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Now I thought Sound Transit didn't actually own the buses, the counties did (and thus the fleet numbers included a suffix of either "K" (King), "P" (Pierce" or "S" (Snohomish) to identify the actual owner.
And since Pierce Transit is all CNG, it makes it very easy to identify their buses without looking at the number (just look at the roofline).
My understanding Pierce actually had some of these when they first came in (way back when), when they went all CNG (and thus all non-artic), these got split b/t King and Snohomish counties to share. These used to run on the 594 (known simply as the Seattle Express then).
The buses are registered to Sound Transit, not King County, (at least thats what the registration says in our ST buses which I currently drive on a daily basis.) Snohomish buses are "C", for Community Transit. So I think ST still holds the power, they order the buses, pay for the buses. If you flip thru their documents, you will find where they purchased their buses and authorized the funds. I believe it is ST that decides when they get retired, and where they go. We just operate their service under contract.
See if they decide to send services elsewhere, they can divvy up the equipment anyway they like. Light Rail for example, is operated by us, but Im pretty sure King County doesn't own them, and probably doesn't want to. Sounder trains are operated by BNSF, and maintained by Amtrak, but niter own the equipment. ST is a very oddly organized agency.
Duh, I should have known "C" and not "S". Okay - that makes sense because I know ST funded the buses so it'd make sense that ST owns them, but then they are assigned to the operator (Community Transit, Metro or Pierce Transit).
I know ST is far from perfect, but sometimes I wish TriMet were organized more like Sound Transit. At least with regards to having its Board appointed locally rather than by the Governor, and with the "subarea" concept and requiring that service and capital spending be equal for the four subareas.
Those are actually old Sound Transit buses, used in both King and Snohomish Counties (and at some point early in their lives, Pierce).
ReplyDeleteNow I thought Sound Transit didn't actually own the buses, the counties did (and thus the fleet numbers included a suffix of either "K" (King), "P" (Pierce" or "S" (Snohomish) to identify the actual owner.
ReplyDeleteAnd since Pierce Transit is all CNG, it makes it very easy to identify their buses without looking at the number (just look at the roofline).
My understanding Pierce actually had some of these when they first came in (way back when), when they went all CNG (and thus all non-artic), these got split b/t King and Snohomish counties to share. These used to run on the 594 (known simply as the Seattle Express then).
ReplyDeleteThe buses are registered to Sound Transit, not King County, (at least thats what the registration says in our ST buses which I currently drive on a daily basis.) Snohomish buses are "C", for Community Transit. So I think ST still holds the power, they order the buses, pay for the buses. If you flip thru their documents, you will find where they purchased their buses and authorized the funds. I believe it is ST that decides when they get retired, and where they go. We just operate their service under contract.
See if they decide to send services elsewhere, they can divvy up the equipment anyway they like. Light Rail for example, is operated by us, but Im pretty sure King County doesn't own them, and probably doesn't want to. Sounder trains are operated by BNSF, and maintained by Amtrak, but niter own the equipment. ST is a very oddly organized agency.
Duh, I should have known "C" and not "S". Okay - that makes sense because I know ST funded the buses so it'd make sense that ST owns them, but then they are assigned to the operator (Community Transit, Metro or Pierce Transit).
ReplyDeleteI know ST is far from perfect, but sometimes I wish TriMet were organized more like Sound Transit. At least with regards to having its Board appointed locally rather than by the Governor, and with the "subarea" concept and requiring that service and capital spending be equal for the four subareas.