BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[B35 via Church]

Interesting that CP depot used to be one of the more lauded depots around these parts.... Now it's rather demonized....

[QM1to6Ave]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Interesting that CP depot used to be one of the more lauded depots around these parts.... Now it's rather demonized....

The quality went way down during covid. Used to be a few isolated bad apples, then it spread to at least a third of the BOs IMHO

[IAlam]

When it's a CP route don't get your hopes up some of these B/O's will get mad at you for expecting them to do their job. This depo whether local or express for some reason seems to have the most number of B/O's breaking rules and being extremely rude to customers, at least in my experience. 

IIRC there might be a CP B/O on this form, and if you read this please know that none of what I or others say is directed toward you, if CP management reads this on the other hand...

[Lawrence St]

18 minutes ago, IAlam said:

When it's a CP route don't get your hopes up some of these B/O's will get mad at you for expecting them to do their job. This depo whether local or express for some reason seems to have the most number of B/O's breaking rules and being extremely rude to customers, at least in my experience. 

IIRC there might be a CP B/O on this form, and if you read this please know that none of what I or others say is directed toward you, if CP management reads this on the other hand...

I don’t condone what they do, but what do you expect when you deal with snotty passengers, traffic, and people who cuss you and your whole family out on a daily basis?

[IAlam]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I don’t condone what they do, but what do you expect when you deal with snotty passengers, traffic, and people who cuss you and your whole family out on a daily basis?

Passengers in most of NE Queens and most of CP's service area are far better behaved than passengers in other parts of Queens and the city. I see much nastier passengers in Southern Queens yet their B/O's are nowhere near as awful. CP bus ops are by no means operating in the worst parts of the city where that excuse would fly by me. CS share a lot of the same operating areas and their B/O's are far better, on the MTA Bus side I've never had any major issues with B/O even in the worst parts of Queens. Compared to CP bus ops on the regular playing games, avoiding passengers, and intentionally leaving terminals very late. (This is a well-known issue on the express side, I suspect it happens on the locals too but it's harder to verify.)

[danielhg121]

38 minutes ago, IAlam said:

Passengers in most of NE Queens and most of CP's service area are far better behaved than passengers in other parts of Queens and the city. I see much nastier passengers in Southern Queens yet their B/O's are nowhere near as awful. CP bus ops are by no means operating in the worst parts of the city where that excuse would fly by me. CS share a lot of the same operating areas and their B/O's are far better, on the MTA Bus side I've never had any major issues with B/O even in the worst parts of Queens. Compared to CP bus ops on the regular playing games, avoiding passengers, and intentionally leaving terminals very late. (This is a well-known issue on the express side, I suspect it happens on the locals too but it's harder to verify.)

Case in point, I live by the northern Q34 terminal, and two days ago I was waiting for a bus and I hear a C40LF engine backfire so I definitely suspect a Q34 coming. Out of nowhere, instead of coming down Willets Point Blvd and onto Union Street. It comes from some side street makes a left turn and the B/O keeps it moving past the stop, unsure if he was going to service it or not but he had the interior lights off and nobody really moved from the stop so I guess he thought no one wanted the bus (shit, it was more like none of us saw that coming and couldn't react in time) but I guess it really shows that these ops do whatever they want. Some time back I've seen missing pull-out trips where they're supposed to do a Roosevelt Ave bound Q34, then turn back around as a Q19 or Q66 at Main Street, the initial pull-out trips ended up no-showing so I've had to walk to the Q20A/Q44 and just as we get into Main Street, I see the Q19/Q66 trip leave perfectly on-time so I'm wondering if it was even a late pull-out, it would be a minor delay to its schedule since the 34 trip adds maybe 10-15 mins to its overall schedule. 

[trainfan22]

I wonder if CP has shitty management or something and that's why the B/Os there are they way they are. Maybe CP is a miserable depot to work out of?

 

 

No idea if it's true or not but I heard Gun Hill is a great Depot to work out of even though their Artics are beat to a plup and is rumored to have bad maintenance. Looks like an miserable Depot to work out of from the outsider but apparently that's not the case. Just an example that things aren't always clear to someone on the outside of an situation.

