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Elliot Lake Transit


G.A

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  • 8 months later...

I was in Elliot Lake this past week.  I found the two Nova's and the New Flyer bus parked in the AJ Bus Lines lot.  Instead of those running in regular service, they were using two GMC Savana cutaway buses with possibly an overland body and an Axion destination sign.

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7 hours ago, Michel said:

I was in Elliot Lake this past week.  I found the two Nova's and the New Flyer bus parked in the AJ Bus Lines lot.  Instead of those running in regular service, they were using two GMC Savana cutaway buses with possibly an overland body and an Axion destination sign.

omg is there a contractor change which leads to the retirement of all those 3 buses? That's not a good news for them to be replaced with two cutaways

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1 hour ago, Cimon8000 said:

omg is there a contractor change which leads to the retirement of all those 3 buses? That's not a good news for them to replace them with two cutaways

Could also being that those Nova's are 11 years old and did not have a mid-life rebuild. Also I thought they were city owned buses.

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The buses are owned by the city.

After some digging through the city of Elliot Lake website it does appear that both the 2004 Novas and the 2009 D40LF have been retired and replaced with smaller cutaway buses beginning in October 2015.

According to a report from June 2015, the Novas were also in need of some major work if they were to be kept on the road:

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The existing transit fleet consists of three 40 foot transit busses. Two of the units are 2004 Model Year Nova Busses with the third unit being a 2009 Model Year New Flyer. The contractor has reported that the Nova’s are becoming  increasingly  unreliable  with  many  serious  failures  including  engine  failure  requiring  rebuild,  and front  axle  failures.  In  addition,  the  Nova  busses  are  no  longer  certified  for  wheelchair  access  as  the  restraint systems for the wheelchairs no longer meet accessibility standards.

A review of the transit system found that smaller buses would better meet the needs of the system. 2 ARBOC buses were purchased from Creative Carriage (through Metrolinx) in June 2015 to replace the 2004 Novas. It was also noted at the time that the 2009 D40LF should also be replaced in 2016:

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Staff Report OPS2015-16 dated June 10, 2015 of the Director of Operations be received; AND THAT contract 2015-09 for supply of two (2)183” wheelbase transit busses through the Metrolinx Transit Purchasing Initiative in the amount of $375,000.00 plus applicable taxes be awarded to Creative Carriage Ltd

 

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The purchase of these units would permit the use of the two small units as the primary transit service delivery busses, with the 2009  New  Flyer  as  the  backup.  Given the reliability and storage  issues  associated  with the larger New Flyer unit, replacement should be considered as a matter of high priority for the 2016 budget year

In January 2016 a 3rd ARBOC bus was purchased for delivery in March 2016. This bus replaced the 2009 D40LF:

Quote

Staff Report OPS2016-3 dated January 12, 2016 of the Director of Operations be received; AND THAT one (1) 183” wheelbase transit bus be purchased under contract 2015-09 through the Metrolinx Transit Purchasing Initiative in the amount of $181,100 plus applicable taxes from Creative Carriage Ltd.

In short, all 3 existing transit buses in Elliot Lake (2 2004 Novas and 1 2009 D40LF) were replaced by ARBOC buses between October 2015 and March 2016.

Sourced from:

http://suite.esolutionsgroup.ca/Module/Calendar/Document/Download/3018114f-5f6f-4f4a-8fee-584a2bd59867

http://suite.esolutionsgroup.ca/Module/Calendar/Document/Download/29261b70-ccd4-445d-ae6a-12a4cea45813

In a separate issue, the contractor (AJ Bus Lines) which had a contract until 2017, told the city that they would not continue the current contract beyond August 2015 as they were also responsible for the maintenance costs which were becoming unsustainable. The contract was re-worked into a 1 year operations only contract which expires by August 31, 2016.

http://suite.esolutionsgroup.ca/Module/Calendar/Document/Download/965aae03-14fb-4173-a7c5-992dccee2e2c

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, TTC 9701 said:

Could also being that those Nova's are 11 years old and did not have a mid-life rebuild. Also I thought they were city owned buses.

