transit addict 327 Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 On 4/8/2017 at 1:27 PM, gilligfanboi said: I was in Austin last weekend and was shocked to see one of the ~2000-era Gilligs still on the road. I only saw one. Didn't catch the fleet number. Just wondering when those will finally all be retired. My guess would be soon, like within the next year maybe. Not sure about the 2001 express Gilligs though, as they got repainted last year. Why bother spending money on repainting them when they would retire them soon? They might stick around for another couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilligfanboi Posted April 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 23 hours ago, transit addict 327 said: My guess would be soon, like within the next year maybe. Not sure about the 2001 express Gilligs though, as they got repainted last year. Why bother spending money on repainting them when they would retire them soon? They might stick around for another couple of years. Yeah I'm really curious about those and what will replace them. Wonder how many miles those oldest fillings have on the clock. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 The next batch of Nova's are being delivered. 7 artics and 8 40-footers will join the fleet to increase MetroRAPID to every 10 minutes during the weekdays, 15 minutes on weekends, and 20 minutes for late-night service. Service will now end later on Thursday's, Friday's and Saturday's until 2:30 am, and until midnight on Sunday's. These service changes are approved for this August. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andru Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 Do you know what are these new buses numbered? 5101-5107 for the artics, 5151-5158 for the 40-footers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 2 hours ago, Andru said: Do you know what are these new buses numbered? 5101-5107 for the artics, 5151-5158 for the 40-footers? That's exactly correct 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAverageJoe Posted August 16, 2017 Report Share Posted August 16, 2017 Cap Metro to reopen dormant freight line east of Elgin http://www.mystatesman.com/news/local/cap-metro-reopen-dormant-freight-line-east-elgin/JkaEsMwkKWjSLqV9YM5XwO/ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 As of yesterday (Sunday 10/15), all 2005 Optima Opus' have been retired from service. The two 2003 DE40LF hybrids were retired back on September 27. They were replaced with 2700-series Gillig BRT 40-ft. Between now and December Cap Metro will take delivery of the last of the 2700-series, 35 footers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilligfanboi Posted October 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 On 10/16/2017 at 4:48 PM, transit addict 327 said: As of yesterday (Sunday 10/15), all 2005 Optima Opus' have been retired from service. The two 2003 DE40LF hybrids were retired back on September 27. They were replaced with 2700-series Gillig BRT 40-ft. Between now and December Cap Metro will take delivery of the last of the 2700-series, 35 footers. Is their single DE40LFR still in service? How many of the 1999-2001 Gillig low floors remain in service? What about the 1997/2003 D35LFs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transit geek Posted October 20, 2017 Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 I find it weird how the local service vehicles have a blue livery while the rapid service ones are red like the MetroRail. Thought Metro's primary colour was red in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted October 20, 2017 Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 7 hours ago, gilligfanboi said: Is their single DE40LFR still in service? How many of the 1999-2001 Gillig low floors remain in service? What about the 1997/2003 D35LFs? #2103 (2007 DE41LFR) is still in service and is now the only hybrid in the fleet. Here is a photo of it I took this past weekend. Only 3 1998 D35LF's remain in service, but will finally retire this December. Out of the 2003 D35LF's 9 were retired last year and 2 will retire this December. The remaining ones will retire in summer of 2018. As for the Gillig's, all of the 8700 (year 1999) and 8800 (year 2000) are retired. 14 of the 8900 (year 2001) are already retired, and 2 are retiring this month (not sure which ones). The rest will retire in summer of 2018. 4 hours ago, Transit geek said: I find it weird how the local service vehicles have a blue livery while the rapid service ones are red like the MetroRail. Thought Metro's primary colour was red in the first place. Their primary colors were green and blue, however they changed to electric blue when they received the 2012 D35LFR's. They designated red with anything to do with fast service (rapid, rail, and express). 