|
|
| Re: 1981 News Report: Grumman-Flxible 870 Cracked A-Frame Problems (219382) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > BusChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
Re: 1981 News Report: Grumman-Flxible 870 Cracked A-Frame Problems |
|
|
Posted by RailBus63 on Thu Jan 6 10:09:49 2011, in response to Re: 1981 News Report: Grumman-Flxible 870 Cracked A-Frame Problems, posted by New Flyer D40LF 4050 on Wed Jan 5 21:23:05 2011. The thing that eventually did the RTS in was the increased amount of non-Flxible competitors using the "low bid" rule to sell cheap and inferior buses like the rotten/rusted Neoplans.What eventually ‘did in’ the RTS and the Flxible was the decision by those manufacturers to put all of their eggs in the ADB basket. Many transit agencies considered both the RTS and the 870/Metro to be overbuilt, over-designed, expensive ‘Cadillacs’ and were not happy that the Feds were pushing the Advanced Design Buses on them. The door was open almost from the start for builders with lower-cost alternatives. Flyer got its foot in the door in the United States selling its proven D800 and D900-series bus and GM-Canada soon followed with its New Look and Classic. Gillig and Orion in particular found a niche in building a basic bus that fulfilled the needs of small and medium-sized transit operators and was less expensive both to purchase and to operate. Also, you shouldn’t harp on the rust problems of early Neoplans without also acknowledging that many transit agencies who bought the early 01 and 03 RTS’s had numerous problems with them. I remember one summer Saturday in 1982 when I visited Providence on a busfanning trip and happily discovered that RIPTA had pulled its entire fleet of 1978 RTS’s off the road for some problem or another and was running only New Look buses that day. |
|
|
|