Tribunius

That must have been West Vancouvers unit. It was the only gas powered unit from that build year.

The change over was in late 2006. The first units to get them were Polars for Translink. The first unit delivered was T524. BC Transits first unit equipped with them was 2077. The actual controls went through a few iterations with the final version having a remote opener in addition to a dash mounted control. The remote door opener was a BC Transit only feature added in 2008. The first unit delivered was 2130.

Yes S017 it was a one off prototype to study carrying more passengers. It never amounted to much as Ford discontinued the chassis. Yes in theory we could still do it however it isn't a focus for us anymore.

That's a blast from the past both in terms of age of the post and my past. I worked for the Bus Division of Commercial Body Builders for the final three years of it operation. I still work for the company now just on the truck side. For the history side of the company as a whole I'll just link you to the company website https://www.comtruck.ca/about-us/history/ As for the bus division itself I guess I'll start at the end and go backwards. The division was closed in June of 2010 due to lack of orders. The last bus delivered was a Polar for BC Transit (Community Shuttle) for Agassiz-Harrison unit #2238. Picture attached of it just before it left our yard. It was not actually the last bus body as we had one left over which was sold to a local farmer who mounted it on a trailer to use for hay rides. The two models we had were both based on Ford E Series cutaways. E350 & E450. The Sprinter was a one off prototype. The discontinuation of the diesel engine in the E Series due to the 2010 emission standards was the final nail in the coffin for the bus division. On the operators Commercial sold units to CMBC, West Vancouver Transit and BC Transit. The prototypes ended up in private hands. Lethbridge was not an original customer at least for the Commercial built units. The buses are all over the secondary market at this point. I don't know when the first units were built as it was well before my time. The bus division was acquired from another company on Vancouver Island and I don't know their history. Commercial built 501 units of all models including prototypes between 2000 and 2010. I don't know how many were built by the other company previously. If there is anything else you what to know I'll answer if I can.

There is no logo on the street side. There is one on the curb side. The logo doesn't go on top of the stripe either there is a gap in the stripe in which it is placed.