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilligfanboi Posted October 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 16 hours ago, transit addict 327 said: 2103 (2007 DE41LFR) is still in service and is now the only hybrid in the fleet. Here is a photo of it I took this past weekend. Great pic of 2103! A beautiful bus. And thanks for all the good info on various fleets. I see the wiki has been updated quite a bit and the 9100 series suburban Gilligs are due for retirement in 2019. Do you know about plans for replacing those? Also curious whether one of the 9100s still has amber destination signs. I always thought it was so interesting how one bus ended up with that when I was living in Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 6 hours ago, gilligfanboi said: Great pic of 2103! A beautiful bus. And thanks for all the good info on various fleets. I see the wiki has been updated quite a bit and the 9100 series suburban Gilligs are due for retirement in 2019. Do you know about plans for replacing those? Also curious whether one of the 9100s still has amber destination signs. I always thought it was so interesting how one bus ended up with that when I was living in Austin. Cap Metro currently has an open contract with MCI for the next 3 years, so that will replace the 9100 series. As for the one 9100 with the amber destination sign, it got switched back to flip-dot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilligfanboi Posted October 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 10 hours ago, transit addict 327 said: Cap Metro currently has an open contract with MCI for the next 3 years, so that will replace the 9100 series. As for the one 9100 with the amber destination sign, it got switched back to flip-dot. Very interesting! Used to love seeing that bus in the distance on Mopac. You could always see it coming with that bright amber destination sign. Replacement with MCIs will be a nice upgrade though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted December 10, 2017 Report Share Posted December 10, 2017 Here's an article on the maintenance troubles with the MetroRAPID fleet. https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2017/12/breakdowns-plague-metrorapid-fleet/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 It's now official... the last 3 remaining 1998 D35LF's are now retired, having been replaced by new 35' 2017 Gillig's. Thank you for 20 years of service. I will dearly miss these buses as they were fun to ride. Despite its old age, those engines still had power. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilligfanboi Posted December 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2017 On 12/24/2017 at 9:29 PM, transit addict 327 said: It's now official... the last 3 remaining 1998 D35LF's are now retired, having been replaced by new 35' 2017 Gillig's. Thank you for 20 years of service. I will dearly miss these buses as they were fun to ride. Despite its old age, those engines still had power. Wow! It’s crazy to me that those ‘98 D35LFs were in service as long as they were. Don’t think any of the Gillig Phantoms that came before them lasted nearly twenty years. I can remember riding on those New Flyers when I was in middle school and they were brand new. Did they keep their Series 50s until the end? Newer Gillig Low Floors at Cap Metro have long-since lost their Series 40s in favor of ISLs, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted December 29, 2017 Report Share Posted December 29, 2017 On 12/27/2017 at 7:31 PM, gilligfanboi said: Did they keep their Series 50s until the end? Newer Gillig Low Floors at Cap Metro have long-since lost their Series 40s in favor of ISLs, correct? Yes they still have their original S50's and yes to all Gillig's having the Cummins ISL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Here's a quick video I posted of some 1998 New Flyer action when they sere still in service. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 A friend of mine who works for Cap Metro informed me of new buses on order for next year. They have ordered 24 Gillig 35' buses (fleet number 2801-2824), most likely in the BRT style like the previous orders. They will replace the remaining 18 2003 D35LF's still in service and 6 2001 Gillig Advantages (not sure which ones yet). Also on order are 28 MCI D4500 commuter coaches (fleet number 9401-9428) to replace the 2001 Gillig suburban buses. Both are expected to be delivered around May/June of 2019. Also of note, 2103 (2007 DE40LFR, the last remaining hybrid) is getting repainted into the electric blue local bus livery. They also just finished testing a Proterra Catalyst E2 bus for 2 weeks in August, and are expected to test 2 other electric buses in September, one from New Flyer and the other from BYD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilligfanboi Posted September 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2018 On 9/5/2018 at 11:48 AM, transit addict 327 said: A friend of mine who works for Cap Metro informed me of new buses on order for next year. They have ordered 24 Gillig 35' buses (fleet number 2801-2824), most likely in the BRT style like the previous orders. They will replace the remaining 18 2003 D35LF's still in service and 6 2001 Gillig Advantages (not sure which ones yet). Also on order are 28 MCI D4500 commuter coaches (fleet number 9401-9428) to replace the 2001 Gillig suburban buses. Both are expected to be delivered around May/June of 2019. Also of note, 2103 (2007 DE40LFR, the last remaining hybrid) is getting repainted