said:

The only reason why I think GH is keeping those 2 units is that the swap between GH and JA isn't permanent long-term.

They kept those because they didn't get the 2 Jamaica Xcelsiors that were taken out of commision at the time (In which 7507 was later repaired and sent to Quill).

[xD4nn]

1 hour ago, Kingsbridgeviewer382 said:

They kept those because they didn't get the 2 Jamaica Xcelsiors that were taken out of commision at the time (In which 7507 was later repaired and sent to Quill).

They could have easily swapped for 7550-7551 at that time and a little while later but they chose not to.

[QM1to6Ave]

8 hours ago, 7-express said:

Great that they gave you a real response rather than canned garbage.  At least they listened to the feedback quickly.

They could just have a traffic light AND passenger count to give the best of both worlds so they could appeal to the casual user and the power user/frequent commuters.  But that would make too much sense right?

HA! That's exactly what I suggested in my feedback email...I said that they should use TrainTime as a model for how to give both a color and a number.

[QM1to6Ave]

18 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

A lot of people in the express bus commuting groups were pissed (mine and the Staten Island ones) about the change and I had everyone in those groups file formal complaints demanding that they change it back since I had heard from Customer Service that they were piloting the change. That's basically what happened. They received a ton of complaints and backtracked. When there is an uproar in the groups about service issues, I try to get those commuters to direct their issues at the  and not just complain on social media. It's been successful more times than not. Surprisingly, a lot of people also received personal responses, something else riders have complained about. They DO follow a large number of the commuter groups (I won't go into details, but there are a lot of  personnel in them), and sometimes I would "imagine" they even have meetings on things that transpire in them. 

A few of the bigwigs have retired, but I've been in meetings previously with the folks at the very top. How long all of this lasts... Who knows, but it's about time the riders have some say in the service they're paying for. I forgot that the SI Advance is in the groups. I should've reached out to one of the reporters I've spoken with before that has interviewed me, but they did a story on this, so yes, as I said, the  received a ton of complaints about it, which I encouraged express bus riders to do.

https://www.silive.com/news/2024/08/mta-restores-express-bus-seat-counts-on-mobile-app-heres-what-you-should-know.html

Excellent! I figured my lone email couldn't have been the tipping point. Glad that they gave so many individual responses 

[poopybutt123]

When the 1994-96 Orion V’s was ordered specifically from this batch of Orion’s for Castleton. 611-680, was 611-630 assigned to express or was it 631-680? 

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

36 minutes ago, poopybutt123 said:

When the 1994-96 Orion V’s was ordered specifically from this batch of Orion’s for Castleton. 611-680, was 611-630 assigned to express or was it 631-680? 

611-30 were the ones in the suburban configuration. 631-80 were local transit units.

[poopybutt123]

3 minutes ago, Kingsbridgeviewer382 said:

611-30 were the ones in the suburban configuration. 631-80 were local transit units.

Thanks 

[Lawrence St]

Can someone help me understand something?

Why can NYCT transfer buses to MTA Bus, but MTA bus can't transfer buses to NYCT?

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

9 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Can someone help me understand something?

Why can NYCT transfer buses to MTA Bus, but MTA bus can't transfer buses to NYCT?

I believe it has something to do with MTA Bus units being bought using federal funds compared to how NYCT units are bought with state funds or with their own money. It locks them to MTA Bus for at least 10 years before the can be moved freely (which rarely happens. The few times I can remember NYCT getting old Bus Co units were the O5 CNGs in '09 and the 3000 series MCIs used for a bit at Charleston when they first got the SIM23/24)

I assume I got the info wrong, so anyone feel free to step in and correct any of the points made here.

[4 via Mosholu]

On 8/9/2024 at 8:07 PM, TheNextGen2009 said:

One thing that's got me thinking is that, judging that the MTA is going forward with the Local, Limited, and Rush stuff, how are they going to tell the routes apart? Are bus stops going to color code the routes? Maybe have the destination signs change color to that appropriate service (which I know is pretty much not possible)? I really do wonder how this is all going to fare with passengers once this thing is implemented.

That was the same thing I was thinking, man!

