Transfort (Fort Collins, Colorado) - a rare NABI bastion in the Rockies

[Buzz2kb]

Transfort is the transit agency serving Fort Collins, Colorado and Colorado State University (CSU) located there.  Its fleet is unusually dominated by NABI CNG buses in a state otherwise dominated by Gillig Low Floor's.  However, elderly Gillig's in the agency's former livery keep soldiering on as well.  21-year old Gillig Phantom 35ft. bus 40 and 40ft. bus 43 (one of its kind) are both spotted at the CSU Transit Center (I also have pictures of bus 40 taken at the Downtown Transit Center in my Transfort gallery as well, as the bus worked on interlined routes 9 and 10 on my visit).  Bus 46 is a 20-years old sister of bus 40, and is spotted at the South Transit Center.  Meanwhile, 17-years old Gillig Low Floor 29ft. is spotted at CSU Transit Center as well.

 

Another oddity in its fleet is International cutaway 71 featuring a sliding front door.  It is operated by a contractor called Green Ride Colorado and is a dedicated route 33/Gold (CSU night service) bus.  It is spotted at the CSU Transit Center.

However, it is the NABI fleet there that is most fascinating.  60-BRT CNG artics are the flagship buses there and are used on the MAX BRT service.  2013 bus 79 and 2015 bus 102 are both spotted at the South Transit Center.  Remarkably bus 102 and its sister 103 are probably the final 60-BRT's built.

Transfort's association with NABI begins in 2008, and bus 61 is a  35-LFW Gen II new that year. It is spotted at the Downtown Transit Center.  2009 bus 66 and 2011 bus 73 are both 40-LFW Gen II's, while bus 78 is a 2011 sister bus of 61.  All three are spotted at the South Transit Center.  It seems that the agency tends to use the 2009 buses 63-69 on local and CSU routes while placing the 2011 buses 73-76 on the FLEX regional route to Loveland, Longmont and Boulder.

Buses 85, 87 and 90 are 2014-built 35-LFW Gen III's.  They are believed to be the only 35-LFW Gen III's ever built (Can anyone verify this?).  85 is spotted at the Downtown Transit Center, while the other two are spotted at the CSU Transit Center.  40-LFW Gen III bus 94 and 31-LFW Gen III bus 96 are spotted at the CSU Transit Center as well.  Rounding up the agency's LFW fleet is 31-LFW Gen III bus 101 spotted at the Downtown Transit Center.  Noted that buses 90 and 95-97 are branded for the HORN route, a frequent CSU area shuttle.

Remarkably, Transfort is the only transit agency in the country to operate all 3 lengths of NABI LFW Gen III's as a result of a piggyback order with Dallas DART (which has 31-LFW and 40-LFW Gen III's).  Arlington Transit in the Greater Washington DC area is the only other agency operating all 3 lengths of the LFW, but of different generations (Gen I and II 35-LFW's, Gen II 31 LFW's and Gen III 40-LFW's)

Here is my online Transfort gallery:

Transfort (Fort Collins, Colorado

[RailBus63]

Nice shots.  Are those CNG's or hybrids?

[Buzz2kb]

6 hours ago, RailBus63 said:

Nice shots.  Are those CNG's or hybrids?

Transfort's NABI's are all CNG's, while the surviving Gillig's are diesels.