Chao-Hwa Chen Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 According to July Edition of BCT's Transit Flash, More Buses Rolling In... BCT recently received 26 out of 40 forty-foot NABI diesel buses, some of which are already in service, and all of which are replacement buses. On June 15, 2011, National Dump the Pump Day, a special launch event to showcase 1 out of 10 new, hybrid articulated buses, was held at the Government Center East location. The hybrid articulated buses are also replacement buses, and BCT expects to receive the remaining 9 by the end of August 2011. Starting in September, BCT will begin receiving 14 forty-two foot NABI hybrid buses which will operate on our new 595 Express service scheduled to begin in January 2012. All buses will offer Wi-Fi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 0028 is back to Copans Garage. It is on Rt 72 today and Rt 36 yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted July 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Just saw 1120 on Rt. 12 at West Terminal. 1120 clearly is a Ravenswood bus. This makes me doubt BCT's July 2011 Transit Flash's report of a total of 40 diesel buses. Usually Copans Garage has more buses of the same type than Ravenswood Garage. For example: 0100 series: Ravenswood 17 (0101-0110, 0121-0127), Copans 24 (0111-0120, 0128-0141). 0200 series: Ravenswood 13 (0201-0213), Copans 17 (0214-0230). 0300 series: Ravenswood 10 (0301-0310), Copans 15 (0311-0325). 0500 series: Ravenswood 11 (0501-0511), Copans 14 (0512-0525). 0600 series: N/A 0700 series: Ravenswood 21 (0701-0718, 0746-0748), Copans 27 (0719-0745). 0800 series (hybrid): Ravenswood 6 (0801-0805, 0812), Copans 6 (0806-0811). 0800 series (diesel): Ravenswood 13 (0825-0837), Copans 17 (0813-0824, 0838-0842). 0900 series (60-ft hybrid): Ravenswood 7 (0901-0907), Copans 2 (0908-0909). 0900 series (60-ft diesel): Ravenswood 0, Copans 6 (0910-0915). 0900 series (40-ft hybrid): Ravenswood 0, Copans 5 (0920-0924). As with the 1100 series with 40-ft diesels, Ravenswood already has 20. So far the largest number in service is 1128. So to see it is to believe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 That may be the case now, but back a few years ago, the buses were divided evenly (more or less) between the two. Example: 1996 Gillig Phantoms: 9601-16 Ravenswood; 9617-32 Copans (16 each) 1997 New Flyer D40LF: 9701-9723 Ravenswood; 9724-45 Copans (23 R, 22 C) 1999 Gillig Advantage: 9901-9910, 9921-9930 Ravenswood; 9911-9920, 9931-9935 Copans (20 R, 15 C) 2000 Gillig Advantage: 0001-0015 Ravenswood; 0016-0030 Copans (15 each) 2001 Gillig Advantage: 0101-0110, 0121-0130 Ravenswood; 0111-0120, 0131-0141 Copans (20 R, 21 C) 2002 Gillig Advantage: 0201-0215 Ravenswood; 0216-0230 Copans (15 each) 2003 Gillig Advantage: 0301-0312 Ravenwood; 0313-0325 Copans (12 R, 13 C) Starting with the 2005 NABI 40-LFW, they stopped being balanced. Around that time, some of the older buses started to be unbalanced as well (by 2006 or 2007, most of the 9700s were at Copans, Ravenswood only had 9707-9713, IIRC). I guess BCt has their reasons. BTW, before 1996, BCt had been assigning an entire fleet to one division only 1986 Flxible Metro 8601-8625, Ravenswood only 1987 Flxible Metro 8701-8719, Copans only 1990 Flxible Metro 9001-9036? Copans only 1991 Flxible Metro 9101-9105 Ravenswood only 1992 Flxible Metro 9201-9216 Ravenwood only 1993 Flxible Metro 9217-9218*, 9301-9319 Copans only Despite the numbers, 9217 and 9218 were definitely 9300s, they had the straight backs (instead of the slight tilt that the older Flx had, and DDEC Series 50 (instead of the 6L71 that the 9200s (and 9000s/9100s) had, IIRC (8600/8700s had 6V92). When I arrived in mid-1998, 9217 & 18 were at Copans, a few years later they went to Ravenswood (briefly), then back to Copans before retirement in the mid-00s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 I spotted 1107 on the 95 Express (C. B. Smith Park) yesterday. First time I've seen an 1100 on one of the Express routes. It appears that the white LED signs don't support the multi-color 95 Express logo, though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted July 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Just saw 1132 on Rt. 72. Interesting to see if the order of the 40 LFWs is 40 or 45... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted August 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 Just saw 0127 on Rt. 72, which means 0127 moves to Copans Garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 Just saw 0127 on Rt. 72, which means 0127 moves to Copans Garage. I think the 0000s and 0100s will be moving around, since some of them have been retired (I have the list at home, if I remember, I'll post which ones are gone). Dunno if any of the 9900s have been retired, none of them were on the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted August 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 I think the 0000s and 0100s will be moving around, since some of them have been retired (I have the list at home, if I remember, I'll post which ones are gone). Dunno if any of the 9900s have been retired, none of them were on the list. Yeah, I do see 9900s still around and one of the 9900s has fresh paint. I am also interested which buses are retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Yeah, I do see 9900s still around and one of the 9900s has fresh paint. I am also interested which buses are retired. Here's what I have, this was from an auction list that a friend of mine alerted me to: 0000s: 0002-0004 0007-0008 0012-0014 0017 0020-0021 0026 0100s: 0102 0105 0109 0116 0123 0126 0131 0133 0135 0137 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Monday and Today I saw a strange scene. 0723, a hhgregg-wrapped Copans bus, ran on Route 22, where the buses are totally assigned by Ravenswood Garage. I am wondering whether it is a temporary move or not. If this is a permanent move, will Buses 0719-0722 be also affected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted August 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Yesterday I started to see some buses remove the "Our Best. Nothing Less." signs on both the front and side LED signs. 0747 and 0711 are two of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Yesterday I started to see some buses remove the "Our Best. Nothing Less." signs on both the front and side LED signs. 0747 and 0711 are two of them. Thank God. I HATE that slogan. Whenever I take a quick pic (don't really have time to wait), I almost always get that message instead of the destination. I did get a pic of 0724 and an 1100 (1108?), both on the 2 at West Terminal on Saturday, I waited until 1108 was showing the destination, then took the pic. But it seemed that 0724 wasn't showing the message, so maybe that's another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted September 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Thank God. I HATE that slogan. Whenever I take a quick pic (don't really have time to wait), I almost always get that message instead of the destination. I did get a pic of 0724 and an 1100 (1108?), both on the 2 at West Terminal on Saturday, I waited until 1108 was showing the destination, then took the pic. But it seemed that 0724 wasn't showing the message, so maybe that's another one. Yes, Fred. 0724 is indeed one of the buses without the slogan. I notice that when the sign "2 207 ST - MIAMI" shows, the font size of "207 ST - MIAMI" is slightly larger than that with the annoying slogan. As for the "2 WESTVIEW DR" sign, although the font size is the same, the "WESTVIEW DR" sign shifts slightly right compared with the one with the annoying slogan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Yes, Fred. 0724 is indeed one of the buses without the slogan. I notice that when the sign "2 207 ST - MIAMI" shows, the font size of "207 ST - MIAMI" is slightly larger than that with the annoying slogan. As for the "2 WESTVIEW DR" sign, although the font size is the same, the "WESTVIEW DR" sign shifts slightly right compared with the one with the annoying slogan. Over the weekend, I saw several BCt buses in various locations, all without the slogan. I was beginning to think that BCt had dropped it, but then yesterday afternoon I saw 0901 on the 95X Miramar sporting the slogan Blah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. S. Bach Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 Now you see it: Soon you will not. I was given instructions to remove this from the signs as it "is a safety hazard"; it seems that when there are multiple routes serving the same stop, passengers were standing in the street to see what route the approaching bus was on. Seeing as how there are 232 signs times 5 types on our buses, that turned into a long project. The types (all by TwinVision) are: Flip dot front, side, and rear Amber led front, side, and rear Chroma1 front (uses amber led side and rear) Chroma4 front (uses amber led side and rear) Silver series front and side (uses amber led rear) The only sign that did not have the "best" tag line was the flip dot side and it was not displayed on any of the rear signs. It is now available as a general code and a public service code if marketing needs it for a special event. I also took the opportunity to change out a few "horrible" fonts, adjust a few spacings, and other minor changes. Note that the buse are being reprogrammed on a random basis; Copans seems to be ahead of Ravenswood in the "race to the finish line". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 Thanks for the info on the different types of signs. AFAIK, is this the breakdown? Flip dot front, side, and rear All 9900s, 0001-0007, 0023-0030? Amber led front, side, and rear 0008-0022, all 0100s, all 0200s Chroma1 front (uses amber led side and rear) 0300s only? Chroma4 front (uses amber led side and rear) 0500s, 600s, 0700s, 0800s, 0900s (including 0920-0924)? Silver series front and side (uses amber led rear) all 1100s (including 1150s) The silver series is very easy to see in all lighting conditions, I'll miss the multiple color displays though (though they certainly aren't going away anytime soon). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. S. Bach Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Thanks for the info on the different types of signs. AFAIK, is this the breakdown?Flip dot front, side, and rear All 9900s, 0001-0007, 0023-0030? Amber led front, side, and rear 0008-0022, all 0100s, all 0200s Chroma1 front (uses amber led side and rear) 0300s only? Chroma4 front (uses amber led side and rear) 0500s, 600s, 0700s, 0800s, 0900s (including 0920-0924)? Silver series front and side (uses amber led rear) all 1100s (including 1150s) The silver series is very easy to see in all lighting conditions, I'll miss the multiple color displays though (though they certainly aren't going away anytime soon). Accurate except for the 0300s; there are only a few Chroma1 signs in the fleet: three are in 0312, 0324, and 0325 and (I think) an 01 at Copans, the balance is at Ravenswood. All of the rest of the 03s have the amber led sign up front. Here is Chroma1, note the single color panel in the "route number" position: This picture shows it a little better: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted September 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Accurate except for the 0300s; there are only a few Chroma1 signs in the fleet: three are in 0312, 0324, and 0325 and (I think) an 01 at Copans, the balance is at Ravenswood. All of the rest of the 03s have the amber led sign up front. Dave, you forget 0311, which also has Chroma1 signs. Actually 0306, 0307, 0325 and 0112 have Chroma4 signs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 I keep forgetting to mention, last Thursday I saw 1156 on the 18! (sorry, no pic) I guess BCt is using those BRTs on other routes to break them in before the 595 services start next year. Also, seems some bus assignments have changed, I observed the other day that the 2 is using 0500s, while there have been some 9900s (ugh) on the 7. 0803 seems to still be assigned to the 7, that bus has been on the 7 seemingly almost since it went into service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I keep forgetting to mention, last Thursday I saw 1156 on the 18! (sorry, no pic) I guess BCt is using those BRTs on other routes to break them in before the 595 services start next year. Also, seems some bus assignments have changed, I observed the other day that the 2 is using 0500s, while there have been some 9900s (ugh) on the 7. 0803 seems to still be assigned to the 7, that bus has been on the 7 seemingly almost since it went into service. 2 indeed uses 0500s (0501, 0502 (peak hours only), 0503 (peak hours only) from Ravenswood and 0518 (peak hours only), 0519 (peak hours only) and 0520 from Copans), but there are some changes from the Ravenswood buses. 1114 replaces 0711 and 1115 replaces 0712 full time for three weeks so far. As for the 9900s on the 7, I think it is just temporary because some of the regulars on the 7 need to be serviced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. S. Bach Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 I was doing a ride check on this one and decided to take a picture out at the west end: Artsy picture: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chao-Hwa Chen Posted November 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 It looks like BCT's NABI 42-BRT starting to run on the road now. During lunch break, I saw 1161 running on Oakland Park Blvd today. The front sign said driver training and the font of the front sign was Chroma4, not the Silver series seen on 1100s and 1150's. Is 1161 the starting number of the NABI 42-BRTs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 It looks like BCT's NABI 42-BRT starting to run on the road now. During lunch break, I saw 1161 running on Oakland Park Blvd today. The front sign said driver training and the font of the front sign was Chroma4, not the Silver series seen on 1100s and 1150's. Is 1161 the starting number of the NABI 42-BRTs? Don't know, but I saw 1171 on the 95X-C. B. Smith Park last night. Maybe the 1160s are at Copans and the 1170s are at Ravenswood. How many 42-BRTs is BCt getting again? I forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYBklyn1959 Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 Don't know, but I saw 1171 on the 95X-C. B. Smith Park last night. Maybe the 1160s are at Copans and the 1170s are at Ravenswood. How many 42-BRTs is BCt getting again? I forget. Sighting of the month this morning, 1167 on the 7!!! Unfortunately, I could not get a pic Also, yesterday morning saw 1152 on a 95X-CB Smith run. This bus is assigned to a 95X-Miramar run in the afternoon (arrives at Miramar Town Center around 430 PM. Guess it works one 95X in the AM and the other in the PM, or maybe the two are interlined? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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