Minneapolis "t" Buses....

[Mr.Transit]

I asked a few months ago about the bus contract that was awarded by the Minn. DOT to El Dorado National for 100 buses(various sizes-5 year option deal). I assume these buses are part of the Minn. DOT Cooperative Purchasing Venture(NABI also involved) and the Greater Minn. Transit Plan,which I found out recently about? Is the info accurate?

[MVTArider]

I never knew that SW Transit had an Invero, or the 1988 Phantoms. I also thought that they had 5 D40LFR's not 3. I remember them talking about there new Invero a couple of years ago, but I only saw the D40LFR's, so I thought that they had made a mistake.

I saw a new repainted Phantom: 1042

MT will get 11 new D60LFR's soon, and 25 are on order. They are being built now according to this article: http://www.startribune.com/business/42445917.html

I guess that they won't replace all of the artics with artics because they have 26 coaches coming this fall.

Plymouth Metrolink will get their 15 new Gilligs in December. They are also restructuring their bus system: http://www2.ci.plymouth.mn.us/pls/cop/docs..._09_MINUTES.HTM

Do you know the 2 D40LF's that have the Cedar BRT wrap? I have the 2 Gillig's, they are 4728 and 4729. Also do you know the U of M Van Hool numbers?

Farewell to route 255, it is being eliminated 5/30/09. I think that Phase 2 of the NW metro restructring will be implemented then. http://www.metrocouncil.org/meetings/publi...TRANSITROUTE255

Thanks for the updates, the Cedar BRT wrapped New Flyers are 4610 and 4622. I don't know the fleet #'s for the U of M Van Hools, just that there are 15, so I guess I could start writing the #'s I see down. I wonder if the D60LFRs will still have high backed seats? Also have to keep an eye out for the Invero. (If its still around)

I asked a few months ago about the bus contract that was awarded by the Minn. DOT to El Dorado National for 100 buses(various sizes-5 year option deal). I assume these buses are part of the Minn. DOT Cooperative Purchasing Venture(NABI also involved) and the Greater Minn. Transit Plan,which I found out recently about? Is the info accurate?

Well I don't really know anything about greater MN transit fleet workings but I did look around MNdot's site and found a few things that may or may not be of interest: State transit plan, a small blurb about the Cooperative Vehicle Procurement and the

2008 estimated capital costs (I didn't see one for 2009 yet). I'm also waiting for an updated state transit fleet roster to appear since the one from 2006 is a bit old. Now back to your question, I would also assume they would be as well but I don't know anything about it, sorry I can't be more help BTW where do you find this info?

[Mr.Transit]

I have two contacts who work for major North American transit bus maufacturers.

[Coastercameron]

The Van Hool are numbered from 3810-3826, not including 3825. 3825 is the University owned 40ft Gilling BRT Hybrid. 3810-3821 are the 40ft Van Hools. 3822, 3823, 3824, and 3826 are the 60ft Van hools.

On the interior number plaque of 3826 you can clearly see that it says 3825 and has had the 5 changed to a 6 with marker. Someone clearly made a mistake communicating to gillig what to number it.

Also, today i saw Metro Transit 1057 (2003? 40ft Phantom) was involved in an accident on Highway 5 just before the overpass for the Hwy 55 exit. There were two cars in the left shoulder and 1057 was sideways, driven up onto the earth embankement. Multiple Highway Helper trucks as well as state patrol were on the scene. There was also another bus already on scene, presumably to pick up the stranded passengers. St. Paul Fire had an ambulance and ladder truck en route as I drove by. Didn't see any news of what happeend though. Later tonight I saw 1057 was parked in the back lot at South Garage infront of the row of 2300-300 series Phantoms. The bus didn't appear to be seriously damaged, but I'm sure it will be closely inspected before returning to the road.

[Coastercameron]

Also, I have seen SW's Inviro on multiple occasions. I see it around the U once in a while, and have seen it on State Fair duty numerous times. Never riden it though.

[Tcmetro]

The Van Hool are numbered from 3810-3826, not including 3825. 3825 is the University owned 40ft Gilling BRT Hybrid. 3810-3821 are the 40ft Van Hools. 3822, 3823, 3824, and 3826 are the 60ft Van hools.

