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DesignLine Commuter Coach Discussion


Cait Sith

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I really do not understand NJT's logic at all. They gotta keep their 45' diesels otherwise they arent gonna have enough buses to make score. I'm wondering how Academy may be greasing the palms of certain high ranking officials to wreck the 139 to get more business... :o

Out of all this, Academy gets A. extra runs on the 139, B. extra customers, or both. Either way they must be happy lol.

 

BTW, nothing against you, but there's no Academy conspiracy here. No one's bribing anyone, the situation will likely end up in their favor but they still have nothing to do with whatever NJT does.

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Out of all this, Academy gets A. extra runs on the 139, B. extra customers, or both. Either way they must be happy lol.

 

BTW, nothing against you, but there's no Academy conspiracy here. No one's bribing anyone, the situation will likely end up in their favor but they still have nothing to do with whatever NJT does.

 

I just hope the 139 is still operated by NJT off peak (when I usually take it) since I cant use NJT tickets on Academy, though I've always felt on the 139 that NJT tickets should be cross honored (and vice versa for Academy tickets).

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I just hope the 139 is still operated by NJT off peak (when I usually take it) since I cant use NJT tickets on Academy, though I've always felt on the 139 that NJT tickets should be cross honored (and vice versa for Academy tickets).

Academy accepts all NJT tickets on their 139 runs (Wall Street is not considered 139, it's an Academy service), it's basically contract service to NJT. But I believe they're tickets only, I never see them take cash and they definitely don't issue transfers or anything like that because their MCIs don't have Wayfarers.

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Academy accepts all NJT tickets on their 139 runs (Wall Street is not considered 139, it's an Academy service), it's basically contract service to NJT. But I believe they're tickets only, I never see them take cash and they definitely don't issue transfers or anything like that because their MCIs don't have Wayfarers.

 

From what I've experienced, its ticket 99.9% of the time.

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From what I've experienced, its ticket 99.9% of the time.

That's always the case on the 139 during rush hour, but I'm pretty sure I've seen people get turned away on those buses. Could be because they were looking for a Wall Street bus or something and got on the wrong bus, but it looked like the op wasn't taking cash.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got off 7206 on the 63X, now that I've been on it let me say a few things:

-As expected the seats are very hard and uncomfortable, and very little recline. Other riders complaining as well.

-The bus was a tad bit more rickey than the MCIs, but nothing too bad.

-Gotta admit though, the HVAC was very good, was pretty damn cool in there.

-The engine backfired very nicely too.

-Pax were not happy about the lack of under bus storage, also as expected.

 

Still needs improving, we'll have to see how it goes. Exclusive soundclip and onboard vid coming later.

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Just got off 7206 on the 63X, now that I've been on it let me say a few things:

-As expected the seats are very hard and uncomfortable, and very little recline. Other riders complaining as well.

-The bus was a tad bit more rickey than the MCIs, but nothing too bad.

-Gotta admit though, the HVAC was very good, was pretty damn cool in there.

-The engine backfired very nicely too.

-Pax were not happy about the lack of under bus storage, also as expected.

 

Still needs improving, we'll have to see how it goes. Exclusive soundclip and onboard vid coming later.

I knew you were gonna get to ride it before me lol.

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It's.......loud :blink: . Yeah I kinda see what some others meant when they said it sounds like a transit bus.

 

Hopefully one will be on the 131 since I'll be taking it again tomorrow. If not, I can just camp out on route 9 next week until one shows up.

MyBusNow is your friend.

 

It's loud but not too loud, much quieter than the MCIs even the ones with the CAT engines.

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Also is it just me or are those MAN axles?

ZF axles. Almost the same ones used on the Novas. Though I have to double-check that, I have the spec sheet somewhere.

 

I'm gonna wait till the fall to get my ride/sound clips on them. I saw that one on the 63X along with 7201 on the 67 today.

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ZF axles. Almost the same ones used on the Novas. Though I have to double-check that, I have the spec sheet somewhere.

 

I'm gonna wait till the fall to get my ride/sound clips on them. I saw that one on the 63X along with 7201 on the 67 today.

Cait, have you been seeing any of them on the 131,133, or 135 at all lately? I know they they tend be on Route 9 a lot, but I haven't ruled out the fact that some go out on the non-US-9 Howell routes (sans the 68 and 138).

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Cait, have you been seeing any of them on the 131,133, or 135 at all lately? I know they they tend be on Route 9 a lot, but I haven't ruled out the fact that some go out on the non-US-9 Howell routes (sans the 68 and 138).

