LYNX (Central Florida Regional Transit Authority)

[BrownD]

LYNX needs to stop ordering so many CNG buses and go with Hybird and Diesel buses at this point because there are so many CNG buses in the fleet. 659 and 661 has just been retired this month and 26-610 may go back into service

584, 587, 604, 605, 607 (Idk if it's retired or not), 610, 615, 618, 620, 626, 627, 629, 630, 634, 639, 641, 649 are used as Training Buses. I have no idea what happened to 804, 805, 811, 812, 813 haven't seen those in a while and 663 and 664 haven't been running lately. 

50 has been changed to 350

319 has been changed back to 19

320 doesn't run anymore and neither does the 58

[New Yorker 2001]

16 hours ago, BrownD said:

LYNX needs to stop ordering so many CNG buses and go with Hybird and Diesel buses at this point because there are so many CNG buses in the fleet. 659 and 661 has just been retired this month and 26-610 may go back into service

584, 587, 604, 605, 607 (Idk if it's retired or not), 610, 615, 618, 620, 626, 627, 629, 630, 634, 639, 641, 649 are used as Training Buses. I have no idea what happened to 804, 805, 811, 812, 813 haven't seen those in a while and 663 and 664 haven't been running lately. 

50 has been changed to 350

319 has been changed back to 19

320 doesn't run anymore and neither does the 58

Wait, LINX want to double their fleet size to 700+ buses? If so, that would mean they'll be larger than the likes of Fairfax Connector, Ride-On, Foothill Transit, OCTA, NICE, Bee Lines, and even MARTA, but still smaller than MTA Maryland.

[Glennwood Road Ent.]

On 5/11/2022 at 7:56 AM, New Yorker 2001 said:

Wait, LINX want to double their fleet size to 700+ buses? If so, that would mean they'll be larger than the likes of Fairfax Connector, Ride-On, Foothill Transit, OCTA, NICE, Bee Lines, and even MARTA, but still smaller than MTA Maryland.

And Miami Dade Transit as well

[New Yorker 2001]

12 hours ago, Glennwood Road Ent. said:

And Miami Dade Transit as well

Don't they have around 1000 buses?

[BrownD]

646 was retired, I have heard it was infested with roaches. 659 has been retired due to an accident and the damage is near the radiator. LYNX is very cheap. 661 has also been retired

[New Yorker 2001]

On 5/29/2022 at 8:15 PM, BrownD said:

646 was retired, I have heard it was infested with roaches. 659 has been retired due to an accident and the damage is near the radiator. LYNX is very cheap. 661 has also been retired

I notice they tend to retire buses very early.

 

[Big CJ]

On 5/10/2022 at 3:15 PM, BrownD said:

LYNX needs to stop ordering so many CNG buses and go with Hybird and Diesel buses at this point because there are so many CNG buses in the fleet. 659 and 661 has just been retired this month and 26-610 may go back into service

584, 587, 604, 605, 607 (Idk if it's retired or not), 610, 615, 618, 620, 626, 627, 629, 630, 634, 639, 641, 649 are used as Training Buses. I have no idea what happened to 804, 805, 811, 812, 813 haven't seen those in a while and 663 and 664 haven't been running lately. 

50 has been changed to 350

319 has been changed back to 19

320 doesn't run anymore and neither does the 58

Makes no sense. Why invest all that money constructing a CNG fueling station at Lynx Operations Center, only to stop ordering CNG buses? The last thing you want is for the public to see Lynx wasting money or to have no faith in the agency at all. Especially at a time when Lynx could be getting a huge bump in funding if that penny's tax gets voted in come November. That tax will put Lynx in a better direction compared to where it's at right now. All those buses in the contingency fleet become active buses again if that tax is voted in, plus we may see used buses being acquired at the same time. A sharp decrease in hourly routes and new routes in places Lynx hasn't gone before would be great. 

[Big CJ]

On 5/11/2022 at 7:56 AM, New Yorker 2001 said:

Wait, LINX want to double their fleet size to 700+ buses? If so, that would mean they'll be larger than the likes of Fairfax Connector, Ride-On, Foothill Transit, OCTA, NICE, Bee Lines, and even MARTA, but still smaller than MTA Maryland.

That's what Lynx and the media themselves have reported. 700+ buses would go a long way in making all of the hourly routes in the system more frequent. It'll also add new routes and down the road introduce late night services on several routes. Lynx's service area is already enormous currently, it serves 2,500 square miles in three counties. 2,500 square miles, to give you an idea, Manhattan island is only 22.82 square miles, which is the size of Disney Transport's service area. That's amazing itself that DT can serve that many people with the fleet of buses they have. Outside of Downtown Orlando, a lot of areas are underserved by Lynx with routes that operate every hour or no service at all, Tradeport I'm looking at you. 

