NYCTA testing Nova LFS based artic

[WayneNYC]

http://www.subchat.com/buschat/read.asp?Id=131925 (These are not my photos)

I think the bus looks pretty good.  If we can't have more New Flyers, I wouldn't mind seeing these in MTA blue/white.

[WMAveteran]

Personally, I have never liked the looks of Novas but if the price is right I am sure NYCTA will add some to its roster.  One interesting note is that if the Novas are added to the NYCTA fleet, it may have the most diverse fleet in the country.

[WayneNYC]

Yeah, I never did like the standard 40-footer Nova LFS, but suprisingly, I find this artic to look good.  The front door look a bit goofy with the different size door leafs.  Since this bickering between New Flyer and the TA, it's likely that there won't be any more New Flyer purchases for MTA agencies for a long time, if ever.  From a transit fan's perspective, I hope they don't go near NABI or Orion whenever they bring their artic to market.

[Tristan]

Not sure how true it is but I heard that the door arrangement was a Canadian thing - since it's so cold, apparently drivers could open only the smaller panel if not too many people are waiting, so people can slip on without the bus losing so much heat.  Sounds strange but plausible.

[LandoverDivision]

Those Novas don't look too bad.

[btconet]

Count me in as a Novabus fan.  When they first came out, I was a bit turned off by the looks as it was definitely "outside the box" for the time.  Having ridden them now in Chicago, Cleveland, and Charlotte, I was definitely impressed with the performance  (Chitown's are rockets) and find the seating layout, while not perfect, certainly superior to similar buses like the Orion VI.

All too often, looks can be deceiving with us busfans.  How many "pretty things" have agencies ordered throughout the years that proved to be "ugly ducklings" in the end.  The early RTS-II's come immediately to mind as an example of form over function.  For this reason, I deliberately try not to get too caught up in looks, unless something is just downright FUGLY, which I certainly wouldn't call an LFS. (The "dogface" variety RTS's as I call them on the other hand - that's a different story!)

[OrionFlyer]

that thing looks horrible. i can't believe they would even consider that bus. They should just stick with New Flyer as in purchasing   DE60lfrs

[WayneNYC]

that thing looks horrible. i can't believe they would even consider that bus. They should just stick with New Flyer as in purchasing   DE60lfrs

I guess it's different strokes for different folks.  I'd take it any day over anything from Orion.

The (New York) MTA has a dispute with New Flyer from their last order of D60HF and likely will not purchase buses from them unless their issue can be resolved.

[Perry]

I think they're pretty snazzy looking.  Plus an agency doesn't purchase buses because of their looks. 

[Scrabbleship]

Having ridden LFS's just about every day for 4.5 years of my life before moving to this area (back in CDTA territory), count me in on the LFS list. Though the model is much improved in recent years, even in its first generation it was a bus with quirks that gets the job done unlike, say, Van Hools and Orion VI's in their original setup.

Fix the weird door setup to what a regular LFS has (and ditch the Quebecois windows too) and that bus would beat most of the artics on the market right now.

[mrpete]

Nova now has two artic models: the standard one in the photos and the new LFX BRT. Nova is building 322 of the standards for TA's in Quebec. The styling of the LFX will be available on the 40's also as an option.

Also Nova's factory in upstate NY opens soon and could be a factor influencing any potential MTA purchases.

[Scrabbleship]

Also Nova's factory in upstate NY opens soon and could be a factor influencing any potential MTA purchases.

I thought that the "Buy New York" initiative that Pataki strapped the MTA (and even the 4 major upstate TA's) to ended several years ago and that Orion got their current contract by being the low bid. NFTA/CDTA/RGRTA/CNYRTA have been off the hook for a while and all are in contracts with Gillig and seem to like them and given how the LFS's the first 2 received had some issues getting them to try Nova again might be hard.

[btconet]

Given the current economy, I can see the desire to keep the money in state being pretty strong.  I'm sure somewhere someone has figured out that spending $1 to an out of state vendor is equal to spending xx¢ on an instate vendor given the employee taxes collected back from the vendor on that contract.

[Scrabbleship]

Given the current economy, I can see the desire to keep the money in state being pretty strong.  I'm sure somewhere someone has figured out that spending $1 to an out of state vendor is equal to spending xx¢ on an instate vendor given the employee taxes collected back from the vendor on that contract.

The only thing is that do people want to buy in-state. The main reason why most of the upstate TA's have gone to Gillig is because they were soured by the Orion VII and that they didn't want to have any delays in their orders. I know that at least with CDTA the Altoona scores of the Orion VII of the 3 models they looked at (40LFR's were the third) were dead last by far. When the only TA's buying in-state are really small (UCAT in Ulster County) or bought out of promoting a local business (BC Transit in Binghamton, home of BAE), something might be wrong.

Also, getting to spend money in-state is sometimes easier said than done. I know CDTA's in year 3 of a 5-year deal with Gillig and the NFTA is in a similar arrangement. Seeing how pretty much forcing TA's to buy Orion/Nova failed once before, who would want to try it again.
(then again, New York does have a governor who is trying his hardest to NOT get elected for the first time...)