RailBus63 Posted August 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 Update - 2903 is now up for auction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted October 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2022 682, 684, 2905, 2906, 2908, 1004, 1010, 1012 and 1017 up for auction. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted December 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2022 The Centro board will vote on Friday to approve a $40.8 million contract with Gillig to purchase 64 buses for Fall 2024 delivery. No details on how many will be 35-foot vs. 40-foot buses, etc. The resolution indicates that this contract is to replace the 2011 and 2012 Orion buses, although 64 buses is a few short to fully replace these buses when the two MTA buses and four ex-demo buses are factored in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion6025 Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 My understanding from centro documentation is that they treat retirements based on in service date, hence the various oddball 1200s are being considered for retirement summer 2025. whether they follow that or not, obviously I have no idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Yorker 2001 Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 13 hours ago, Orion6025 said: My understanding from centro documentation is that they treat retirements based on in service date, hence the various oddball 1200s are being considered for retirement summer 2025. whether they follow that or not, obviously I have no idea That's interesting, so Centro is also going to be 100% Orion 7 free by 2025? MTA/NICE, Bee Lines (Orion Vs) and probably SCT will have their remaining Orion buses retire by than too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted December 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 19 hours ago, New Yorker 2001 said: That's interesting, so Centro is also going to be 100% Orion 7 free by 2025? MTA/NICE, Bee Lines (Orion Vs) and probably SCT will have their remaining Orion buses retire by than too. It depends. Centro did keep some of the D40LF's and C40LF's as reserve buses until 2020 even after they were supplanted by Gillig CNG's, and 2010 Orion VII 1015 is still running despite being 'replaced' by the 2230-2247 group this year. There has also been talk of additional service being added when the I-81 viaduct replacement project begins soon. Given that there are currently 13 Orion 35-foot buses due for replacement (1019, 1101-1112), one Orion 30-foot bus (1266) and 62 Orion 40-foot buses (1200-1255, 1267-1272), totalling 76 buses, and only 64 new buses are on order, it seems that barring another new order being placed soon with Gillig, there may be a few Centro Orions still rolling on January 1st, 2026. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Yorker 2001 Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 On 12/21/2022 at 7:19 AM, RailBus63 said: It depends. Centro did keep some of the D40LF's and C40LF's as reserve buses until 2020 even after they were supplanted by Gillig CNG's, and 2010 Orion VII 1015 is still running despite being 'replaced' by the 2230-2247 group this year. There has also been talk of additional service being added when the I-81 viaduct replacement project begins soon. Given that there are currently 13 Orion 35-foot buses due for replacement (1019, 1101-1112), one Orion 30-foot bus (1266) and 62 Orion 40-foot buses (1200-1255, 1267-1272), totalling 76 buses, and only 64 new buses are on order, it seems that barring another new order being placed soon with Gillig, there may be a few Centro Orions still rolling on January 1st, 2026. Centro will be the last NY system to have O7s (or Orion anythings for that matter) if that's the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted January 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2023 21 hours ago, New Yorker 2001 said: Centro will be the last NY system to have O7s (or Orion anythings for that matter) if that's the case. We'll see. TCAT in Ithaca and Broome County Transit in Binghamton also operate late-model Orions, and both systems have a history of running buses past the normal 12-year retirement age. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Yorker 2001 Posted January 20, 2023 Report Share Posted January 20, 2023 1 hour ago, RailBus63 said: We'll see. TCAT in Ithaca and Broome County Transit in Binghamton also operate late-model Orions, and both systems have a history of running buses past the normal 12-year retirement age. Interesting indeed. Yes, let's see how that plays out. SCT also still have most of their 2010 Orion 7 NG Clean Diesel buses and they don't look like they are retiring anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted January 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2023 There is some additional clarity regarding new bus purchases in the January 2023 board agenda: First, the vote for the contract with Gillig for 64 replacement buses apparently was moved to this month's meeting. These are specifically referred to as 'CNG buses for Onondaga County' which would be sufficient to replace all of the 1200's in Syracuse including the ex-demo buses and the two MTA-spec buses. A second bus purchase contract with Gillig also appears in this month's agenda - this is for 13 30-foot diesel buses and 6 35-foot diesel buses for Oneida County, which are to be purchased using available options from a Washington state cooperative contract. This is interesting in that it indicates that the future Utica fleet will be made up of both 30-foot and 35-foot buses. All of these buses would be delivered in 2024, so it appears that the clock is definitely ticking on the last of the Orion buses in the Centro fleet. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orionbuslover Posted February 1, 2023 Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 Now that BRT is officially on the table, some of the planning documents have depicted 60ft buses. I'd assume Centro would want CNG artics, so there's a chance for NF to re-enter the fleet. Hopefully, some of those 64 Gilligs come with BRT styling; it's a sleek design and should really be Gillig's standard model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted February 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 1 hour ago, orionbuslover said: Now that BRT is officially on the table, some of the planning documents depicted 60ft. buses. I'd assume Centro would want CNG artics, so there's a chance for NF to re-enter the fleet. Hopefully, some of those 64 Gilligs come with BRT styling; it's a sleek design and should really be Gillig's standard model. They would have to heavily rebuild or expand the Syracuse maintenance facility to accommodate articulated buses. The current layout does not easily allow for new 60-foot maintenance bays and lifts without taking valuable inside storage space. Re: Gillig buses with BRT styling - I assume that would have been mentioned in the board meeting documents, although its possible to pass a later resolution to pay the additional expense if they decide to modify some of the buses with the BRT styling package. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orionbuslover Posted February 1, 2023 Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 44 minutes ago, RailBus63 said: They would have to heavily rebuild or expand the Syracuse maintenance facility to accommodate articulated buses. The current routes that BRT will replace could make good use of artics now, well, atleast before the pandemic. The planning docs aren't final and neither is funding, but I'm sure money for garage expansion could be allocated to the project. Even if standards are chosen for BRT, they'll probably want to brand the service with a unique or non-Gillig fleet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted February 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 8 hours ago, orionbuslover said: The current routes that BRT will replace could make good use of artics now, well, atleast before the pandemic. The planning docs aren't final and neither is funding, but I'm sure money for garage expansion could be allocated to the project. Even if standards are chosen for BRT, they'll probably want to brand the service with a unique or non-Gillig fleet. Those routes definitely could use artics, as could the 10 South Salina route. The issue with garage expansion is that Centro is landlocked on the current site, unless they could perhaps buy some nearby property to move the paratransit vehicles to and rebuild and expand the current paratransit vehicle space at the south end of the garage for transit bus storage. Some type of special BRT branding is a given, of course, but I don't see Centro having any issue at all with using Gillig buses for this service - they have a very solid relationship with this manufacturer. I would expect they would use one of the options in the current five-year procurement agreement with Gillig to buy the vehicles for this service, unless articulated buses somehow do become a reality. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glennwood Road Ent. Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 10 hours ago, RailBus63 said: They would have to heavily rebuild or expand the Syracuse maintenance facility to accommodate articulated buses. The current layout does not easily allow for new 60-foot maintenance bays and lifts without taking valuable inside storage space. Re: Gillig buses with BRT styling - I assume that would have been mentioned in the board meeting documents, although its possible to pass a later resolution to pay the additional expense if they decide to modify some of the buses with the BRT styling package. Are the articulated busses will be powered by CNG or diesel and and Did CENTRO getting New Flyer, NovaBus or Mercedes-Benz AG Articulated bus and are these will be built in Germany or USA by scrapping their own funds out of their pocket? On 12/14/2022 at 7:09 AM, RailBus63 said: The Centro board will vote on Friday to approve a $40.8 million contract with Gillig to purchase 64 buses for Fall 2024 delivery. No details on how many will be 35-foot vs. 40-foot buses, etc. The resolution indicates that this contract is to replace the 2011 and 2012 Orion buses, although 64 buses is a few short to fully replace these buses when the two MTA buses and four ex-demo buses are factored in. Are the 2 MTA Orion 7 EPA10 CNGs and owned by CENTRO will be transferred to NYC for MTA Bus demonstration after their retirement in mid 2020s or 2030s. MTA supposed to get #570-643 for their MTA Bus Company