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San Diego MTS


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  • 3 months later...
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. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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

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  • 2 weeks later...

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) 

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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!

 

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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). 

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  • 1 month later...

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. 

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  • 2 months later...

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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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  • 2 months later...

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. 

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