BusTalk

[RailBus63]

As of Sunday morning, it appears that a major blizzard will strike the East Coast between Sunday afternoon and Monday. Expected nowfall totals are:

Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia - 2 to 4 inches
Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania - 6 to 10 inches
New York City, Long Island and Connecticut - 10 to 15 inches
Providence - 1 foot-plus
Boston 1 to 2 feet (!)

Use this thread to let us know how your area is faring, transit or otherwise. Here in Syracuse and other parts of upstate New York, we're in the unusual position of watching others get whacked with snow while we just see minor flurries locally.

Use caution if you have to travel or even if you're shoveling - this is likely to be very heavy, very wet snow. Driving is likely to be quite hazardous later today, especially given that many people will be attempting to return home after spending the holidays with family. In the words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus from the classic 1980's television show Hill Street Blues:



"Let's be careful out there."

Jim D.

[massbusmark]

Bolt Bus reports on it's website that they are running all scheduled service until 6:00PM tonight, and will make a decision by 3:00PM for service scheduled for after 6:00PM, and all Monday service is cancelled.

Peter Pan reports on it's website that all scheduled service is running at this time, except for Foxwoods casino runs, which all have been cancelled.

The only transit agencies operating bus service here in MA today are the MBTA, Worcester RTA, PVTA, and Brockton BAT. Right now light snow is falling and the worst of the storm is not expected until sometime this afternoon.

Mark

[massbusmark]

Peter Pan's website indicates Peter Pan and Greyhound will be suspending service in the NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Hartford & Boston corridor, with last trips departing between 1:00 & 3:00PM. Also, Peter Pan/Bonanza buses serving NYC, Albany, Providence & Cape Cod are cancelled ater 4:00PM. No word on Monday service at this time.

Greyhound service between NYC, Norfolk & Richmond VA is cancelled or delayed according to Greyhound's website, which also reports cancellations/delays on routes serving North Carolina, South Carolina & Tennessee.

Mark

[massbusmark]

More service cancellations to report: Concord Coach Lines suspending all service to NH & Maine points for the remainder of today after 5:00PM, Boston Express (I-93 & Route 3 corridor to Boston) & Dartmouth Coach (Hanover/Lebanon NH to Boston) also suspending service for the day after 4:00 to 5:00 PM, depending on the route. C & J Bus Lines suspending all Dover/Portsmouth/Boston service for the day, all these companies planning on resuming service by mid to late morning Monday, depending on weather conditions.

The MBTA has already placed 3 routes (112,441,442) on snow routes, several other routes experiencing 15 to 20 minute delays due to weather.

Mark

[GBL Rebel]

Snow seems to have slowed in Suffolk where I am. However, the wind is blowing it around something nasty!

[Bill D]

It has been snowing steady in Waterbury since late morning. There is little accumulation at this point, only an inch or two, but the wind is blowing it around. One local news report has gusts recorded at 40 mph. Conditions are not expected to be as bad here as in the eastern part of Connecticut and along the coast.

As far as local bus service here, it appeared to be operating normally until the end of service at 5:30 pm, although routes which operate on the hills were using tire chains after 3 - 4 pm. Hopefully, the crew will chain enough buses for Monday morning pullout so that I will not get an early wake up call tomorrow. I’ll update tomorrow morning.

Bill

[massbusmark]

Bill D: I did ride a couple of the hilly routes when I last visited Waterbury in August. A couple of steep hills too, IIRC. Does Waterbury service ever detour to snow routes if the conditions warrant?

Back on topic: MBTA update: One route has had service suspended: the 275/276 (no public timetables on this route) Long Island has been suspended due to blizzard conditions. 13 other routes are on snow route detours and all routes running with delays of 30 to 45 minutes.

Brockton Area Transit will be operating on a snow schedule starting at 6:00 AM Monday.

Plymouth & Brockton Bus Lines has cancelled all Boston/Hyannis/Cape Cod service as of 4:30PM, no word on Monday service changes/delays at this time.

Bloom Bus has cancelled all AM Taunton/Boston trips and their Foxwoods casino runs on Monday.

Mark

[massbusmark]

Portland (Maine) METRO has cancelled service all day on Monday.

CT Transit Hartford area routes running up to 30 minutes late, up to 15 minutes late on New Haven area routes, and 20 to 25 minutes late on Stamford area routes.

Coach Company cancelling all AM & PM commuter runs from Plaistow NH/Haverhill/Newburyport area to Boston on Monday.

Mark

[Bill D]

[Mr. Linsky]

First of all, let me apologize for sending you east coasters the 'pineapple express' rains that we endured for close to a week out here in Southern California.

At the present moment our L.A. International has taken on the look of a camp site with the thousands of eastbound travelers now stranded with no estimate as to when flights will again resume.

Take it easy back there and keep warm and safe.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[Bill D]

Waterbury now has close to a foot of snow, but it is hard to tell with the drifting (winds up to 55 mph here). Made it to work with no trouble, although visibility in some areas was close to zero. The buses made pullout pretty much on schedule, many with chains. We'll see how the day goes.

Bill

[Jimbo]

Suffolk Transit (Suffolk County, NY) is starting service on all routes at 12 noon Monday, although route S-92 on the East End and route 8A in Riverhead started on time this AM.

[RailBus63]

On Sunday, the MBTA operated its dual-mode 1100-series buses (the ones normally used on the Silver Line Waterfront service) on the SL5 Silver Line Washington St. service. This is not the first time that the 1000-series CNG artics have been parked due to concerns about traction in slippery weather. The route 39 Huntington Ave. service which also uses the 1000's was operated using NABI low-floor buses from Cabot garage.

For some reason, none of the T's Southampton garage routes (SL1, SL2, SL4, SL5, 28 and 39) are showing up this morning on any of the bus tracker sites. I'm assuming these routes are operating since other MBTA bus service is out on the streets and there are no alerts listed for these routes on the MBTA website.

[Bill D]

The snow has stopped and the sun is now out. There is still the occasional wind gust blowing snow around. The roads here are all passable though many are still snow covered. I had to go after a couple of buses with broken chains this morning and we now are starting to take them off. All in all not as bad as predicted here, but still enough to make a mess.

Bill

[Hart Bus]

It is 5 PM and the LIRR is still suspended and La Guardia Airport finally has one runway open