Halifax (metro) Transit.

[jc.theriault]

Hey Chris, I finally took a drive along the bus route through Seaforth. Now I see why it wouldn't make sense to extend that route to service the Harbour.

[hfx_chris]

Yup. It's no short little detour

[jc.theriault]

Oh so it's been at the scrap yard there? I didn't see it there the last time I was by, but then again I didn't go onto their property

I went to the scrapyard on Tuesday and the buses were long gone except for what looked like a Classic's rear bumper leaning against a pile of metal. Wish I'd been there earlier to get pics.

[hfx_chris]

Yeah they don't take too long once they get going...

[hfx_chris]

It would appear the discussions we had about the route 370 dead heading back to Halifax during the afternoon/evening service have been settled, I was at the Bridge this afternoon and saw two 370s 30 minutes apart heading to Halifax. Not sure why it's not in the schedule that was posted on the MetroX page.

Also maybe a driver and comment on this, is it just me or are the entrances and exits on the Thistle St side of the terminal really tight... including the intersection with Wyse Rd making a left towards Alderney.

[buschic]

No but it does leave the the area empty for people who need the seats. It prevents a lot of people from using those seats when they can sit in the back,

I agree with you 1000% Calamin..

BUT.

ok, you know what guys, I'm really fed up with people ripping NFI & MT abotu the flip seats..

I'm going to tell you a few things as a disabled passenger that hads had so many occasions wait for 3-4 buses go by, just because PEOPLE WONT MOVE & THE DRIVERS ARE AFRAID OF ABUSE, SO DONT SAY ANYTHING!!

Yes I yelled!

I dont give a crap if you dont like it, cause, you at least can all walk to the BACK OF THE BUS, I & many friends who are in wheelchairs, have been treated like crap in NS, for a long time, with inaccessibility & indifference, as well as made to feel like a nuisance just because we require the ramp to be deployed, & the front seats to be flipped & get secured.

Big strollers are SAFER being in the wheelchair section, these stroller are getting to be the NORMAL, nowadays..

Now as to disabled people/seniors/pregnant woman/blind people with guide dogs or canes,, who require the front seats, there's a SIMPLE solution..

MT ORDERED THE WRONG SEATING LAYOUT!

if you look at some of the older flyers, you'll notice that the w/c seating is along one side of the bus. 2 spots one, behind the other.. keep the flip seats, yes, makes a LOT of sense, especially on BUSY routes, but keep a few regular seats on the opposite side of the bus..

BUT since the ATAC, DOES NOT CARE about the conventional fleet, only AAB, THERES NOT GOING TO BE THE ACCOUNTABILITY, that is sorely needed..

I know MANY W/C users who like me, when I lived in Dartmouth, REFUSE to schedule their lives around the pathetic, AAB, WE are ignored by metro transit, I know of many W/C users who when we first saw the design, hated it & brought up the SAME issues you guys are on here..

BUT UNTIL MT, gets their collective heads outta their arse, they are NOT going to LISTEN to anyone except the over priced, over paid able bodied "consultants" who DO NOT EVEN USE TRANSIT, & are NOT disabled!!

~Rant over~

[jc.theriault]

Hey buschic - you are yelling at the wrong people. You needed to yell at Provincial, City and Transit officials to change things for disabled folks. Ranting at fellow transit users and enthusiasts who state a personal opinion really doesn't help the cause.

[hfx_chris]

I agree with you 1000% Calamin..

BUT.

ok, you know what guys, I'm really fed up with people ripping NFI & MT abotu the flip seats..

I'm going to tell you a few things as a disabled passenger that hads had so many occasions wait for 3-4 buses go by, just because PEOPLE WONT MOVE & THE DRIVERS ARE AFRAID OF ABUSE, SO DONT SAY ANYTHING!!

Yes I yelled!

I dont give a crap if you dont like it, cause, you at least can all walk to the BACK OF THE BUS, I & many friends who are in wheelchairs, have been treated like crap in NS, for a long time, with inaccessibility & indifference, as well as made to feel like a nuisance just because we require the ramp to be deployed, & the front seats to be flipped & get secured.

You are entitled to your opinion. As am I. My opinion is that the seats suck and are a potential hazard to the elderly and handicapped people they're supposed to be reserved for.

[Kitpu]

Someone mentioned strollers that take up a lot of space, but aren't they required to be folded on the bus?

[hfx_chris]

Someone mentioned strollers that take up a lot of space, but aren't they required to be folded on the bus?

I'm not even sure some of those strollers are capable of folding into anything more compact than a small car.

Yeah, the rules say something about strollers being small and foldable, but they use a lot of weasel words like 'recommended' or 'should'

Something else I noticed about the Xcelsiors, they had to mount the transfer cutters to the side of the farebox, making them quite a bit easier to steal on the way out. Does New Flyer not believe anyone uses paper transfers anymore? Jeez.

[OC Transpo 8238]

I'm not even sure some of those strollers are capable of folding into anything more compact than a small car.

Yeah, the rules say something about strollers being small and foldable, but they use a lot of weasel words like 'recommended' or 'should'

Something else I noticed about the Xcelsiors, they had to mount the transfer cutters to the side of the farebox, making them quite a bit easier to steal on the way out. Does New Flyer not believe anyone uses paper transfers anymore? Jeez.

