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57 minutes ago, MAX BRT said:

I'm also wondering if they will have a Cummins diesel on board. And do we know if it is a parallel hybrid drivetrain or a series hybrid?

Likely the ISB6.7, since that is what is used for almost all hybrid buses around the world. The Solaris 18 Parallel we were discussing in the BYD thread was equipped with a 6.7, as are countless other hybrids, and also standalone diesels. As far as transmissions go, @eclair14 knows much more, but I think based off what he said, its likely a Siemens ELFA, which is a series hybrid. It also has an automated stop/start function. 

1 hour ago, MAX BRT said:

It is pretty cool for bus fans who like to see something rare. Will the VanHool buses be built in North America?

Yeah this will be interesting, especially because we haven't seen new VanHools in years. This'll also be a first for RTC. Interested to see how a Siemens hybrid will fare in a generally BAE HDS-dominated sector.  

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From the RTC website (in French only):

Le premier midibus arrive en ville!

Pour en savoir plus sur le midibus, consultez sa fiche technique

Quote

Spécifications techniques

  • Modèle A330 hybride
  • Premier véhicule d'une nouvelle série, configuré selon les spécifications du RTC, testé de janvier à juin 2018
  • Fabricant de classe mondiale : Van Hool (Belgique)
  • Système de traction électrique : Siemens (Allemagne)
  • Moteur : Cummins 6,7 litres – même moteur que les bus 40 pieds hybrides actuels
  • Longueur : 9,6 mètres (31,6 pieds)
  • Largeur : 2,6 mètres (8,5 pieds)
  • Hauteur : 3,4 mètres (11,3 pieds)
  • Capacité : environ 45 passagers – 24 places assises
  • Vitesse maximale : 70 km/h

 

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Just now, Bus_Medic said:

I thought these were to be limited to the narrow streets in the old city? I fail to see how a 70km/h limit is a problem.

True, but I think what was being implied was that if in any case the bus had to serve other routes, such as eXpress routes, it wouldn't be the best. As it is, the capacity is very low for the 330K, so I don't think it would be there too often anyways. Also, if they decided to adopt the Siemens system for other, larger buses serving other routes, it could be an issue there. 

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If they’re that hard up that they’ll send out a half pint bus to do a full pint’s job, going ten under the limit shouldn’t bother them much. They’ll just be satisfied that it rolls in a (mostly) forward direction.

the fact that it didn’t spontaneously combust during the press conference puts it head and shoulders above it’s predecessor.

RTC is trialing an exotic powertrain at their peril...supply chain for Van Hool parts is long enough as it is on this side of the pond...I guess they felt like challenging themselves a little extra.

-guess they’re into masochism.

 

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6 minutes ago, Bus_Medic said:

I thought these were to be limited to the narrow streets in the old city? I fail to see how a 70km/h limit is a problem.

The problem is not really when in service, it's getting to/from service that could be an issue. Quebec City is the city of highway, most of them have a 100 km/h speed limit (110 km/h is the usual speed !). So you will need to add time to drivers schedule to compensate for the lower speed. And IMO it's nearly dangerous to have a bus with the driver pedal to the metal at 70 km/h with cars zipping along side at 110.

So let's solve the problem, no Vanhool on the highway, so for fun a bus leaves the garage to do a 93 route start at Curé-Labelle / Ste-Ange . By using the higway, it's a 15 minutes ride. Avoiding the highway it's a 25 - 30 rides within city streets.

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One of the biggest change this bus will bring is how to work is organize at the RTC. RTC is a kind of a hybrid network, it has some big cities feature (Metrobus service) but with some remnants of a small town network (timed transfers at terminals). RTC loves to have all the buses at terminal at the same time so they can compensate for the "poor" frequency of local service with short transfer time.

Where the Vanhool changes the game. They are some routes that are "a couple minutes too long", what i mean the round trip takes a bit more then one hour (or two hours). Route 52 is a great example of that, let's say a bus leaves Charlesbourg terminal at 9:46am, it will return at 10:51am, 1h05 minutes round trip, that means 5 minutes before ending it's round trip, he will meet the Beauport bound bus, so when the bus arrive at Charlesbourg terminal and since no route begins or end there, the bus deadhead to somewhere else, if he has a 40 footers, he can deadhead to start another route elsewhere, but if this route is a vanhool route, the driver must go to another vanhool route.

This "a couple minutes too long" also means that RTC has a LOT of unproductive deadhead, especially on week-end. Some drivers can do 5 or even 6 different routes on a 8 hour shift. When a driver will have a VanHool bus, it will need to go to "Vanhool routes" so this will probably lead to an small increase of those deadhead.

