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 Just found out about this on youtube and later confirmed on Wiki that these 2014 BRT 42s will indeed be the last of their kind. After the 105 buses are in, WMATA will switch back over to New Flyer Industries. I guess this will be the last New Flyer Break for quite sometime. 80 new XDE40s will be delivered next year with options to replace more Orion Vs (probably the 2000 units). As for the C40LFs and AN460s, they'll get replaced by XN40s and XDE60s respectively. You know, funny thing is that I predicted months ago that this would happen at some point, but I figured that NABI would at least complete the hybrid and maybe artic portions of the order while New Flyer does the CNGs. Didn't think this would happen so early on. I guess that this also means that ARTranist is probably going to get some Xcelsior XN35 CNGs or Gillg Advantage CNGs because of this. They just got some new NABIs the other day too as I personally reported last weekend. I suppose the next round of XDE40s will be numbered #7273 to #7352.

Just read that this guy had apparently jogged, went Bowling, and rode the A train (supposedly) a day before he was confirmed to have Ebola. This is just sick. This proves that there is a criminal cover-up by the federal government that is allowing these people from these sick countries to fly here. I really don't know how the MTA is going to respond to this (if at all). NYCT currently has more the 6000 subway cars in service. If I were them, I'd start pulling R46s and R32s from service (the cars that currently run on the A).

I ask this because I noticed that all the WMATA buses sport D.C. plates, even the Orion VII OG CNGs, most of which are probably going to be permanent VA residents. How com some buses don't have VA or Maryland plates?

Just read on MSN news that a woman had thrown up in the parking lot at the Pentagon this morning. They said that she got off a military bus and had started to hurl. Supposedly, she had recently taken a trip to Africa, but they don't know where. This is an issue that had started to concern me for sometime now. Is anyone else aware of how this can threaten the Transit community, being so close to a major Mass transit hub? And to think I was just there 2 days before, waiting for an Omniride bus. Very worrisome indeed.

 For me, it's got to be PRTC Omnillink. The buses run horribly on weekdays with long head ways (coupled with bad traffic). They run even worse on Weekends! I sometimes spend nearly 2 hours waiting for a damn bus! Now Omniride is not as bad as it's local counterpart, but they could still run longer hours and perhaps some more frequent service. As for the best in my opinion, it's got to be DASH (although I find FFX to be somewhat reliable, at least compared to how it used to be when I moved from New York almost 10 years ago). What do you guys think?

Just read on Wiki that this bus had an engine fire last month and exploded. Is that true, can anyone confirm this? Is this bus scrapped?

This is going to be a tread about your top 5 buses that you think retired way too soon. I'll start with:

#1: 2000 Orion VIs
#2: 1992 Orion V diesels
#3: 1999 Orion V diesels
#4: 1999-2000 Orion IIs
#5: 1995 Flexible Metro Es.

Does anyone know. I see these stickers on newer PRTC Gillig Advantages as well as FFX D40LFRs and XD40s.

Can't believe the year is almost over. Anyway, feel free to post anything of interest.

Is there anyone that knows if the CNG BRT 42s will be in the 8000s or another series? I could see them being either #4501-4764 or #9001-9264, leaving the 8000s for hybrids.

Does anyone know why there are no longer Orion VII OG CNGs on the 5A? I noticed on bustime that there are several New Flyer DE42LFAs on the 5A. And for that matter, now that Royal is gone, are there only two depots servicing NOVA lines or are there a couple of D.C. depots here too now?

Interesting new find. Apparently, WMATA is buying New Flyer buses for the Circulator service in 2015 to start a new line. 13 in all on order. This will most likely be for the Xcelsior for the MIDI is not 40 feet in length. Could be XD40s.

Just found out that PRTC got bus #393 recently. So far, that's the only 2014 MCI D4500CT on property. Haven't been transit fanning much lately, so I will see if this is true during the coming days.

Just checked Ride-On's fleet wiki and found that their Orion V CNGs are listed as "retired as of May 2014". Is this true? Can someone confirm this? I know that they got new Advantage CNGs recently, but I heard nothing about the V CNGs getting replaced (although I should of known better).

What happened to these buses? WMATA WIKI list them as being OOS (in #7138's case, retired). Fire damage? #7166 is also listed as OOS.

