Frozen Yogurt

Rode on 31-834 and 31-858 on the 121, and (to my surprise, a hybrid) 38-020 on the 185 today. Spotted two hybrids signed in as 100 Crémazie on Côte-Vertu today. 37-094 had people on board and dropped passengers off at Champigny... interesting.

Took 31-831 on the 121 this morning. 31-808 is on the 121 this evening, not tracking still. Also spotted 31-052, 108 and 177 on the 136 and 31-169 on the 34. Didn't see anything non-3rd gen at all.

Spotted 31-215 and 31-212 on consecutive 171-Os (scheduled 12 minutes apart still!). As expected, both were full to the absolute max. I wonder how long some people had to wait at the stop to get on a bus. At this rate the 171 isn't rideable anymore. Spotted 33-806 on the 121 this morning (not tracking) and 31-114 on the 121E to TMR. At least unlike last year, they didn't forget to run those TMR school specials this time. I took 30-879 on the 121 this afternoon. Lots of chewing gums (and other items) on the floor and seats. 37-102 was on the 128 displaying "128 Saint-Lanrent".

Well, that's Stinson like always. If it doesn't belong to them, it won't come out (except 30-1xx/2xx/32-0xx from AN). I completely gave up wrestling with the stm and the result is I'm now guaranteed at least one ISL9 junk on a daily basis. Spotted 31-052 on the 34 and 31-166 on the 125 this afternoon. Very exciting sightings from the last day of decent schedules, I know! I took 37-039 on the 171 this morning, not tracking. It's now coming every 5 minutes, all seats taken with a dozen people standing (not that crowded at all in 171 standards, tbh). Can't wait to see how it'll be fun next week when it drops to every 13 minutes in the middle of the AM "rush"! lol

31-808 was on the 121 this morning.

Yesterday: 27-022, 26-041, 26-052 and 27-021 were on 4 consecutive 136-N's. I got on 26-041! Might as well be one of my last ever rides on a rocket since the 136 will have far fewer non-front ramp (or not) departures starting next week; Anjou will soon be the only garage still having rockets. Today: spotted 26-020 on the 136-N, and I attach a picture (why not).

That's more diving into the (approx) half-hourly routes I guess. Having been a regular of the 16 in the past, I understand what you're trying to say. For this specific case, the 121 isn't something you'd expect 20 minute layovers all over the places... already there's so ample run time that drivers need to drive 20 km/h and purposely miss green lights to not be too early, now there's also 20 minutes of layover after each trip. Of course, the stm wants a certain level of service and hastus built the schedule as they required, but really I wonder by how much operational cost it managed to decrease compared to service hour reduction, the fact is not only there is generally more layover but there's more deadheading as well. Maybe the recent fuel price changed the game around, but the argument I've heard a lot before is that the driver salary is by far what costs the most for transit agencies. While I agree that reasonable layovers should be scheduled for various reasons, the 121 specifically seems so wasteful for such a level of service that's offered, already too slow and now too much layover. Anyway. === 171SL wasn't tracking this morning, didn't bother dealing with whatever it is - enough ISL9. Turned out to be 38-084, oh well. Took 37-066 instead. 31-040 and 28-098 were parked in front of SN yesterday, presumably ready to be shunted away. Got 31-821 this evening. I wonder if the AC ever worked on those two (or on 31-168). 30-014 was on the 171 yesterday Still not tracking.

Some mentally deranged got on 10-57x on the orange line at Lionel-Groulx yesterday, screaming and swearing all along. He decided to activate his pepper spray on a train full of people just after leaving Place St-Henri towards Vendôme. The result is a panicked crowd coughing, screaming and running to escape. The operator was called to assess the situation, and later the entire station was evacuated. It ended up being a mess at Vendôme with all the police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, etc. and confused commuters who were trying to get on the few 90-E towards Atwater (or asking about where the 17-N stop is). The metro wasn't down for long though, about 40 minutes. Spotted the (finally!) un-wrapped 31-071 today. The rear fleet number is handwritten into the thick layer of dust that somehow accumulated on all windows. I could have taken 31-094 on the 171 today, but went to grab something and got 31-831 on the 121 instead. ?

