Dane

WCE still has a spare though, right? Certainly not crazy two would be down.

A cheaper cab ride?

Hey maybe you told the future?!? There's the other 11!

I never noticed fleet number 9582 was skipped. Any idea why?

Some West Van employees who are reliable observers said on the Western Canadian Transit Facebook page that WVTC isn't getting the 240, to their knowledge.

Is it because of artic's? I'm just trying to understand the route swap logic?

The difference is I'm not saying Trolley's are good, therefore they're good. I'm saying they have real limits that cause genuine issue. I don't think I said trolleys were a thread to system viability - if I did it's a typo. Vancouver has done really extensive cost reviews- literally some of the best in the industry ever, about a decade ago. The name is escaping me but most here probably know what I'm talking about. Trolleys were with capital cost, maintenance, and unit operation the cheapest mode correct for service life. Like I've said numerous times, I like trolleys and this speaks to my love of efficiency. But as I keep saying and I keep getting rebutted on is that the infastructure limitations that trolleys create are a significant liability for TransLink. Because of their unique nature trolleys have the lowest utilization in the fleet, and are the only buses that require Depot swaps if any service route changes of signifigance are made since VTC holds an insufficient quantity of diesels to 'diesalize' service past one route. Recent example, the BMO Marathon was a very diesel day as trolleys sat unused at VTC for several routes. Zoning limitations have killed some trolley infastructure, namely Stanley Park. A long long time ago wires snuck into Burnaby but have never been subsequently allowed to expand after that. When I was still with TL and the Province review picked up the lack of trolley utilization a technology swap was tried for the 41; but trolleys never came as Burnaby won't support overhead. I'm not suggesting trolley replacement would somehow be prioritized over any other fleet, they are just due to come up in five years due to natural attrition.

Philosophical platitudes was an accurate description. But not intended to offend. The small Army is forty something people. It's generalized because this is a bus forum and I don't want to spend too much time here! 😂 I think the Russian example is exactly where problems do exist, but, speaking to future potential would cease to exist. I'm talking about the long play here. I've worked in planning at TransLink. The limits that the trolleys create are a big deal, and are a threat to future viability... Personally I am really excited about a quiet, emission free, catanery-less transit Vehicle that comes in at a potentially reasonable price. What will be interesting in five years from now when we get to the trolley replacement RFI stage to see if battery has developed enough to be a legitimate contender or not.

There are designated alternatives, until its on a trolley route.

Lol fair. I know Edmonton's situation was rough. I love trolleys myself. I just wonder if they're the best solution going forward.

Please drop the attempted condescending rhetoric. This has been an otherwise healthy discussion. Hydro is very involved with trolley infastructure and it's dynamic nature. That's substantially different than a charging station which is built, and then it's there. I'll post the same question again - what does a trolley offer that a battery bus doesn't?

Vancouver has operated them for so long in the absence of a competitive alternate solution. That may be changing. It truly is a massive inconvenience. Truck routes are effected, there's a Hydro liaison, emergency service equipment is effected, a small army of people are employed to maintain the catenary. Benefit of efficiency and route flexibility for charging stations vice overhead. Really both are less than ideal, hence how the internal combustion engine won. I suppose this is where the longer term hope lies with batteries or other alternative propulsion. Obviously either of us are in a place to make too educated an opinion, however, if TransLink went all in on battery the cost of charging stations - I suspect- would be a drop in the figurative bucket. Even today battery buses are priced better than what TransLink paid for the current iteration of trolleys. Which is another point that battery has the potential to be a larger standard which in turn brings down costs- that's a hypothetical right now though, obviously. I don't see any other systems getting trolleys in Canada. And so far battery has been a quasi successful experiment only. I think the battery buses should be seen as a everything we have now killer. I cannot think of many advantages of trolley over battery; although battery disposal really jumps out as a biggie that needs to be better addressed in the future. Woops I missed the fixed route part. Comparing SkyTrain, fixed route mass transit, to a urban bus route is nonsense. The philosophical platitudes of the post are extreme. Bus routes do, generally, stay the same in Vancouver for very very long times. But, in a city ripe with events, perpetual construction, and rapid densification the need to adjust bus routes with relative ease is significant. Captain Trolley's post is essentially suggesting everyone using any bus route other than Vancouver's trolleys is hanging on hoping there won't be some sort of change to their route in the absence of fixed wires. That's not the case, in reality. A trolley route is just as likely to change but either requires an alternate bus fleet brought in, or, overhead modification cost.

Because it's what they wanted; overhead being ugly isn't a reason to change something. It's a pile on issue to real & substantial limitations of trolleys. Captain Trolley's point about fixed routing is also erred. It's a significant effort to dieselize trolley routes, takes acts of municipal governments to change overhead locations - all this in a background of medium use routes. I like trolleys, too. I hope they don't go away. But if a battery bus is a viable alternative the drawbacks of trolleys become more pronounced.

I don't disagree with you, but I think there's some things to take into account that aren't included here. Trolley overhead is expensive, and is also a massive inconvenience for a number of things. Plus it's an eye soar. Having charging stations would serve a lot of benefit; I have no idea what it would cost compared to trolley overhead but it's hard to believe it would cost more. Trolleys are also a huge liability in their fixed route nature which I think transit fans are far too willing to overlook. Electric bus technology, like anything, also isn't stationary. This is a field moving rapidly with a lot of government support and real dollars behind it. I think the operational measures of today will be irrelevant tomorrow, figuratively speaking.

I really doubt that they even give a passing thought to the luggage rack when retiring a bus. In the grand scheme of things it is nothing. But, hopefully they're on buses that are in the condition that will allow as long of service as possible!