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GM artic 5001

By GM artic 5001
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yrt1000

yrt1000

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I’m not sure of the bus plans that you are asking about, but Here’s something I thought about. I posted a few times about new interior seating arrangements and layouts for the D40LFs, and I found it interesting they redid the interiors of all the older buses as well.  The only two D40LFs I’ve noticed with the “old” seating arrangement left are 475 and 102. So with that being said, perhaps the oldest d40lfs will last a little longer? It wouldn’t make sense to redo the interiors for ~4 months of service right? EDIT: I was looking on New Flyer’s website and for previous years they put out press releases announcing a London bus order. There was no such announcement for this year. Anyone else able to find information? 

As for traffic with Dundas being closed, there have been several days where it’s been an absolute disaster, especially during PM rush. Queens backed up, King jammed, same with Ridout. Richmond between Queens and King is an absolute mess with construction as well. I’ve also noticed that traffic is worst on the hot sunny days for whatever reason. But what I think is the worst is that they no longer have the real-time display boards at the downtown stops, so I have to rely on the scheduled times through google maps and hoping the bus shows up on time. Because trying to navigate on LTC’s real-time website is an absolute pain in the ass LOL

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MCI Classic

MCI Classic

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The only two D40LFs I’ve noticed with the “old” seating arrangement left are 475 and 102. So with that being said, perhaps the oldest d40lfs will last a little longer? It wouldn’t make sense to redo the interiors for ~4 months of service right? EDIT:

465 has new seats while 466 does not. The way they are doing the seat replacements doesn't make a lot of sense.

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I hadn't been able to see any documents on London's next bus purchase

According to the latest LT agenda, 4 new buses are due to arrive in late August. The rest of buses should arrive later in the fall. 

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As for traffic with Dundas being closed, there have been several days where it’s been an absolute disaster, especially during PM rush. 

Yes the traffic is a mess around downtown. With Richmond down to one lane & bus stops closed, its nuts. Takes people forever to figure out the stops are closed. 

 

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yrt1000

yrt1000

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On 8/13/2018 at 7:14 AM, yrt1000 said:

https://globalnews.ca/news/4380353/pilot-project-aims-to-improve-driver-safety-on-london-buses/

I believe this is starting today. According to the article, 3 buses have had driver shields installed. I’m sure this is a welcomed pilot project....it’s about time they did something to help driver’s safety

Sorry to bump, but I believe the 3 buses with the driver barrier installed are 365, 507 and 511. Coincidentally the first bus I rode after a few weeks out of town was 507 and it definitely looks a little cramped for the driver. But of course, Im not the one driving so what do I know ?

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newflyerinvero

newflyerinvero

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On 9/13/2018 at 4:12 PM, yrt1000 said:

Looks like some new XD40 buses have entered service. Just spotted one numbered 531.

Side note- I miss WebWatch to be able to track buses ?

When in London, I did see maybe a couple of those 5xx's XD40s. However, numbers are unknown are I simply have forgotten which ones I did see.
Yes, yrt1000, I do miss Webwatch, too.

But anyhow, I was a bit surprised how those 400-series D40LFs are still running. I must've totally didn't consider the seat reconfiguration of the 460's and didn't think they'd be around for long enough to have them reconfigured as such. But seeing and riding 478 (on the 20 on MOnday, September 17th) then 480 on the 17 on Thursday, September 20th), I really felt those were going to be retired very shortly with the newest XD40s entering service. Granted, I haven't been in London very often and was last there back in spring of 2017. Was there this time around to see one of my best, if not closest friends.

I did notice how there are a bit of an exterior announcement update with a different kind of voice. Still IBus, is it? More so, the 'transfers' routes that they'd announce when some stops are announced to include the 102, 104 and 106 are in a new voice. Some stops altogether are announced in a new voice, too. However, even though I hadn't rode too many buses down there last week, what I did notice was that no 'transfers' from other routes included any of the express routes.


 

On 8/3/2018 at 7:55 PM, MCI Classic said:

No plans to retire 21-23 as of yet. They seem to be used almost everyday lately.

Then I guess those D60LFs are still in great shape being 10-years old. I also didn't see any of them while in London last week. I suspect they're all based out of Highbury Division and probably were only on routes like the 25 or the 27. The only routes I did see with artics were the 29 and the 33 and one on the 91. All of those routes mentioned had artics but, were all XD60s.

