101 replies to this topic

[MaT]

stm_5307N, on Dec 16 2009, 06:16 PM, said:

Word is 5 of the 14 classic artics will be retired as soon as all the new NFI Artics are ready for service.

Are you sure you're not thinking of when the Nova artics come in? Because if they retire 5 buses and introduce 3, it wouldn't really make any sense lol.

[stm_5307N]

MaT, on Dec 16 2009, 10:15 PM, said:

Are you sure you're not thinking of when the Nova artics come in? Because if they retire 5 buses and introduce 3, it wouldn't really make any sense lol.

The info I posted came from soneone on the Halifax metro transit discussion group. It may or may not happen, but I would expect some retirements.

[Plastic Diver Guy]

stm_5307N, on Dec 17 2009, 12:44 AM, said:

The info I posted came from soneone on the Halifax metro transit discussion group. It may or may not happen, but I would expect some retirements.

Speaking of the hybrid artics themselves, one has arrived at the garage with one more to come. I didn't have my camera with me last night so no pics until at least Saturday. They'll be buses 715 and 716 and likely won't see action until the new garage is up and running.

[Halifax_Route10]

The plan is to retire 5 buses when the Nova Artics arrive. However, transit has not said that those five buses would be artics. My bet (and Chris's, I believe), is that they will retire the remaining New Looks and some older 40ft Classics first.

Quote

They'll be buses 715 and 716 and likely won't see action until the new garage is up and running.

So we're getting 2, not 3. I was wondering about that...

[Plastic Diver Guy]

Halifax_Route10, on Dec 17 2009, 02:05 PM, said:

The plan is to retire 5 buses when the Nova Artics arrive. However, transit has not said that those five buses would be artics. My bet (and Chris's, I believe), is that they will retire the remaining New Looks and some older 40ft Classics first.

They're already ahead of you, see the Metro Transit thread. In reality, I think those were to be retired when the last 6 buses came in but the URB gave them a temporary stay of execution that lasted until the next round of inspections.

[stm_5307N]

Plastic Diver Guy, on Dec 18 2009, 09:07 AM, said:

They're already ahead of you, see the Metro Transit thread. In reality, I think those were to be retired when the last 6 buses came in but the URB gave them a temporary stay of execution that lasted until the next round of inspections.

Did you manage to get pics of the new NFI Artics?

[BCT-3122-D800-10240]

stm_5307N, on Dec 18 2009, 10:39 AM, said:

Did you manage to get pics of the new NFI Artics?

Don't think so. See below:

Plastic Diver Guy, on Dec 17 2009, 08:44 AM, said:

Speaking of the hybrid artics themselves, one has arrived at the garage with one more to come. I didn't have my camera with me last night so no pics until at least Saturday. They'll be buses 715 and 716 and likely won't see action until the new garage is up and running.

[stm_5307N]

MBTA9244-9640b, on Dec 18 2009, 02:08 PM, said:

Don't think so. See below:

Oups.. I thought he had some as he posted pics of some retired HFX fishbowls in the other thread taken recently.

[Plastic Diver Guy]

stm_5307N, on Dec 18 2009, 04:13 PM, said:

Oups.. I thought he had some as he posted pics of some retired HFX fishbowls in the other thread taken recently.

The fishbowl pics were taken on 12/8/2009, I just didn't get around to uploading until now.

[Plastic Diver Guy]

A driver friend of mine sent me these taken from his Blackberry. The bus is caked in salt from the drive here but you get an idea of what bus 715 looks like.

[stm_5307N]

Sweet! I like the Metro transit livery on the DE60LFR. Any chances of seeing 3 different types of Artics in service at the same time with the Classic Artics, DE60LFRs and Nova Artics eventually?

[MaT]

Wow that would make a great picture with all 3 artic types together for one picture!

[hfx_chris]

stm_5307N, on Dec 21 2009, 12:37 PM, said:

Any chances of seeing 3 different types of Artics in service at the same time with the Classic Artics, DE60LFRs and Nova Artics eventually?

I would say there'a bout a 100% chance of seeing that at some point. Now whether there's anybody around with a camera...

Thanks for the photos!

