In the midst of the first snow storm this winter, an anonymous transit rider writes in to Second Ave. Sagas:
Did you notice the performance of MTA buses during today’s snowstorm? It was an embarrassment. The relatively new flexible buses had chains on the rear tires, but the fronts of the buses aren’t heavy enough to get traction on the snow, so they jackknife very easily. On 3rd avenue between 91st and 92nd, four buses got stuck in the snow for over two hours, blocking the entire avenue to uptown traffic for two hours.
You’d think the MTA would be better prepared to cope with a few inches of snow.
Anyone surprised?
6 comments
I have pictures of that mess! I wish I could say it was from a few inches, but in reality, the upper east side only got about 1/2 an inch prior to 6pm.
Hope no one got hurt.
The bus I was on today (the newest one) back tire was slipping and sliding at one point even though the bus was full. it is sort of an odd feeling because i am not used to city buses doing anything like that. the retrofitted older buses don’t skid like that.
maybe they need chains for both the front and the back?
at any rate, can’t be too hard on the MTA for this one. you have to drive slower and anything can go wrong with slush snow and black ice.
I am sure, considering how the mta looks at its employees, the bus drivers of all the buses are all suspended pending further investigation (regardless if they have perfect records or not) so lets hope a reason was fuond for the slippage for the sake of the bus drivers involved.
Yep, the Upper East Side was a disaster yesterday at rush hour. I was stuck in the middle of Central Park on one of those superlongs and a guy behind me said he had been sitting on the bus for an hour and a half. Could he possibly have been exaggerating?
Maybe they’ve forgotten what snow is.
This happens with all articulated buses. The MTA should immediately withdraw articulated buses from service when there is a forecast of snow. Putting chains on won’t help, they just can’t run in the snow.
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