northwesterner

Saw in another group that 6897 had a tire blow out that led to a loss of control and rollover while deadheading.

Presumably someone working dispatch will notice the fleet number reporting is incorrect and it'll get fixed...

I changed coaches in 2005 at Columbus. It was a massive station. Even 16 years ago, it was way oversized for the modern day Greyhound operation. Financial accounting rules mean that inventory on the shelf is literally "money sitting on the shelf." When the inventory is purchased, the cash spent is reflected on that month's statement of cash flows. However, the same amount is also recorded on the balance sheet as an asset (inventory). When the part is used - placed on a bus, it is removed from inventory on the balance sheet, and shows as an expense on the income statement, in the month that it is used. If you're really watching your cash flows, you want to avoid buying assets and keeping them in inventory for any period of time. Many managers are also enamored with "just in time procurement." This means you keep very low inventory, but are able to source your inventory quickly. It is widely successful in many industries (for example - Boeing has seats arrive from a seating manufacturer the same day that they are to be installed in a plane - which means they don't have to build a warehouse to store them). It doesn't seem to work so well in bus maintenance, because a lot of parts are OEM, or, even if they are available aftermarket, you're subject to the vagaries of two or three distribution centers nationwide, which lengthens shipping and lead time. It's probably better to have a minimum of parts on hand at all times, with auto-reorder the moment you get below a certain inventory. And if its something you only use a couple of per year ... don't stock it at all.

If you have to replace the speedometer, you can't "roll" the odo to what was on the prior unit. I'm sure they're just reading off the odo, which is wrong. Interesting to note that the Argo Tachographs had odo's that could be rolled. Designed before that became illegal, I suppose.

It's not that it couldn't be done. We know it could be done. They knew it could be done. But you can't underestimate the organizational inertia that has to be overcome to make a change of this nature. Thirty-five years of middle managers who could have done something, but chose not to take on that battle. We should be grateful someone finally was able to push that rock up a mountain and get it done.

CMBC not maintaining and repairing their destination signs is a different issue than having a wayfinding strategy. **** You're right, there is nothing wrong with "Destination via ..." except you're statement is incorrect. CMBC hasn't been doing this for decades. Yes, there are a small handful of routes that have signage constructed this way, but the majority do not. The majority is set up with the same philosophy that came with the 1986 overhaul, which is route number, and broad destination. This was done to simplify and reduce the number of readings on the roll signs, and was copied verbatim onto the electronic signs. It was a bad set up for the rollsigns (particularly as there was no route number on the side so you'd have a half dozen buses with just "Surrey Ctrl Stn" and no other info), and is inexcusable on the electronic signs. This bad decision, from 1986, is finally being unwound. We should be applauding that change, not coming up with criticisms of it like "the font is too small." As I've noted, if this was really a problem, how have the transit systems with the highest bus ridership in North America like Toronto, San Francisco, and New York been able to function for close to two decades of programming this way? This is not a change for the sake of "doing something." This is a true, substantive change being driven with an eye towards improved passenger information and wayfinding. Given the context of how long Vancouver had underperformed in this area, it's a big deal.

How does anyone get on the correct bus in Toronto, or New York City for that matter, with stacked signs? Clearly, the customers are able to read the signs and chose the correct bus, as these are some of the highest ridership systems in North America. Perhaps this is not actually a problem ... but a wayfinding improvement that starts to correct an error made in 1986 that has survived for 35 year is a monumental change for this system.

Yeah, it sucks to actually have signs and a wayfinding system that gives you information on where the bus is going.

Considering COVID really doesn't spread via surface transmission - something we've known for a year - they should stop thinking so deeply about this issue.

East/Bellevue (242 & 243) and North (242) depending on the time frame.

The tiny steering wheels are part of an electric steering system...

Looks like VIP Steering Wheels has been purchased by another company. Basically, every heavy duty steering wheel is OEM equipment made by them. That's why steering wheels all look so similar - whether you're in a Gillig or New Flyer or a fire truck. In addition to what is listed on their catalogue online, if you call up the parts department at your OEM manufacturer and ask for a new steering wheel, they'll see you one, and it will be a "branded" (horn button) VIP wheel. Need a new steering wheel for your 1975 GM Fishbowl? It'll be a VIP wheel. Need a new steering wheel for your 1990 MCI Motorcoach? MCI will send you a wheel, and it will be a VIP wheel.

They were installed after the Gilligs had been on property for 6-7 years...

Different destination sign model.

One. There is a 2004 45-C with a Series 50 that was inadvertently reactived from storage and painted orange for Metro Local service.

Yes, and just a handful of units from that batch are still active.

Literally no system does that. Is there a reason why your cohort of fellow passengers is different or unique compared with those in every other major city in North America?

Nothing worst that putting the cardinal direction on the destination sign.

Some agencies that had lots of RTSs with rear door lifts chose rear door ramps when they went LF. Its dumb.

Long ago, PT would store some of their coaches at Metro's Atlantic Base during the midday.

The loss of revenue from the Seattle TBD is substantial... COVID cuts are mostly peak hour commuter routes.

The "reasons" are ... they have a very expensive, computerized scheduling system that runs optimization models to determine their schedules based on the parameters and constraints set in the model. These software programs do require some massaging to get things right ... you have to program in travel times correctly, etc, for them to work correctly. I tend to also dislike scheduling anomalies like you are reporting, but if you don't know what they're optimizing on, then how can you complain? Are they: Optimizing to use the least drivers possible? Optimizing to use the most drivers per day while meeting contractual hours requirements? Optimizing to minimize total operations cost? Optimizing to all pull in / pull outs, for sanitation? I don't know. You don't either. But the software will produce paddles to fit any of those scenarios - and a million more, based on the "reasons."

Ha! You caught me skimming and not reading fully. It was the prior contract, that expired last year. The Unifor site indicates the new collective agreement has not gone into affect.

I mean, you're the one who said it, so.... ***** It's a good thing the internet exists, as I just looked up the union contract. Six days of sick leave (48hrs) into a bank at the start of every year. That seems pretty low, so I kept reading. Oh, what's this... once you're out for more than 4 days a Short Term Disability Plan kicks in, paying 96% of scheduled days pay from day 4 through 8 weeks, and then 85% for weeks 9 through 17. Seems like they have a very generous plan.

Don't mean to resurrect old posts, but incorrect info needs to be corrected. Greyhound, at best, breaks even when they have to charter to over an extra section. I suspect they actually lose money on many of these. No one is making $5000 of profit on a days work in any sector of the motorcoach business.