Suprising find! Ex-WMATA Orion II

[Scrabbleship]

Does Ride On need so many 40 foot buses?  Can't we return to the 35 foot buses one day?

Ever ride on a packed 35' bus on the 46 or 55? Or even one on, say, the eastern half of the 5 like I did this morning?

[aznboy4305]

Ride On has grown to the point where many of the trunk routes could use 40 footers. Ride On has always had the philosophy of using large buses (30', 35', and 40') on main routes and smaller buses (cutaways) on low ridership, neighborhood feeders, so that in itself isn't really new. The only change that the smaller buses have now defaulted to 29' Gilligs and the large buses have been defaulted to 40 footers. Also, standardizing the main fleet to 40 footers also provides some sense of long term insurance; If Ride On has to make a massive service reduction 10 years from now, it would be in a better position doing so with a fleet of mainly 40 footers rather than a fleet of mainly 35 footers.

[Tritransit Area]

I remember when the large buses were the 30 footers...  I guess Ride On decided not to worry about running the 40 footers in neighborhoods anymore...I remember it was somewhat of a concern way back when, which I think was a reason why they got more 35 footers even after the 40 foot Orion Vs were purchased.

Ride On's all grown up! *tear*