 

 

IDK I'm just shooting the shit about this current discussion in this thread lol

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by trainfan22

[RSMG106]

1 hour ago, IAlam said:

Passengers in most of NE Queens and most of CP's service area are far better behaved than passengers in other parts of Queens and the city. I see much nastier passengers in Southern Queens yet their B/O's are nowhere near as awful. CP bus ops are by no means operating in the worst parts of the city where that excuse would fly by me. CS share a lot of the same operating areas and their B/O's are far better, on the MTA Bus side I've never had any major issues with B/O even in the worst parts of Queens. Compared to CP bus ops on the regular playing games, avoiding passengers, and intentionally leaving terminals very late. (This is a well-known issue on the express side, I suspect it happens on the locals too but it's harder to verify.)

To be honest, last month when I got off the at Queens Plaza, I checked for the next due to no units being there. The next one would arrive in 30-40 minutes. Unsurprisingly, I decided to cancel my plans to ride on that route, and stick to the instead.

Edited June 9, 2023 by RSMG106

[QM1to6Ave]

2 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I wonder if CP has shitty management or something and that's why the B/Os there are they way they are. Maybe CP is a miserable depot to work out of?

 

 

No idea if it's true or not but I heard Gun Hill is a great Depot to work out of even though their Artics are beat to a plup and is rumored to have bad maintenance. Looks like an miserable Depot to work out of from the outsider but apparently that's not the case. Just an example that things aren't always clear to someone on the outside of an situation.

 

 

IDK I'm just shooting the shit about this current discussion in this thread lol

 

 

 

VG8 has posted that the union boss at CP is a particularly nasty piece of sh*t and sets the tone of "these passengers should be lucky we show up at all, and keep their whiny mouths shut." With leadership like that, what else can you expect from the B/Os?

 

The dispatchers I've interacted with from CP are very nice, but then again, those are the ones who actually show up and choose to be in the public eye. Who knows what else goes on behind "closed doors"

[QM1to6Ave]

7 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I don’t condone what they do, but what do you expect when you deal with snotty passengers, traffic, and people who cuss you and your whole family out on a daily basis?

The express bus passengers at CP are definitely nothing like that. And they deal with the same traffic as all the other B/Os

[NewFlyer 230]

As someone who has lived off of the Q25/Q34 route for the past 22 years and has also used all of CP’s routes, the depot was never good with having decent on time performance for its local routes even back during the Queens Surface days. The Q25 in particular always had a reputation for its unreliability. Even with the addition of bus lanes in Flushing and Jamaica that poor route still can manage to bunch in 3’s on a Sunday at around 7:30am and I’ve seen it happen multiple times. Mind you that route has 20 min headways during that time.

The Q23 has gotten worst at CP, the Q38 is a hit or miss, the Q34 and Q65 are slightly better than the Q25 but because they are interlined any hiccups with one route affects the other routes. The Q66 is a hit or miss as well, but I haven’t used that route in a while.

The only route that seems to be fine is the Q19 even though I’ve seen plenty of times where it too would bunch up on 30 min headways. 

That depot has poor management but the one thing they do well is maintain their buses. 

7 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I don’t condone what they do, but what do you expect when you deal with snotty passengers, traffic, and people who cuss you and your whole family out on a daily basis?

I understand that driving a bunch of people around all day might not feel like the most rewarding job especially if you are dealing with NYC traffic and it’s people but that still doesn’t give a bus operator the right to do whatever they want. I currently work in retail and I deal with so many personalities in one day and I’ll occasionally get those customers that are a little difficult to deal with due to whatever they have going on in their lives. However I still have to treat them with respect and not lose my cool. It is easier said than done but if bus drivers are feeling uptight about the job they should definitely find healthy alternatives to dealing with the stress. 

[SoSpectacular]

1 hour ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

As someone who has lived off of the Q25/Q34 route for the past 22 years and has also used all of CP’s routes, the depot was never good with having decent on time performance for its local routes even back during the Queens Surface days. The Q25 in particular always had a reputation for its unreliability. Even with the addition of bus lanes in Flushing and Jamaica that poor route still can manage to bunch in 3’s on a Sunday at around 7:30am and I’ve seen it happen multiple times. Mind you that route has 20 min headways during that time.