This is the thing I've been hearing over and over since March 2020. Never seen it happening and it won't happen this summer. Instead they'll keep cancelling the runs because they'll keep being short on drivers. Drivers will be on leave, some won't be able to show up last minute and they can't find a replacement asap, etc., so whole shifts get cancelled. It will be fun to know the next 121 is coming in 40 minutes...! I wonder when was the last time the 121 had such a shitty frequency, probably decades ago already. The question is, if ARTM is frugal about the stm, what are they keeping the money for? The layovers are getting more generous than ever though (not surprising since there are so few trips that none is timed well at the termini). Noticed some 121 runs will have even 20 min layovers in "rush" hours (well if you can still call that a rush hour). I just took a look at the 171 schedule, going westbound (so the actual "peak" direction)... departures at 07:21 and 07:34 (so... 13 min frequency in the middle of rush hour on a line that's prone to overcrowding already). Jesus christ. === Went for 171SL, ended up on 31-018 on a renfort this morning.

26-043, 052, 072, 27-001, 021 all on the 136 today. Jesus. Never seen so many 2nd gens.

Ok good, that confirms what I thought. Never saw a 2nd gen on the 36 since the 36-90x entered service, until when I took 27-510. === Got 30-879 on the 121 yesterday afternoon. The departure after 30-879 as well as the next 171 have both been cancelled. With how bad the June schedule looks like (the 121 schedule will almost look like that of the 128 on Sundays... but with artics), no intention whatsoever from the stm to hire any new drivers (from what I've heard, no new hires since January 2021), possible heat waves here and there, I bet there will be more cancellations all over the places this summer, leaving people stranded for extended periods. I can't believe the 121 will be down to every 20 minutes midday on weekdays... the worst is has ever been so far. The best way to regain ridership is to make schedules with such a shitty frequency to screw the few remaining riders away, so that those who are still stuck with the 121 will now be caught in even more traffic. Bravo. One must wonder why the ridership at the stm has remained stagnant at barely more than half of the 2019 level, when the trace of the pandemic is being felt less and less, while congestion level has been largely back to pre-pandemic levels. Simply keep blaming the pandemic and revenue loss (did Legault not commit to fund more? I don't understand why ARTM keeps being mentioned as an obstacle, why did we even create it then?) is simply an excuse to cover up poor management, and lack of will into improving the actual service being offered. The stm needs more than ever to get out of that mentality of "if it looks good, it must ride good" and thinking that doing PR campaigns will somehow bring people back to public transit. To throw some numbers around, the service level planned for summer 2022 on the 121 is 48 departures less than that of summer 2019, with reductions mostly in rush hours and midday. I'm sure the funding situation is much more delicate than I can imagine of, and they may have legit reasons for everything, but this practice is not sustainable in long run: your average person doesn't give a fudge about COVID or ARTM, he/she wants service and if it's not satisfactory, it shows in the ridership level. When will we be "out" of this pandemic? 2050? 2080? Will we keep comparing it to 2019 forever? It's time for change, because we can't keep up until 2080 always in COVID mode, and then think about everything else such as our environment. End of my parentheses. === Today. The early morning 171SL occasionally gets the 2nd gens, but of course never when I can take one of those. 30-221 ended up doing the trip I was hoping to take this morning. I took 29-823 on the 121 instead, for once some change of luck I guess. 29-150 was also on the 171.

Spotted Coach Canda 88022 on Sherbrooke the other day, running for Gray line. Seems like it was running in Ontario previously. Today: spotted 28-705 on the 35. I got 27-510 on the 36! No idea if it is rare to see 2nd gen on the 36 these days. Caught 29-803 on the 121 later in the day!

I took 40-923 and 37-103 on the 128 today, not tracking. The latter seems to have replaced 37-039; good thing the replacement is still a hybrid.

Please split https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Transdev_Québec_8009-8016,_8020 into "Transdev Québec 8009-8011, 8016" and "Transdev Québec 8012, 8014-8015, 8020": the former are H3-45 and the latter are X3-45 coaches. Thanks!

