BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[MHV184]

But it is...

 

Manhattan

and

Bronx

Surface

Transportation

Operating

Authority

 

...only depot that ISN'T MaBSTOA in Manhattan is Hale.

Really? Because I was reading this website I can't remember which one but I saw that the depots in Manhattan that are part of MaBSTOA were 100st, Manhattanville and Hale.

 

 

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[Fresh Pond]

Really? Because I was reading this website I can't remember which one but I saw that the depots in Manhattan that are part of MaBSTOA were 100st, Manhattanville and Hale.

All the depots in Manhattan were originally MaBSTOA except for the old 126 St, which was a TA depot. Once 126 coded and Hale reopened, that became a TA depot.

[MHV184]

All the depots in Manhattan were originally MaBSTOA except for the old 126 St, which was a TA depot. Once 126 coded and Hale reopened, that became a TA depot.

I see.. Thanks for correcting me then.

 

 

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[IronboundNJT]

We've started placing bike racks on LFS. As an operator not too happy about that. That 86th street line can get crazy as most you know but them Orion's can handle the crowd like a champ.

 

On a separate note I've only been able to see the newly wrapped buses in pics. Wasn't too sure about them visually, just saw one on B16 and now I'm sure I like them.

 

 

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Edited May 1, 2017 by IronboundNJT

[Kraps]

I hadn't known busses had bike racks until I saw a rider taking his off at a stop a few days ago, I thought that was pretty cool. How many bikes can they carry at once?

Edited May 1, 2017 by Kraps

[IronboundNJT]

I hadn't known busses had bike racks until I saw a rider taking his off at a stop a few days ago, I thought that was pretty cool. How many bikes can they carry at once?

Maximum of 2

 

 

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[tom677]

Thank god that's only in Staten Island.

[IronboundNJT]

Thank god that's only in Staten Island.

For now. And it doesn't cause any noticeable slowdown to the bus.

 

 

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[Around the Horn]

I wasn't able to get a picture, but there's a new sign for the B9 that says "60 ST-13 AV".

 

I assume they are running extras for the Bay Ridge Av closure. I don't know what code it is but I would guess it may be 4092 or 4096 or something like that.

[IAlam]

Its 5:30 am and the Q20/44 buses are already suffering from bunching 

[checkmatechamp13]

@Around The Horn: Probably also to get some riders over to the train as well.

 

In any case, I took an M101 that short-turned at 125th/Amsterdam. A Fort George-bound bus at St. Nicholas closed the doors and wouldn't let me on, so I ran to the bus in from of it. At 125th & Amsterdam, there were two M101 buses (the one I just missed, plus the one in front of it). When I caught the bus in the back, a few stops later, a 161st Street-bound bus passed us, and as I got off, I saw an M100 at the light behind us.

 

So long story short, 4 M101s and an M100 within a couple of minutes of each other. I can only imagine the gap that led to that happening (hopefully the M100 was running fairly normally, so there wasn't a ridiculous gap before that).

[Missabassie]

In any case, I took an M101 that short-turned at 125th/Amsterdam. A Fort George-bound bus at St. Nicholas closed the doors and wouldn't let me on, so I ran to the bus in from of it. At 125th & Amsterdam, there were two M101 buses (the one I just missed, plus the one in front of it). When I caught the bus in the back, a few stops later, a 161st Street-bound bus passed us, and as I got off, I saw an M100 at the light behind us.

 

So long story short, 4 M101s and an M100 within a couple of minutes of each other. I can only imagine the gap that led to that happening (hopefully the M100 was running fairly normally, so there wasn't a ridiculous gap before that).

 

I do random checks of bustime just to see what that route is doing from time to time and, unfortunately, this is fairly (or unfairly) normal for the 101 I'm sorry to say....

Hell I use it here and there and I've witnessed the same.

[danielhg121]

Why don't they just separate the riders? They should tell them all to get on one bus for this segment to this segment and have the late bus floor it to the end.

 

 

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[bstar1]

Yes they should.

Edited May 2, 2017 by bstar1

[B35 via Church]

In any case, I took an M101 that short-turned at 125th/Amsterdam. A Fort George-bound bus at St. Nicholas closed the doors and wouldn't let me on, so I ran to the bus in from of it. At 125th & Amsterdam, there were two M101 buses (the one I just missed, plus the one in front of it). When I caught the bus in the back, a few stops later, a 161st Street-bound bus passed us, and as I got off, I saw an M100 at the light behind us.

 

So long story short, 4 M101s and an M100 within a couple of minutes of each other. I can only imagine the gap that led to that happening (hopefully the M100 was running fairly normally, so there wasn't a ridiculous gap before that).

3 or 4 101's to a 100 is a very normal occurrence.... M101's run like wildfire....

 

When you start seeing like more than 4 (M101's, in a row), then you can start to say to yourself there's some sort of problem with the M100...

 

When you start seeing 2 M101's to a 100, well, let's just say there's going to be some poor bastards that's going to be waiting a very long time if they need the 100 after 2 or 3 occurrences of that pattern (101, 101, 100.... 101, 101, 100)....

