New Flyer LFA expresses in "suburban" configuration?

[SchuminWeb]

Saw this picture on Wikipedia recently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:InteriorDCWMATAmetrobusexpress2010.jpg

Does anyone know if all/most the New Flyer LFAs painted as expresses are this way, or just a few?  I've never ridden one of the Expresses, since my Metrobus experience is normally limited to the Y, which as we know, runs no express service (but should).

[Scrabbleship]

That bus isn't an LFA, it's one of the D40LFR's modified for B30 service. The windows are a dead giveaway. Looks like 6217 from the number at the front.

[79MetroExtraMD]

6206-17 always had high backs. 12-17 were just retrofitted for use on the B30. They might repaint the rest of the suburban D40LFRs for use on the express lines (wouldn't be a bad idea) and could be running on the Z11/13, Z9/29, and J7/9.

[Scrabbleship]

6206-17 always had high backs. 12-17 were just retrofitted for use on the B30. They might repaint the rest of the suburban D40LFRs for use on the express lines (wouldn't be a bad idea) and could be running on the Z11/13, Z9/29, and J7/9.

I had meant retrofitted by the presence of the extra luggage rack.

Repainting them wouldn't be bad, but they should've been restricted to the J7/9 and the longer-distance routes (Z9/29, Z11/13, even J5) to begin with and have not strayed elsewhere. Heck, that picture was of a B30 bus on a non B30 route!

[WayneNYC]

6206-17 always had high backs. 12-17 were just retrofitted for use on the B30. They might repaint the rest of the suburban D40LFRs for use on the express lines (wouldn't be a bad idea) and could be running on the Z11/13, Z9/29, and J7/9.

At one point all of them did operate on Montgomery's express and limited-stop routes until 6212-6217 were transferred.  6206-6211 are still at Montgomery are still used on the J7/J9 and other routes as needed.  In theory, it would make sense to repaint them into the "express" scheme.  However, (without going into the branding debate) I don't think it's a good idea seeing as the buses are often assigned to non-express service and I think this should be a very low priority since WMATA is cash-strapped.

[79MetroExtraMD]

6206-17 always had high backs. 12-17 were just retrofitted for use on the B30. They might repaint the rest of the suburban D40LFRs for use on the express lines (wouldn't be a bad idea) and could be running on the Z11/13, Z9/29, and J7/9.

At one point all of them did operate on Montgomery's express and limited-stop routes until 6212-6217 were transferred.  6206-6211 are still at Montgomery are still used on the J7/J9 and other routes as needed.  In theory, it would make sense to repaint them into the "express" scheme.  However, (without going into the branding debate) I don't think it's a good idea seeing as the buses are often assigned to non-express service and I think this should be a very low priority since WMATA is cash-strapped.

It's still dependent on how the runs are set up. Like they'll have pieces thrown into a regular run to add time to an assignment and to fill in service. Like my buddy at Western does the E line in the morning and does a trip on the N4 to Farragut Sq on his first piece and does the M4 on his second piece. I know some of the J9s interline into J2s and vice versa so it's really hard to have strictly express runs at certain garages. Northern and Western seem to be the exception since they've handled the 37,39,and S9 as their own assignments pretty well.

[Scrabbleship]

6206-17 always had high backs. 12-17 were just retrofitted for use on the B30. They might repaint the rest of the suburban D40LFRs for use on the express lines (wouldn't be a bad idea) and could be running on the Z11/13, Z9/29, and J7/9.

At one point all of them did operate on Montgomery's express and limited-stop routes until 6212-6217 were transferred.  6206-6211 are still at Montgomery are still used on the J7/J9 and other routes as needed.  In theory, it would make sense to repaint them into the "express" scheme.  However, (without going into the branding debate) I don't think it's a good idea seeing as the buses are often assigned to non-express service and I think this should be a very low priority since WMATA is cash-strapped.

It's still dependent on how the runs are set up. Like they'll have pieces thrown into a regular run to add time to an assignment and to fill in service. Like my buddy at Western does the E line in the morning and does a trip on the N4 to Farragut Sq on his first piece and does the M4 on his second piece. I know some of the J9s interline into J2s and vice versa so it's really hard to have strictly express runs at certain garages. Northern and Western seem to be the exception since they've handled the 37,39,and S9 as their own assignments pretty well.

I've seen discarded piles of run paddles found in the vicinity of Montgomery and have seen that when Montgomery does interline some of them can be odd. At one point, there was an interline (might still be, it was over a year ago at least) between the L8 and one of the Y routes that short turns at Norbeck Park & Ride! There are/were some more obvious combos, C8/J4, J5/C4, T2/L8, etc.

[79MetroExtraMD]

There's also C8/Z8 at times as well. It's all about using your resources as best as possible without having to put extra buses out or spending more than you have to to provide the same level of service. It's about as crazy over on the Ride On side.

[WayneNYC]

6206-17 always had high backs. 12-17 were just retrofitted for use on the B30. They might repaint the rest of the suburban D40LFRs for use on the express lines (wouldn't be a bad idea) and could be running on the Z11/13, Z9/29, and J7/9.

At one point all of them did operate on Montgomery's express and limited-stop routes until 6212-6217 were transferred.  6206-6211 are still at Montgomery are still used on the J7/J9 and other routes as needed.  In theory, it would make sense to repaint them into the "express" scheme.  However, (without going into the branding debate) I don't think it's a good idea seeing as the buses are often assigned to non-express service and I think this should be a very low priority since WMATA is cash-strapped.

It's still dependent on how the runs are set up. Like they'll have pieces thrown into a regular run to add time to an assignment and to fill in service. Like my buddy at Western does the E line in the morning and does a trip on the N4 to Farragut Sq on his first piece and does the M4 on his second piece. I know some of the J9s interline into J2s and vice versa so it's really hard to have strictly express runs at certain garages. Northern and Western seem to be the exception since they've handled the 37,39,and S9 as their own assignments pretty well.

I'm not questioning why this happens as I understand the interlining concept.  My point is that I feel the "Local"/"Express" branding shouldn't happen because of the interlining that has operators doing local/express/limited or any combination of the three.

It's all about using your resources as best as possible without having to put extra buses out or spending more than you have to to provide the same level of service. It's about as crazy over on the Ride On side.

Exactly, I'm glad you said that.  However, using your resources in an efficient way doesn't stop with interlining.

[79MetroExtraMD]

I kinda agree on the branding thing but I've seen a few agencies go toward branding their services (marketing, etc). Mississauga Transit in Ontario is doing a similar local and express scheme in a sense called miWay. I've seen pics of their newest buses in both schemes. Given most of the fleet is still in the gen 3 scheme, there shouldn't be too many problems with assignment of buses. I have seen some 6400 expresses on the 60 and E lines maybe because they were short on buses at Western. In the future, when more express lines are created, the assignments should be better and the run assignments could be straightened out to not be as wacky as they are now.