[M.Wright]

That looks amazing, never thought I'll see a D60LF in the Metro Transit Livery, let alone an LFR

(Yes I know their DE60LFRs, but I left out the E because they still look the same as a regular D60LFR minus the battery pack, which is almost invisible anyway since it looks like an A/C unit)

BTW I had no idea that you guys were also getting Flyer Artics, I knew about the Nova's but not the Flyers, this alone will add some more variety to Halifax's fleet.

[hfx_chris]

Well, it's just the two of them.

For anyone who doesn't know, a year or two ago Metro Transit had plans for a downtown shuttle service to augment the existing summer-only FRED (Free Rides Everywhere Downtown) service, which would hit up the major points of interest downtown - universities, hospitals, business areas, shopping areas, transit hubs. For reasons I never truly understood, they wanted to use hybrids on that route (although personally I'm coming more and more onboard the idea of an electric trolleycoach route...), and thus the tender was put out for 60-ft hybrids, which New Flyer won, and an order for two was placed.
This big consultants report came out in the last few months that maps the future for Metro Transit, and the downtown shuttle was left out. So as far as we all know, that route was cancelled, but the buses were already ordered. So now transit is going to end up with two hybrids that they don't have anything special planned for..so I guess they'll just go into regular service. Who knows though, maybe if they like the technology we may see more hybrids being purchased to go with them.

Add this to the pile of weird Metro Transit purchases, including three D30LFs which sat hardly being used for years, a small fleet of Scanias that mechanically were not suitable for some routes, a couple of Orion Is..

[calamin]

Hi there I am new here and will just give you a brief intro. I am a operator for Metro Transit for the last 2.5 years. Plastic driver guy and I are friends as well.

Now some info on the New Artics, They seat 60 ( counted my self when 715 first came in). The interior seats are a different color then any thing in the Metro transit fleet , they are blue with green( there is a rumor going around that a transit property in the US somewhere had a order in for a bunch of DE60LFR and at the last minute the governor and or mayor canceled the order due to the economy and that the 2 that we got are from that hence the seats being a different color). The interior seating is interesting different then the Flyers we have now. When you walk in the biggest change is that when you load 2 wheel chairs you only use 9 seats the front area is similar to that of buses 1083 and above with 3 seats on the drivers side and 2 on the opposite side facing in and then 2 forward facing seats. As you walk down near the rear of the first section there are 8 to 10 ( sorry I cant remember) seats that are raised above the wheel well probably 2 feet of the ground with a step up the isle it self slims from the standard width you would be used in the flyers 1083 and up to about 1 foot wide this will make it difficult for strollers or people with any type of a carry on with wheels to get past this section. The center part is pretty typical of the older artics that we have with two seats on each side ( this differs from the demo that they brought by in the summer as that one had no seats in the center just a section to stand with a head rest kind of looked like the set up in the graviton lol). There rear of the bus is pretty typical of the other Flyers with a step. I apologize that I could not get pics of the interior but it was parked inside and the battery was shut off so could not get the interior lights on. and the Flash on my blackberry just lit it up way to much.
I have heard that DE60LFR will be seen on the 1 first as they have been trying to get an artic on that for some time at first the lack of working artics put that back burner then the recent addition of the 1 as a low floor route changed that so they increased it to 10 min service during the day but have still been finding it busy.

Also of note the ilsley garage the DE60LFR only fit in some of the doors so it is hard to maintain it there as the battery packs and Hvac unit on the top might get ripped off( this happened with the demo that was hear in the summer well the cover on them got ripped off).

Sorry forgot to mention 716 is now here as well.


Sorry I was just talking to another driver and now have pic of the interior. They had the battery hooked up so the interior lights where on

Attached Files

•  artic_inside.jpg   83.79K   84 downloads

[Hybrid0920]

calamin, on Dec 26 2009, 11:17 AM, said:

Hi there I am new here and will just give you a brief intro. I am a operator for Metro Transit for the last 2.5 years. Plastic driver guy and I are friends as well.

Now some info on the New Artics, They seat 60 ( counted my self when 715 first came in). The interior seats are a different color then any thing in the Metro transit fleet , they are blue with green( there is a rumor going around that a transit property in the US somewhere had a order in for a bunch of DE60LFR and at the last minute the governor and or mayor canceled the order due to the economy and that the 2 that we got are from that hence the seats being a different color). The interior seating is interesting different then the Flyers we have now. When you walk in the biggest change is that when you load 2 wheel chairs you only use 9 seats the front area is similar to that of buses 1083 and above with 3 seats on the drivers side and 2 on the opposite side facing in and then 2 forward facing seats. As you walk down near the rear of the first section there are 8 to 10 ( sorry I cant remember) seats that are raised above the wheel well probably 2 feet of the ground with a step up the isle it self slims from the standard width you would be used in the flyers 1083 and up to about 1 foot wide this will make it difficult for strollers or people with any type of a carry on with wheels to get past this section. The center part is pretty typical of the older artics that we have with two seats on each side ( this differs from the demo that they brought by in the summer as that one had no seats in the center just a section to stand with a head rest kind of looked like the set up in the graviton lol). There rear of the bus is pretty typical of the other Flyers with a step. I apologize that I could not get pics of the interior but it was parked inside and the battery was shut off so could not get the interior lights on. and the Flash on my blackberry just lit it up way to much.
I have heard that DE60LFR will be seen on the 1 first as they have been trying to get an artic on that for some time at first the lack of working artics put that back burner then the recent addition of the 1 as a low floor route changed that so they increased it to 10 min service during the day but have still been finding it busy.

Also of note the ilsley garage the DE60LFR only fit in some of the doors so it is hard to maintain it there as the battery packs and Hvac unit on the top might get ripped off( this happened with the demo that was hear in the summer well the cover on them got ripped off).

Sorry forgot to mention 716 is now here as well.


Sorry I was just talking to another driver and now have pic of the interior. They had the battery hooked up so the interior lights where on

Nice picture BTW. Those are Aries 4 One seats I believe, they look great with these seats. Our new D40LFs here in the HSR (hamilton, ontario) also came with these seats which is a change from the old style. If only a few months sooner and our 2009 DE60LFRs came with these too it would look great!

These buses look fun to driver and for those who haven't been on one in motion, the have slow startup and loud decelleration due to regen. Breaking. (If its Cummins ISL with Allison hybrid tranny)

[calamin]

HSR Bus Freak, on Dec 26 2009, 11:36 AM, said:

Nice picture BTW. Those are Aries 4 One seats I believe, they look great with these seats. Our new D40LFs here in the HSR (hamilton, ontario) also came with these seats which is a change from the old style. If only a few months sooner and our 2009 DE60LFRs came with these too it would look great!

These buses look fun to driver and for those who haven't been on one in motion, the have slow startup and loud decelleration due to regen. Breaking. (If its Cummins ISL with Allison hybrid tranny)

Here is a pic of the engine compartment  artic.jpg   70.79K   39 downloads

[general682002]

HSR Bus Freak, on Dec 26 2009, 10:36 AM, said:

These buses look fun to driver and for those who haven't been on one in motion, the have slow startup and loud decelleration due to regen. Breaking. (If its Cummins ISL with Allison hybrid tranny)

The slow startup is for a reason, mechanics were testing how much fuel it can save.

The one I rode in Vancouver DE60LFR take-off very quick, not to mention they need alot of power for the steep hills.

As of the powertrain, it's the same thing just like any other DE60LFR (2008 and over).

calamin, on Dec 26 2009, 10:17 AM, said:

Hi there I am new here and will just give you a brief intro. I am a operator for Metro Transit for the last 2.5 years. Plastic driver guy and I are friends as well.