And finally, this will reduce schedule making flexibiliy, as Vanhool bus won't be able to go do busy local routes or eXpress service (remember, they are locked at 70 km/h)

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I thought the VanHools would feed the former Ecolobus needs in short and quiet buses... From what you're telling us, they seem to be a PR campaign for shorter-buses-that-look-cheaper-to-buy-and-to-operate-but-not-quite-so in right-wing lair, anti-state Jambonville.

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3 minutes ago, webfil said:

I thought the VanHools would feed the former Ecolobus needs in short and quiet buses... From what you're telling us, they seem to be a PR campaign for shorter-buses-that-look-cheaper-to-buy-and-to-operate-but-not-quite-so in right-wing lair, anti-state Jambonville.

If they would have keep the initial order at 24 + 8 options, those bus would be assigned on a beefed up frequency route 11, route 19 and maybe low ridership routes (31,32,34 etc...) . Now, with 64 buses ordered, we are gonna see them in residential area everywhere in the city.

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  • 1 month later...

1801, the first vanhool A330K will be on public display next Wednesday (March 7).

Schedule :

7:45 to 9:45 am - Limoilou CEGEP (des Capucins/de la Canardière)

10am to 11am - In front of Musée de la Civilisation

11am to 1pm : D'Youville Square (Palais Montcalm)

1:30pm to 3:30pm : Laurier Quebec mall (near Metrobus station)

3:45pm to 5:30pm : Grand Théâtre de Québec (Jacques-Parizeau/de Claire-Fontaine)

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20 hours ago, tommike said:

any photo or vids of the display? of van hool

 

 Yes

https://www.flickr.com/photos/transitquebec/albums/72157664458093077

In another news ...

 

RTC published the service improvement for 2018. After some good changes in 2017, 2018 is more on the quiet side

In fact, the change concerns the industrial areas forming the four corners of the A-40 / A-73 interchange, they have decided to do something with the weird and confusing routes in that area, and adding service at the same time

- Route 22 will travel from Les Saules terminal to Sainte-Foy Centre (Jules-Dalaire), it's main focus will be to serve the techno. park. In Sainte-Foy, bus will serve de l'Église and Q.-Bourgeois. it will also be a shorter route Service every 30 minutes in both direction rush hour only*

- Route 88 will also travel from Les Saules to Sainte-Foy, it will serve the two industrial areas south of the A-40 (Colbert park). Service both way every 30 to 60 minutes during rush hour only

- Route 29 only change will be that buses will use Du-Parc-Technologique instead of Einstein in the techno. park, it's still a peak travel direction only bus with increase frequency

- Route 9 seems unchanged

* - RTC still has not figured out that industrial workers can have different schedule that everybody else

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RTC was finally not done with announcement. ...

One of the most wanted bus routes in Quebec City will finally be in service in spring 2019. Route 6 will start from downtown Quebec City, bus will use Grande-Allée and Laurier blvd to Duplessis highway then it's north passing through the commercial area before ending at ... QUEBEC CITY AIRPORT ! ... yes YQB will get the much needed transit service it's deserved.

Current plans is for a 30 minutes frequenecy all-day service.

This route alongside the three industrial park routes announcement last week were in the RTC plans shown last fall

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On ‎2018‎-‎03‎-‎13 at 5:32 PM, eclair14 said:

RTC was finally not done with announcement. ...

One of the most wanted bus routes in Quebec City will finally be in service in spring 2019. Route 6 will start from downtown Quebec City, bus will use Grande-Allée and Laurier blvd to Duplessis highway then it's north passing through the commercial area before ending at ... QUEBEC CITY AIRPORT ! ... yes YQB will get the much needed transit service it's deserved.

Current plans is for a 30 minutes frequenecy all-day service.

This route alongside the three industrial park routes announcement last week were in the RTC plans shown last fall

Definitely worth the investment for high-capacity service. The corridor would also make an excellent route for a median lanes that could be upgraded to LRT at a later date.

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2 hours ago, Transit geek said:

Definitely worth the investment for high-capacity service. The corridor would also make an excellent route for a median lanes that could be upgraded to LRT at a later date.

This is another story ...

... speaking of this story, rumors in the media says that they will be a big annoucement of friday* about the "structuring" network ... a.k.a light rail and other stuff

* I guess they want that buried over the week-end so talk radios won't sh*t on the project until monday morning

 

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