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| Valley Metro busfanning trip report 09.27.08 (117202) | |||
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Valley Metro busfanning trip report 09.27.08 |
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Posted by phxtusbusfan on Sun Sep 28 02:42:17 2008 Today, I was either incredibly bored or I had no life or some combination of the two so I decided to embark upon the longest busfanning trip of the Valley Metro system I had so far. I had a goal in mind which was to see if I could find the 2008 hybrid. Unfortunately, I failed at that goal. However, I was able to make a decent amount of observations, ride a lot of buses, and have a very stress free day.The buses: 1.) 2007 New Flyer D40LF (Veolia-Phoenix) #6547 on route 106 from 90th St./Shea to Sunnyslope Observations: - this bus wasn't in great shape (malfunctioning Route Scout, extensive tagging in the rear high floor area, water dripping from the A/C unit onto the seats, the interior speakers seemed to be coated with dirt/grime) 2.) 2002 NABI 40-LFW (Veolia-Phoenix) #6311 on route 0 from Sunnyslope to Thomas/Central Observations: - the interior of the bus was fairly clean, the A/C worked reasonably well, the chipped paint on the interior speakers looks tacky as does that "black tar" on the rear of the bus 3.) 2007 New Flyer D40LF (First Transit) #6523 on Green Line from Thomas/Central to Thomas/Scottsdale Obvervations: - this bus was MUCH cleaner than 6547 - standing room only on the Green Line at approx 9am - there was a detour due to an accident at 32nd/Thomas that took the bus up 32nd to Osborn, down Osborn to 36th, and then back to Thomas 4.) 2006 New Flyer C40LFR (Veolia-Tempe) #6404 on route 72 from Thomas/Scottsdale to Southern/Rural Observations: - there wasn't all that much tagging in the rear - the bus was immaculately clean inside (other than very minimal tagging in the rear) - the A/C didn't seem as powerful as Phoenix's 2007 D40LFs - the sticker on the passenger side exterior of the bus stated "Owner Valley Metro/RPTA" and Operated by "Veolia Transportation" (the 2006 C40LFRs operated by (Veolia-RPTA) say "Owner Valley Metro (and not RPTA)" 5.) 2006 New Flyer C40LFR (Veolia-RPTA) #6437 on route 61 from Southern/Rural to Superstition Springs Observations: - the farebox wasn't working (everyone who boarded got a free ride) - the 61s deviation from Southern onto Country Club to the Home Depot south of US60 and back is the stupidest "gerrymandered" route I've ever seen, one person got off of the bus at the Home Depot and absolutely nobody got on 6.) 2007 New Flyer D40LFR (Veolia-RPTA) #6455 on route 30 from Superstition Springs to University/College Ave. Observations: - there are more LED lights on these buses than the 2006 C40LFRs (LED lights are in the stairwell inside of the bus, outside of the front and rear doors on the exteriors, and in the interior of the front door in the doorway. on the 2006 C40LFRs none of these are LED) - there didn't seem to be much of a difference on the window tint from this bus to the 2006 C40LFRs - there was an altercation between the operator and a passenger who felt that the operator was rude to him (the operator told the passenger to "hurry up and get on the bus" - there is no owned by or operated by sticker on this bus, also the builders plate looks as if it's been removed 7.) 2006 New Flyer C40LFR (Veolia-RPTA) #6451 on route 81 from University/College Ave. to 90th St./Shea Observations: - the operator was talking to someone who seemed to be either a friend/fellow operator (wearing street clothes) about how he was trying to figure out how to get the dispatcher to give him bus #6623. He and the friend seemed to agree that #6623 was a bus of choice. I may be reading between the lines too much but I am curious if maybe #6623 and NOT #6648 is the hybrid. - the 81 goes through Tempe Marketplace again (and almost was involved in an accident in the parking lot there) 8.) and 9.) 2006 New Flyer C40LFRs #6402 and #6408 respectively on the 72 S/B and N/B from College/University to Chandler Fashion Center Observations: - bus #6402 still has the RPTA formatted destination sign readings Other observations: - it appears that most of the local routes within Mesa (104, 128, 136) use 2001 NABI 40-LFW (CNGs) on Saturdays. - the RPTA seems to have the longer/busier routes (30, 45, 61, 81 (not sure about the 96), 156) using exclusively 2006/2007/2008 C40LFRs/D40LFRs/C40LFRs. - it seems that ALL Phoenix owned buses have that "FULL AMOUNT MUST BE PAID Fares Set By Phoenix City Ordinance" stickers on their rear doors as well as at the front of the buses - the highest numbered D40LFR I saw with the RPTA was 6458 and the highest numbered C40LFR was 6644 |
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