BusTalk

[Q65A]

It's hard to believe, but when looking at the 2005 DOB Insider's Guide, I noticed that several significant NYCT bus fleets either already have reached or will be reaching 12 yrs. of age in the next 2 years, including the following:
1.) '93-'96 Orion V diesels
2.) '94 Orion V CNG's
3.) '90-'94 TMC RTS-06's
4.) '96 Nova RTS-06's
5.) '97 NF D60LF's
What do you think will happen to these buses?
Do you anticipate that they will undergo any major rebuilding programs?
Will they be re-assigned to MTAB?
With what buses do you think will NYCT replace the earliest NF artics?
Which bus fleet do you think will be scrapped the earliest?
Which bus fleet do you think will survive the longest?

[RailBus63]

It will be interesting to see what happens. Unless I'm mistaken, there is no new bus order in place after the 216-bus Orion VII, correct? With a new administration in place in Albany, I wonder if NYCT will continue to buy hybrids or if the reports of problems with these buses will result in a switch back to diesel.

For articulateds, I suspect the Dept. of Buses folks may have inside info from Orion on their long-rumored articulated bus. Otherwise, I'd have to think that they will have no choice but to buy the D60LF.

As far as transfers to MTA Bus - the age disparity between the NYCT and MTAB fleets has come down dramatically since the takeover. I think we'll still see some of the 1993 TMC's move over to the Queens ex-PBL's in the short term, but going forward I suspect new buses will be procured as needed for each fleet. For example, the next big order of local buses should include enough to begin replacing the 1990-94 RTS buses on MTA Bus and the 1990 and 1993 TMC's and 1993 Orion V's on NYCT.

Jim

[ripta42]

[RailBus63]

[DHF60]

With what buses do you think will NYCT replace the earliest NF artics?

I guess it depends if NYCT plans on continuing to do business with New Flyer or not. If they choose to continue to be a New Flyer customer, then their only choice would be the D60LF which in my opinion would be a mistake. I remember riding the D60LF from Minneapolis that was in service on the M23 a few years back. The M23 drivers I spoke to said that the bus wasn't capable of carrying the same passenger loads that a high floor was. The two huge forward wheel wells took up a lot of space and made the front aisle a lot narrower. This especially made it a chore to load wheel chair bound passengers. Unless New Flyer relents and agrees to continue to build the D60HF, then NYCT should seriously consider other manufacturers





Which bus fleet do you think will be scrapped the earliest?

Probably the D60HF artics. I drive out of 126th Street Depot and we have quite a few of the early 10xx series artics. They're pretty well shot and have some heavy mileage on them. I was assigned # 1058 the other day and it had over 200,000 miles on it. That's 200,000 NYC miles which means the bus in reality has about 400,000 miles worth of wear on it. Despite the best efforts of 126 Maintenance, the old Flyers are constantly breaking down and need a lot of attention. Since their arrival at 126, they've all been repainted and patched up but it's essentially like putting lipstick on a pig. The end result is that it's still a pig.





Which bus fleet do you think will survive the longest?

AARRGH! As an RTS hater it galls me to say this but the RTS 80206 will probably outlast all the other buses. At 126 we have the 1996 87xx, 88xx & 89xx series, the 1997 94xx & 95xx series and the 1998 96xx series. They're battered and pretty well long in the tooth but for the most part they still provide reliable service day in and day out. You can flog, beat up, abuse an RTS from morning till night and it will continue to run without so much as a whimper. The RTS's will continue to run long after the Orions, Flyers and MCI's have all given up the ghost.

Speaking of the MCI's, you forgot to mention that the first batch of 102DL3/D4500's are getting close to being 10 years old. Since almost all the early ones were assigned to Staten Island and have been thoroughly abused and misused, they too should be up for replacement. It's a shame that SI has such indifferent maintenance policies. I see their buses everyday while driving the M31 across 57th Street and can't believe how bad they look. Even the latest ones that were transferred in from, I believe, QV are starting to look like crap.

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[RailBus63]