routes back in 2012, but one of the units was not delivered before Orion ceased operations in 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orionbuslover Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 12 hours ago, RailBus63 said: ....they could perhaps buy some nearby property to move the paratransit vehicles to and rebuild and expand the current paratransit vehicle space at the south end of the garage for transit bus storage. With BRT and Exploring Tomorrow's Transit (ETT), Centro seems ready to grow the services it offers and is open to such ideas as flex/on-demand service. So, a satellite facility for paratransit vehicles or future fleet of on-demand vehicles could even be in the cards. I agree about the 10, hopefully, a potential phase II project provides the entire Salina St corridor w BRT/frequent service. 10 hours ago, Glennwood Road Ent. said: Are the articulated busses will be powered by CNG or diesel and and Did CENTRO getting New Flyer, NovaBus or Mercedes-Benz AG Articulated bus and are these will be built in Germany or USA by scrapping their own funds out of their pocket? There are no official plans for Centro to buy artics, we'll just have to wait and see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Yorker 2001 Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 12 hours ago, Glennwood Road Ent. said: Are the articulated busses will be powered by CNG or diesel and and Did CENTRO getting New Flyer, NovaBus or Mercedes-Benz AG Articulated bus and are these will be built in Germany or USA by scrapping their own funds out of their pocket? Are the 2 MTA Orion 7 EPA10 CNGs and owned by CENTRO will be transferred to NYC for MTA Bus demonstration after their retirement in mid 2020s or 2030s. MTA supposed to get #570-643 for their MTA Bus Company routes back in 2012, but one of the units was not delivered before Orion ceased operations in 2013. Mercedes buses are not possible, certainly less so after Orion left the game years ago.... 12 hours ago, Glennwood Road Ent. said: Are the articulated busses will be powered by CNG or diesel and and Did CENTRO getting New Flyer, NovaBus or Mercedes-Benz AG Articulated bus and are these will be built in Germany or USA by scrapping their own funds out of their pocket? Are the 2 MTA Orion 7 EPA10 CNGs and owned by CENTRO will be transferred to NYC for MTA Bus demonstration after their retirement in mid 2020s or 2030s. MTA supposed to get #570-643 for their MTA Bus Company routes back in 2012, but one of the units was not delivered before Orion ceased operations in 2013. Those Ex-MTA bus Company 2012 Orion 7.501 EPA10 3G CNGs are toast as why would the MTA want those buses as they are actively retiring their own O7s in mass nowadays? I honestly think those units should have gone to NICE bus instead as they were basically identical to #1840-1884 (except the BC ones has ZF transmissions whereas NICE's has Allisons). Could have used them to retire a couple more 2000 Orion 5.501 CNGs they had at the time (#1526-1632). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 1003 up for auction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailBus63 Posted February 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2023 The online agenda for the February board meeting includes a document outlining Centro's plan to transition the fleet to Zero Emission Vehicles by 2036. The agency is applying for a grant to fund the purchase of four hydrogen fuel cell buses as part of the upcoming 2024 purchase of 64 buses for the Syracuse fleet. I'm not aware that Gillig currently offers a hydrogen fuel cell bus, so these four may well come from another manufacturer (New Flyer?). Centro has determined that fuel cell technology would provide the best operating range for the conditions in its territory, although the adoption of battery-electric vehicles at a future point in time has not been ruled out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Yorker 2001 Posted March 1, 2023 Report Share Posted March 1, 2023 On 2/20/2023 at 11:22 AM, RailBus63 said: The online agenda for the February board meeting includes a document outlining Centro's plan to transition the fleet to Zero Emission Vehicles by 2036. The agency is applying for a grant to fund the purchase of four hydrogen fuel cell buses as part of the upcoming 2024 purchase of 64 buses for the Syracuse fleet. I'm not aware that Gillig currently offers a hydrogen fuel cell bus, so these four may well come from another manufacturer (New Flyer?). Centro has determined that fuel cell technology would provide the best operating range for the conditions in its territory, although the adoption of battery-electric vehicles at a future point in time has not been ruled out. Yeah, probably from New Flyer unless El Dorado joins in as they also offer Hydrogen buses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orionbuslover Posted August 16, 2023 Report Share Posted August 16, 2023 Service to the Airport is coming back in September. They’ve streamlined the Mattydale route - getting rid of current deviations - to serve the Airport. I like that a local route is being utilized this time. The press release mentions all the new jobs at the Airport, so target demo seems to be workers over travelers. Smart move. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now