JLiu15 Posted February 27, 2021 Share #1 Posted February 27, 2021 (edited) At least 8 1997 New Flyer D40LFs have entered service at Princeton University, after First Transit left and their ElDorados retired. They've been running cutaways for a few weeks, but now they have the D40LFs as part of their interim fleet that will run until tentatively Fall 2022 when they receive electric buses. Edited February 27, 2021 by JLiu15 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share #2 Posted March 14, 2021 Here's some photos of them I took today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share #3 Posted March 14, 2021 More info on these buses: Confirmed units: 37001-37014. 1995-98 models. Ex-OCTA units. Cummins ISC engine (repowered from Detroit Diesel series 50 in 2002-03 back at OCTA). Operated at Washington State after retiring from OCTA before coming to Princeton under the operator WeDriveU. Most units in the series are December 1997 models. 37005 ex-OCTA 5378; 37009 ex-OCTA 5329; 37011 ex-OCTA 5315; 37013 ex-OCTA 5322. 37001 is a 1995 model. Ex-OCTA 5214. 37014 is 1998. Ex-OCTA 5379. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share #4 Posted April 8, 2021 Looks like 37002-37004, 37007, and 37012 have finally entered service. There's a couple more 1995 models in this batch (e.g. 37004). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted April 10, 2021 Author Share #5 Posted April 10, 2021 On 4/7/2021 at 8:16 PM, JLiu15 said: Looks like 37002-37004, 37007, and 37012 have finally entered service. There's a couple more 1995 models in this batch (e.g. 37004). Correction: only 37004 and 37012 entered service lately. 37002, 37003, and 37007 are still yet to go into service. 37004 is a 1995 model. Ex-OCTA 5247. 37012 is a 1997 model. Ex-OCTA 5337. Here are some photos I took of 37004 and 37012: Additionally, 37013 is still completely white, but it's in service with Tiger Transit logos taped to the window. I wonder when it'll get painted... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share #6 Posted May 1, 2021 I'm starting to think that 37002 and 37007 (a 1995 and 1997 model, respectively) will be parts buses. As of now they're still parked at Stout's facility in Ewing township, and they still have their previous WA plates and 3 pairs of rear lights (buses in service are upgraded to 4 pairs to comply with NJ law and pass state inspection). Given how old these buses are, parts are probably scarce, so I think it's reasonable that they'd want to keep a few buses to provide parts for other buses if needed. In this case, 37002 would likely be the parts donor for the 1995 models (37001-37004) and 37007 the parts donor for the 1997/98 models (37005-37014). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share #7 Posted May 14, 2021 Visited Princeton again today and to my surprise, some units are starting to feature working destination signs! I have heard from one of their drivers that they are not going to program the destination signs due to their short time of service at Princeton, so this was a total surprise. Units I saw with working destination signs were 37010, 37013, and 37014. The text does not fit perfectly onto the sign, i.e. some of the text is cut off as it's trying to display the entire route name and number in one line, but still it's better than the paper signs they've been using IMO. 37010: 37013: 37014: Some other photos from today: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted May 18, 2021 Some updates on these buses: Nearly all units have a working sign now. The only units not yet seen with a working sign AFAIK are 37001, 37006, and 37012. 37002 and 37007 failed inspection, which is why they're still sitting at Stout's facility. The issues are not serious, so they still have a chance of entering service if WeDriveU wants to spend the money to repair them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted June 7, 2021 37002 is inspected and now in service. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share #10 Posted June 20, 2021 More updates: All buses are in service except 37003 and 37007. Both units were spotted at Stout's facility. 37007 now has NJ plates and 4 pairs of rear lights. 37003 has been inspected for several months now, but only has 3 pairs of rear lights. Same goes for 37002, which is in service now but also only has 3 pairs of rear lights. 37002, 37003, and 37007 are all unpainted and completely white. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLiu15 Posted August 25, 2021 Author Share #11 Posted August 25, 2021 A theory about these buses' numbering scheme: they are numbered 37xxx because of their seat count (37 seats). WeDriveU's cutaways also seem to follow this pattern. Also, word on the street is that these buses' replacement next year will be the New Flyer XE35. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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