Now some info on the New Artics, They seat 60 ( counted my self when 715 first came in). The interior seats are a different color then any thing in the Metro transit fleet , they are blue with green( there is a rumor going around that a transit property in the US somewhere had a order in for a bunch of DE60LFR and at the last minute the governor and or mayor canceled the order due to the economy and that the 2 that we got are from that hence the seats being a different color). The interior seating is interesting different then the Flyers we have now. When you walk in the biggest change is that when you load 2 wheel chairs you only use 9 seats the front area is similar to that of buses 1083 and above with 3 seats on the drivers side and 2 on the opposite side facing in and then 2 forward facing seats. As you walk down near the rear of the first section there are 8 to 10 ( sorry I cant remember) seats that are raised above the wheel well probably 2 feet of the ground with a step up the isle it self slims from the standard width you would be used in the flyers 1083 and up to about 1 foot wide this will make it difficult for strollers or people with any type of a carry on with wheels to get past this section. The center part is pretty typical of the older artics that we have with two seats on each side ( this differs from the demo that they brought by in the summer as that one had no seats in the center just a section to stand with a head rest kind of looked like the set up in the graviton lol). There rear of the bus is pretty typical of the other Flyers with a step. I apologize that I could not get pics of the interior but it was parked inside and the battery was shut off so could not get the interior lights on. and the Flash on my blackberry just lit it up way to much.
I have heard that DE60LFR will be seen on the 1 first as they have been trying to get an artic on that for some time at first the lack of working artics put that back burner then the recent addition of the 1 as a low floor route changed that so they increased it to 10 min service during the day but have still been finding it busy.

Also of note the ilsley garage the DE60LFR only fit in some of the doors so it is hard to maintain it there as the battery packs and Hvac unit on the top might get ripped off( this happened with the demo that was hear in the summer well the cover on them got ripped off).

Sorry forgot to mention 716 is now here as well.


Sorry I was just talking to another driver and now have pic of the interior. They had the battery hooked up so the interior lights where on

Welcome to the board! Always to have an operator have info whatever is available!

The trailer section have this typical seating setup, standard from NFI. They can put 3 seater aisle on both sides or one driver side so it doesn't take up so much seats.

[hfx_chris]

calamin, on Dec 26 2009, 12:17 PM, said:

Hi there I am new here and will just give you a brief intro. I am a operator for Metro Transit for the last 2.5 years. Plastic driver guy and I are friends as well.

Now some info on the New Artics, They seat 60 ( counted my self when 715 first came in). The interior seats are a different color then any thing in the Metro transit fleet , they are blue with green( there is a rumor going around that a transit property in the US somewhere had a order in for a bunch of DE60LFR and at the last minute the governor and or mayor canceled the order due to the economy and that the 2 that we got are from that hence the seats being a different color). The interior seating is interesting different then the Flyers we have now. When you walk in the biggest change is that when you load 2 wheel chairs you only use 9 seats the front area is similar to that of buses 1083 and above with 3 seats on the drivers side and 2 on the opposite side facing in and then 2 forward facing seats. As you walk down near the rear of the first section there are 8 to 10 ( sorry I cant remember) seats that are raised above the wheel well probably 2 feet of the ground with a step up the isle it self slims from the standard width you would be used in the flyers 1083 and up to about 1 foot wide this will make it difficult for strollers or people with any type of a carry on with wheels to get past this section. The center part is pretty typical of the older artics that we have with two seats on each side ( this differs from the demo that they brought by in the summer as that one had no seats in the center just a section to stand with a head rest kind of looked like the set up in the graviton lol). There rear of the bus is pretty typical of the other Flyers with a step. I apologize that I could not get pics of the interior but it was parked inside and the battery was shut off so could not get the interior lights on. and the Flash on my blackberry just lit it up way to much.
I have heard that DE60LFR will be seen on the 1 first as they have been trying to get an artic on that for some time at first the lack of working artics put that back burner then the recent addition of the 1 as a low floor route changed that so they increased it to 10 min service during the day but have still been finding it busy.

Also of note the ilsley garage the DE60LFR only fit in some of the doors so it is hard to maintain it there as the battery packs and Hvac unit on the top might get ripped off( this happened with the demo that was hear in the summer well the cover on them got ripped off).

Sorry forgot to mention 716 is now here as well.


Sorry I was just talking to another driver and now have pic of the interior. They had the battery hooked up so the interior lights where on

Hey thanks for the information and picture. I love those seats, they're so much more comfortable than the traditional plastic seats. Let's hope transit decides to include those on future tenders!
It makes total sense to use them on the route 1 now that I think of it, especially since it had been converted to a low floor route. Besides, didn't that report that was out a month or two ago want to turn the route 1 into a semi-BRT-style route?