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ABQ RIDE

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/8/2016 at 7:48 PM, ABQ RIDE said:

Interestingly, these buses have white Luminator signs.  I wonder why they went with white signs for these buses but not the Gilligs.

I think the way the bid was written, the manufacturer specified which signs would be used. 

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9 hours ago, northwesterner said:

I spotted at least 3 of the Gilligs operating on the 72 today.

Interesting to note that in addition to having the Orange LED signs, they came with the single line side sign display...

Looks like Gillig was trying to keep its bid as low as possible, since Gillig won by only a few points mostly on price, while New Flyer actually scored higher on technical merit.

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BTW, if you were wondering what model of seats are on that XD60, they are USSC Gemini, an updated, more lightweight version of the Aries.

Amazing how well New Flyer spec'd its buses in its bid compared to Gillig.  However, since they were the only bidder for the articulated bus contract this is understandable.  I wonder if it would have been any different had Nova been interested in the contract.

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48 minutes ago, The XDE60 said:

With the construction the XD60 buses soon to be underway, I thinking what transmission these buses would contain.

Also, I was thinking that these will most likely replace our 2004 D60LF buses. We'll see...

Any reason not to think B500?

These are programmed as replacement buses...the fleet roster shows 8001-20 as 2003 models (per the VIN)

 

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On 9/12/2016 at 11:21 PM, northwesterner said:

I spotted at least 3 of the Gilligs operating on the 72 today.

Interesting to note that in addition to having the Orange LED signs, they came with the single line side sign display...

How many total Gilligs is the RPTA getting in its initial batch?

The wiki, and other items I had read, seemed to suggest that they were only getting 3.

However, it appears that more than 3 (6750 - 6752) are in service. I saw a Gillig numbered 6756 traveling S/B on the 72 earlier today.

 

 

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11 hours ago, Ztonyg said:

How many total Gilligs is the RPTA getting in its initial batch?

The wiki, and other items I had read, seemed to suggest that they were only getting 3.

However, it appears that more than 3 (6750 - 6752) are in service. I saw a Gillig numbered 6756 traveling S/B on the 72 earlier today.

 

 

The original budget request showed three 40 ft. and three BRT. When the RFP went out, the BRTs became options.  The latest budget info I saw shows RPTA receiving 15 buses (unspecified type) before July 2017. It appears that RPTA might have already exercised some of the options.

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The RPTA has put out its latest RFP for new transit buses:

https://www.ebidexchange.com/Solicitation.aspx?cid=48b13eeb-c2cc-4cc8-a9a6-7272aace1663&uid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&sid=87468

Unfortunately, the RFP documents are only accessible to registered vendors, however, the list of bidders is publicly available.  Looks like Nova is present this time, and interestingly BYD is also present, so I wonder if the RFP also includes provisions for battery-electric buses, perhaps for the Scottsdale Trolley or the Tempe ORBIT.

Also, it appears that the RPTA is going solo on this RFP, since this RFP does not show up on the City of Phoenix website.

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3 hours ago, ABQ RIDE said:

Unfortunately, the RFP documents are only accessible to registered vendors, however, the list of bidders is publicly available.  Looks like Nova is present this time, and interestingly BYD is also present, so I wonder if the RFP also includes provisions for battery-electric buses, perhaps for the Scottsdale Trolley or the Tempe ORBIT.

Also, it appears that the RPTA is going solo on this RFP, since this RFP does not show up on the City of Phoenix website.

I think the "bidders" list is actually the list of companies that will be represented at the October 5 meeting; they may not actually submit a bid. Nova has been at these meetings before.

I think when Scottsdale gets its last 8 Gilligs, it is done for a while. But if you remember the grid from November, there are requirements for 25 30 foot buses (presumably not including the 8 EZ Riders for Orbit). 

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22 hours ago, 3we said:

I think the "bidders" list is actually the list of companies that will be represented at the October 5 meeting; they may not actually submit a bid. Nova has been at these meetings before.