On the interior number plaque of 3826 you can clearly see that it says 3825 and has had the 5 changed to a 6 with marker. Someone clearly made a mistake communicating to gillig what to number it.

Also, today i saw Metro Transit 1057 (2003? 40ft Phantom) was involved in an accident on Highway 5 just before the overpass for the Hwy 55 exit. There were two cars in the left shoulder and 1057 was sideways, driven up onto the earth embankement. Multiple Highway Helper trucks as well as state patrol were on the scene. There was also another bus already on scene, presumably to pick up the stranded passengers. St. Paul Fire had an ambulance and ladder truck en route as I drove by. Didn't see any news of what happeend though. Later tonight I saw 1057 was parked in the back lot at South Garage infront of the row of 2300-300 series Phantoms. The bus didn't appear to be seriously damaged, but I'm sure it will be closely inspected before returning to the road.

Thanks!

1057 is a 2003 Phantom. I bet that driver was shocked.

[MVTArider]

I'll have to try to find the Invero this summer Also I had quite the shock riding the 16 yesterday, we were going down Washington Ave. towards the bridge to St. Paul when I look to the left and see an MVTA Phantom blow by in the left lane. I think it might have started with 40 but I couldn't tell. It still had the complete old livery too. I don't think it was in service though. Also from what i've heard the new Gilligs are in and should start having fare equipment swapped from the Bluebirds to go into service possibly as early as tomorrow or Friday and most likely there will be one or two in service Monday. The Bluebirds days are drawing to a close it sounds like.

Incidentally in case it wasn't known already the 2003 Phantoms Southwest has are #400-411 based on ones i've seen.

I have two contacts who work for major North American transit bus maufacturers.

Cool, Yeah again I assume the info is accurate, at least I certainly haven't seen anything otherwise.

[MVTArider]

MT buses seen in the new paint scheme so far.

• 707-709,712,713,716,735,737,738,742,749,752
  
• 802,823,825-828,831-833,835,840,847,852-858,865
  
• 913
  
• 1042
  
• 7101
  

[Coastercameron]

What is the story with the first few 7000 series busses? The ones from a few years ago... Are these handfull of busses actually hybrids or not? They don't have the battery packs on the roofs. Anyone have the full rundown on these oddities of the MT fleet?

[MVTArider]

Here is some more local footage in case anyone is interested:

Ride Southwest MT 2003 Gillig Phantom on 631

Ride Metro Transit 2003 Gillig Phantom on 3A

Metro Transit bus stop signs

Ride MVTA 2007 Gillig Low Floor on 470 Part 1 & Part 2

MVTA on 3rd Ave.

Ride Metro Transit 1999 Gillig Phantom on 84D

Ride Metro Transit 2008 Gillig BRT on 54

[MVTArider]

What is the story with the first few 7000 series busses? The ones from a few years ago... Are these handfull of busses actually hybrids or not? They don't have the battery packs on the roofs. Anyone have the full rundown on these oddities of the MT fleet?

I've noticed the lack of battery packs on the roof myself, but they are hybrid buses. According to City Transit Buses of the 20th Century, "The world's first parallel hybrid bus was built by the Gillig Corporation in 2000. The first three went into service in October of 2002 on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN"(Luke & Metler 2005 p.153).

I haven't been on one for a while but IIRC the seating arrangement in the lower part has aisle facing seats, I'm guessing the batteries are probably under those.

Work Cited

Luke, William and Metler, Linda (2005) CITY TRANSIT BUSES of the 20th Century Hudson,

Wisconsin: Iconografix

[MVTArider]

Just got back from running errands, I rode 4942 and 4948 (or was it 38, d'oh) on the 445. Bye-bye Bluebirds!

Also, today is their first day in service.

[Guest]

Hey, this afternoon around 3:30pm I spotted one of your Lorenz Buses in Schaumburg, Illinois, it was a VanHool #010.

[Tcmetro]

That Lorenz Van Hool coach is usually on the 288 bus. Met Council didn't have enough buses for the route, so the contract said that the winner had to provide the buses.

The 7100 buses are as follows:

7100-7102 Gillig LF Hybrid - 2002

7105-7109 Gillig LF Diesel - 2004

7110-7128 Gillig LF Hybrid (rejected by Rochester, NY) - 2007

7140-7186 Gillig BRT Hybrid - 2008

Do the new MVTA Gillig's have back doors, and is it BRT styling?