On 5/18/2022 at 11:18 AM, New Yorker 2001 said:

Don't they have around 1000 buses?

Yup, over 1000+ according to the roster. 

 

16 hours ago, New Yorker 2001 said:

I notice they tend to retire buses very early.

 

These buses are pushing 800-900K, some are probably up to a million miles on them. Buses like 646 are 14 years old. If age, an accident, or mileage doesn't lead to a retirement, it'll be the spare ratio that'll lead to a bus being removed from service. 

[New Yorker 2001]

On 6/4/2022 at 1:24 AM, Big CJ said:

That's what Lynx and the media themselves have reported. 700+ buses would go a long way in making all of the hourly routes in the system more frequent. It'll also add new routes and down the road introduce late night services on several routes. Lynx's service area is already enormous currently, it serves 2,500 square miles in three counties. 2,500 square miles, to give you an idea, Manhattan island is only 22.82 square miles, which is the size of Disney Transport's service area. That's amazing itself that DT can serve that many people with the fleet of buses they have. Outside of Downtown Orlando, a lot of areas are underserved by Lynx with routes that operate every hour or no service at all, Tradeport I'm looking at you. 

Yup, over 1000+ according to the roster. 

 

These buses are pushing 800-900K, some are probably up to a million miles on them. Buses like 646 are 14 years old. If age, an accident, or mileage doesn't lead to a retirement, it'll be the spare ratio that'll lead to a bus being removed from service. 

Yeah, I used to see LINX buses outside of Downtown area routes being few and far in-between. 

[Glennwood Road Ent.]

On 6/4/2022 at 12:58 AM, Big CJ said:

Makes no sense. Why invest all that money constructing a CNG fueling station at Lynx Operations Center, only to stop ordering CNG buses? The last thing you want is for the public to see Lynx wasting money or to have no faith in the agency at all. Especially at a time when Lynx could be getting a huge bump in funding if that penny's tax gets voted in come November. That tax will put Lynx in a better direction compared to where it's at right now. All those buses in the contingency fleet become active buses again if that tax is voted in, plus we may see used buses being acquired at the same time. A sharp decrease in hourly routes and new routes in places Lynx hasn't gone before would be great. 

@Big CJ let's get back to this discussion. How many CNG Fueling Stations did Lynx have and did Trillium or Nopetro invested their CNG fuel Stations from the 1990s or 2010s out of their own pockets for CNG Gilligs Orions and New Flyers most often? 

 

[Big CJ]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:27 PM, Glennwood Road Ent. said:

@Big CJ let's get back to this discussion. How many CNG Fueling Stations did Lynx have and did Trillium or Nopetro invested their CNG fuel Stations from the 1990s or 2010s out of their own pockets for CNG Gilligs Orions and New Flyers most often? 

 

Lynx had a CNG fueling station at the old South Street garage, which is now the police station. I don't know who it was that invested the money into the original fueling station in 90s. What I do know, after the last CNG buses built in the 90s were retired, they actually sold the fueling station to someone else. 

[Big CJ]

Okay, per the audit committee expect more CNG articulated buses from New Flyer. There is an auction, but only 8 buses. These buses apparently were all in involved in accidents that were severe enough to warrant them to be retired. Some may have been minor accidents, but the buses in question are well over 12 years old. They include 587, 591, 620, 655, 659, 10-309, 111-412, and 129-613  (first Nova articulated bus to be retired). 

https://www.golynx.com/core/fileparse.php/97315/urlt/6-16-2022-Finance-Audit-Committee-Pkg.pdf

[BrownD]

111-412 and 129-613 retired at suck an early age, that's crazy

655 was going to be retired either way

 

[Big CJ]

On 6/14/2022 at 12:48 PM, BrownD said:

111-412 and 129-613 retired at suck an early age, that's crazy

655 was going to be retired either way

 

Florida has really bad motorists that the bus drivers have to constantly interact with on the roads. So it's not a surprise these buses are getting wrecked. Although on that same token, some bus drivers as the situation surrounding 655 shows, shouldn't be behind the wheel of a bus. 655 was the bus that flipped over on I-4 a few years back due to excess speed. The driver in question use to drive for Disney Transport. 

[BrownD]

True, we do have bad motorists here in florida, I was on 230-616 and some motorists tried to brake check us..

[Glennwood Road Ent.]

