Benjamin Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Can't say I've been on that route yet...are there any clearance issues that bar them from using a low floor with extremely low clearance? As you can tell from the pictures the new buses use a pretty low profile tire...I want to say that the clearance is minimally less but still less than the other Gilligs but don't quote me on it. That being said, with the necessity of the 30-footers on some key routes I am guessing that they may appear as soon as the fleet is fully deployed, which may take a month or two. I saw a 2700 running on it today, which seem like the series of buses they are using to replace a lot of runs that previously used 2100's. Saw a few replacing runs on the 96 as well - it's only a matter of months before they are off the road (the now fading 2000's were only a 24 bus fleet...the remaining 3300's should all but take care of that fleet). Merlo had a fleeting moment of having the newest fleet out of the three garages...looks like Center will hold that distinction for a while unless TriMet decides to go in the CNG direction. Jared, Right now on line 34 there is bus 3404 working it. . . ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Has TriMet starting testing the Type 5 MAX cars? Has TriMet got anymore Type 5 MAX cars in recent months? When does TriMet hope to have the type 5 trains will enter service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 I got the chance to ride TriMet quite a bit on Tuesday and it's an interesting system. First off, I was really impressed by how much ground MAX covers, but the headways are really not very impressive. Outside of rush hour, the blue line only runs every 15 minutes, compounding the issue is that the departures didn't appear to be evenly spaced, so instead of a Red Line and Blue Line train every 7.5 minutes, there's one every 5 or 10 minutes. Also the stops in Downtown are really close together (as little as two short blocks apart) and the trains move at a crawl despite having their own lanes. Also I was intrigued by the frequent service network. Again it covers an impressive amount of territory with good 15 minute service, but the buses are just ancient. The 25 year old Gillig's might be fun for bus fans, but they're probably no fun when you're commuting every day on one, that has had maintenance deferred due to budget cuts. I was also scratching my head about the liveries. It's been over 10 years since TriMet introduced the new blue/yellow look... but there still is a lot of equipment carrying the old red/burgundy stripes. Anyways, overall I was impressed, but it seemed like there was a lot of room for improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I got the chance to ride TriMet quite a bit on Tuesday and it's an interesting system. First off, I was really impressed by how much ground MAX covers, but the headways are really not very impressive. Outside of rush hour, the blue line only runs every 15 minutes, compounding the issue is that the departures didn't appear to be evenly spaced, so instead of a Red Line and Blue Line train every 7.5 minutes, there's one every 5 or 10 minutes. Also the stops in Downtown are really close together (as little as two short blocks apart) and the trains move at a crawl despite having their own lanes. Also I was intrigued by the frequent service network. Again it covers an impressive amount of territory with good 15 minute service, but the buses are just ancient. The 25 year old Gillig's might be fun for bus fans, but they're probably no fun when you're commuting every day on one, that has had maintenance deferred due to budget cuts. I was also scratching my head about the liveries. It's been over 10 years since TriMet introduced the new blue/yellow look... but there still is a lot of equipment carrying the old red/burgundy stripes. Anyways, overall I was impressed, but it seemed like there was a lot of room for improvement. A couple of notes from a long time Portland watcher: *First, I had to look up the LRT line "colors" as I basically know them as the Gresham Line, Beaverton Line, Airport Line, and Interstate Line. I was a little surprised to see the 15 minute headways on the Blue Line during offpeak as that is the trunk line for the entire system. On the other hand, outside of the core area (where the route overlaps with others) the Gresham and Beaverton ends are very suburban, so it makes sense that they can get away with lower headways out on the tails. Blue Line runs as frequently as every five minutes during rush, which is very impressive, especially considering the bottlenecks on the steel bridge and the Rose Garden. *Stop spacing. I've maintained for more than 15 years that if TriMet closed every other stop between the old downtown loop east to Lloyd Center, no one would really notice and the trains would be a lot faster. The stop spacing is nuts, and the system is too busy to be losing that much dwell time. *Please note that unlike Seattle, where the local buses and light rail are operated by separate agencies with different goals, TriMet has had a fully integrated route structure from the beginning. Light Rail works so well down there because they have invested in bus transfer facilities at many/most of the stations, and if you really look at the bus routes, especially in the sticks, they've all been redesigned to feed MAX. It works pretty well. Most of the remaining long surface bus routes (12 Sandy/Barbour, for instance) operate far from light rail. This has allowed for a lot of efficiencies in their bus operation. *Regarding capital replacement, I actually applaud TriMet for pushing their bus replacement cycle way way out (okay, maybe too far out). Unlike King County Metro, who kept chugging along, making small cuts but never doing what they really needed to do, TriMet saw the recession and its requisite drop off in revenue, cut hard across the board (operations, capital, played hardball with labor unions, etc), and emerged from the recession in much better shape. Metro was in denial about what they needed to do, then never acknowledged that their costs were still rising much faster than inflation and that was the real need for a tax increase. When the increase failed and revenue reappeared, they were *shocked.* I wasn't. *The 25 year old Gilligs could go away, but I'd like to point out that if you actually rode on a high floor Gillig, you were most likely on one that was much newer. TriMet has a pretty sizable fleet of 1996-97 Phantoms that still operate on many core routes. The 25 year old Gilligs are mostly (all?) based out of Powell garage, on the east side of town, and are pretty much restricted to trippers. In 17 years of visits to Portland, I've never been on a Gillig that wasn't one of the 96-97 models, the others been relegated to suburban service many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 Ride video of 3401 on line 152. These are the buses replacing the 1600s and 1900s! ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I have permission from WhenEliseSings to post this photo. One of Trimet's new S70s for the Orange Line by WhenEliseSings, on Flickr According to him the new S70 have started service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Diesel 6V92TA Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) 1602 is up for sale: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1269&aid=94604&lid=25177419&rts=%2Fasp%2Fsearchadvanced_i.asp%23searchid%3D42324801%26type%3Dlot%26search%3Dbus%26sort%3Drelevance%26view%3Dgallery%26length%3D100%26start%3D1%26refine%3D 1609 is up for sale: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1269&aid=94604&lid=25177421&rts=/asp/searchadvanced_i.asp%23searchid%3D0%26type%3Dlot%26search%3DGillig%26sort%3Drelevance%26view%3Dgallery%26length%3D25%26start%3D1%26refine%3D#topoflot 1612 is up for sale: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1269&aid=94604&lid=25177420&rts=/asp/searchadvanced_i.asp%23searchid%3D0%26type%3Dlot%26search%3DGillig%26sort%3Drelevance%26view%3Dgallery%26length%3D25%26start%3D1%26refine%3D#topoflot Edited May 25, 2015 by Detroit Diesel 6V92TA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 1602 is up for sale: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1269&aid=94604&lid=25177419&rts=%2Fasp%2Fsearchadvanced_i.asp%23searchid%3D42324801%26type%3Dlot%26search%3Dbus%26sort%3Drelevance%26view%3Dgallery%26length%3D100%26start%3D1%26refine%3D 1609 is up for sale: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1269&aid=94604&lid=25177421&rts=/asp/searchadvanced_i.asp%23searchid%3D0%26type%3Dlot%26search%3DGillig%26sort%3Drelevance%26view%3Dgallery%26length%3D25%26start%3D1%26refine%3D#topoflot 1612 is up for sale: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1269&aid=94604&lid=25177420&rts=/asp/searchadvanced_i.asp%23searchid%3D0%26type%3Dlot%26search%3DGillig%26sort%3Drelevance%26view%3Dgallery%26length%3D25%26start%3D1%26refine%3D#topoflot I notice that the auction site is listing them as 40-footers both in the title and in the description. That's incorrect, correct ...?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 I notice that the auction site is listing them as 40-footers both in the title and in the description. That's incorrect, correct ...?? Right. . . these are 30 feet long! ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 What type of Gilling Low Floor are replacing these buses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 What type of Gilling Low Floor are replacing these buses? Not exactly sure what you're asking... but all of TriMet's Gillig low floor coaches have the BRT styling package.Here's more info on these new 30 footers... http://news.trimet.org/2015/03/new-30-foot-trimet-buses-are-now-in-service-in-areas-with-tighter-turns-and-terrain/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Not exactly sure what you're asking... but all of TriMet's Gillig low floor coaches have the BRT styling package. Here's more info on these new 30 footers... http://news.trimet.org/2015/03/new-30-foot-trimet-buses-are-now-in-service-in-areas-with-tighter-turns-and-terrain/ You answered the question, I asked perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Diesel 6V92TA Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I notice that the auction site is listing them as 40-footers both in the title and in the description. That's incorrect, correct ...?? Right. . . these are 30 feet long! ~Ben It was probably a typo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 It was probably a typo. Yeah, but that is a pretty significant mistake. They should definitely correct that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Tri-Met adopted its FY2016 budget -- this will even mean less 2100-series Gillig Phantoms: http://news.trimet.org/2015/05/trimet-adopts-budget-that-expands-service-improves-system-reliability-and-adds-77-new-buses/ ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Tri-Met adopted its FY2016 budget -- this will even mean less 2100-series Gillig Phantoms: http://news.trimet.org/2015/05/trimet-adopts-budget-that-expands-service-improves-system-reliability-and-adds-77-new-buses/ ~Ben That's great news! In fact there is a lot of really good news in that press release.On a related note, what is the status of the 1600 & 2000 series buses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 That's great news! In fact there is a lot of really good news in that press release. On a related note, what is the status of the 1600 & 2000 series buses? As far as I know all the 1600s are gone (the 3400s taking their place) but some 2000s may still remain. ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 As far as I know all the 1600s are gone (the 3400s taking their place) but some 2000s may still remain. ~Ben The reason I ask is that it would make more since from a marketing perspective to eliminate the 2100-series Gillig Phantom coaches before the 2000-series D40LF coaches so TriMet can promote that the fleet is entirely low-floor and air conditioned.I ask about the 1600-series coaches because TriMet had 43 in the fleet... but only purchased 22 3400-series coaches to replace them. What happened? Does TriMet simply have fewer routes that need 30-foot coaches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 The reason I ask is that it would make more since from a marketing perspective to eliminate the 2100-series Gillig Phantom coaches before the 2000-series D40LF coaches so TriMet can promote that the fleet is entirely low-floor and air conditioned. I ask about the 1600-series coaches because TriMet had 43 in the fleet... but only purchased 22 3400-series coaches to replace them. What happened? Does TriMet simply have fewer routes that need 30-foot coaches? They do intend to purchase 18 more of these "baby" Advantages (I hope they were included in the FY2016 budget), however some of the routes the 1600s had already been served by 40-foot buses. ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 (edited) Does anyone know what's up with TriMet buses 3261 to 3267? Could these be the second group of "super hybrids" (diesel-electric hybrids) a la 3052 to 3055? Whatever they are, they had showed up on lines 12, 33 and 75. Thank you! ~Ben Edited June 5, 2015 by Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Does anyone know what's up with TriMet buses 3261 to 3267? Could these be the second group of "super hybrids" (diesel-electric hybrids) a la 3052 to 3055? Whatever they are, they had showed up on lines 12, 33 and 75. Thank you! ~Ben Most likely a second batch of hybrids for TriMet. How are the Hybrid buses performing for TriMet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) Most likely a second batch of hybrids for TriMet. How are the Hybrid buses performing for TriMet? TriMet's third overall if you count the two 2002 New Flyer DE40LFs 2561-2562 they'd retired just before the first Gillig Advantage hybrids came in. ~Ben Edited June 6, 2015 by Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Does anyone know what's up with TriMet buses 3261 to 3267? Could these be the second group of "super hybrids" (diesel-electric hybrids) a la 3052 to 3055? Whatever they are, they had showed up on lines 12, 33 and 75. Thank you! ~Ben In the news release for the 3300 series coaches TriMet says it planned to get 34 new buses in early 2015:22 - 30-foot diesel buses (the 3400 series coaches) 4 - 40-foot hybrid buses 8 - buses (I assume these would be 40-foot diesel coaches) Unless something has changed and the order size was increased, I doubt that 3261-3267 are the new hybrids. Could they be the small order of 8 buses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 In the news release for the 3300 series coaches TriMet says it planned to get 34 new buses in early 2015: 22 - 30-foot diesel buses (the 3400 series coaches) 4 - 40-foot hybrid buses 8 - buses (I assume these would be 40-foot diesel coaches) Unless something has changed and the order size was increased, I doubt that 3261-3267 are the new hybrids. Could they be the small order of 8 buses? I'd bet money on those being the super hybrids. If they have special markings designating them as such, I guess I win. ~Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I'd bet money on those being the super hybrids. If they have special markings designating them as such, I guess I win. ~Ben I could totally be wrong. I'm just looking at TriMet news releases while sitting in Seattle.So what makes these hybrids "super?" Any idea on which hybrid system TriMet went with? BAE, Allison? 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