[MVTArider]

I thought I saw a Lorenz bus in DT Minneapolis with a route sign on it, one of their commuter coaches, that would explain it then.

The new Gilligs have rear doors with the Class sensor opening system but they have the standard front windshield. Also they have the same high backed seats like the 43,44,45,46 & 47 series Gilligs & New Flyers but the rear set up is with aisle facing benches over the wheels like the NFs instead of all forward facing like the other Gilligs.

Also i've found with the Class sensors they open the door for me when all I do is touch my fingertip to the yellow strip. The only difference seems to be it takes a second more for the sensor to open the door as opposed to the push bars.

[Tcmetro]

There was a crash on the LRT sunday morning. At 9:30 am someone in an SUV turned left in front of an LRV from 34th Ave to 494. There weren't any replacement buses at the MOA for at least 30 minutes, but the 5 bus came. Surprisingly full into downtown for a sunday morning, the BRT's made it worse. I rarely get to ride the BRT's (I get the Phantoms a lot , but the windows in the back are terrible, the horizontal bar is at eye level. Plus the seats are smaller and less in quantity, and the aisles are narrower. It looked like 80-90% of the buses in Downtown Minneapolis were BRT's on Sunday.

[MVTArider]

Well a crash at 34th @ 494 isn't too surprising I guess. Usually the trains going through are blasting the horn though so a driver would really need to be distracted to pull in front of some of them.

Got the BRT blues Yeah the blocked view from the horizontal window bar sucks. I keep missing bus #'s

It is 4938 thats the other #. I like these new Gilligs compared to the Bluebirds, they have more space at the front, the HVAC works, and the seats are better too. I was actually surprised at how smooth the ride is on the ones i've been on so far. The only annoyance is the windows in the rear make that creaking sound when there's a bump in the road.

[Coastercameron]

Here is my interesting sighting for today. I was in Richfield at 66th and Nicollet (right at the Hub Center) and saw what appeared to be a New Flyer 40ft CNG, it had the TALL roof packs from front to back. It was painted in the Pheonix Valley Metro scheme. I didn't get to see the head sign, but the rear sign went FULL ORANGE - "TST" - "PHX". Any idea what this was doing here? I also couldn't see the front of the bus so I dont know if it has NF's restyled front or not.

It was identicle to this bus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/southerncalifornian/427694963/

[MVTArider]

Here is my interesting sighting for today....

Probably in delivery. My only guess would be maybe the driver lives in the area and was making a pit stop before heading to Phoenix. Still very odd.

[Coastercameron]

That area isn't TOO far from Detroit Diesel over there in Bloomington. It is possible that the bus is there for service during delivery and was out for a test run. It is fairly common to see brand new New Flyer buses from agencies all over the country at that facility. Who knows!

[artthouwill]

That Lorenz Van Hool coach is usually on the 288 bus. Met Council didn't have enough buses for the route, so the contract said that the winner had to provide the buses.

The 7100 buses are as follows:

7100-7102 Gillig LF Hybrid - 2002

7105-7109 Gillig LF Diesel - 2004

7110-7128 Gillig LF Hybrid (rejected by Rochester, NY) - 2007

7140-7186 Gillig BRT Hybrid - 2008

Do the new MVTA Gillig's have back doors, and is it BRT styling?

I remember going to the Lorenz facility way up yonder (Blaine, MN?). I know they ran routes for Metro with buses painted in the Metro scheme. They also had their own Gilligs. I'm not sure if the Metro schemed buses were Metros or theirs. Keeshin ran most contract routes with Pace owned equipment and some routes ran Keeshin equipment if the contract called for it.

I think Lorenz has MCI 102s, older H3s, and I don't recall any Vanhools.

Richfield bus has MCI J coaches and a slew of old transit buses and old highway coaches at its facility. I don't know if it is a museum or a junkyard.

Jefferson Lines has a facility near 34th AVe E and Franklin or somewhere close to that. I found it by accident driving east on Lake and turning north about 3/4 mile east of Hiawatha, and behold on the west side of the street was the yard. They alsoservice Greyhound coaches there.