On 6/14/2022 at 12:47 AM, Big CJ said:

Okay, per the audit committee expect more CNG articulated buses from New Flyer. There is an auction, but only 8 buses. These buses apparently were all in involved in accidents that were severe enough to warrant them to be retired. Some may have been minor accidents, but the buses in question are well over 12 years old. They include 587, 591, 620, 655, 659, 10-309, 111-412, and 129-613  (first Nova articulated bus to be retired). 

https://www.golynx.com/core/fileparse.php/97315/urlt/6-16-2022-Finance-Audit-Committee-Pkg.pdf

Did Lynx sending the damaged buses to Insurance Auto Auctions (IAAI) or Copart in the Orlando area for cheap prices and are these engine running in good condition? 

[Big CJ]

4 hours ago, Glennwood Road Ent. said:

Did Lynx sending the damaged buses to Insurance Auto Auctions (IAAI) or Copart in the Orlando area for cheap prices and are these engine running in good condition? 

I have no idea, buying an auctioned vehicle is like buying a used car, but on a larger scale. Whether the engine runs is beyond my knowledge, but we'll find out come the auction. Buses can sit for years before being fired up again, they may need new batteries, fresh oil, fuel, etc., but it's not impossible and has happened. If anyone is serious about getting any of the wrecked buses, well the ones with minor damage, note that most of these buses in question have been on the road for 14-16 years. Who knows when they last had their engines replaced. Also, be prepared to shell out money over it too, lots of it. I hope that I've answered your question to the best of my ability. 

[New Yorker 2001]

On 6/18/2022 at 3:55 AM, Big CJ said:

I have no idea, buying an auctioned vehicle is like buying a used car, but on a larger scale. Whether the engine runs is beyond my knowledge, but we'll find out come the auction. Buses can sit for years before being fired up again, they may need new batteries, fresh oil, fuel, etc., but it's not impossible and has happened. If anyone is serious about getting any of the wrecked buses, well the ones with minor damage, note that most of these buses in question have been on the road for 14-16 years. Who knows when they last had their engines replaced. Also, be prepared to shell out money over it too, lots of it. I hope that I've answered your question to the best of my ability. 

Any idea as to where LYNX can purchase over 300 used buses from? Do they have people in mind?

[Big CJ]

8 hours ago, New Yorker 2001 said:

Any idea as to where LYNX can purchase over 300 used buses from? Do they have people in mind?

It won't just be used buses, they'll be new buses thrown in that mix too. Everything I say about used equipment is assuming the sales tax does pass come November, so its speculation and take everything I say with a grain of salt as it could end up being new buses entirely. With that said, to speculate further. If the tax passes, everything in the contingency fleet becomes revenue vehicles once again. I can imagine Lynx will then purchase a large number of new buses from whoever, presuming Gillig and possibly New Flyer, Nova, or Proterra. As for used buses, you have Midwest Bus, Complete Coach Works, Coach Crafters, and likely acquisitions of retired vehicles from other agencies within the state and other areas of the country. That's basically what could happen with the fleet, this will be something that takes place within a year or two for the record, nothing happens overnight. Now Lynx will also need more staff and trust me, Lynx has been short on drivers since the day I moved to Florida in 1995, so that issue Lynx needs to get around. It's really difficult to be a bus driver these days, so it'll take some serious effort on Lynx's part to entice more people to work for them. 

[BrownD]

4-409 and 10-309 have hit the road again, I thought 10-309 was retired but it showed up on the tracker

[BrownD]

591, 655, 659, 111-412 have all been stripped down and is ready to shipped off for scrap

[Glennwood Road Ent.]

47 minutes ago, BrownD said:

591, 655, 659, 111-412 have all been stripped down and is ready to shipped off for scrap

What the scrap place name in Orlando 

[BrownD]

Not sure

[Big CJ]

Happened on the 12th, but imagine waking up to this type of news. Just when Lynx can't have anymore troubles the CEO passes away. 

https://www.metro-magazine.com/10178933/floridas-lynx-announces-sudden-passing-of-ceo-harrison#:~:text=James Harrison was named LYNX CEO in April 2019.&text=Harrison was named LYNX CEO in April 2019.,-He formerly served

[New Yorker 2001]

On 8/14/2022 at 2:00 AM, Big CJ said:

Happened on the 12th, but imagine waking up to this type of news. Just when Lynx can't have anymore troubles the CEO passes away. 

https://www.metro-magazine.com/10178933/floridas-lynx-announces-sudden-passing-of-ceo-harrison#:~:text=James Harrison was named LYNX CEO in April 2019.&text=Harrison was named LYNX CEO in April 2019.,-He formerly served

Damn, that has to suck. RIP