2009 Edmonton and Area Spotting

[Michael Marriott]

The low 4000's are soon going to look like the 200's.

Nice, text along the top is different now.

Buses of all sorts were very shiny today - must've been a wash blitz yesterday. DATS, ELFs, D40LFs, LeMirage XL-IIs (SCT). I even washed my van yesterday too.

[T6H-5307N]

Don't know where else to post this:

[A. Wong]

That whole "consist" is considered 603. I posted pics on here somewhere:

[T6H-5307N]

That whole "consist" is considered 603. I posted pics on here somewhere:

It's a diesel too! Usually those vans are gasoline...

[captaintrolley]

So what do the van and pup trailer cart around all day?

[T6H-5307N]

So what do the van and pup trailer cart around all day?

Little kids. In the event that the van is full, some of them ride in the trailer

[captaintrolley]

Little kids. In the event that the van is full, some of them ride in the trailer

You're not serious I hope?

[BusRider]

Little kids. In the event that the van is full, some of them ride in the trailer

Don't forget the pets &/or dog teams there m'boy! Gets real cozy like

You guys alway this sarcastic?

[M. Parsons]

You guys alway this sarcastic?

I think you know the answer to that given your frequent visits to the Edmonton section.

[captaintrolley]

You guys always this sarcastic?

We're family. We understand each other.

[BusRider]

Don't enter the Edmonton sections without one of these:

Oh, and wear your cup

And my tin-foil hat?

[Ode of Bund]

I just saw a 70 turning from 39th Ave easbound to 97th Street northbound, there was even a northbound stop the intersection. Checked the schedule and map, the 97street routing is not on the map.

More interestingly, going to Mill Woods and going to Whyte Ave are looping in the same direction, that is east on 39th, north on 97th, both stopping at bus stop # 3982. The stopping time is from 9:41 to 14:41 going toward Whyte Ave, and from 10:11 to 15:11 going toward Millwoods. Can anybody explain this routing, and through which avenue does it come back to 99th Street? Is it 45th Avenue?

[M. Parsons]

I just saw a 70 turning from 39th Ave easbound to 97th Street northbound, there was even a northbound stop the intersection. Checked the schedule and map, the 97street routing is not on the map.

More interestingly, going to Mill Woods and going to Whyte Ave are looping in the same direction, that is east on 39th, north on 97th, both stopping at bus stop # 3982. The stopping time is from 9:41 to 14:41 going toward Whyte Ave, and from 10:11 to 15:11 going toward Millwoods. Can anybody explain this routing, and through which avenue does it come back to 99th Street? Is it 45th Avenue?

Probably a special request from someone. Given it's only on Sundays for a limited block of time, I'd suggest a church.

[Ode of Bund]

That is a piece of industrial area, there is no church there, besides church doesn't need 5 hours of bus service. Where is Captain?

[M. Parsons]

That is a piece of industrial area, there is no church there, besides church doesn't need 5 hours of bus service. Where is Captain?

There's a Muslim church or something like that further down 39 Ave.

Many churchs have various activities and meetings throughout the day. Church isn't always a quick in and out.

[Michael Marriott]

But the point remains that the people of this church (or whatever) need to have one of the only routes in this city that travels in a straight line do a little swing to serve them instead of having to walk the two blocks from 99 St?

There's a Muslim church or something like that further down 39 Ave.

Many churchs have various activities and meetings throughout the day. Church isn't always a quick in and out.

[M. Parsons]

But the point remains that the people of this church (or whatever) need to have one of the only routes in this city that travels in a straight line do a little swing to serve them instead of having to walk the two blocks from 99 St?

Yeah, that part makes no sense. 4-5 blocks in maybe, but 2 blocks or any reason is joke.

[T6H-5307N]

Forgot to mention this, but on Thursday I saw a 151 turning onto Jasper Avenue WB from Rice Howard Way! Was there a detour of some sort in effect?

[captaintrolley]

Forgot to mention this, but on Thursday I saw a 151 turning onto Jasper Avenue WB from Rice Howard Way! Was there a detour of some sort in effect?

Pretty narrow squeeze there for a bus !!!

[captaintrolley]

Captain Picard says hello to the gang and says to watch for him back on nights next sign up. Looks like Geoff bumped him. Captain Picard says he misses having a trolley, esp. on cool mornings - nothing beats a trolley for heat and a cozy atmosphere. So yeah, he's starting to miss them too. The diesel novelty has worn off.

Fellow on the nickel last night was telling me he's thinking of going to Vancouver too!!!

[T6H-5307N]

4438 has joined the ranks of the Westwood refugees at Mitchell.

[T6H-5307N]

4466 is in the paint booths, lowered down, so it would appear top side paint work is in order

I suspect they may be adding some extra weapons so it can finish the job

[A. Wong]

Attempted murder charge laid in Edmonton bus-driver beating

BY LAURA DRAKE, EDMONTONJOURNAL.COMDECEMBER 3, 2009 3:51 PM

An Edmonton Transit official steps off the bus at the site of a bus driver attack at 139 Ave. and Victoria Trail on Dec. 3, 2009.

Photograph by: Rick MacWilliam, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON — A 24-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder following a vicious attack on an Edmonton bus driver during the Thursday morning commute.

After reviewing video footage from an ETS bus on Thursday afternoon, police charged Gary Edwin Mattson with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and assaulting a peace officer. It is alleged that he spit on an arresting officer.

The bus driver remains in hospital with what appears to be serious injuries to his head and face.

A man who was on the Route 10 bus heading to Clareview said that around 7:30 a.m., the driver made a stop near the Winks on Victoria Trail near 139th Avenue.

After a passenger boarded the bus, another man started running alongside and banging on the door. The driver stopped to let the second man on, but he didn’t have fare.

“It looked like he was either drunk or on something,” the witness said.

“He started swearing because the bus driver told him that if he didn’t have fare he couldn’t get on.”

The man addressed the dozen or so people on the bus and asked if anyone had a dollar to round out his fare. A teenage boy sitting at the front of the bus gave him a loonie and the man paid his full fare.

The witness said the bus driver started to drive again, but the new passenger, a short stocky man in his 20s, remained irate and stood at the front of the bus, swearing and yelling.

The driver pulled over again and asked the man to leave because of his behaviour.

“They were arguing for a full few minutes there. It looked like he was ready to start fighting,” the witness said.

Then, suddenly, the man took a swing at the driver. The witness, who was sitting at the front of the bus behind the driver’s seat, said the driver did nothing to physically provoke the man, nor did he even appear to defend himself, save for possibly shielding himself with his arms.

In what seemed like seconds, the man had dragged the driver out the open doors to the ground immediately below and continued to beat him there, while the horrified passengers watched, screaming.

“He began to stomp on his face over and over and over again. It was pretty bad,” the man said.

The assault happened so quickly that none of the passengers had a chance to intercede, the witness said, and everyone was frightened of the man, considering no one knew whether he may have weapons.

When the assailant ran off, the witness got off the bus, along with two female passengers wearing scrubs, and tried to help the driver. Several other passengers had already called 9-1-1.

“It was just horrible. His whole face was covered in blood; it looked like his nose was stomped into his face.”

The man was conscious momentarily, but had passed out by the time an ambulance arrived.

Edmonton Transit director of safety and security Ron Gabruck said that the driver underwent surgery in hospital Thursday morning and his family was with him.

Gabruck said the bus was equipped with five cameras that were recording and all the footage was handed over to police. He stressed that this was a rare, random incident.

“There’s no way that we can predict this,” he said, noting that the route the assault happened on is not a busy or particularly dangerous one.

The bus was equipped with a panic button that drivers can hit to cause the cameras to slow down and record higher-quality images and that changes the bus’s front display to instruct passersby to call police. Gabruck said he did not know if the button was pushed in this incident.

He also said drivers are trained to deal with irate passengers by using verbal techniques.

The man who was attacked has worked for Edmonton Transit for 33 years, making him one of the system’s most senior drivers, said Coun. Amarjeet Sohi, a former transit operator.

“He understands the system. He must have dealt with so many other situations, not like this, but conflict on the job. I’m personally saddened.”

ETS is taking steps to protect staff by hiring six extra security officers this year, testing protective shields, putting multiple closed-circuit cameras on new vehicles and training operators in ways to mitigate potential problems, he said.

But danger is always on a driver’s mind, he said,

“You’re always watching what you’re doing, who is getting on your bus,” said Sohi, describing the incident as “brutal.”

“When you look at the causes of attacks on bus operators, you’re looking at people with difficulties, people with addictions issues, mental health issues, or people who don’t want to pay the fare.”

With files from Gordon Kent

ldrake@thejournal.canwest.com

© Copyright © The Edmonton Journal

Source: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Attemp...8443/story.html

I hope this guy spends a long time in jail.

Bus involved was 4613 on route 10.

[Charles]

Source: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Attemp...8443/story.html

I hope this guy spends a long time in jail.

Bus involved was 4613 on route 10.

They should throw away the key.

[LRT]

That happened blocks away from my mom and dads, my nefew takes that bus to school in the morning. They need to change the laws about assaulting bus drivers and other similar positions before sombody gets killed!