Breakdown by age:
15+ years - 175 buses - 29.2% of fleet (161 buses are 18 years or older)
10-15 years - 264 buses - 44% of fleet
5-9 years - 121 buses - 20.2% of fleet
less than 5 years - 40 buses - 7.7% of fleet
240 high floor buses, 360 low floor buses, 425 have air conditioning and 175 do not
FTA funding for buses - eligibility is at 12 years.
Peer comparison - the average bus age at similar transit agencies is 7.4 years. Our average bus age is 12.
In the next meeting, there will be 2 contracts for bus procurement.
- among features of new bus models, better wheelchair accessibility - changes ratio of wheelchair ramps from 1:4 to 1:6
Board member Lehrbach - wanted to know if operators were involved in selection of new buses - answer was yes, bus models are brought to yard, operators can operate them in the yard or ride with a representative on the road
Board member Olanrewaju - wants to see money saved by replacing older buses with new ones to make sure it's worth it.
(Clearly board member Olanrewaju has never ridden in a 1700 series bus when it's 90 degrees out)
All of the over one hundred 1700 and 1800 series buses [delivered in 1992/1993] are from a company (Flxible) that went out of existence in 1996! Yes, the engines and tranny's are industry standard brands, but all the other parts are Flxible. And - watch the black diesel soot pour from the exhaust stack of a 1400, 1600, 1700 bus. These are creaky old polluter diesels.
ReplyDeleteThe 1400's and 1600's share the summertime convection oven feature of the 1700's.
I talked to an operator who said there was another manufacturer (Orion maybe?) they were considering for the 2900s. He was part of the eval team and test drove both. He said they liked the other bus better but TriMet wouldn't purchase because the other manufacturer wouldn't act as a single source for all replacement parts.
ReplyDeleteImagine if New Flyer goes under like Flxible. So much for the safety of having a single vendor!