[Tcmetro]

Lorenz had their own Gillig's (and at one time RTSes), but they have been retired because they were too old. The buses in the Metro paint scheme are owned by the Metropolitan Council. Met Council wasn't able to provide buses for the 288-Forest Lake Express, so the contractor had to provide the buses, Lorenz won the contract and provided their Van Hool coaches. It would have been a waste of money for the Metropolitan Council to buy coaches for the route, as it might get eliminated in 2010 when the funding runs out, and because Forest Lake didn't join the Transit Taxing District. Lorenz also runs Van Hools on the route 786 bus between Elk River and Maple Grove. They look pretty new, here is a picture: http://www.ci.maple-grove.mn.us/filestorag...rider_guide.pdf

Richfield Bus Company is both. I went there about a year ago, they have some Old Looks and New Looks, and some other stuff. It's pretty cool.

Jefferson Lines is on 26th and Hiawatha, they also service Coach USA/Megabus, it looks like Megabus drivers layover there now.

MVTArider: What kind of camera do you use? Also, anything new at the Inver Hills loop?

[MVTArider]

MVTArider: What kind of camera do you use? Also, anything new at the Inver Hills loop?

The camera I use is a Kodak M763, pretty good camera IMO . I like the picture quality (taking pictures is what I bought it for originally) and the video seems pretty good too. The only issues I have with it are its kind of hard to see the screen in bright sunlight unless I put some shadow over it. Also pictures I take in the MOA terminal never come out well. Part of that is bad lighting of course, and that I never use the flash when taking bus pictures. I also like that it's the size of an Altoid tin since its a bit less conspicuous when taking bus pics. So are you thinking of getting a camera sometime?

I haven't seen anything too exciting at Inver lately, just 700 - 1000 series Phantoms and the lower numbered BRTs on both 68 and 71. I'll see about getting some pictures before the semester is over.

I hope Lorenz has at least one of the old Phantoms on State Fair duty again this year. I want to get recording of a Phantom with a 6V92TA. I'm still kicking myself for not realizing how easy it is to record video when I was riding 6001 .

[Tcmetro]

Hopefully I'll get a camera soon. I need to get some pics before the Northstar coaches are gone this fall.

---------

The first item is old, but I decided to post it because it is interesting, the rest are new.

According to this the coach buses for Metro Transit will come this fall, and the routes 10, 17 and 18 will have automated announcements. However these dates are when the Transportation Committee will discuss these items, not when they go into effect (i.e. Northstar won't open on September 28th):

http://councilmeetings.metc.state.mn.us/Tr...209_2009_60.pdf

Anoka County will get 8 30' Gillig LF buses in Q4 2010 to replace Blue Birds and ex-Metro Transit Phantoms/LF's that replaced the Blue Birds. These are options on an 8-bus order that will be delivered in May for routes 705, 32, and Saturday service on the 25. There will be 17 options left:

http://councilmeetings.metc.state.mn.us/Tr...27_2009_127.pdf

Metro Transit will exercise all 29 options on the D60LFR order to replace the 1998 D60's. It seems that only 29/55 of the 98's will be replaced, but with the 2006-2009 D60LFR's there will be a net gain of artics. Plus more artics will be moved to other routes with the 26 coaches coming this fall: http://councilmeetings.metc.state.mn.us/Tr...27_2009_147.pdf

Metro Mobility will get 15 hybrid minibuses and 1 gasoline minibus as a test. These will have Ford chassis and Turtle Top bodies: http://councilmeetings.metc.state.mn.us/Tr...27_2009_152.pdf

[MVTArider]

Hadn't even thought of taking pictures of the Northstar Coaches, good plan. At least I have a Northstar bus schedule.

Ha, I knew there had to be something behind the newer style stop request boards besides showing the date and time. That will be nice to see how it works once its up.

Also speaking of new vans i've noticed DARTS has a slew of new minibuses now. They have regular sized ones which I think are Startrans and narrower ones (I think they are these) and they are in the new DARTS paint scheme. I'm not really familiar with the cutaway models

Oh, and Mr. Transit when I was in Faribault last week the only Faribault Flyer bus I saw was one of the older cutaways, nothing new so far. I also haven't seen any buses in Hastings recently so I don't know if they got anything new or not. I do remember St. Cloud Metro Bus got two new Eldorado 24ft cutaways last fall I believe to replace some of the Orion IIs on Dial-A-Ride duty so I bet they could get a couple more to finish the replacement.