Burlington Transit

[newflyerinvero]

New LFSs 71904 which went into service last week, is now followed by 71905, which was in service yesterday, December 19th. Only two others remain to see service.

[newflyerinvero]

I was given information from my contact at BT that the following buses have retired this year.

D40LFs 7034-06, 7036-07, (officially), 7040-07 and 7041-07.

[97SCT]

1 hour ago, newflyerinvero said:

I was given information from my contact at BT that the following buses have retired this year.

D40LFs 7034-06, 7036-07, (officially), 7040-07 and 7041-07.

So the 2006's are now done entirely, and which 07's are left now?

[newflyerinvero]

10 hours ago, 97SCT said:

So the 2006's are now done entirely, and which 07's are left now?

Jared, the remaining 2007s that are still around are 7037, 7038-07 and 7039-07.

[newflyerinvero]

Approxinately 2 weeks ago, 71906 was the newest LFS to enter service.

Only 71907 remains to see service at this time.

[ORION]

18 hours ago, newflyerinvero said:

Approxinately 2 weeks ago, 71906 was the newest LFS to enter service.

Only 71907 remains to see service at this time.

I've seen 1907 a few weeks ago, had to take a second look.. wasn't aware they got that many.

[newflyerinvero]

Pardon the very Kate mentioning of this, but 71907 has been in service now for the past 3 weeks. All 2019 Novas are in service.

Reae door boarding came into effect as of yesterday at 4pm.  However, as if now, regular full service, with the exception of school specials on weekdays will remain. The Downtown Terminal is closed until further notice.

[drum118]

I noticed the buses are now number differently and why this change??? They always used the same number, but change the year for it after it.

Rear door loading is now the standard and not having to pay a fare if you only pay by cash. TTC is rear door now.

Most systems are going to take a hit not only this year, but the next few until ridership returns and cheap gas pump prices that has been seen since 2000 go up, if it does.

[newflyerinvero]

Modified service due to the coronavirus begins on Sunday, March 29th until further notice.

https://www.burlingtontransit.ca/en/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=ffc482fb-86d6-47f6-85e4-bc8661023d8c

[newflyerinvero]

Www.burlingtontransit.ca/survey.

The survey is available to determine if people are comfortable returning to using BT.

 

A few things to catch up on.

First off, after a conference call a couple weeks ago with BFAST and the transit director of Burlington Transit, Sue Connor, it was stated that BT is strongly considering, upon resuming pre-covid service, that 30 minute frequencies on all routes, including on weekends and holidays be part of the return to service to support distancing measures and the anticipation of ridership increasing. The frequencies for the 1, (2 and 3 on weekdays) and 10 being at every 20 minutes is undertermined at this time. It is understood that having that kind of frequency for all routes wouldn't be sustainable given the funding situation. As of now, the funding is from the city's reserves. Burlington, amongst others is also requesting emergency funding.
Many buses on many routes, though I didn't get the specifics on the 4 - Central which has been operating hourly since late March if they've had a need for an extra bus to 'bail out' for an in-service bus to pick up extra passengers. Other routes however have seen cases where extra buses would be dispatched to follow other in-service routes 5 minutes behind them and they too would be reached at their covid capacities.  
A 40 foot bus would have, at maximum about 10-15 people for proper distancing.
A 30 foot Vincity bus would have 5 to 6 people at maximum. The Arbocs I'm not certain of given that there wasn't an update on their max capacity, but none of them have been used in conventional service for several months, even pre-covid.

EDIT: I was in Burlington for the first time on a weekday in 3 to 4 months. One observation I had seen at the Downtown Terminal. I had seen, in each shelter, a real-tine arrivial screen, similar to Brampton Transit. At this point, it's only showing the time and the scrolling line of "Pleease practice physical distancing and be safe." I am unsure when exactly these signs were put in, but I have been aware that the process had been ongoing to get them installed. Can't wait until they go live.

Ridership is definitely picking up. There are no notices on the seats saying that those seats are closed. However there are notices on the the driver-side windows above the seats across form the rear doors detailing about distancing and recommendations of wearing a face covering if distancing is a challenge. I wasn't too sure of the total amount of people on board the 2 40 foot buses I was on and the one Vicinity bus. Though I should say that the Vicinity on the 4 did have a good amount of people on board as it was on Route 4 heading west from Downtown to Aldershot Go. 

EDIT 2: Passengers are required to wear non-medical masks or face coverings WILL BE MANDATORY as of July 2nd to ride Burlington Transit buses.

