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| Valley Metro 2008 New Flyer C40LFR Observations (UPDATE) (101415) | |||
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Valley Metro 2008 New Flyer C40LFR Observations (UPDATE) |
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Posted by roscoman1986 on Fri Jun 13 15:25:50 2008, in response to Valley Metro (Phoenix) new buses is on the way, posted by transitbusfan on Thu Jun 12 22:21:43 2008. Only 3 minutes after I posted my first list of observations on the new 2008 New Flyer C40LFRs I was able to actually take a ride on one of them, 6597 (yep, they are starting from 6597 and going to 6647, with the hybrid being 6648). Here are some replacement/new observations:1. The tranny type (ZF?) is the same but the engine is different and a lot quieter than the 2006 C40LFRs. 2. The buses have that genuine "new New Flyer smell" like that on all the other Valley Metro New Flyer buses since 2004. 3. Seating configuration is interesting. The seats in the rear are in the same configuration as all the other Valley Metro New Flyer buses (8 forward-facing seats, 4 inward-facing seats, and the 5-seat bench in the rear). The low-floor section is both similar and different to that of D40LFRs 6453-6456. First of all, all of the seats in the low-floor section face inwards. In addition to that, EVERY seat bench (except for that on the passenger side between the front and rear door) is a wheelchair position, making a total of FOUR wheelchair positions. I don't remember the exact number of seats on each bench, but they all face inwards in this case. The wheelchair ramp is in the rear and the doors are driver-controlled. 4. Revision on the stop request system. Yes, it is true, there is yellow stop request tape again. However, this is ONLY on the driver's side low floor section. When I went up to the high-floor section, I noticed at first that there were neither pull cords nor tape. Why? Because the main stop request system is actually a PUSH-BUTTON system like that on new Las Vegas buses and most European buses (as the Las Vegas CAT bus yard says, "way past cool")! This will definitely take some time to get used to (even for myself) as most Phoenix riders are used to looking at the wall to find the stop request cord or tape. Instead the buttons are mounted on the vertical standee poles, and the area where there is tape lacks vertical poles. Valley Metro should have placed stickers on the walls to remind passengers to push the button to request a stop. 5. Yep, the walls are NOT corrugated, meaning that people can still scratch them up possibly (unless they are made of a harder plastic). I prefer the corrugated plastic more than anything else. 6. No sign of any Transit TV installation. |
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