Usually the TA puts the farebox in the bus... Not sure if this is the case at MT or not.

[hfx_chris]

Same thing here

[Kitpu]

I'm not even sure some of those strollers are capable of folding into anything more compact than a small car.

Yeah, the rules say something about strollers being small and foldable, but they use a lot of weasel words like 'recommended' or 'should'

My sister has one of those large travel system strollers for her daughter and it folds, but it's still extremely bulky nonetheless.

[OC Transpo 8238]

Same thing here

Then it's MT's fault for placement of the transfer cutter, not NFI.

[calamin]

MT started to mount a few back on the dash. Not sure why they even thought of fare box to begin with.

[hfx_chris]

Didn't look like there was any room on the dash to me

[calamin]

I was in 1183 today and its mounted on the top right of the dash area.

[jc.theriault]

You missed the point OC Transpo 8238 - NFI doesn't leave as much room on the dash for mounting the cutter. Chris's comment had nothing to do with farebox placement or whether MT or NFI installed it.

[Guest]

You missed the point OC Transpo 8238 - NFI doesn't leave as much room on the dash for mounting the cutter. Chris's comment had nothing to do with farebox placement or whether MT or NFI installed it.

There is some room on the dash for a transfer cutter. The system that I work for puts them to the right of the allison keypad.

Putting them on the farebox is a pretty dumb idea IMO.

[OC Transpo 8238]

You missed the point OC Transpo 8238 - NFI doesn't leave as much room on the dash for mounting the cutter. Chris's comment had nothing to do with farebox placement or whether MT or NFI installed it.

No, I got the point. I'm pretty disappointed by everyone always blaming NFI for the issues at MT (seating, transfer cutters).

[jc.theriault]

Nobody blamed NFI for the transfer cutter placement, they commented that the buses lack a good dash spot suitable for mounting. As for the seats, yeah they are a horrible set up offered by the manufacturer to their clients, so in that case yes NFI is responsible for selling and installing the seats. You are getting worked up over stuff that is NFI's problem and does it really matter to you unless you work at their plant?

[M. Parsons]

+1 OC Transpo 8238 and Mike.

Who knows what went on during contract negotiations. Short of a member of this board actually sitting in on the negotiations, or otherwise getting concrete information for somebody involved in the procurement of these buses, nobody has been able to provide anything resembling an accurate account of why these seats, or any other features of these buses, were chosen. Trust me, the end result of a tender may not look 100% as speced. Example, Edmonton ended up with Glaval's. Seriously, if you read the tender (I know Mike has), the Glaval Easy On should not have been selected, yet we have 13 of these orphans.

Who says a Halifax manager didn't encounter the seats with another agency and decided to get them instead after the tender was issued? Maybe they read about the seats in a trade magazine? Saw them at a trade show? Approached by the seat manufacturer? New Flyer builds buses. It doesn't sell seats... unless there's some shady underside to the bus seating industry that sees payoffs to New Flyer for pushing a manufactures seating product.

[OC Transpo 8238]

Nobody blamed NFI for the transfer cutter placement, they commented that the buses lack a good dash spot suitable for mounting. As for the seats, yeah they are a horrible set up offered by the manufacturer to their clients, so in that case yes NFI is responsible for selling and installing the seats. You are getting worked up over stuff that is NFI's problem and does it really matter to you unless you work at their plant?

Seats are 3rd party (as stated above), NFI just bolts them into the bus.... I don't appreciate you telling me how I handle posts on this board. "You understood wrong" "You are getting worked up". Don't tell me how I react to these posts. No I'm not getting worked up thank you, I am just genuinely disappointed for peoples hate of NFI product when the issues present aren't even NFI caused issues. I have worked on NFI vehicles, overall, they make a good bus.

[calamin]

Seats are 3rd party (as stated above), NFI just bolts them into the bus.... I don't appreciate you telling me how I handle posts on this board. "You understood wrong" "You are getting worked up". Don't tell me how I react to these posts. No I'm not getting worked up thank you, I am just genuinely disappointed for peoples hate of NFI product when the issues present aren't even NFI caused issues. I have worked on NFI vehicles, overall, they make a good bus.

Seems that a lot of people here hate NFI for some reason that is your opinion and I will stand by it. As a driver for MT give me a NFI bus any day over a Nova. Love it when I get a Hybrid to do the number 1 instead of a Nova Artic.

[hfx_chris]

Jesus christ people, I was obviously incorrect on the dash board space left for the transfer cutter. I stand corrected. Let's all calm down a bit and try not get so worked up.

The seats, whoever decided on them, are crap. I'm giving my opinion as a rider, not an enthusiast, not an advocate, not a driver (which I certainly am not) and not as any kind of fanboy. I don't see them specified in the tender documents (and everything else is down to minute details). Take from that what you will.

Now can some of you please stop causing a ruckus? Thanks.

Also if anyone's still interested, saw the transfer cutter mounted to the farebox on a later model D40LF this morning, can't recall fleet number. Just seems like such an inconvenient not to mention insecure location...