Phillip

Interestingly the 99 is getting more running time in January.

I'll let my photo speak for itself

25206 at 22nd station this evening, I just happened to be there while on layover.

I wonder if the battery bus testing at Lougheed stn has something to do with preparation for battery buses at PTC.

My story is now sounding more plausible

Looking at TComm 24014 replaced 18031 on it's R4 block in the morning, then 18031 later went out on a R5 for the afternoon. Using this information I'm going to piece together a story of what may have transpired. 1. 18031 had a mechanical issue on the R4, and was BO (bad order) on the road. 2. TComm arranged for a COR (change on road) with another R4 coming off a morning tripper. 3. 24014 was on a morning tripper on the R4 (confirmed on TComm as it was two buses ahead of 18031) and was only doing one more WB trip at 08:08, then to BTC. 4. TComm decided to use 24014 as a replacement for 18031, the operators swapped buses at Joyce Station. 24014 then left Joyce Stn for the WB 08:15 trip which would have otherwise have been 18031s block. 24014 remained on the block for the remainder of the day. 5. 18031 went to BTC as the driver who had 24014 is a BTC driver, and therefore took 18031 to BTC to finish their morning piece. 6. 18031 was repaired while at BTC, and was booked out on an afternoon R5. That is my theory, and the story I came up with. The question is; will those buses stay at those depots? Or will they transfer back? Stay tuned!

So I was able to look at the HTC afternoon bookout track sheet. I can confirm that both 23205 and 23214 were assigned to 410 blocks this afternoon.

25202 now has licence plates!

25202 is sitting at HTC tonight.

On the 410 route, there are two stops; EB Ewen Ave/ Hume St, and SB Lansdowne Stn Bay 4. I filled in a service comment sheet for these stops and submitted it to Operations. -The next stop announcement was incorrectly announcing "Phillips St" at EB Ewen/ Hume St. -Lansdowne Stn Bay 3 is closer to the Canada Line Stn. I suggested renaming Lansdowne Stn Bay 4 to "Ackroyd Rd" because it's closer to that street. I noticed the announcements for both of those stops has been changed to "Hume St" and "Ackroyd Rd" respectively while driving the 410 last week. My service comment sheet has made a difference!

16117 and another XD40 is sitting at RTC tonight. I wonder if they are returning to RTC?

Yeah, the automatic interlock is pretty good. I will, however, use the hillholder at the stop sign at the NB off-ramp after exiting the Queensborough Bridge when approaching 22nd stn. I was driving a 24XXX one night. I made a full stop; the interlock didn't apply. When I accelerated, the bus rolled back, the transmission suddenly gave in, and the bus made a violent forward jerk. Since then, I've been using the hillholder at that stop.

Despite these buses being new, they are still putting long expired decals on. Look at the Transit Rules and Offences decal for example, it still reflects the days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notice how the left-side instrument panel is slightly different between the 24XXX and 25XXX. The Hill-Holder switch are in different locations.

This may seem trivial, but buses have been getting a plastic housing on top of the left side mirrors. The plastic housing is made in-house and it's designed to reduce rain water from dripping down over the mirror. It originally started as a pilot project on the STC buses. I took this picture on bus 19001 yesterday, a recent installation. I gotta assume it's effective since more buses are now getting it.

Awesome pictures! It brings back good memories of Edmonton.

Oh my, 4900 has been preserved.

I agree. The newer Novas (not just the CNGs) are much better buses. They drive better, and the updated design of the driver's compartment is much improved. The driver's side window is further forward and there's no pillar; it allows better sight line when scanning left. The left side mirror is in a better spot, it's manual but you can easily reach it to adjust.

An additional 30 units will come after the 84, for a total of 164.

In Edmonton, everything eventually gets converted to diesel power.

I don't have enough information to say for sure; I remember looking at a bulletin about the cup holders, it stated that CMBC and the manufacturer determined the location and that they had since removed them after receiving complaints. I don't know if it's an additional cup holder to the factory-installed cup holder, or if that was the factory-installed cup holder.

These battery buses came with cup holders that were in a different location, which apparently interfered with operators' ability to operate the bus. There were several complaints and one operator refused to drive the bus. They have since removed the cup holders.

Considering the state of Proterra and the fact that a few cities have abandoned theirs, like Seattle and Philadelphia, I wonder if Edmonton has any long-term plans for those 60 Proterras. They are pretty much dead in the water.

I've ridden on the Valley line several times during my visit to Edmonton, most recently last week. The Trans Ed operators safely operate the vehicles, I notice the extra care at the intersections. The fact is that real professional drivers are trained to compensate for other drivers' errors/lack of experience. I narrowly avoided a collision while driving a trolley on the 41 when a Jeep in the left lane decided to cut into the bus lane without looking; right in front of my coach, I stopped with about 5 inches to spare. I was only able to stop because I was scanning the stopped traffic to my left as I was passing on the right, otherwise I would have broadsided the Jeep. Those intersections along the Valley line are clearly marked; therefore, drivers hitting the LRT will have little to argue to justify their actions. It comes down to lack of experience, lack of education, poor decisions, etc.

Anyways, we better put this conversation to rest before we get reprimanded for going off-topic.