Don't get overly excited now. According to the FTAs Article on Stimulus funds, TriMet is getting only 18 of them.They are going to be put on the 72, one of TriMets heavily used lines. That way, they can get destroyed, graffitti-ed on, and broken in a jiff! But hey, this is a step in the right direction, We have called for years now for them to buy hybrids, and its about damn time!
But lets take a step back..........I will believe it, when I see them take the streets! Supposedly there was a presentation about it, but since I just told you about it, theres no need to waste your time looking at a bunch of politicians toot their horns. I hope this will lead to more, better bus procurement in the future.
Theres More: TriMet always undercuts us when possible, according to the news release, they are only getting 4 to start with. Its almost "Why even bother". But with TriMet, You have to take what you can get when it comes to buses.
6 comments:
I was excited about this announcement, but only 18 buses? Really? We have 250 buses that should have been replaced eight years ago and we're only getting 18?
And I notice that the press conference is being held at...a MAX station? Why not somewhere like, oh, 82nd and Powell? 82nd and Sandy?
Sickening, isn't it? If you read McFarlanes "About Me" page, it mentions rail projects 5 times, not one bus item. I would *like* to say it a step in the right direction.....but I need to (1) see these actually arrive and (2) seem them order more in qty's the region needs to meet the demands of transit and ridership.
Meanwhile, here in Seattle, Sound Transit will put in 13 new 60' Clean Diesel Hybrid buses in October, and METRO is supposed to put out close to 200 new hybrids in 40' and 60' format. What's TriMets excuse, and its not money, cause they just need to apply for it.
Well, so much for my optimism. Only FOUR buses. It doesn't even make a dent in the entire transit system; TriMet is spending $3 million to build a new MAX station in Gresham (Civic Drive) that is just one-quarter of a mile from another station (Gresham Central).
I like what King County is doing with public input and discussion for renewing the trolleybus fleet - I'm a little surprised, because I thought trolleybuses had a longer lifespan than diesel buses. But the discussion is open and public on how to replace it. TriMet's discussion on the bus fleet is "sweep it under the rug and hope nobody talks about it". Unfortunately I did, and Hansen even had to respond in a rebuttal in the Portland Tribune, where even most of his "facts" were wrong.
Why it's a tripling of the hybrid fleet! ;-)
Do you think these come already NASCAR'ified, or does that also cost extra?
...oh yeah... I'd also like to point out, as Chad knows now.
Metro isn't the biggest fan of these buses either. Their cost doesn't particularly outwiegh their advantages. On only certain types of routes do hybrids start to work out well.
In other bits though - I'm looking forward to seeing the new pseudo BRT routes start service here in Seattle. Too bad they're serving routes I probably won't use much (except maybe Redmond to Bellevue).
Though METRO is getting 114 new 40' Orion Hybrids in he next year, the first one is here and has been roaming the streets as we test it out. 70 new 60' buses are due by late next year.
Of course, I think METRO buys hybrids more for the reason they are quieter, smoother and provide less emissions.
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