tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595057345294486478.post5970262634229344080..comments2023-12-02T02:39:47.828-08:00Comments on RANTINGS OF A FORMER TRIMET BUS DRIVER: Theoretical Musing on the Supersoldier Gillig PhantomsAl Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06670275801784105978noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595057345294486478.post-32142649652770571742012-10-06T21:21:44.586-07:002012-10-06T21:21:44.586-07:00Using the same logic Cam is using (which is good l...Using the same logic Cam is using (which is good logic), TriMet got between 16 and 18 years of service out of the 700 series Crown-Ikarus Articulated buses.<br /><br />Yes - they had teething issues. Big ones. Yes - the wheelchair lifts had a design flaw and had to be disabled and/or removed altogether. Yes - at first they were wonderfully unreliable. And yes - at the end of their lives they were miserable to ride in - dirty, ratty, usually on the road with multiple problems. My last ride had both of the rear doors out of service, a bad headsign and a broken farebox - but it got me where I needed to go.<br /><br />Yet - TriMet cites the problems with the 700s as why they won't go back to artics ever again. Never mind that the federal government only wants 12 years of service from a bus, and TriMet got between 16 and 18 years (depending on the specific bus). TriMet squeezed the blood out of the turnip until there was no more. And it's not exactly a secret that there are all sorts of successful artic bus designs out there, including the wildly popular New Flyer D60LF (the articulated variant of TriMet's primary vehicle of choice, the D40LF). That have solved every single problem TriMet had with the 700s - including, specifically, eliminating the lift with a ramp.<br /><br />The Gillig Phantom is not a bad design - it did its job very well. So have the Flxible Metros - a design that bombed at New York City's MTA, but by the time Portland anted up for the Metro, those design flaws (cracked frames) were resolved. Even the lowly GMC RTS (TriMet's 900 series), purchased at the same time as the 700 series Crown-Ikaruses, served TriMet well even though TriMet didn't fall in love with them like so many other agencies (C-Tran, Cherriots, Community Transit, LACMTA, to name a few.)<br /><br />But it comes right down to the fact the buses weren't designed for an infinite service life. A transit bus is subjected to a LOT of wear and tear - both internally, and mechanically. More so than most other pieces of heavy machinery are. Sure, you could build a bus with a 30 year lifespan but it'd be three times as heavy, require an engine two or three times more powerful, and cost a lot more. And it would help that TriMet's service delivery partners - the city public works departments and ODOT - would maintain their part of the infrastructure (the streets) a lot better. We've gotten our money's worth out of those old buses, and then some. It's time to replace them - not stick them on life support like Terri Schiavo and keep them alive perpetually when their insides have turned to a liquid mush. Erik H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14754458674336580085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595057345294486478.post-48688077565981287482012-10-05T13:47:20.287-07:002012-10-05T13:47:20.287-07:00The 1400's dont have all that damn computer te...The 1400's dont have all that damn computer technology.<br />It's that computer technology that is the problemAl Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06670275801784105978noreply@blogger.com