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yrt1000

yrt1000

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The different exterior announcement voice you’re hearing is not a computer voice. It’s a recording of a real person saying the route and destination. Similarly, when it announces “transfers to route 102, 104, 106” you’re just hearing the person saying it  

Kind of strange sounding, I know. It seems the past few years, any new/updated routes, and even new stops are announced in such a manner. Not quite sure why

I managed to get a ride on 528 today on route 6. Identical to last years order of XD40s. Still the highest bus number I’ve seen so far is 531. As to how large this years order is, it seems no one knows

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Aztek985

Aztek985

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7 minutes ago, yrt1000 said:

The different exterior announcement voice you’re hearing is not a computer voice. It’s a recording of a real person saying the route and destination. Similarly, when it announces “transfers to route 102, 104, 106” you’re just hearing the person saying it  

Kind of strange sounding, I know. It seems the past few years, any new/updated routes, and even new stops are announced in such a manner. Not quite sure why

I managed to get a ride on 528 today on route 6. Identical to last years order of XD40s. Still the highest bus number I’ve seen so far is 531. As to how large this years order is, it seems no one knows

528-531 are the new buses. Identical to the earlier 500s except for different updated headlamps. 

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MCI Classic

MCI Classic

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The different exterior announcement voice you’re hearing is not a computer voice. It’s a recording of a real person saying the route and destination. Similarly, when it announces “transfers to route 102, 104, 106” you’re just hearing the person saying it   

Kind of strange sounding, I know. It seems the past few years, any new/updated routes, and even new stops are announced in such a manner. Not quite sure why

I think they used someone from the office to record the new stops. The original stops were professionally done.  The new announcements are done in house on the cheap side.

21 to 23 are around,  but they spend most of there time at the garage. 22 made it out today on the 33.

I believe there should be another 8 buses arriving sometime in the next few months according the LT minutes.

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newflyerinvero

newflyerinvero

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One thing I've been quite curious with is why the 4 is known as "Oxford East" where for the majority of the time that it's not on Oxford, as it's almost primarily south of Downtown to White Oaks Mall. 
Is it much more of a better idea in the short or medium term to look at the one route for Oxford, well, a local route and the express service?
I was on a 17 in both directions between Argyle Mall to Wonderland & Oxford. I must say that the 17 is the main Oxford route and I don't think it even needs the "Oxford West" designation. What could the Route 4 do (or the current 104 for that matter?) Could the 4 take over for the 104 as a better solution for a one-seat ride from Downtown to Fanshawe College?
Lastly, is it conceivable for the Wonderland corridor to be looked at for an express service?

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yrt1000

yrt1000

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A few years ago, they got rid of the route names on destination signs and LTC maps. Route 4 is no longer known as the Oxford East, it is simply known as route 4. It’s the same for all routes in the city- route names no longer exist, they’re shown on buses and maps as the route number, followed by the destination, and finally ‘via’ whatever the main road is.

So what this means is The destination sign for route 4 now displays “To Fanshawe College->Via Downtown” NB and “To WhiteOaks Mall-> via Downtown” SB. Similarly, route 17 displays “to Argyle Mall-> via Oxford”. They no longer display Oxford East or Oxford West.

Basically, those old route names are no longer used anywhere so the issue you stated no longer exists ?

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yrt1000

yrt1000

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3 hours ago, TTC 9701 said:

The 2003 D60LF's were retired a bit ago. And last I seen, a good chunk of the 04's are gone.

450-464 were gone by September 2017. 601-603 I think retired December 2016? But I may be wrong, might’ve been some time in 2017

465-483 are still around though. 

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yrt1000

yrt1000

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https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/london-transit-bus-crashes-into-veterinary-clinic

i passed by the area this morning and was like...what the heck what happened???

The bus involved was 512 and it’s still in the building as of 10AM today (I.e. Wednesday) 

EDIT: The unconfirmed story of what happened was there was a drunk driver, driving on the wrong side of the road with their lights off, and the bus lost control trying to avoid it. Thankfully, no one was hurt (and no one was on the bus other than the driver)

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MCI Classic

MCI Classic

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Edit: So as to not post again, today (Thursday) I spotted bus 535 in service. I believe these buses are based out of Wonderland garage whereas 501-527 are at Highbury 

Yes the new buses are being sent to Wonderland Garage. 542 is the highest bus delivered so far.

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yrt1000

yrt1000

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http://www.londontransit.ca/2018/11/02/draft-2019-service-plan/

2019 service plan was dropped today. Some of the highlights from my quick read through:

-routes 19/39/38 will interline instead of the current 19/31/32 interline

-extended hours on select routes on weekdays and saturdays. Last buses are at 1am (I’d really like for the Sunday hours to be extended to at least midnight. Also, no mention of service starting earlier. Currently, the first buses of the day don’t meet downtown until 6:30am!)

-Dundas express service (route 94) between Argyle mall and Western. But at a 26 minute frequency along with a route 2 service reduction, how effective will that be?

-Removal of midday service on route 92

-A combined express-local bus route. The 26 Jalna would be eliminated, but a new route will be created- route 93. Will operate between Masonville and White Oaks mall via Wharncliffe and Western University. The route will be express between Masonville and Commissioners, then provide local service. Not so sure about that one, especially since it won’t be running downtown

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