Edited May 2, 2017 by B35 via Church

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

Just looking at the schedules for the M101 vs M100 would suggest there should not much of a disparity in service between them. What I think happens is that since the M101 is longer (and thus has more buses out on road for it) when the swarm of bunched M101's are running together along 125th and Amsterdam it looks like the headways are better than the M100. Personally i've seen Soutbound M101's frequently paired together in the late evening along Amsterdam. The pair will usually include a 96th St short turn along with a East Village bound bus. 

[N6 Limited]

Does the MTA still not allow leap frogging?

[danielhg121]

Does the MTA still not allow leap frogging?

What do you mean? You mean when one bus overtakes and stops and the bus that they overtook skips that stop. Even though MTA may or may not allow it, it's done all the time.

 

 

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[paulrivera]

Does the MTA still not allow leap frogging?

They did allow leapfrogging on the SBS routes for a while, but I don't know what the current policy on that is.

 

On the local routes they definitely do discourage it however.

[danielhg121]

I think it helps both buses immensely cause while one bus is taking care of one stop, the second one can go ahead and take care of the second one, depending on how full the buses are and stop requests.

 

 

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[checkmatechamp13]

Why don't they just separate the riders? They should tell them all to get on one bus for this segment to this segment and have the late bus floor it to the end.

 

I mean, with 4 buses back to back basically, I think they did the best they could at that point. Two buses to the end, one typical short-turn, and one super-early short-turn (I've never seen 125th & Amsterdam being used. The only ones I've personally seen are 96th Street, which is just runs returning to the depot, and 161st Street).

 

I do feel bad for anybody who needs it on its standalone portion, because you have the M100 turning off at 163rd, then you have the 161st Street short-turn trips (which I'm assuming turn around on 163rd), but you still have those gaps in service. I'd be curious to see how the M101 would perform if it were split at 125th & Lexington. Give a boost to the M102 so the 3rd/Lexington corridor still has a solid direct link to Central Harlem, and whoever else needs a 3rd/Lex - 125th trip can transfer between two super-frequent routes.

 

I mean, whenever I need to travel between West Harlem & East Harlem (around the 110th Street area, a few times I've even had to go to/from East Midtown in the middle of the day when traffic wasn't too bad), I always find myself taking the M3/M4 anyway. I know the M101 runs frequently, but it's just too slow getting across 125th. I know bus-bus transfers aren't too popular in Manhattan overall (meaning, a lot of people take the bus over the subway for the one-seat ride) but at the same time, I think it would benefit the line. 

 

Just looking at the schedules for the M101 vs M100 would suggest there should not much of a disparity in service between them. What I think happens is that since the M101 is longer (and thus has more buses out on road for it) when the swarm of bunched M101's are running together along 125th and Amsterdam it looks like the headways are better than the M100. Personally i've seen Soutbound M101's frequently paired together in the late evening along Amsterdam. The pair will usually include a 96th St short turn along with a East Village bound bus. 

 

Those 96th Street short-turns are basically buses that would've otherwise deadheaded from Fort George. So I can see why they wouldn't make too much of an effort to get them evenly spaced. (At that point, it's in their interest to get that short-turn back to the depot as quickly as possible, to reduce the amount of overtime they have to pay the B/O). Technically, the "base" schedule consists of the M101 trips going all the way to the East Village.

 

I think it helps both buses immensely cause while one bus is taking care of one stop, the second one can go ahead and take care of the second one, depending on how full the buses are and stop requests.

 

I agree. And I remember a thread a while back where somebody asked that, and a B/O basically said "I drive one bus, I don't care about leader or follower", which generally makes sense (unless the schedules are padded by a ridiculous amount, chances are the "follower" is on time and not early, so it makes sense to help out the first bus and hustle to take take some of the load off). 

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

The M101 is due for a restructuring but I see some problems. As far as the split in Harlem is concerned, a transfer between the M100 and M102 would accomplish exactly what splitting the M101 does. What happens along Amsterdam north of 163 becomes the issue but then you could easily run the Northern half of the M101 on coverage headways while adding service to the M100. Vice versa could happen on Lex where the M102 could become the LTD along Lexington and the M101 is reduced to a role worse than the M103. 

 

Merely shortening the route wouldn't do enough good since you would kind of need to have it's southern terminal in Midtown and that's where the real traffic headache is. If you didn't have the standalone portion of Amsterdam I would just get rid of the route entirely and boost M100 and 102 service in it's place. The concern here is you are placing a transfer along a trip that currently is a one-seater and the MTA will not boost M100 and 102 service enough to fill for the horse the M101 has been carrying 25-30k per weekday. 

 

There's no win-win with the M101 to be honest. 

[danielhg121]

Omg RTS# 5189 has huge holes near the back doors because the rubber parts next to the joints are gone.

 

 

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[Via Garibaldi 8]

Omg RTS# 5189 has huge holes near the back doors because the rubber parts next to the joints are gone.

 

 

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LMAO... Wouldn't be the first time, but I'll you get through your shock. 

[IAlam]

I finally saw the 34th street stop for the BXM18 and surprisingly people we're getting on. It's interesting, because there's nothing to really indicate that the bus stops there.