32-801 today. Only bonus is it has a Faraday bell in the middle.

Got 32-802 on the 121 this morning. Decided to sit anyway and found myself sandwiched between two manspreading passengers (how I hate the perimeter seating!). As usual not a day passes without at least one of those pesky ISL9 garbage.

Got 30-872 on the 121 today. Nothing wrong with this one at least. Also got 28-005 on the 171LE home. Always an enjoyable ride with a 2nd gen! Spotted what looks to be 40-929 or 928 (yes my eyesight isn't great at all) waiting to do the 171E at École secondaire St-Laurent, which I believe is on this run: https://gtfstools.site/run.php?trip_id=250225045. It didn't track. 40-907, 28-042 and at least 3 other 40/41 series were also waiting at the school. Also saw 31-071 with that very brilliantly designed wrap on the 128 all day.

Montréal: spotted 215.9 at Esso at the corner of Côte-Vertu and Marcel-Laurin today.

Came out of the metro to find... 28-004... on the 171SN ?!! The last thing I would ever expect to see. It seems to have replaced 37-096 mid-run. Hard to believe my eyes. Rode it and it was excellent! 28-083 was on the 171LE (also very rare nowadays!). The front sign is displaying the route as if it's a full-width sign, so it shows "171 Henri-Boura" instead... reflecting the reality that in normal circumstances, pretty much no narrow-sign buses ever make it onto the 171 (obviously, except 30-021 to 025 which at least are staying here for the moment). 39-014 was also on the 171.

Got 3 7 - 0 9 2 around 11:30. Spotted FDL 1201 (some older-front H series) on the 499 and 40-923 at Côte-Vertu, rear sign saying 803. Also spotted 33-806 & 809 on the 121 ?.

Caught 30-863 twice on Sunday, the side destination sign wasn't working. 27-020 was parked outside at Legendre yesterday, along with 28-091 and (of course) a ton of artics that probably no one would ever care about their numbers lol. Got 30-876 on the 121 today. 37-050 was on the 171 this afternoon, it doesn't have any numbers on its rear window.

Thanks for the clarifications. Transdev, Keolis and such often do not number units in VIN order, which seems to be causing some confusions amongst the wiki editors. If I'm getting correctly, MTA 8091 never actually made it to anywhere in Quebec... About the midi, the only reason I ask is because 630 is the only one to have never tracked with its VIN, so the webpage I linked would confirm its VIN. The next step would be to clean up the wiki I guess.

Spotted 30-206 on the 121 renfort this morning. Got on 30-874 for the nth time. Took 37-048 on the 171 later. The heater strip on the floor at the back has also fallen off. Spotted 29-009 on the 177 ?

82107 is definitely last-minute delivered and rushed into service, the new Opus reader was only half assembled and the wiring near the destination signs looks like bird's nest. Thanks for the additional information about 81607. 3161 is indeed on the wiki, and shown as a 2016 J4500, so hopefully we got its VIN for free. === Now moving on to Laurentides: 1) I'm not sure what is with this VIN 2NVYL82jXG3750184 saying 3-629: on the wiki, this same VIN is attributed to Keolis 29271. When one looks up the VIN of 3-629 also on the wiki, it says it's an MTA reject with some Plattsburgh VIN instead. I wonder if someone has some clarifications on this. 2) https://plc.ua/en/auctions/lot/newflyer-transit-bus-2014-vin-2fyd9vr0xeb044611-ia-11345558/ This may have been Transcobec 630, which does have the same color.

Seems like some new VIN recently popped up at Dufresne, ruining this statement temporarily. It's 82107M (1HA6GVB72MN006870), some Chevrolet + Aerotech (reading off what it says on the body) thing in a watermelon pink exo livery. I can't input "82107M" into the VIN suggestion form, it tells me it can't end with a letter, so kindly take this one. Another thing I've noticed: on the wiki, 81607 is indicated to have the VIN 4RKG33498G9737302 (some X3-45), however on Transit Tracker VIN project page, this fleet number is assigned to 2MG3JM8A7GW067653, which is that of a 2016 MCI J4500.