March 2009 Observations

[LandoverDivision]

Anyone knows when the 42LFAs are suppose to be in service?

[WES]

Dosent NYC Have a new scheme but they put it in some of there buses like there 0rion VII and NF D60HF? And does anybody know why the F4 buses keep on turning to EW Highway ? There is know accident on Queensberry road or Riverdale RD so i dont get the point.

Could be that they maybe recreating the accident last week to pinpoint exactly what happened.  Investigators will do that alot to finalize any findings they have as to why an accident happened.

[C40LF_2464]

Probally tommorow.

[WES]

Anyone knows when the 42LFAs are suppose to be in service?

If the S9 is supposed to start tomorrow then some should start seeing service tomorrow.  And from the looks of things only a few of the LFAs are on WMATA property.  Right now at Carmen E Turner there are two DE42LFAs and one DE62LFA sitting in there.  I had thought that most of them were delievered and were sitting at West Ox, but that theory was disproven.

[C40LF_2464]

Im thinking all of them are at there new homes divisions now, so tommorow ima have to wake up extra early to get preparred. I CANT WAIT!!!

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Dosent NYC Have a new scheme but they put it in some of there buses like there 0rion VII and NF D60HF? And does anybody know why the F4 buses keep on turning to EW Highway ? There is know accident on Queensberry road or Riverdale RD so i dont get the point.

Here is your answer: http://www.dctransit.info/forums/transit-today/marc-train-hits-the-rear-of-wmata%27s-6040/msg6367/#msg6367

[OrionFlyer]

Anyone knows when the 42LFAs are suppose to be in service?

If the S9 is supposed to start tomorrow then some should start seeing service tomorrow.  And from the looks of things only a few of the LFAs are on WMATA property.  Right now at Carmen E Turner there are two DE42LFAs and one DE62LFA sitting in there.  I had thought that most of them were delievered and were sitting at West Ox, but that theory was disproven.

The ones for the S9 are probably at Northern already. You probably can't see them because it's an indoor division.

[WES]

I forgot to mention  this one but a few months back I said that there maybe still an ODV left.

Well aparently there is still an ODV left.  I spotted 63033 sitting in the contractor lot at the intersection of Route 50 and the Beltway.  Whether this thing will see service again is beyond me but it is still in full THE BUS paint scheme with fleet number showing.

[WayneNYC]

Dosent NYC Have a new scheme but they put it in some of there buses like there 0rion VII and NF D60HF?

NYCTA does not have a new paint scheme.  They have recently started painting the rear end all white.  They used to have the blue strip go around the back with black above the stripe.

All NYCTA, MTAB and LIB buses will eventually look like this.




The color scheme I think you're referring to is that buses for Select Bus Service.  The graphics below the stripe is a wrap.



That said, I have to defend the buses in my home town.  While there's nothing exciting about the white w/blue stripe, I don't think it looks bad.  In fact, I think it looks OK.  My  gripe with this color scheme is that NYCTA has used it since 1981 with very minor changes over the years.  Whatever happens the blue will always be there since it's an official NYS color. 

[rb8888]

This morning:

2054 on the 42 (Mount Pleasant)
2227 on the D1 (Union Station)
5311 on the S2 (Federal Triangle) (new silver & red paint scheme)

Saw lots of southbound S2's, but didn't see any S9's.

[LandoverDivision]

So what's going on with the 42LFAs and the S9?

[79MetroExtraMD]

No 42LFAs on the S9. I spotted 4076 and 6011 operating on the S9 this morning. I kind of expected this since I only spotted three 42LFAs in express paint at CET.

[LandoverDivision]

I'm thinking Metro still needs time to get those things safe. They kept saying they went back to the manufatorer. Maybe they are waiting for them to come back or something.

[LandoverDivision]

2105 on the F13 Cheverly Station

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Dr. Gridlock on the Get There Blog on the Wapo website says the bus deliveries are delayed to the flooding of the Red River.

Posted at 11:40 AM ET, 03/30/2009
Where's the Bus?

Join me at 1 p.m. for an online discussion where, among other things, you can make fun of me for not being able to track down one of the new S9 buses this morning.

I started out in Silver Spring at about 8 a.m., thinking that the "Silver Spring station" stop for the new limited stop service would be at the same place where the other S buses start and stop. Nope. It's a couple of blocks away, in front of the Lenox apartments, on Colesville Road westbound near East-West Highway.

But neither I nor a very friendly and helpful Metro supervisor in downtown Silver Spring could figure that out at the time, so he suggested I get on one of the S buses, the locals down 16th Street. I decided to stay on the S4 till I reached Irving Street in Mount Pleasant. There, I found another helpful supervisor who gave me the S9 timetable and route map -- they're being given out along the route today.

He explained why I hadn't seen any of the nice-looking new hybrid electric buses, with the red, white, blue and gray color scheme and "metrobus express" on the side. There are only two in service today. A bunch of others are stuck somewhere around the Red River, their journey east delayed by the midwest floods.

Instead, Metro is using some of the regular looking buses, so watch for the S9 Limited Stop designation on the buses' electronic display signs. I couldn't wait long enough at Irving and 16th for one of those, so I got on the next bus to arrive, an S4, and took that downtown.

Jim Hamre, a Metro planner who has had a lot to do with recent bus line improvements, later confirmed for me that there was a bit of a gap in service at that hour. He says the route has borrowed the number of buses it needs to operate on the one every 10 minutes schedule. And the new hybrid electrics should be in service on the
line by the end of April.

When I walked into the newsroom this morning, my colleague, staff writer Chris Davenport, said he had no trouble at all catching the S9 and proclaimed it a great success.

During our weekly online discussion today, we can talk about any topic you like regarding local transportation. Are you upset about the proposed service cuts on the Metro, Fairfax Connector and Ride On bus routes, or about the Red Line derailments on Friday?

Worried about the HOT lane construction program along the Beltway in Virginia? Wondering when there will be some relief for drivers along I-270? Use this link if you'd likt to submit a question or a comment in advance.


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