into the electric blue local bus livery. They also just finished testing a Proterra Catalyst E2 bus for 2 weeks in August, and are expected to test 2 other electric buses in September, one from New Flyer and the other from BYD. Thanks for these awesome updates. It amazes me how much Cap Metro seems to love 35-footers. The retirement of those final 2003 D35LFs will mean an end to the DD50 in Austin, if I’m not mistaken. I guess Cap Metro must be decently happy with all the Gilligs it has taken delivery of over the past couple of years. But I’d really like to see some Xcelsiors in service down there. As for MCIs replacing the suburban gilligs from 2001, I’d been wondering what would replace those for ages. Seems like a nice upgrade! I wonder why they decided to repaint 2103. I always liked the teal for hybrids. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted March 13, 2019 Report Share Posted March 13, 2019 The new Gillig's are rolling in ahead of schedule. The era of the Detroit Diesel S50 engine in Austin is coming to an end soon. Photo credit goes to Fred Reutzel who gave me the heads up. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexb320 Posted May 1, 2019 Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 Capital Metro has awarded Proterra for the purchase of (4) 40ft Catalyst E2 buses. https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/vehicles/hybrid-hydrogen-electric-vehicles/press-release/21077603/proterra-capmetro-to-purchase-four-proterra-electric-buses-and-battery-charging-systems Also, there are (8) 2003 New Flyer D35LF listed for auction on GovDeals: 2001 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1264&acctid=1130 2002 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1265&acctid=1130 2005 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1266&acctid=1130 2007 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1267&acctid=1130 2013 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1268&acctid=1130 2014 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1269&acctid=1130 2015 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1270&acctid=1130 2017 - https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1271&acctid=1130 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz2kb Posted December 13, 2019 Report Share Posted December 13, 2019 (edited) During my visit in August, I have taken a whole bunch of pictures covering the new routes from the 2018 network revamp, new buses delivered and repaints occured after my 2016 visit. First up are the New Flyer repaints. D40LFR bus 2218 and D35LFR bus 2254, both 2009 buses, are spotted at the newly opened Westgate Transit Center situated beneath a highway segment. Meanwhile, D35LFR bus 2302 from the 2010 batch is also featured here as a repaint to the current livery. Since my 2016 visit, there is a steady stampede of Gillig BRT's into the agency's fleet. 2016 Buses 2502 and 2643 (Both pictured at Tech Ridge Park and Ride), plus 2017 bus 2714 on a University of Texas (UT) duty are 40ft. examples. Their 35ft. sister buses are exemplified by 2016 buses 2555 and 2653, 2017 bus 2752 on UT duty and 2018 bus 2801 on a Round Rock (Williamson County) duty. Note that the orange stripe on white UT livery is now history. Buses on UT duties simply display UT logos on their headsigns. Special mention must be made about the agency's effort in branching out to Austin's outer suburbs. Cutaway 1981 is an IC Bus used on an in-house Round Rock local, while Ford cutaway 2504 is operated by the Capital Area Rural Transit System(CARTS) but branded as GoGeo/Metrobus on a Georgetown (Williamson County) local. Finally, ElDorado National EZ-Rider II BRT bus 3202 is also sourced from CARTS but carries the current Capital Metro livery. It is spotted on a commuter route to Manor and Elgin. The agency has obtained 28 brand new MCI D4500 coaches like 9406 spotted in Round Rock. Also attached here is bus 5101, the first of the 2017 Novabus LFX artics. Finally, expansion train 201 for the Metrorail is also attached here. Once again, here is my Capital Metro gallery: Capital Metro (Austin, Texas) Edited December 13, 2019 by Buzz2kb 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAX BRT Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 First of CapMetro's electric bus fleet hitting the streets in Austin https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/first-of-capmetros-electric-bus-fleet-hitting-the-streets-in-austin Proterra Catalyst E2 buses. This thread indicates that 4 were ordered last year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transit addict 327 Posted September 10, 2020 Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 All electric buses have been delivered and are undergoing testing and driver training. They should hit the streets in service on various routes sometime this fall. They have 4 Proterra 40' Catalyst, 4 New Flyer XE40, and 2 New Flyer XE60. As for the older New Flyer and Gilligs, they are all retired and disposed of. A few of the old express Gilligs and D35LF's were kept for driver training for some reason. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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