Bus lanes are absolutely no help other than where they are, and that's only if they are free of obstruction. When I used to live in Flushing I rode the 25/65 a whole lot and never really had any issue, but then again this was in the ballpark of 10-15 years ago when things were vastly different. These days I don't know how it is but there's been load of changes along Kissena/Parsons that definitely could have crippled the line in the name of "safety improvements". It's not uncommon for operators to be late and miss layovers. It's even advised to take a personal when we're starting to feel overwhelmed/stressed out and step back. Also, it's not uncommon for runs/trips to be open or cancelled. There aren't enough bodies to cover all the open runs and that's also going to back things up. It's crazy...

[danielhg121]

Well, today as I was heading into work. The Q34 shows up with a Next Bus Please sign and she doesn’t realize until a passenger asks if she’s stopping at 39th Avenue (Roosevelt Ave bound) or Library (Jamaica-bound). She got her paddle out to look up the code for the dest sign.

[NewFlyer 230]

8 hours ago, SoSpectacular said:

Bus lanes are absolutely no help other than where they are, and that's only if they are free of obstruction. When I used to live in Flushing I rode the 25/65 a whole lot and never really had any issue, but then again this was in the ballpark of 10-15 years ago when things were vastly different. These days I don't know how it is but there's been load of changes along Kissena/Parsons that definitely could have crippled the line in the name of "safety improvements". It's not uncommon for operators to be late and miss layovers. It's even advised to take a personal when we're starting to feel overwhelmed/stressed out and step back. Also, it's not uncommon for runs/trips to be open or cancelled. There aren't enough bodies to cover all the open runs and that's also going to back things up. It's crazy...

I know things are quite hectic these days with the 25mph rule, bike lanes being propped up everywhere reducing vehicle traffic, shortage of staff and etc so I understand realistically we won’t see near perfect on time performance especially on long routes like the Q25 and Q65. I know bus drivers are people too, so I definitely try to avoid getting mad and blaming them for the poor service. However in the case of CP depot it just seems that management is poor and some of the issues I’ve observed two decades ago are still the same issues I observe now despite various improvements many MTA Bus routes received after takeover. 

What I am hoping to address is the ongoing issues that continue to plague CP routes and many other routes and it doesn’t help when you have those few drivers that act like jerks. I am simply just trying to reach my destination in the most convenient way possible and the last thing I need are drivers passing me because either they don’t want to pick up people or they believe I should have taken the bus before them.  A few weeks ago I report a driver on the Q84 for skipping me at the first stop in Laurelton. I was at night but at a lit up bus stop with a shelter and the guy never changed his bus from “Not in Service” until after he turned onto 120th Ave which made me think what he did was deliberate. I had to wait an additional 20 minutes on top of the 10 mins I already had to wait and what a waste of time. 
 

Edited June 9, 2023 by NewFlyer 230

[IAlam]

16 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

VG8 has posted that the union boss at CP is a particularly nasty piece of sh*t and sets the tone of "these passengers should be lucky we show up at all, and keep their whiny mouths shut." With leadership like that, what else can you expect from the B/Os?

 

The dispatchers I've interacted with from CP are very nice, but then again, those are the ones who actually show up and choose to be in the public eye. Who knows what else goes on behind "closed doors"

This honestly with the MTA eager to use the redesign to cut most of their express runs they’ll be lucky if they have work to do. But alas I’m pretty sure the nastiest drivers have seniority and the newer ones will be affected. 
 

But honestly it’s this constant dilemma because the reason that NE. Queens express buses are suffering is because of how poor services from this Depo. Cutting it would show them the consequences of their actions. But at the same time that comes at our expense because we lose service. So we’re basically having to defend subpar service so that we’re not left stranded. But that’s why I said a while ago in the Queens redesign form. Regardless of what the routes look like in the end, whoever ends up with CP as their operator looses. 