I think when Scottsdale gets its last 8 Gilligs, it is done for a while. But if you remember the grid from November, there are requirements for 25 30 foot buses (presumably not including the 8 EZ Riders for Orbit). 

As far as I know in the last RFP, Nova did not participate at all.  They did not attend the pre-bid conference, nor did they submit any questions concerning the RFP.

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Howdy, I just joined, and thought I'd say hi. I currently work for Transdev in Phoenix at the south transit facility as a fueler/service person. I was an operator prior until Phoenix's crazy drivers made me decide that I'd rather take my chances with dangerous fuels.

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You folks seem to know more about what's happening with the fleet than anybody I can talk to, so maybe you can answer a question I've had. For the past 6 months, I've been hearing rumors of Phoenix's Rapid fleet getting replaced. They're all Nabi Compobuses from the 90's, and in pretty bad shape. It's a roll of the dice if they'll start back up after we get them refuelled. The rumor I heard even included articulated Rapids. One of my co-workers last week said he saw a new Rapid bus sitting on the lot, but I haven't been able to find it. We were wondering if it was gonna be LNG or CNG.

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On 8/19/2016 at 9:32 AM, The XDE60 said:

The destination sign on 8061 read "Driver Training", however, I saw it serving the 44S today

On 8/19/2016 at 9:32 AM, The XDE60 said:

The destination sign on 8061 read "Driver Training", however, I saw it serving the 44S today.

Route 44 isn't busy enough to get artic's. However, the training department likes to use route 44 when they take new driver classes out to show them what driving an artic is like. They also use the roundabout at the SkyTrain station to show new drivers how to take an artic through a roundabout.

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28 minutes ago, Azbusguy said:

You folks seem to know more about what's happening with the fleet than anybody I can talk to, so maybe you can answer a question I've had. For the past 6 months, I've been hearing rumors of Phoenix's Rapid fleet getting replaced. They're all Nabi Compobuses from the 90's, and in pretty bad shape. It's a roll of the dice if they'll start back up after we get them refuelled. The rumor I heard even included articulated Rapids. One of my co-workers last week said he saw a new Rapid bus sitting on the lot, but I haven't been able to find it. We were wondering if it was gonna be LNG or CNG.

Welcome.

As you know, replacement funding becomes available from the FTA when buses reach the old age of 12, or accrue 500,000 miles. The Compobuses are 2003/04; you probably have a better handle on the mileage. Tempe has the last handful of Compobuses, and it delayed their replacement due to low mileage.

When the Compobuses were purchased, the City originally wanted articulated units, but Arizona law required new bus purchases had to be "clean fuel". There were no LNG/CNG artics at the time, so we have what we have. 

When the last bid went out, the City indicated that it would need 50 replacements (either BRT 40 or BRT 60 style) for FY2017 and 2018, so it remains to be seen if the City has issued a Notice to Proceed to New Flyer. Also 30 "standard" artics between now and the end of FY2018.

Hope that helps.

 

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According to this site:
https://www.transittalent.com/Solicitation_Listing.cfm?SolicitationID=81762

It looks like the RFP is in fact another joint procurement between the RPTA and the City of Phoenix.  My guess the reason for only posting it on the Valley Metro eBid website and not on the City of Phoenix Solicitations page is to keep it at one place to minimize confusion.

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Reading the RFP document, the base order should include 18 30-foot buses, 164 40-foot buses, and 17 60-foot articulated buses, with options for 46 30-foot buses, 117 40-foot buses, and 34 60-foot articulated buses.  Buses will be powered by either diesel or CNG, which makes me wonder why BYD was present on the list of bidders. 

Also, it appears that they aren't going with a standard/BRT split with this order, and both will be ordered together as a single contract per bus length.

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3 hours ago, Azbusguy said:

Ours go up to 5177. I did see one of the new Artics on the lot today. I don't remember the number though.

I think the higher numbered buses are at the First Transit West Division.  As for the New Flyer XD60 artics, it appears we now have our answer to which division they will be assigned to - the Transdev South Division. 

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