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Valley Metro (Phoenix)


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So Valley Metro isn't selling any buses Thursday, I have just checked the catalog, at least not yet.

However, we could next month see buses 6497, 8516 and 8518 have their departures at auction.

Edited by The XDE60
Some buses may sell this month
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11 hours ago, Phoenix Bus Channel said:

Only one D40LFR went on route today. A few others were parked in the back of the yard as well. Considering none have been on express routes after Monday, could this be the end of the D40LFRs?

Not neccesarily the case, as TotalRide has not yet collected its remaining MCI D45 CRT LE buses, some of current 2007 D40LFR's may return for routes after maintenence checkups. But yes, 6497 is expected to be sold next month.

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On 9/24/2022 at 7:38 AM, The XDE60 said:

Not neccesarily the case, as TotalRide has not yet collected its remaining MCI D45 CRT LE buses, some of current 2007 D40LFR's may return for routes after maintenence checkups. But yes, 6497 is expected to be sold next month.

6496 and 6500 are currently running, but 6491, 6493, and 6494 have yet to return to service, should they not retire.

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10 hours ago, Phoenix Bus Channel said:

Does anyone here know the status of the remaining MCI buses to go into service (7018, 7020-7027, and 7030-7033)?

I have no idea as to when. Also, bus 6491 went back on routes this morning. My bet is that the remaining TotalRide MCI buses will show first as they are halfway to completion.

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Does anyone here know when and where the following NABIs were auctioned off?

1998: 6007, 6008, 6011, 6012, 6014, 6016, 6026, 6028, 6031, 6032, 6036, 6043, 6060, 6066, 6067, 6070, 6076, 6087, 6090, 6096, 6097, 6101, 6103, 6105, 6106, 6109-6112, 6115, 6118-6120, 6123, 6124, 6126-6129, 6139, 6142, 6147-6149, 6153, 6157, 6158, 6160-6162, 6164, 6171, 6194, 6195

1999: 6209, 6219, 6236, 6246-6248, 6250, 6252, 6254

2000: 6256, 6257, 6260

2001: 6263, 6264, 6266, 6268, 6270-6272, 6275, 6276, 6278, 6280, 6281

2002: 6310 and 6356

2004: 7157-7164

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On 9/28/2022 at 1:31 PM, Phoenix Bus Channel said:

Does anyone know the status of these buses?

1506, 1618, 1620, 1621, 3006, 5005, 5007, 5015, 5020, 5046, 5049, 5055, 5114, 5168, 5177, 5184, 5189, 5243, 5262, 6884, 7325, 8066, 8079, 8092, 8106, 8117, 8126, and 8524

Not entirely sure. Phoenix was supposed to recieve 40 new buses, none have been delivered (to replace First Transit-West's 2013 C40LFR's). The others are likely experiencing part shipment delays.

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15 hours ago, The XDE60 said:

Not entirely sure. Phoenix was supposed to recieve 40 new buses, none have been delivered (to replace First Transit-West's 2013 C40LFR's). The others are likely experiencing part shipment delays.

Well, if this is from the Gillig order (which couldn't have been placed before February), I can't see those buses coming this year. Buses 5001 et al don't qualify for FTA replacement funds until 2025.

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14 hours ago, 3we said:

Well, if this is from the Gillig order (which couldn't have been placed before February), I can't see those buses coming this year. Buses 5001 et al don't qualify for FTA replacement funds until 2025.

Am I the only one who thinks Phoenix and the RPTA shouldn't even think about retiring their buses until they've had at least 15 years of service?

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10 hours ago, Phoenix Bus Channel said:

Am I the only one who thinks Phoenix and the RPTA shouldn't even think about retiring their buses until they've had at least 15 years of service?

Yes. Once a bus reaches 12 years/500,000 miles, it qualifies for replacement funding from FTA.  Buses in the Phoenix/Mesa UZA can be comingled, so (for example) Phoenix can use credits against RPTA buses. The three Scottsdale Gilligs that got early retirement were "replaced" with three buses bought with expansion funds. Similarly, a bus that burns up or gets wrecked gets no replacement funding.

A lot of those Phoenix/RPTA buses had over 600,000 miles at retirement - time to go. And the CompoBuses became difficult to keep on the road.

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4 hours ago, 3we said:

Yes. Once a bus reaches 12 years/500,000 miles, it qualifies for replacement funding from FTA.  Buses in the Phoenix/Mesa UZA can be comingled, so (for example) Phoenix can use credits against RPTA buses. The three Scottsdale Gilligs that got early retirement were "replaced" with three buses bought with expansion funds. Similarly, a bus that burns up or gets wrecked gets no replacement funding.

A lot of those Phoenix/RPTA buses had over 600,000 miles at retirement - time to go. And the CompoBuses became difficult to keep on the road.

Granted, with an exception to excessively high repair costs/irreparability, it just seems to me that keeping buses on the road as long as possible is Phoenix/the RPTA getting their money's worth out of the buses. Call me out on any ignorance I might have, but it makes sense to me.

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On 10/1/2022 at 9:02 AM, 3we said:

Yes. Once a bus reaches 12 years/500,000 miles, it qualifies for replacement funding from FTA.  Buses in the Phoenix/Mesa UZA can be comingled, so (for example) Phoenix can use credits against RPTA buses. The three Scottsdale Gilligs that got early retirement were "replaced" with three buses bought with expansion funds. Similarly, a bus that burns up or gets wrecked gets no replacement funding.

A lot of those Phoenix/RPTA buses had over 600,000 miles at retirement - time to go. And the CompoBuses became difficult to keep on the road.

Thanks for the clarification. I'd thought Valley Metro buses go for ten years before retirement.

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RPTA gets convoluted since it started with that inherited ragtag fleet. The first 40 ft. buses were the 4000 New Flyers [Phoenix didn't pay a dime for those; I'm not sure how many of them ended up with Phoenix]. Since it was in expansion mode and wasn't getting money for replacements right away, those 1994 buses hung on until 2009. Probably replaced on paper with 6401 (et al).

And when Phoenix stopped taking buses during the mortgage meltdown (and resulting economic downturn), I thought it was going to get into a jam. But those NABIs soldiered on, some surpassing 700,000 miles (6194 had 750,000).

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33 minutes ago, 3we said:

RPTA gets convoluted since it started with that inherited ragtag fleet. The first 40 ft. buses were the 4000 New Flyers [Phoenix didn't pay a dime for those; I'm not sure how many of them ended up with Phoenix]. Since it was in expansion mode and wasn't getting money for replacements right away, those 1994 buses hung on until 2009. Probably replaced on paper with 6401 (et al).

And when Phoenix stopped taking buses during the mortgage meltdown (and resulting economic downturn), I thought it was going to get into a jam. But those NABIs soldiered on, some surpassing 700,000 miles (6194 had 750,000).

Is there a chance that some of the Phoenix '98s (6001-6156) had close to a million miles on them, perhaps the ones that hung on until 2016?

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Tough to tell since the hubs are usually replaced before retirement. They might have had over 800,000 miles. The 4000 series D40LFs certainly had a lot of miles. And the AM Generals were still running when I got here; those were 20 years old.

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