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Matt Dunlop

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Everything posted by Matt Dunlop

  1. Either a detour (WAYYYY off route) or a signage glitch. Possibly it was deadheading to UVIC to do a 15 outbound.
  2. I've only seen 1 driver wear a mask, and that's because he had a cold and didn't want to spread it around. Yes, he probably should have stayed home but with transit, you don't show up, you don't get paid. I don't wear a mask myself, they are way too uncomfortable.
  3. Probably not until the next schedule change in 2 months (September). Hopefully by then, schools will be in and there will be a need for more buses and an actual schedule, not this Saturday service from Monday-Saturday. It's kind of ironic how BC Transit has started putting "please wear a mask" on every bus as well as "face coverings are encouraged onboard" on the announcements. The cases are way down.
  4. Just an update, there was an Arboc out yesterday (2507) on a Peninsula piece but none out today. Anybody know when and if the Arbocs will ever retire?
  5. No idea why. I do know that 4458 and 4459 haven't been tracking for 2 weeks and they're out of VTC. ALL the Arbocs have had their plates pulled off at VTC. As for the Dart, I thought VTC had none left. \ I sent an e-mail to transit suggesting that they should bring the 3000-series Vicinitys out to Victoria. They are close to the end of their life actually, and we could use them for the lower-ridership routes like 53, 63, 64, 82-88.
  6. Sadly, we have two Arbocs back in service and one Dart. 2531 Arboc is on a tripper (52, 57, 56) 2507 Arboc is on a full Peninsula AM piece (83, 85, 87, 88) 0227 Dart is on an all-day piece (3, 10)
  7. Was bored, looking at the NextRide site for Kelowna. Noticed one of Victoria's old Arbocs were transferred over there at some point. 2337. I would have assumed that one was sent to the crusher since it's now 8 years old. Must be running on fumes now.
  8. Wonder if they got that from Victoria, we have "transfer cutters" on our buses still except we use them to rip off daypasses.
  9. Yep, I was looking by LTC Monday morning, there were 8 Arbocs in a row parked along the back wall. I did see one Dart near the entrance to LTC (0228) but I think it's likely the last active one now. Since Monday they haven't been out. j I believe 9702 is done. It hasn't been on the road for 3 weeks. 8105 could be next as a ton of Flyers are retiring, including 9800s. The Flyers are still out there, especially since VTC doesn't have many new buses (aside from the 2015 Novas and 35-foot Vicinitys). Darts used to be very common on my local route, the 56/57, however they have been putting 30-foot Vicinitys on that route since this new schedule change. Regarding the Arbocs, they should have been used to begin with as LAST RESORT buses, or TRIPPER buses, such as the 1, 35, 43, etc. They shouldn't have been put on all-day paddles, but they were. It's like what the MCI's should have been doing, kept on the road as LAST RESORT buses. One driver told me that the highest mileage Arboc had 390,000 km and the lowest mileage Arboc had 305,000 km. So they've had lots of miles put on them in 6 years.
  10. @Dane 9753 isn't going anywhere, unless it doesn't pass inspection. I have a feeling 8105 failed inspection.
  11. Speaking of Victoria, all of our Arbocs are now retired here. Heard now from 4 sources.
  12. Lombard is out in Metchosin, anything can go on that route. It's because of Atkins road by the railroad tracks, it's too narrow and also has a weight limit (I believe 10 tons?). East Sooke can have any bus on it except decker. No restrictions. Usually the afternoon 63/64 is a 40-foot bus now.
  13. The Peninsula "shuttle" routes can have any bus on them, there's no limit on weight or width. The only route that has to have a smaller (35-foot or smaller) bus is the 53 Atkins.
  14. I found two Instagram videos from a local resident who found that 9821 had crashed into a rock wall and was left unattended, with the maxi brake off. The beeping you can hear in the video is from the seat alarm. The bus had been travelling at a high rate of speed (at least 60 km/h along a 1 way narrow road) and had been damaged prior to hitting the rock wall. Videos copyright brendoslicer on Instagram. 75403768_555770841985641_5944264147294966326_n.mp4 76017963_383149422642125_5659028511083569168_n.mp4
  15. Both 2690 and 2692 will be HandyDart units. They're probably gone by now (out of LTC)
  16. I looked over top of the depot from Leigh Road and saw two of those G5 shuttles parked, 2690 and 2692. Just so happens that I was taking these photos at the exact same time a bus was stolen at 0642.
  17. Ok, confirmed, it's going to HandyDART. Phone number on the side confirms it. Not sure why it would have a new white sign. It just so happens that an operator sent me this picture from LTC. 2690.
  18. Was hoping for Vicinity buses not shuttles. Hopefully that's going to HandyDart.
  19. What BC Transit isn't telling you is that it's "modified" Saturday service every day (well, Mon-Sat). That means certain routes won't run at all, and the busier routes won't run as often.
  20. I got the VIN number of one of the XN40s (1170), were these built in US or Canada? The manufacturer says New Flyer Industries Canada, however the emission control information says New Flyer of America?
  21. Minor issues going on with NextRide today. Appears to affect all systems. Some buses will show up on the map, but won't display their route, just the bus number and/or passenger count. I'm sure if transit just reboots the entire system (if possible) it will fix itself.
  22. The 16 is a true express route (very limited stops), and well as the 76. The 15 is half express, half regular, however in the Esquimalt transit action plan survey they were asking if people would like the 15 to be express all the way to Dockyard. Route 51 isn't really express as it doesn't skip any stops, not that I'm aware of at least. There used to be a 50X and 61X, the 61X was changed to 65 with different routing (via Westhills). 32x was dropped I think. 57x was changed to 47 and the starting point was changed to Westhills Ex. If you follow this link, there used to be a 50X, which from what I was told was very well utilized (18 years ago!). Also if you note the address bar of the page, it says "950" which is probably what the 50 used to be (Route 30 used to be 930, Route 31 used to be 931). https://web.archive.org/web/20021224203315/http://www.bctransit.com/regions/vic/schedules/schedule.cfm?line=950& As a matter of fact, if you browse that "Wayback Machine" website, you'll be surprised how much has changed with transit over the years, for better or worse...
  23. And I notice a TON of Arbocs are back on the road... sigh... I was hoping COVID-19 was going to be the wake-up call to retire those. Now anyone who lives on a route with an Arboc serving it are in a bus limited to only 6 people. Plus I notice ridership is starting to pick up, I'm no longer the only one on the Rt 57 heading to work in the mornings. I think it depends on how the work is split up, and whether the work is designated to the board or if it is signed work. I would think the Rt 17 is a split shift, where a driver does that for the AM period and then does something different in the PM rush. From what I have been told, VTC work is mostly splits or seat-swaps on the road. The Route 53, 55, 59, as well as the 63/64 aren't actually listed online HOWEVER are showing up on NextRide (for the most part) Regarding your map design, it looks good, however I don't think people need to know exactly where every stop is. I frankly don't even think the average customer cares. Now what they DO care about is having the individual route maps in the guide! When they got rid of each individual route map starting around 2012, people starting voicing their opinions on Facebook! I had no idea that there was still a 27/28 express (I live in Langford, never go into town). From what I remember, a number of years ago (2014 maybe?) BC Transit got rid of all their express routes because it caused conflicts with Cruise Victoria or Wilson's. It's a shame there aren't really any express routes anymore, I'm sure some people in the afternoon would rather go straight to Langford Exchange or Helmcken without having to wait for the bus to stop 50 times along the way.
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