[Calvin]

The B25 had to use Dock St as an alternative early today with the festivities going on at Water St. As a one way street, there were 2 buses behind in distance but heavy bunching at Front St as well. 

[xD4nn]

Can anyone identify where this is? Possibly Belmont Park? Odd how a Jamaica loaner is mixed in with a bunch of QV units.

[Calvin]

The New Flyer XE-60 4953 was used for the Auto Show in the month of April. This month, also a yesterday, it was presented for MTA's bus festival that was at Water St by Old Fulton St. Also, had Jamaica Bus Lines RTS 3865 and GMC Blitz 5227. 

[josephnyy42]

On 6/8/2023 at 9:08 PM, trainfan22 said:

I wonder if CP has shitty management or something and that's why the B/Os there are they way they are. Maybe CP is a miserable depot to work out of?

 

 

No idea if it's true or not but I heard Gun Hill is a great Depot to work out of even though their Artics are beat to a plup and is rumored to have bad maintenance. Looks like an miserable Depot to work out of from the outsider but apparently that's not the case. Just an example that things aren't always clear to someone on the outside of an situation.

 

 

IDK I'm just shooting the shit about this current discussion in this thread lol

 

 

 

I work out of GH doing the Bx22. Most of our artics are really beat up, especially the white 1200s/57/58/5900s. I worked in Quill last year. I don't know if it's just me and my weird luck, but I've had way more breakdowns with Quill buses than GH buses. Believe it or not, since I transferred to GH this past January, I haven't had a single breakdown. As far as work environment goes, I love it here. But I also loved it in Quill. Dispatchers and other fellow b/o's in both depots get along with me fine. 

I'm just waiting now for a new order to be announced to replace our 2010 LFSAs.

[EastFlatbushLarry]

4 hours ago, josephnyy42 said:

I worked in Quill last year. I don't know if it's just me and my weird luck, but I've had way more breakdowns with Quill buses than GH buses. Believe it or not, since I transferred to GH this past January, I haven't had a single breakdown.

that's a very interesting perspective. my only assumption is that all the sbs service quill provides is extremely taxing on their artics. if you mind being asked, what made you choose GH rather than stay at Quill?

Edited June 12, 2023 by EastFlatbushLarry
was it a run/rdo/seniority based decision or geographical?

[josephnyy42]

13 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

that's a very interesting perspective. my only assumption is that all the sbs service quill provides is extremely taxing on their artics. if you mind being asked, what made you choose GH rather than stay at Quill?

I live very close to GH, I no longer have to drive to work. Commuting to MJQ is more stressful, I reported late 3 times in 2022. But I do still love Quill and recommend it to everyone.

[BreeddekalbL]

I heard the fordham rd full busway has been blocked due to opposition 

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/06/07/dot-nixes-fordham-road-busway-due-to-community-concerns

Edited June 13, 2023 by BreeddekalbL

[RSMG106]

6 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

I heard the fordham rd full busway has been blocked due to opposition 

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/06/07/dot-nixes-fordham-road-busway-due-to-community-concerns

That is disappointing. The and it's riders would've benefit from the Fordham busway, and would've provide improved headways. However, instead they would shift the bus lanes away from the curb. That will be an issue because of vehicles double parking on the lane.

Edited June 14, 2023 by RSMG106

[Lawrence St]

8 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

I heard the fordham rd full busway has been blocked due to opposition 

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/06/07/dot-nixes-fordham-road-busway-due-to-community-concerns

I have to side with the community on this one. Fordham Rd is a major thoroughfare an artery for people commuting across the Bronx. 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

I don't know if this has been addressed or brought up at any point (and i apologize for any redundancy) but can anyone from queens explain to me how the Q7 suffers from bunching during the midday hours?

to provide a bit of context, i was driving across rockaway blvd and saw 2 Q7's basically back to back in both directions around Lefferts blvd around 1150-ish this morning. being that i used to live on lakewood avenue some years back and had to commute to lindenwood for work, i always assumed they (JFK Depot/JFK B/O's) had extremely tight paddles on that line. I'm honestly just wondering what's up.. is this a MTA Bus thing or was the 7 bad in the GBL days as well... enlighten me, please and thanks