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600-series Proterra BE40/ZX5 - Updates


Busjack

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  • 2 weeks later...
13 hours ago, klabstep said:

No it doesn't.  When did Gillig start making electric buses? ?

Recently. Hard to say exactly when, especially considering that the Battery Electric looks nearly identical to the Low Floor Plus, but it's probably safe to assume it's been in development since late 2019 and orders/fulfillments have been made mid-to-late 2021.

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On 9/21/2021 at 8:42 AM, BusHunter said:

No wonder Pace is interested cta has them almost in the same shade as pace blue. Somehow I think the north livery will be different than the standard pace livery.

On the BE40s the blue wrap is really similar to the Blue that PACE buses have. It looks ZX5s have it a little softer blue.

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On 9/21/2021 at 8:42 AM, BusHunter said:

No wonder Pace is interested cta has them almost in the same shade as pace blue. Somehow I think the north livery will be different than the standard pace livery.

I don't know why the RTA doesn't bid on behalf of both CTA AND PACE.   Or at the very least both agencies submit a joint RFP  for electric buses.   I don't expect PACE to put out bids for artics nor do I expect CYA to solicit bids for OTR coaches, but they can do somethings together.

Since New Flyer owns MCI, could Pace strike a deal to get coaches and electric buses from them?

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58 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

I don't know why the RTA doesn't bid on behalf of both CTA AND PACE.   Or at the very least both agencies submit a joint RFP  for electric buses.   I don't expect PACE to put out bids for artics nor do I expect CYA to solicit bids for OTR coaches, but they can do somethings together.

Since New Flyer owns MCI, could Pace strike a deal to get coaches and electric buses from them?

Disclaimer: I know you specified electric buses, but in case anyone else might be curious as to why this isn't a regular thing in general, I'm listing out some possible reasons below

  1. The agencies rarely need to order at the same time
  2. I have to imagine the specs requirements are at least different on some level
  3. Pace and CTA don't order buses in the same quantity
    1. Does Pace even have a fleet a 1/3rd the size of CTA's? Maybe just that?
    2. I haven't seen a Pace order exceed ~100 buses, when has CTA ordered so few in the last two decades outside of exercising contract options or other special circumstances?

To your point specifically about electric buses, I'm sure there are some logistical and maybe even financial reasons why they don't. Maybe even political (XYZ municipality doesn't want to pay for XYZ buses for other XYZ municipality is something I could easily see as a headline, regardless of whether or not that's actually how it works). Who's buses would get built first? Who takes delivery first? or is it at the same time? Do they need to be delivered to the same facility? These might seem like questions with obvious answers, but it could be more complicated than that. Additionally, RTA's primary focus is oversight, then money distribution. They might not want to put out a joint bid, simply because they aren't equipped to. CTA and Pace could probably do that on their own, without going through the RTA, it wouldn't be the first time two different agencies collaborated on a bus order.

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32 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Disclaimer: I know you specified electric buses, but in case anyone else might be curious as to why this isn't a regular thing in general, I'm listing out some possible reasons below

  1. The agencies rarely need to order at the same time
  2. I have to imagine the specs requirements are at least different on some level
  3. Pace and CTA don't order buses in the same quantity
    1. Does Pace even have a fleet a 1/3rd the size of CTA's? Maybe just that?
    2. I haven't seen a Pace order exceed ~100 buses, when has CTA ordered so few in the last two decades outside of exercising contract options or other special circumstances?

To your point specifically about electric buses, I'm sure there are some logistical and maybe even financial reasons why they don't. Maybe even political (XYZ municipality doesn't want to pay for XYZ buses for other XYZ municipality is something I could easily see as a headline, regardless of whether or not that's actually how it works). Who's buses would get built first? Who takes delivery first? or is it at the same time? Do they need to be delivered to the same facility? These might seem like questions with obvious answers, but it could be more complicated than that. Additionally, RTA's primary focus is oversight, then money distribution. They might not want to put out a joint bid, simply because they aren't equipped to. CTA and Pace could probably do that on their own, without going through the RTA, it wouldn't be the first time two different agencies collaborated on a bus order.

Looks like #1. Seems like after everyone modernized fleets retirement ages for buses from each agency don’t seem mesh and fall at the same time enough. I think maybe some axess buses or cngs MIGHT have arrived around the same time as some novas but that about the only two contracts between the two that would be eligible for retirement around the same years?

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1 hour ago, Sam92 said:

Looks like #1. Seems like after everyone modernized fleets retirement ages for buses from each agency don’t seem mesh and fall at the same time enough. I think maybe some axess buses or cngs MIGHT have arrived around the same time as some novas but that about the only two contracts between the two that would be eligible for retirement around the same years?

Yeah, shouldn't the average age for Pace's fleet be about ~5 years, give or take some? Especially once those last NABI's are gone, it'll only be the EZ Rider II's that were delivered before 2010?

@artthouwilldid have a point, CTA & Pace could both order electric buses on a joint order, especially since it would be fleet expansion and not replacement (at least for right now)

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