Technically, this is from yesterday, but I saw PRTC #1002 with a mismatched body-panel. That bus (as well as #195) had recently gotten into an accident. Looks like they finally repaired it (#1002 at least).

 Does anyone know if the silver line is running yet? If so, has anyone rode it yet?

Spotted a Ride-On C40LF and Orion VII OG CNG at the Cummins shop in Manassas last night.

We can assume that both Bladensburg and Royal street are going to be some of the last depots to get new buses from this order. But who is going to need them first? Anyone know the current status of Annex, Montgomery and Western depots? Do they have 1997 Orion Vs up for replacement?

 According to a press release from New Flyer, their ownership of NABI will come to an end once they complete all current orders: June 24, 2014

New Flyer to Focus on Xcelsior® as Single Heavy-Duty and BRT Transit Bus Platform
•New Flyer to rationalize to a common Xcelsior® platform for all heavy-duty and BRT transit buses
•Allows for enhanced New Flyer lifecycle service, parts and customer support programs
•Production of NABI LFW and BRT models to be phased out, with the Anniston, Alabama facility transitioning to Xcelsior in the second half of 2015
•Aggressively promoting MiDi®, New Flyer's medium-sized, low-floor bus, now in production in St Cloud, Minnesota
•Enables transition to common information technology infrastructure and provides opportunities for cost reduction and avoidance and sourcing synergies to enhance New Flyer's overall competitiveness
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – June 24, 2014: (TSX: NFI) (TSX: NFI.DB.U) New Flyer Industries Inc. ("New Flyer" or the "Company"), the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in Canada and the United States, announced today plans to focus on a single heavy-duty transit and BRT bus platform that features its world-class Xcelsior.

Xcelsior is the latest generation of New Flyer's low-floor vehicle platform that revolutionized North American transit in the early 1990s. Xcelsior comes with a variety of propulsion options including clean diesel, natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid, electric-trolley, and now, zero emission battery-electric. Similar to New Flyer's previous bus models, Xcelsior is customized and configured to meet each customer's unique specifications. New Flyer plans to further enhance its BRT styling options for the Xcelsior platform by building on NABI's extensive BRT experience and New Flyer's customer input.

"New Flyer has made significant investments to make Xcelsior a world-class product. Our focus on a single heavy-duty bus platform enhances our ability to innovate, optimize our supply chain, improve product quality and enhance our competiveness," said Paul Soubry, New Flyer's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We will transition production at NABI in Anniston, AL from the LFW and BRT to Xcelsior, which enables us to avoid redundant product upgrade costs and duplicate support infrastructure and demonstrates our continued investment in New Flyer's future."

Through the transition, New Flyer expects to:
•Improve its competiveness in the U.S. and Canadian markets by leveraging its combined bus volume, production, and purchasing for greater efficiencies,
•Streamline design, sourcing, standardization, and overhead for better product control (such as eliminating redundancy and future costs in designing products, including refreshing bus and propulsion platforms, testing and engineering), and
•Make product enhancements and optimize aftermarket support to better serve customer needs.
"New Flyer acquired North American Bus Industries, Inc. in June 2013 to broaden our market position, to improve our technology leadership and to expand our aftermarket parts business, while providing public transit operators with long-term stability and excellence in product support. Today's announced plan is the natural evolution and optimization of product lines at New Flyer and NABI," Soubry explained.

New Flyer expects to deliver orders as previously committed and to provide support for NABI customers of the LFW and BRT products for as long as those buses are in service. A number of NABI customers have already indicated an interest in transitioning to Xcelsior. The Company believes customers will benefit from the enhancements that result from its focus on a single heavy-duty platform.

"With the transition of the Anniston facility, we will manage the potential people impact over the coming months through redeployment, retirements and job attrition, where possible," Soubry said. "We truly appreciate our employees' dedication, hard work and ongoing efforts at New Flyer and NABI and for their focused commitment to our customers each and every day."

During this transition period, management expects to invest approximately $20 million in direct operating costs and capital expenditures to complete the transition, utilizing operating cash flow and current credit facilities. Management anticipates these direct operating and capital expenditures will be paid back through captured cost reductions and synergies within approximately two to three years. Management expects to maintain the Company's dividend policy.

Unless otherwise indicated all monetary amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars.