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Metro closes before Nationals game ends

Monday night's 13-inning victory by the Washington Nationals over the Atlanta Braves was one of the most thrilling of the season. However, for Nats fans who took Metro to the game and stayed all night to see the conclusion of the 5-4 win, getting home was a different story.

The game, which lasted nearly 4 1/2-hours and ended well after midnight, went longer than Metro trains run, stranding plenty of fans outside the Navy Yard-Ballpark station and sent them scrambling for an alternate way to get home.

Nats fan Anthony Jackson said, "There weren't enough cabs, there weren't enough buses, so a lot of people were just standing around, walking. It was kind of sad."

Metro has agreements with local sports teams to keep its 86 stations open should games go long. But, according to WTOP, the Nationals and WMATA do not have such an agreement . Spokesman Dan Stessel says that it costs nearly $30,000 per hour to extend service past normal running hours.

The system isn't free. It costs us quite a bit of money to keep it open for additional hours, and someone has to pay for that. So without an agreement in place ahead of time, metro closed at12 as it does every night of the week," added Metro spokeswoman Caroline Lukas.

Teams pay WMATA $29,000 an hour to keep the system past scheduled times. But until there's such a deal with the Nats, fans may have to make a choice - support the team until the end or get home on time.

It's not a new problem for sports fans - during the Washington Capitals playoff run this past spring, Metro stayed open late to accommodate games that went multiple overtimes. The most notable of those games happened on May 2, when Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Capitals and New York Rangers went into triple overtime.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/08/metro-closes-before-nationals-game-ends-79029.html

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  • 1 month later...

Hey, Metro has a blog and there is an interesting article about how their fuel economy has risen 27% in the last 6 years or so.

http://planitmetro.com/2012/09/27/metrobus-fuel-efficiency-on-the-rise/

"In particular, introducing diesel-electric hybrid buses to the fleet has helped push up the average: on the streets today, our diesel-electric hybrid fleets are achieving average mileage of 4.49 MPG. Metro purchased its first hybrid bus fleet in 2006, and today these buses provide 41% of Metro’s bus vehicle-miles."

The article also says that Metro has found that their hybrid and CNG buses "barely" cost more than straight diesel buses over the lifetime of the bus.

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  • 9 months later...

WMATA orders NABI 42 BRT Hybrids

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5545

Interesting that they're going with BRT buses again and it's also interesting that with NABI/New Flyer Merged together, there are more product offering including the BRT models offerings via the merged company.

Looks like all 1997-2000 Orion are in their final leg now.

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WMATA orders NABI 42 BRT Hybrids

http://www.wmata.com...?ReleaseID=5545

Interesting that they're going with BRT buses again and it's also interesting that with NABI/New Flyer Merged together, there are more product offering including the BRT models offerings via the merged company.

Looks like all 1997-2000 Orion are in their final leg now.

Find of the day! :rolleyes: DC will be one of the best places to bus fan that I can think of. Some of the best looking buses in the world. (yes I'm thinking of an Xcelsior with Alcoa wheels and blue and silver paint)

Wait. You said "again". Are you saying they already have NABI BRTs on the streets there? Did not know that if they do.

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Looks like all 1997-2000 Orion are in their final leg now.

Probably the Neoplans too, if or when they go for the option for the 71 60-foot buses.

Find of the day! :rolleyes: DC will be one of the best places to bus fan that I can think of. Some of the best looking buses in the world. (yes I'm thinking of an Xcelsior with Alcoa wheels and blue and silver paint)

Wait. You said "again". Are you saying they already have NABI BRTs on the streets there? Did not know that if they do.

Definitely some sharp looking buses there. They have CNG NABI 60-BRT artics. I never was able to see one in person when in DC, but very impressed with the other buses I saw there.
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New Flyer to supply D.C. Metro with 654 NABI buses

The contract contains a firm order for 85 BRT-styled diesel-electric hybrid 42-foot buses and options of up to 498 42-foot BRT-styled diesel-electric hybrid or CNG buses, and up to 71 (142 EUs) 60-foot diesel-electric hybrid buses over a five-year contract period. Read More »

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Interesting that NFI snagged the WMATA order with the NABI buses, given that they've done very well selling their own buses there in recent years. Perhaps Nova was on the verge of winning over another New Flyer stronghold.

I agree its interesting they didn't just buy more Xcelsiors. Maybe they were looking for a unique look--so they went with NABI BRT instead.

Anyone know if these new buses will be for a BRT line?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Route 1 BRT Taking Shape in Alexandria, will be called 'Metro Way'

http://delray.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/route-1-brt-taking-shape-in-alexandria

Sounds like WMATA is in charge and the bus drawings are of blue Xcelsiors with a rear window.

http://delray.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/route-1-brt-will-be-called-metro-way

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Transit Signal Priority systems, according to reams of federal research, can significantly improve bus travel times!

--

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2014/11/25/in-d-c-buses-will-get-priority-with-technology.html?page=all

"The D.C. Department of Transportation is in search of a contractor to install transit signal priority (TSP) equipment at 103 signalized intersections.

The TSP system will be compatible with existing technology installed on Metro buses. As a bus approaches a TSP intersection, it sends a cellular signal to the traffic controller box, which automatically (without any human intervention) reviews the current traffic conditions and tweaks the signal timing. It can extend a green light by five to 10 seconds, said Wasim Raja, a DDOT traffic signal engineer, or sometimes bring the green up early.

"These are going to be minor changes which will not be visible to most vehicle traffic, but these minor changes every cycle do have the cumulative impact on bus operations," Raja said.

A 2008 TSP pilot project along a 2.3-mile Staten Island corridor — 14 signalized intersections — reduced travel times by roughly 17 percent, according to the FTA. Other TSP programs, from Anne Arundel County to Portland, Oregon, and Hamburg, Germany, have cut running times by 2 to 18 percent. Along Rainier Avenue in Seattle, TSP reduced intersection delays by 13 percent."

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  • 2 weeks later...

So WMATA originally had a five year contract awarded in 2013 with delivery beginning in 2014 with the debut of NABI 42-BRT Hybrid buses. With New Flyer in June of 2014 announced its intention to discontinue all NABI branded products beginning in middle of 2015, is the 2013 NABI order over 5 years will be modified by switching into New Flyer Xcelsior products or so for the remainder of contract?

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So WMATA originally had a five year contract awarded in 2013 with delivery beginning in 2014 with the debut of NABI 42-BRT Hybrid buses. With New Flyer in June of 2014 announced its intention to discontinue all NABI branded products beginning in middle of 2015, is the 2013 NABI order over 5 years will be modified by switching into New Flyer Xcelsior products or so for the remainder of contract?

Good question. Most likely NFI has a deal with them where they will accept XDE40 buses, perhaps with extra "BRT" features.

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So WMATA originally had a five year contract awarded in 2013 with delivery beginning in 2014 with the debut of NABI 42-BRT Hybrid buses. With New Flyer in June of 2014 announced its intention to discontinue all NABI branded products beginning in middle of 2015, is the 2013 NABI order over 5 years will be modified by switching into New Flyer Xcelsior products or so for the remainder of contract?

Guess that is up to what WMATA and New Flyer can agree on.

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