 

The 130, 136, and 139 seem to be the main culprits from what I normally see. I saw 7208 on the 131 while on the x17J about....1-2 weeks ago along with 7209(?) on the 132 but I haven't seen one since.

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The 130, 136, and 139 seem to be the main culprits from what I normally see. I saw 7208 on the 131 while on the x17J about....1-2 weeks ago along with 7209(?) on the 132 but I haven't seen one since.

 

Cait, have you been seeing any of them on the 131,133, or 135 at all lately? I know they they tend be on Route 9 a lot, but I haven't ruled out the fact that some go out on the non-US-9 Howell routes (sans the 68 and 138).

I only head out to catch them if I see them on MyBusNow, and I haven't seen them at all when I've been out by 9 otherwise.

 

Onboard vid:

 

 

Outside vid:

 

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The 130, 136, and 139 seem to be the main culprits from what I normally see. I saw 7208 on the 131 while on the x17J about....1-2 weeks ago along with 7209(?) on the 132 but I haven't seen one since.

Were you able to tell if it was headed to Freehold or just Sayreville? The 131 has trips that end in Sayreville and trips that are combined.

 

 

I only head out to catch them if I see them on MyBusNow, and I haven't seen them at all when I've been out by 9 otherwise.

 

Onboard vid:

 

 

Outside vid:

 

Great vids! The windows look like MCI's windows but bigger. The CD's seem to be a little bit more audible than the MCI's also.

 

It looked like it was going pretty fast to me.

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Kinda wish you shot that from the middle of the row so we can actually get the essence of how the interior really is. I shall get my interior shots of these real soon.

I don't like doing that during rush hour when there's people behind me (couldn't get the back row), it pisses off the folks trying to get off and makes a crappy video when I have to move for them to get off.

 

Great vids! The windows look like MCI's windows but bigger. The CD's seem to be a little bit more audible than the MCI's also.

 

It looked like it was going pretty fast to me.

It seems like they announce major stops louder than the other ones now, going towards NY all the stops on 9 are quiet but PABT is nice and loud to wake everyone up.

 

The outside announcements are definitely much louder and clearer than the MCIs, you can tell they use a different speaker that looks like the ones on the NABIs.

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I only head out to catch them if I see them on MyBusNow, and I haven't seen them at all when I've been out by 9 otherwise.

 

Onboard vid:

 

 

Outside vid:

 

 

Maybe abit better than I expected, but it still seems to sound and ride like a transit bus vs a coach. The riders aren't gonna like that, plus the seats and lack of a luggage compartment. Though if they are run on mostly rush hour routes commuters usually dont have luggage anyway. I like the sound of the engine seems like it's got a good amount of power, but the MCI CNG's were more like a coach. A coach shouldn't sound that bumpy, though I'd have to ride one to actually see how bumpy it is. Looks like a hard suspension.

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Maybe abit better than I expected, but it still seems to sound and ride like a transit bus vs a coach. The riders aren't gonna like that, plus the seats and lack of a luggage compartment. Though if they are run on mostly rush hour routes commuters usually dont have luggage anyway. I like the sound of the engine seems like it's got a good amount of power, but the MCI CNG's were more like a coach. A coach shouldn't sound that bumpy, though I'd have to ride one to actually see how bumpy it is. Looks like a hard suspension.

An MCI's a true motorcoach, and they've been around doing what they do for a long time. Designline here is just getting started. They could very well end up with a successful bus, but they'll have to learn from all the mistakes they make, and if they want this order to work out for them they should be working with NJT on rectifying the problems and above all completing this order. Remember that the order was supposed to be done in May, and chances are if the order was MCI's we would not be seeing old CNGs on the road today. Their last order for the MTA was completed well ahead of schedule back in January.

 

As for the suspension, well like you said MCI builds motorcoaches and Designline builds Transit Buses. Obviously MCI is going to do a better job building a more motorcoach-like bus with better suspension and overall comfort for long-haul travel. Designline's just getting into the game, they're obviously building off their (little) expertise with transit buses and have a lot to learn and work on. At this point they're basically like New Flyer with their Viking back in the 90s, unfortunately New Flyer got basically no business for that bus and didn't do much to improve it and the EcoCoach could end up going down that same road if they don't rectify its problems. I can definitely see them doing whatever to make it work for them though, unlike New Flyer Designline really has no steady business for any of their products, so they really have to make this one work or they could end up out of business.

 

The luggage racks are used much more often during the rush than most people think they are. I've see them fully loaded in the AM rush quite a few times.

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