The Novas look falling apart when i went there last year, together with the D40LF.................not surprising that they were already retired

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29 minutes ago, 98 Willowdale-Senlac said:

But the D40LF is almost 7 years old

They really don't need full sized buses there. It's the smart move to replace them with smaller vehicles. The fate of these buses is in question. Maybe either Eastway, MTB or City View might get them, rebuild them and sell them off.

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22 hours ago, Michel said:

I was in Elliot Lake this past week.  I found the two Nova's and the New Flyer bus parked in the AJ Bus Lines lot.  Instead of those running in regular service, they were using two GMC Savana cutaway buses with possibly an overland body and an Axion destination sign.

just wondering if you have a picture of the two cutaways that you mentioned?  Thank you

10 hours ago, Chris W said:

They really don't need full sized buses there. It's the smart move to replace them with smaller vehicles. The fate of these buses is in question. Maybe either Eastway, MTB or City View might get them, rebuild them and sell them off.

not really, they have quite a ridership on their buses especially it's a senior town with visitors as well.  You would be surprised on their ridership

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  • 2 years later...

Since nobody has posted photos of the new Elliot Lake Transit buses... here are 100 and 101 from a recent visit. The new transfer point is Pearson Plaza, which has the Foodland that was previously contained in the Algo Centre Mall. Handi-Lift bus 17 was also out in service.

The two Novas and the D40LF are still parked in the back of the Public Works yard in the north end of town, all deplated. No photos as there were workers around and no clear shot from the road. The Glaval Easy-On is also still parked in the yard.

43150949334_f8fb65aed9_n.jpg43150949284_9e0ab34b05_n.jpg43150949274_e267ffcf83_n.jpg

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  • 8 months later...
23 hours ago, TTC 9701 said:

With the conventional Arboc fleet off the road and a new one to be delivered. They have ordered three Blue Bird buses.

https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/local-news/elliot-lake-council-adds-three-new-bluebird-buses-to-citys-transit-fleet-1366693

Interesting news. I am confused a bit as to why they wouldnt go with a similar bus to what Huntsville uses if the ARBOCs were that much of an issue and instead, they went straight to school buses.

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50 minutes ago, Bravo Actual said:

Interesting news. I am confused a bit as to why they wouldnt go with a similar bus to what Huntsville uses if the ARBOCs were that much of an issue and instead, they went straight to school buses.

I am assuming that they would be going with the Micro Bird. That model seems to be quite popular.

 

2019-04-15_04-28-33.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Unsure if Elliot Lake received the new buses or not. But the Arboc fleet including a handi trans bus are up for sale on auction. The Handi Trans buses are indeed numbered. 17 is the recent bus to go for sale. The Easy-On bus was numbered 14 and it seems a new bus is now using that same number.

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.AdvSearchResultsNew&searchPg=Category&additionalParams=true&sortOption=ad&timing=BySimple&timingType=&category=94H&clientonly=

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  • 1 month later...

Spent a few days in the Elliot Lake region and was able to spot some of the new buses.  They are Ford cutaways with what appears to be Arboc bodies.  I have seen units numbered 101 to 103.  One of them has a partial wrap for Topper’s Pizza.  Sorry no photos.

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12 hours ago, Michel said:

Spent a few days in the Elliot Lake region and was able to spot some of the new buses.  They are Ford cutaways with what appears to be Arboc bodies.  I have seen units numbered 101 to 103.  One of them has a partial wrap for Topper’s Pizza.  Sorry no photos.

As mentioned above, they are not ARBOC bodies but are Blue Bird Micro Bird. Were you able to get a photo of bus # 103? I saw 101 and 102 when I was there a month ago but was unable to determine if the third bus was 100 (like it was previously) or 103.

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12 hours ago, Seashore_518203 said:

As mentioned above, they are not ARBOC bodies but are Blue Bird Micro Bird. Were you able to get a photo of bus # 103? I saw 101 and 102 when I was there a month ago but was unable to determine if the third bus was 100 (like it was previously) or 103.

As mentioned above, I have no photos.

All 3 buses are identical - 101, 102, and 103.

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