XN40 Posted June 17, 2021 Report Share Posted June 17, 2021 It appears that MTS is going to be giving 39 SD100 LRV's to Mendoza, AR for their rail system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted June 22, 2021 Report Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 6/17/2021 at 2:11 PM, XN40 said: It appears that MTS is going to be giving 39 SD100 LRV's to Mendoza, AR for their rail system. Wow, the oldest SD-100s are like 25 years old. I guess MTS wants to be 100% low-floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 On 6/22/2021 at 5:25 AM, FYBklyn1959 said: Wow, the oldest SD-100s are like 25 years old. I guess MTS wants to be 100% low-floor. Correct the plan is to 100 percent low floor with the SDX cars. They will continue on with the 5000 series numbering starting with 5046. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 22, 2021 Report Share Posted October 22, 2021 San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has awarded New Flyer a contract for 12 battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE buses measuring 18 metres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted November 6, 2021 Report Share Posted November 6, 2021 On 10/22/2021 at 2:15 PM, Mike said: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has awarded New Flyer a contract for 12 battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE buses measuring 18 metres This has been known for a while (for those in the know) and these buses are for a new Rapid bus route. I guess this order has been officially finalized. MTS is also soliciting bids for new CNG and ZEB buses in 40' and 60' lengths. Mid Coast extension should be open on the 21st of November with service from San Ysidro all the way up to UTC. Frequency will be every 15 minutes with 7.5 minute service from San Ysidro to America Plaza. https://sdmts.com/schedules-real-time-service-notices/november-2021-service-changes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted July 13, 2022 Report Share Posted July 13, 2022 Expect an announcement soon as MTS is rumored to be getting a lot of CNG and BEB's from New Flyer in both 40 and 60' lengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted July 16, 2022 Report Share Posted July 16, 2022 Executive committee has forwarded the proposal to the board, but the amounts of buses might change yearly by the board (pending funding and division 6). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted July 27, 2022 Report Share Posted July 27, 2022 https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2022/07/21/mts-approves-contract-to-massively-expand-electric-bus-fleet Up to 125 Xcelsior CHARGE buses with an additional 90 as options. There are also plans for up to 258 or more CNG buses while MTS is working on transitioning over to ZEB. 39 buses from the 2017 contract have yet to be delivered and this contract should start sometime in September or October. Actual amounts will likely be decided by the MTS boards in the coming years. Gillig, ENC, and BYD all bid on this contract but for some reason MTS narrowed it down to NFI and Gillig with New Flyer winning due to discounts if they went all in. New Flyer is the more expensive bid but MTS felt that the superior tech score outweighed the lower purchase price of the Gillig bus. https://www.sdmts.com/sites/default/files/2022-07-21-board-agenda-and-materials_3.pdf (Page 193) 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Border City Transit Posted July 28, 2022 Report Share Posted July 28, 2022 1 hour ago, XN40 said: Actual amounts will likely be decided by the MTS boards in the coming years. Gillig, ENC, and BYD all bid on this contract but for some reason MTS narrowed it down to NFI and Gillig with New Flyer winning due to discounts if they went all in. New Flyer is the more expensive bid but MTS felt that the superior tech score outweighed the lower purchase price of the Gillig bus. Excellent!! Those Gilligs are so unpleasant and always felt like a bad fit for San Diego. Will be happy to see New Flyers rule the streets again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 Despite the new contract awarded to New Flyer, MTS is going to be receiving 38 Gillig CNG buses for South Bay Division in the up and coming months. These buses have started production sometime in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted September 18, 2022 Report Share Posted September 18, 2022 One of the new South Bay Gillig's was recently spotted on the freeway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted October 18, 2022 Report Share Posted October 18, 2022 On Facebook, it appears that MTS has taken delivery of 2200 series Gillig buses. These 38 buses are the last Gillig CNG buses ever to be ordered by MTS. All future buses will be from the aforementioned New Flyer deal. I guess Sharon Cooney saw the value of a single source procurement even if it costs more. Some of the 338-350 series buses were retired without any replacements (likely due to driver shortages). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted December 4, 2022 Report Share Posted December 4, 2022 https://www.kpbs.org/news/science-technology/2022/12/02/aging-san-diego-trolley-cars-find-new-life-in-argentina?fbclid=IwAR1e3G6ogvIRjQoHICqAJs7vKP3N2fwPoJJ9yCPxMM5jHLouWd9hPx3yot4 Mendoza to take 39 SD100 LRV's as a part of a deal with San Diego. Mendoza wants to expand their service and this will help them. Mendoza will get these for free but will pay for the shipping and dismantling costs. A few will remain in San Diego for a little longer but will also be given to a brewery and possibly a rail museum. Any unaccounted for trains will be scrapped but I hope that 2001 remains at the Powell LRV yard for historical purposes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Border City Transit Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 "Didn't we tell you this is a New Flyer town?" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted February 17, 2023 Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 SDMTS has ordered 24 Starcraft Allstar buses on Ford E-450 chassis. The plan was to order 26 passenger F-550 propane mini buses but Ford said that there would be a wait of 24-48 months to delivery and that is best case scenario. MTS found that they could replace 24 minbuses with 20 passenger ones would not negatively impact ridership as mini bus routes operated by First are meant for areas that cannot sustain a 40' bus. Kearny Mesa Division is getting a new overhead charging system so they can accommodate ZEB's. I guess KMD will be operating Xcelsior CHARGE buses in the near future as a lot of in house routes are operated by them. Overhead charging makes it easy to charge buses in a yard like MTS as the ChargePoint chargers take up way too much room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted February 23, 2023 Report Share Posted February 23, 2023 One thing I posted on the NCTD but not the MTS thread is that MTS wants to make changes to the Sorrento Valley Coaster Connection (Routes 972, 973, 974, 978, 979). Sorrento Valley Coaster Connection is a niche commuter circulator that takes people from Sorrento Valley Coaster to various job centers in the Sorrento Valley (Mira Mesa) and La Jolla. MTS wants to reduce these 5 routes into 2 as they are very resource intensive and ridership has not fully recovered due to COVID and WFH. NCTD does reimburse MTS for 50 percent of the operating costs + 1 USD fare for each trip. The ultimate plan is to transfer these over to NCTD even though these routes operate in MTS jurisdiction. This of course depends on NCTD's staffing levels. This will be up for Public Hearing at next months MTS board meeting on March 16. If approved, changes will happen as early as June of this year. Iris Rapid will now be christened Rapid Route 227 as 925 was just a place holder. This is a 100 percent MTS idea as the other Rapids were penned by SANDAG (San Diego's regional transportation planning board). This route will also replace Route 950 Express from Iris Trolley to Otay POE. Plan is to use the Imperial Beach Blvd then go on a side street or 2 to Iris then the 905 to Otay with a stop at Caliente which would also serve San Ysidro HS. Route 227 should launch in September as a soft launch with frequency of 7.5 minutes on peaks and 15 minutes off peak. This will also be mentioned at the public hearing next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted February 28, 2023 Report Share Posted February 28, 2023 https://www.sdmts.com/inside-mts/current-projects/rapid-227-iris-rapid Notice of Public Hearing for Route 227. This confirms that Route 925 is now Rapid Route 227. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted March 16, 2023 Report Share Posted March 16, 2023 When I was driving in Mira Mesa, 1405 is now sporting the Rapid Livery. I guess the 300's are done for but MTS is probably wrapping a few Gillig buses for Rapid Routes 237 and 204. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted March 20, 2023 Report Share Posted March 20, 2023 https://www.facebook.com/sdmts/posts/pfbid0QMSBYeSr12U7tBBnRQ5Wk8cCNtWhCvwYLprZb7mWxyBQ4GHxxvKxTd7whkA1tgmGl MTS just took delivery of 7551 their first Xcelsior CHARGE bus to be used on Rapid Route 227. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 621-626 are now at South Bay division renumbered as 2923-2928 maybe 2929. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted June 19, 2023 Report Share Posted June 19, 2023 MTS Anticipates Return to Normal Bus Service in South Bay and East County as Agreement Reached Between Transdev and Teamsters | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (sdmts.com) Looks like the 5 week South Bay strike has officially ended due to a new deal between Transdev and Teamsters Local 683. Drivers are expected to go back to work on June 19. This new deal was made possible by MTS giving Transdev 1 Million USD to help solve some of the issues. There are still issues in this new contract but at least riders can now depend on MTS to get them to their destination. Transdev (First Transit) is still under negotiations with Teamsters Local 542 for Minibus and Access (Paratransit) services. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 In other news not long after the 683 strike ended, Teamsters 542 representing Copley Park was also able to make a deal with First Transit (Transdev). The new 12 XE60 buses are numbered 7551-7562 for Rapid Route 227. Rapid Route 227 will go into service next month but will be a soft launch as there is some construction to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XN40 Posted September 28, 2023 Report Share Posted September 28, 2023 It looks like MTS got new Rapid buses in the 1900 range. They look just like the current ones but with white destination signs and vinyl seats instead of the cloth ones on the 1100s. Oh and they now have 3 position bike racks. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glennwood Road Ent. Posted October 18, 2023 Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glennwood Road Ent. Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 Unit 1126 has been retired and transferred to Santa Cruz due to fleet shortage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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