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Not too many options for Artics in North America.

New Flyer, Nova Bus is pretty much it.

I know NABI manufactures a "BRT" 60 ft. bus, but the TTC isn't going to buy a bus with extra moulding.
 
You do know that transit agencies don't buy buses like you buy a car right? They take lifecycle costs into account. The market may not be huge for transit agencies, but I'm willing to bet that NFI certainly thought they could refurbish and sell those buses or they wouldn't have taken them in.

New Flyer only ended up selling 20 to three systems, and leased 9 to a Quebec system. According to New Flyer, they "sold 170 of the used buses to a bus remanufacturer/distributor at slightly above book value... Management decided to sell the 170 buses to avoid further maintenance and storage costs as the market for used buses proved to be very limited."
 
With the farce of a website they have, I really hope the TTC tells Orion to take a hike...

http://www.orionbus.com/

BTW, the site has remained the same since last year. The only thing which has changed is the proposed dates of their new website as they continue to miss their deadlines (November, January, and now March...). I know a website isn't everything, but in this time period having a shabby website which continues to make promises it cannot keep looks unprofessional, and reflects on the company and its products.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, maybe they are a perfect fit for the TTC :p
 
Brampton Transit will be getting its first artics this year, articulated Xcelsiors for the Zum service. They demanded stainless steel frames as with all their conventional and BRT-lite 40 footers, so there is another GTA precedent.

I remember when BT's fleet was largely made up of 35 foot GM New Looks and Flyer D800s.
 
Artics make sense for Brampton because they have BRT. I think artics are best when there are BRT measures, especially all-door boarding. Otherwise, they will be too slow and unreliable.
 
Brampton Transit will be getting its first artics this year, articulated Xcelsiors for the Zum service. They demanded stainless steel frames as with all their conventional and BRT-lite 40 footers, so there is another GTA precedent.

They might have requested stainless steel in the tenders (and I'm pretty sure that they didn't, actually), but NFI doesn't build with stainless steel anymore. The last time they did was with the Invero, and even then it was an option and only the lower-half of the frame.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
Because you can trade a old car for a fraction of it's original value, you think it can be applied to buses. There isn't much of a market for used buses in North America. I have seen buses converted to tourbuses, and luxury "limos", and the occasional bus sold to a small agency, but agencies probably get more value if they sell the buses to scrap yards.

Calgary Transit has bought used buses in the past, but only ones that had commonality with some in their fleet already, and they thought they could squeeze a few more years out of. That being said, they were mostly used during peak only and as fleet spares.
 
A great trial period for artics will be the SRT replacement shutdown period. A fixed route, that needs lots of capacity, at as low a cost as possible. If everything was done in a coordinated fashion, the buses could be used for the PanAm games then moved over for SRT replacement.
 

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