No delays in bus orders and the planned capital bus purchases for the next few years will be maintained, meaning, 8 buses for this year. 4 replacement and 4 expansion. Given that the 14-year lifespen is in place for 2 buses each year, it would be anticipated that, based on my speculation too unless something changes, one of the 3 remaining 2007 D40LFs should go, 1 of the 3 2008 D40LFs should go and 2 of the 2009 D40LFs should go, even with them being 11 years old. The time frame for these buses (assumed to be Novas if they've placed their order prior to the contract of this consortium expired on June 1st) isn't known as that question wasn't asked.

The City of Burlington isn't putting forth of masks being mandatory in malls, public places of the like. Social distancing measures are in place.

Plexiglass shields are being installed on buses but it's taking longer given that there are different shields for each bus model. Once they're all installed, BT will be ready to resume fare collection and front door boarding.
With the update of having face coverings being mandatory for passengers to ride, there isn't other corresponding information regarding resuming fare collection/front door boarding as of yet. Anyone who has that information, please share. Thank you.

Lastly, given that covid has severely affected ridership trends, the Business Plan will be modified. The specifics on what it means to projected plans for new routes, services, planned projects and captiol bus purchases will be available once the new plan is known.

Edited June 24, 2020 by newflyerinvero
Additional information to add.

[newflyerinvero]

https://www.burlingtontransit.ca/en/Modules/News/search.aspx

Really good return to service plan. Note that this begins on Sunday, August 23rd without fares collected as rear door boarding would be remaining in effect until Tuesday, September 1st. Other than Routes 4 - Central Route 6 - Headon that would remain as hourly frequencies, it's a really good comeback to close to regular service and to allow ridership to build a bit back up.

[newflyerinvero]

I have an update on things from after a teleconference with Director of Transit, Sue Connor and BFAST.

Regarding the bus purchases. Given that things are uncertain from a ridership perspective, BT is in the process of updating their business plan, which will be delivered to council in the fall.

For this year, 8 buses, unsure when they were ordered and whether or not they were associate  with the current Metrolinx  consortium, the 2020 order are expected in May of 2021. 4 replacement and 4 expansion. This would be the last year, for the foreseeable future, to have expansion buses as ridership slowly recovers, post pandemic. Ot would also put BT in a strong position for the amount of fleet available, if ridership quicker than expected.

For 2021, 11 buses, based on the current business plan, which were originally supposed to be 7 replacement and 4 expansion, will now all be replacements. This would mean that the rest of the 07, 08 and a good chunk of the 09 D40LFs would be retired.

My other contact st BT hasnt gotten back to me on two buses which have been put of action for quite some time.

D40LF 7038-07, which hasn't seen service since the pandemic began and D40LF 7045-08 hasn't been on the road since roughly mid April. The current business plan had also indicated a 14 year life cycle. This would mean that given that there are currently 3 2007 D40LFs left, 1 could retire next year and with only 3 2008 D40LFs in the fleet, one of those could retire, keeping the 14 year life cycle until the 2021 order is delivered as all replacements. It is unclear whether or not the 14 year life cycle will be maintained after the 2021 order. 2022 at this point might be looked at to resume expansion bus purchases.

Fare collection and front door boarding will resume this Tuesday, September 1st.

 

 

[newflyerinvero]

Report:
https://burlingtonpublishing.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=45026

Updated Transit Business Plan:

https://burlingtonpublishing.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=45027
 

[newflyerinvero]

I was informed by my contact at BT that no longer would information about their buses be provided to the general public.

I had inquired about the status of D40LFs 7038-07 and 7045-08, which both have been out of action for at least 10 months, with the exception of 7038, which was out on October 8th then disappeared again and haven't seen service since.

[G.A]

1 hour ago, newflyerinvero said:

I was informed by my contact at BT that no longer would information about their buses be provided to the general public.

I had inquired about the status of D40LFs 7038-07 and 7045-08, which both have been out of action for at least 10 months, with the exception of 7038, which was out on October 8th then disappeared again and haven't seen service since.

How often do you inquire about their buses?

[newflyerinvero]

Once every 10 months or once a year. Those inquiries would mainly be about a possible retirement or two. Nothing much else.

Edited January 15 by newflyerinvero

[ORION]

It appears Burlington sold off their 2007 D40LFs to Cityview Bus Sales.

 

photo courtesy of J. McKee

[newflyerinvero]

Hi everyone.

Via an internal conversation with BFAST and BT, the 2021 bus order (not the 2020 order scheduled to be delivered in May of this year), is being pushed to 2022 instead due to COVID-19.

I previously tried to upload an image of updated capital bus purchases up to the year of 2024, but it didn't turn out right.
I'll wait until the information is more concreate for it to be posted, too.

Edited January 28 by newflyerinvero