Nabinut

On Friday, I traveled to Connecticut in my annual Black Friday ritual. CT Transit as it's called has multiple divisions spread out over the state. I focused on three of the more common divisions: Hartford, New Haven & Stamford. Here are some photos and videos. Enjoy! Hartford: 751, a 2007 New Flyer D40LF assigned to Route 62 is seen leaving Downtown Hartford near Union Station: In Downtown Hartford, routes are grouped at individual stops. Here, 535 picks up passengers at one such stop: Like many systems on the east coast, CT Transit provides service to local airports. Here is 2003 D40LF #312 in service on Route 30 to Bradley Airport: Route 41, which runs from Hartford to New Britain, another CT Transit division is a 45 minute between the two districts. Here is #740 at the start of the run: In 2002, CT Transit purchased 2 Hybrids as a test. These two are in service for Hartford Division. Here is H301 before a run on Route 56D: This past year, CT Transit ordered D35LFRs for their suburban operations. Here is A7 loading passengers at West Farms Mall: Also ordered this year was 32 MCI D4500CTs of which 12 are in CT Transit express colors. Here is 1016 on layover before a start on the 5 Express: New Haven: New Haven Division operates a Free shuttle from Union Station into Downtown using three 1999 Eldorado EZ Riders. Here is 9902 in front of Union Station: New Haven Division also rosters 26 1996 NovaBus Classics. Here is 9616 seen near the end of Route G1: At New Haven is Shore Line service, a connector line from Metro-North that runs to the outskirts of Connecticut. Here is #1701 laying over on Track 12: Stamford: Stamford, the smallest of the three cities in terms of transit rosters 56 buses, 32 of which are 2001 New Flyer D40LFs. Here is #115 at the Stamford Transportation Center: Atlantic Square, the main drag in stamford also offers decent bus service outside of the transportation center. Here is #105 on Route 44 before leaving to head to the Transportation Center: Another route that serves Atlantic Square is the I-Bus, a express service that runs between Stamford & White Plains in Westchester Co, NY. Besides the new MCIs, the night trips also operate New Flyer D40LFs with suburban seating. Here is #132 shortly before departure: Video: Lastly, here is footage from my trip:

The Sacramento Area is host to several transit systems that serve the city of surrounding areas. Here are just a few: Roseville Transit operates 15 intercity routes in Placer County, California. One of those routes serve as a commuter express service. Perhaps in a ode to Los Angeles Metro, here is a Roseville Transit Gillig in very familiar colors in Downtown Sacramento: Here, an older Gillig Phantom serves the PM rush service, complete with roll sign: Perhaps the most interesting of these carriers is Elk Grove Transit (E-Tran) which runs two lines into Downtown. Among their fleet are second hand Flxible Metro E CNGs. Here is two photos of 95-373 before and after dropping off passengers: Also in Elk Grove’s fleet are Orion V & Orion VII CNGs. Two example of this is Orion VII 08-563 & 98-606 pictured on inbound AM & PM commuter service: Another transit system that has service into Sacramento is Yolobus, which operates through Yolo county, western Sacramento County, northeastern Solano County & Downtown Sacramento. Yolobus is the only system that provides service to the Sacramento International Airport and Cache Creek Casino Resort. Yolobus fleet consists of 50 CNG buses, mostly Orion Vs, Orion VII First Generation and Next Generation buses as well as a small batch of NABI 40LFW CNG Buses, and 10 paratransit vehicles. Route 241 is a rush hour express route serving West Sacramento and entering into Downtown Sacramento. On this day, it is operated by an unknown Orion V, photographed at the entrance to the Westfield Downtown Shopping Plaza: Orion VII #729 is finishing up a run on Route 240 as it navigate traffic heading towards the State Capital building: Yolobus Orion VII NC #743 is photographed in the town of Davis, the home to the University of California at Davis on Route 42A, which starts in Davis before hitting Woodland, Sacramento International Airport, then Sacramento: Unitrans, the transit system for The University of California at Davis is a student operated system that serves several off campus communities and Downtown Davis. As the city of Davis does not operate their own system, Unitrans serves both students who fare is free and commuters whose fare is only a $1 to ride. The fleet is made up of recently delivered New Flyer C40LFRs, Orion V CNGs & three post World War II Double Deckers from Great Britain. New Flyer C40LFR #4095 is seen leaving Memorial Union, the main Unitrans terminal on Route G serving several off campus apartments: A perfectly posed 4080 heads to the Silo Shields Terminal on the other side of Memorial Union on Route C: Before the New Flyers were placed in service, Unitrans ran a mostly Orion operation but now they are in the reserve fleet. Here is Orion V CNG #4173 on Route H leaving among a major student exodus from the campus: Videos: Yolobus Orion VII CNG #732: Cummins C Gas Plus/ZF Ecomat Transmission Unitrans New Flyer C40LFR #4083: Cummins ISL-G/Allison B400R Transmission A Pair of Yolobus Orions in Downtown Sacramento: Unitrans Double Decker & New Flyer: AEC Regent Double Decker:

Heading south for my next stop is the city of San Diego and its system, MTS. MTS runs service in most of San Diego County with NCTD (North County Transit District) which I will get to later. MTS operates several different types of New Flyers (D40LF, C40LF & D60LF) and a small batch of NABI 60BRTs acquired in 2008. Complementing the San Diego Trolley service, the majority of service act as feeder routes into Trolley Stations across the system. MTS also operates express service from Downtown and points north using 45 foot coaches from Blue Bird. New Flyer C40LF #1506 in morning sunlight entering Broadway at 3rd promoting the San Diego Padres Baseball team: New Flyer #2209, one of several buses acquired when MTS took over other smaller systems operates at the end of Route 923, one of two lines that serves the San Diego International Airport: 1832, the second to last order purchased in the old San Diego scheme has just pulled away from a Downtown stop on Route 2, one of several lines with a 15 minute or better daily headway New Flyer 2852 shows off the new MTS Scheme of white over red at the Euclid Avenue Trolley Station. 2852 is part of the latest batch of New Flyer C40LFs in hit the streets: New Flyer D40LF 6010 & 8120 at the El Cajon Transit Center. Both buses were acquired by MTS from one of the many smaller systems that ran in different areas of San Diego County: While at El Cajon, I was surprised to see 8040, a Gillig Phantom sitting in the parking lot adjacent to the station. Unknown of what route it was on, this bus seems to have been another acquired coach: 8136 is pictured here staged at the San Diego State University terminal and Trolley Station, a major transit hub for city and rural based lines: New Flyer C40LF #303 pictured here at Fashion Valley Green Line Station out of service. 303 was one of the first NFIs in the new scheme : NABI 60BRT #1007 in gorgeous sunlight leaving the University Town Centre stop on its way to Downtown San Diego via UCSD & Interstate 5. 1007 is one of 26 purchased by MTS in 2008: New Flyer GE35LFR #501 assigned to the Route 201 “Super Loop” serving the U.C San Diego campus and the V.A Medical Center. They are the first Gasoline Electric buses in the system: Blue Bird Express 4500 #8509 pictured at the Escondido Transit Center on Route 810. #8509 is one of a handful of Blue Birds purchased for the 800 series express lines: Videos: New Flyer C40LF #1804: Cummins G Gas Plus/Allison B400R: New Flyer C40LF #401: Cummins ISL-G/Allison B400R New Flyer D40LF #8111: Cummins ISL/Allison B400R: New Flyer GE35LFR #504: Ford Triton V10/ISE Thundervolt: NABI 60BRT #1006: Cummins ISL-G/Allison B500R: New Flyer D60LF #1909: Detroit Diesel Series 50/Allison B500R Blue Bird Express 4500 #8509: Detroit Diesel Series 60/Allison B500R: Music video of MTS & NCTD:

Highlighting the transit systems in Southern California, the first on my list is Long Beach Transit. This system covers Long Beach and the surrounding areas. Their entire fleet sans the Passport shuttles are New Flyers from 1996 to 2009 with their newest being LFA Hybrid featuring a new paint scheme. Here are some content from this system: 9706 at the Long Beach Transit Mall In this photo, a pair of 9600s led by 9612 and 2201 also at the Transit Mall. The 9600s are the oldest LBT buses in service: 2902 is a 2009 New Flyer GE42LFA. This is one of 22 LFAs in service: Here are some night shots, showcasing the various colorful signs employed by LBT: 2236 on Route 112: 2404, part of the first batch of Hybrids is seen here promoting the Grand Prix event taking place in Downtown Long Beach: One of my favorite photos...LBT 2426 at Norwalk Green Line Station. I rode this bus and pulled out this incredible shot Now for the Videos: Long Beach Transit New Flyer GE40LF #2426: Ford Trition V10/ISE Thundervolt Hybrid Drive Long Beach Transit New Flyer GE42LFA #2917: Ford Trition V10/ISE Thundervolt Hybrid Drive:

Due to several detours in Downtown Baltimore, I managed to get some really good composed shots: Here's the rest from my afternoon out: