RSMG106

38 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said:

This makes me wonder on why the HVAC specs were even changed in the first place, given that this is an option order.

At this point, are they going to refit all of the XD60s with a correctly-programmed transmission AND an HVAC unit that isn’t overpowered and overweight?

I'm not too sure. It may not happen, unless the MTA knows about this issue, and starts the process of refitting all the XD60s.

18 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

Why would they have to move the route to transit just for LFSAs? You do know they could just send those over if they would, right? Lol.

Also, the performance issues with the XD60s is not because of the transmission....the transmissions have been programmed correctly this time around. The 2019s have been slowed down and the overweight and overpowered HVACs is causing the issues.

The 2016s-2017s are the ones with transmission issues, most notably on the Q44, as operators have to hold the bus in 3rd gear to get speed. However, this issue isn't only limited to NYMTA.....

 

I can understand of why the HVACs are more heavy than the 2016-17 order, but I think the MTA should at least keep the specs from the 2016-17 order as it is. Overpowering the HVACs, and making it heavy, can have massive issues, i.e. engine breakdown,  Also, for the Thermo Kings on the XD60s, if riders heard that the bus whines when the AC is on, it should be noted that the compressors are the key points of the whine. Honestly, I don't like it that much, but I think the MTA in the future, should test out the Moblie Climate Control, or the all new Sutrak ACE HVACs for their next articulated order. But I will admit that the 2917-19 XD40s with Thermo Kings are better than the XD60s in my opinion. Overall, the MTA should consider testing out new HVACs for other buses.

23 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

The MTA is gonna "attempt" to retire buses by the 12 yr mark now so let's see what happens.

12 years? It seems pretty early to retire buses like that. Some companies retired their buses in the 15-20 year mark, or rarely more. However, most companies due retire their buses at the 12 year mark, so they can make room for newer, and better efficient buses, or retiring them for unknown reasons. The MTA should at least retire buses at the 18 year mark, similar to their 1998-99 Orion Vs. However, this is just my opinion though.

5 minutes ago, Calvin said:

The old 5534 restored and will be preserved

That's very good news. I knew the MTA decided to preserve the D60s after all.

4 minutes ago, Jdog14 said:

 

Didn't change stickers. All the NGs are leaving the island. 

Interesting. I could've sworn a NG has YU stickers on a MV unit.

6 minutes ago, UTC Bus Roster said:

4040 is assigned to MHV.

Weird. 4040 still has Yukon stickers on it, and you said it was assigned to MV? Maybe they didn't have the chance to switch stickers.

4040 was on loan at MV from YU this morning on the M98.

4

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On 5/29/2019 at 4:46 PM, MHV9218 said:

6096 is still a Quill bus, just doing a piece on the M35 right now.

 

Thanks for the info. I forgot that the M35 operates at Quill.

6096 heading back from MQ to possibly CS. I saw it when I was heading back home.

I know this isn't the contrary, but will the MTA preserve the RTS with ZFs? I doubt it will happen.

On 4/8/2019 at 11:14 AM, Lawrence St said:

So are the D60HF's now offically on scrapped status or are they like, retired but MTA is unsure wether or not to scrap them because of the (L)?

I was surprised to hear that. Another thing is that they never preserved one D60 in the museum fleet, due to it being popular for it's large capacity and being used in The Bronx and Manhattan.

I got a question? The NYCT purchase the DesignLine EcoSaver IV in 2009, as part of their BTE. These were mainly tested in MJQ and MV. They were originally supposed to be powered by the Capstone C30 Microturbines, and yes, these buses were powered by Microturbines, instead of a standard diesel engine. But they decided to use the powerful Capstone C65 Microturbines instead. I know there were withdrawn in 2011 and returned to Designline due to major issues, including the Microturbines. So I was wondering, with DesignLine being now known as Environmental Performance Vehicles Corp or EPV Corp. in 2014, will the MTA test out these buses again, since that technology is now becoming more advanced, and maybe give EPV another chance on the EcoSavers, or their other buses like the EcoCoach  or the EcoSmart?

5 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

 

Well before the shutdown was cancelled, the delivery was changed so that Quill would be getting additional XD60s and the LFSAs would be going elsewhere. 

Seems weird, but since that more than 80 XD60s are in SBS duties, it will make sense that the LFS-A should push the XD60s from MQ to OH. However, this is just my opinion.

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1 minute ago, Brillant93 said:

Way too early to even assume. With Cumos shake up and other things we don’t even know if there will be an L train shuttle. 

 

Good point.

I got a question after what happened this month. I know this is too early, but will the LFS-A assignment for MQ, 5567-5602, either replace the XD60s for SBS duties, or will it stick to the plan, and be used for the  train shuttle?

7 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Since the first batch of Orion hybrids are starting to be retired, I hope 6365 is saved for the museum. Hybrids have been the backbone of the MTA Bus fleet for 10+ years now and it's only right the bus that started it all, gets saved.

Don't forget about the last remaining D60s.

On 11/3/2018 at 9:18 PM, MysteriousBtrain said:

5249 retired but preserved as a museum bus.

A 99 RTS preserved? Now I'm excited for another RTS to be preserved, just like 8971. I wonder if one of the 2002-04 D60HFs may get preserved as well.

1 hour ago, SevenEleven said:

The Prevosts do have a retarder. It's silent as hell but its there and it works. The reason why Prevost only offers the D13 is because why put money in their competitors' pockets? I want MCI to win the next order but Prevost does push a great product.

I will admit that. Now I can understand why these buses are more different than the MCIs.

On 10/8/2018 at 1:21 AM, East New York said:

Express Bus Update: MTA is now in the evaluation process for the next orders of express buses. These will be the last diesel express buses ordered, and has been a very stiff competition that will come down to overall usability. I am told we will in fact order up to 37 Double Decker buses according to the current plans. It aslo appears that we can expect D45 CRT's in the near future as well. The next order is still up in the air, and could go either way. MTA is currently reviewing proposals from Alexander-Dennis, MCI, and Prevost. The final decision os expected by April 2019, with pilot delivery by next fall.

I just hope the MTA doesn't accept the Prevost X-345s as the next express bus order. The design is great, and I know there are a lot of people who likes theses buses, but it lacks a retarder, only has one standard engine, the Volvo D13, and it doesn't have the modern style feel like Low floor for ADA accessibility. The buses are great, but doesn't have these key features

15 minutes ago, East New York said:

Aver evaluating 7523 for a few trips on it's first day of service, along with 7667, and 7487 before it, my preliminary take is much better that I initially expected. These are now my favorites out of the XD40's. 

The LBSS has finally been tuned just right for NYC operations. These buses take off much faster and are rivaled only by a few 4800 series buses at East New York Depot. These buses also feel a lot more solid, and ride a lot smoother. I also love the fuel-saver feature, which actually works great for a city like New York where we have idling laws, and MTA requires operators to shut buses down on layover. With the Xcelsior, if the bus is idling for 15 minutes, it will automatically shut itself off.

Overall, my favorite Xcelsiors have been the CNG's and the hybrids. I am patiently awaiting delivery of 9505 to GA. This bus has been delayed a couple times. It was supposed to be delivered to GA yesterday, but the bus never made it. It is now pending delivery to GA as soon as MTA signs off on it. Note these BAE powered buses were already supposed to be in service to begin side-by-side evaluation with the other units. As of now, the Allison units have been doing pretty well with the exception of some minor maintenance issues with 9502. 

I've always been a fan of the Luminator destination sign, and that's what my RTS has. However, I am really digging the reliability of these Hanover Multi-color signs. The ODK may not be as fancy as Luminators, but the programming and hardware is quite solid. 

All the Proterra buses have Luminator test signs. If MTA is satisfied with how they operate they will then be willing to let them bid on contracts again. In case anyone did not know, MTA has a settlement agreement in place with Luminator. Any signs that need to be replaced will be replaced with Spectrum/Titan combos. For example, if a front sign goes out on a C40LF, it will be replaced with a Spectrum, and not a Titan.  Hence all the C40LF's that have Spectrum front signs now. 

In other news, all the Proterra buses now have the new rear doors installed, however they have not been running in service due to one issue. The buses have passed every MTA evaluation test except the Deceleration Test. Also known as the break test, this is to test the stopping distance, and stopping power of the bus. At this time it is not up to MTA specifications, therefore Proterra will work with MTA to find a solution.

In the meanwhile, we have an unplanned test demo on the horizon. Now known as 0021, a new Proterra is said to soon make its way to our city to undergo evaluation by the MTA. Information on this new project is limited at this time. From what I understand, we now operate test buses with the "Prodrive" electric system, and 0021 will feature the 'Duodrive" system. As soon as I can confirm, and have more information I will be sure to post. In the meanwhile, the newly released Proterra specs are now available if you all want to look at the technical side of things. The first page of this thread will be updated accordingly.

https://www.proterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Catalyst-40-ft-Spec-Sheet-Sept-2018.pdf

 

Not off topic at all. This is the thread for these types of discussions. However transit fans rarely dictate service patterns or marketing plans unless it beneficial to all sides. If customers demand changes, then they will be looked into.

I'm going to assume that the DuoDrive has more range, more faster performance, and a higher gradeability than the ProDrive?

The Orion V is the third most iconic bus for the MTA. Many transit agencies ordered these buses from 1989 to 2008. For these facts, I'm listing the facts that I sourced, but I will not include MTA Bus' Ex: Private Bus Lines Orion V and Orion V CNGs. With that all in mind here are some facts about MTA's Orion Vs. 

* The 1993 Units were different powertrain-wise. 101-290, 298, and 301-316 were powered by the Detroit Diesel 6V92TA engine with Allison HT747 transmission. 291-294 were powered by the Detroit Diesel Series 50 engine with Allison HT748 transmission. And 295-297, and 299-300 were powered by the Cummins C8.3 engine with Allison HT747 transmission. All of these buses we're repowered with the Detroit Diesel Series 50 EGR engine, with Allison B400R4 transmissions. 

* 101-172 and 611-630 were originally delivered with suburban style seating for express routes, but were displaced into local service later on, refitting with fiberglass seating.

* 101-196 were originally numbered 93001-93096, the first two digits, 93, indicates the model year. However, the computer systems couldn't handle 5 digit fleet numbers, resulting to be renumbered to 101-196. 

* 240, 246 and 247 were given unknown Orange destination signs.

* The 1994-99 Orion V Diesels had the Detroit Diesel Series 50 engine, with Allison B400R4 transmission. 1993 and 1994-96 orders were the only orders along with the 1994-96 CNG units to have street exhaust. 

* 416 and 444 were repowered with the Detroit Diesel Series 50 EGR engine in the early 2000s as a test.

*  317, and 581-610 were originally powered by the Cummins L10G engine, with the ZF Ecomat 5HP590 transmissions. Later on, there were repowered with the Detroit Diesel Series 50G EGR engines, and Allison B400R4 transmissions.

* 631-680 were originally orders for the Flxible Metro Es, being numbered 1900-1949, and the powertrain would've been powered with the Series 50 engine, and Allison VR731RH transmission, but due to the closure of the Flxible Company in 1996, the MTA decided to transfer the award to Orion. 

* And lastly, 6000-6002 had Luminator MegaMax destination signs, while 6003-6349 had Luminator Max3000 destination signs. 

If there's any more facts, please let me know.

I gotten some Infomation that the MTA has awarded New Flyer for 106 XD60s. It's a little too early to tell, but could this be for the 2018-19 XD60 order, or is it a separate new order?

https://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12427149/new-york-orders-more-buses-from-new-flyer