The Hanover and Luminator Spectrum as well as the Axion (if I'm not mistaken regarding the Axion) have the ability to display different colors on the sign, so it's likely they'd go with that setup when the revamp within the North Shore Bus Company (basically Jamaica, Queens Village, Flushing) as well as New York Bus Service, Jamaica Buses, Queens Surface, Triboro Coach, and Green Bus Lines as well as Command and Brooklyn and Queens Transit (basically East New York, Grand Avenue, Fifth Avenue - present day Jackie Gleason, Fresh Pond, Flatbush and Ulmer Park) commences.

[IAlam]

Man seeing a blue and gold XD40 on the Q25 and older Nova on the Q20B today is wild. What is going on right now with the fleet assignments.

[NewFlyer 230]

3 hours ago, IAlam said:

Man seeing a blue and gold XD40 on the Q25 and older Nova on the Q20B today is wild. What is going on right now with the fleet assignments.

College Point depot is experiencing a shortage right now due to several buses being out of service. It’s a nice change seeing blue and yellow buses on CP routes, those C40LF are old now. 

CS recently gave JA a conehead LFS for an old LFS in return. What I’m most curious to know is what will replace those NG’s. I thought those buses would retire after the  shuttle because I thought the LFS’s were meant to wipe out all the NG’s. CS lost some XD40s to Brooklyn as well. 

[Calvin]

9 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

College Point depot is experiencing a shortage right now due to several buses being out of service. It’s a nice change seeing blue and yellow buses on CP routes, those C40LF are old now. 

CS recently gave JA a conehead LFS for an old LFS in return. What I’m most curious to know is what will replace those NG’s. I thought those buses would retire after the  shuttle because I thought the LFS’s were meant to wipe out all the NG’s. CS lost some XD40s to Brooklyn as well. 

From what I've heard, the Next Gens from New York City Bus are staying put, not the ones that are transferred to MTA Bus. Maybe the next new future bus order they'll replace the Next Gens or if subject to change, the current XDE-40s that are in delivery may do a one on one replacement if Grand Av is willing to move the older XD-40s to Fresh Pond, Flatbush or Casey Stengel. 

[xD4nn]

10 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

College Point depot is experiencing a shortage right now due to several buses being out of service. It’s a nice change seeing blue and yellow buses on CP routes, those C40LF are old now. 

CS recently gave JA a conehead LFS for an old LFS in return. What I’m most curious to know is what will replace those NG’s. I thought those buses would retire after the  shuttle because I thought the LFS’s were meant to wipe out all the NG’s. CS lost some XD40s to Brooklyn as well. 

I looked back at historical rosters and concluded that Stengel doesn’t receive enough LFS to fully retire the NGs. They still need the NGs unless a replacement is sent.

[RSMG106]

On 8/16/2024 at 6:15 AM, Calvin said:

From what I've heard, the Next Gens from New York City Bus are staying put, not the ones that are transferred to MTA Bus. Maybe the next new future bus order they'll replace the Next Gens or if subject to change, the current XDE-40s that are in delivery may do a one on one replacement if Grand Av is willing to move the older XD-40s to Fresh Pond, Flatbush or Casey Stengel. 

It's disappointing that the Bus Co. NGs are being retired instead of NYCT. I know that Quill, ENY, and Grand are getting their XE40s, but are currently 61 NGs at NYCT. Grand should at least send some of their XD40s to Flatbush or Fresh Pond to retire their NGs. ENY may not send their buses due to them having a shortage, and Quill may also not send their buses away due to a shortage as well.

Edited August 18 by RSMG106

[xD4nn]

7 minutes ago, RSMG106 said:

It's disappointing that the Bus Co. NGs are being retired instead of NYCT. I know that Quill, ENY, and Grand are getting their XE40s, but are currently 61 NGs at NYCT. Grand should at least send some of their XD40s to Flatbush or Fresh Pond to retire their NGs. ENY may not send their buses due to them having a shortage, and Quill may also not send their buses away due to a shortage as well.

Stengel also needs replacements for the Next Gens

[RSMG106]

4 minutes ago, xD4nn said:

Stengel also needs replacements for the Next Gens

Yes, that as well. They can get either their XD40s that they sent, or get LFSes.