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SEPTA FLEET NEWS ARCHIVES

June-September 1999

September 14, 1999

Neoplan artic #7101 is back at the manufacturer in Colorado for what appears to be routine modifications. However, during its testing period, a driver reported that the motor burned out on the Schuylkill Expressway while operating on the 9 between Center City and Roxborough/Andorra.

The delivery of the current batch of Breeze buses has been completed for now. SEPTA intends to continue reciving these buses as demand dictates. The last batch of the Breeze III buses (#2062-2069) were assigned to Krapf's primarily for use on new routes 204 and 208, however, as the Breeze II buses are being overhauled, the newer Breeze vans are also seeing some service on Routes 202 and 314.

A major route reassignment will take place after the articulated bus order is completed. At the present time, only Route 35 has been reassigned, from Allegheny to Midvale. The bulk of these changes will involved Allegheny (which will become an all artic depot), Callowhill, and Midvale. However, it's hoped that some routes from Southern will also be reassigned to other districts to reduce dead-head mileage. A good example of this is the 7 between Dauphin Loop in North Philadelphia and Pier 70/Delaware Av in South Philadelphia, which is completely assigned to Southern - although some trips would be better off originating at Midvale. Look for more comments on this topic coming soon.

September 11, 1999

BUS FAN PHOTO ALERT!!! SEPTA will be holding it's kickoff to "Try Transit Week" at Philadelphia City Hall, Broad & Market Streets, Center City. MetroTrans 4501, one of the new Breeze buses, and perhaps other transit vehicles will be on display at this event. The kickoff will be held on the northwest apron of City Hall (15 St at JFK Blvd).

September 8, 1999

Metrotrans #4501 was seen being tested on Route 35 between Wissahickon Transfer Center in East Falls and Roxborough. This is the first City Division bus route where #4501 has seen testing. Route 35 is now operating out of Midvale, which is where 4501 is presently being stored. Do not be surprised to see it on Route 77, also a Midvale route, between Chestnut Hill, Glenside, Jenkintown, and Roosevelt Blvd.
On a related note, it appears that Callowhill will get all of Route 65, while Midvale is tentatively set to get the 32. There is no word on where the 65 will go - Midvale seems like the logical choice, but Callowhill could see the 61 at it's garage if Midvale gets part of the 65. Stay tuned.

Schedules on City Division routes 14, 19, 20, 24, 28, 58, 67, 70, 84, and 88 changed on Sunday, September 5, with most of the other city routes changing either September 12 (Sunday) or September 13 (Monday). It should be noted that the routes which changed on September 5 are all based out of Comly Depot. This was done because of "a higher concentration of schools along routes based at that depot." Considering the virtual mob scene after school let out today at Olney Terminal, this was not a brilliant move by SEPTA. I personally observed dangerously overcrowded buses on the 6, 8, 18, 26, and L buses. Things were further complicated on the 6 which was running very late, in that there was an unusually long wait between buses. Next September, SEPTA has to change all schedules on the same date, or risk seeing the same mistakes observed today.

Another new SEPTA bus route, the 305, will begin operation on Monday, September 13. The 305 will operate between Darby Loop and the Philadelphia Airport area. Smaller buses (the Breeze buses) will be assigned to this route. Interestingly enough, the route will not be contracted out (as had other 200- and 300-series small bus routes - excluding the 201 and 206 run by Frontier), but rather by part-timers (presumably) at Red Arrow. At least three of the Breeze buses assigned to Frontier will be sent to Red Arrow, although there may be some buses from the Breeze III batch going there.

September 5, 1999

• The three Flxible 30-foot buses leased to SEPTA's Germantown Depot from the Baltimore MTA have returned to their home. #8742 and 8743 have had their MTA decals restored, 8744 is now waiting for the same.

August 25, 1999

Metrotrans #4501, the 30-foot test bus, is now seeing some more regular service at Red Arrow. 4501 was seen yesterday (August 24) on the 107 between 69 St Terminal and Clifton Heights. The bus has been sporting a Georgia manufacturer's license plate. There have been a few modifications to the seating arrangements, in that the front-facing seats directly behind the center doors are now side-facing. There was a safety issue involved the location of the seats and the shield located behind the center door. The ride on 4501 was indeed as bouncy as had been reported by several drivers. The visual stop announcement panel, which is located past the front door on the NABI 40-foot and Neoplan articulated buses, is actually built in to the front overhead panel of the bus. The exterior announcements sounded almost muffled in comparison to the NABI and Neoplan artic fleets.

The 6 of MetroTrans CNG-powered buses to be assigned to Germantown for use on the Phlash Tourist Loop in Center City Philadelphia are actually being purchased by the City of Philadelphia, and not as part of the SEPTA order, as originally reported. The seating configuration will differ from the SEPTA MetroTrans buses, and there is no center door.

August 23, 1999

There's been a sighting of MetroTrans #4501, which has seemingly taken a very low profile in recent weeks. A driver from Frontier spotted the elusive #4501 being tested along PA 3 (West Chester Pike) last week, operating out of Red Arrow (Victory Av). A few of the drivers I talked to at Red Arrow are less than enthused about these buses, with the common complaints being that they're too bouncy. Stay tuned for more possible sightings....

August 19, 1999

SEPTA artic #7101 has been moved to Midvale, the other of the two depots where artics will eventually be assigned. #7101 was recently spotted in late evening service on the 6 (Olney Terminal - Ogontz Loop), 22 (Olney - Willow Grove - Warminster), and 55 (Olney - Willow Grove - Doylestown) lines, three of the busiest lines originating at Olney Terminal. The artics are also slated to be used on the 18 line between Fox Chase and Cedarbrook.

MetroTrans #4501, which was last seen operating along Roosevelt Blvd (possibly for testing on Route 77 between Chestnut Hill and Northeast Philadelphia) has not been spotted in either testing or revenue service. It appears that bus has gone back to the manufacturer once again for unknown reasons.

July 30, 1999

SEPTA artic #7101 has been spotted in testing on AM Peak trips on Route 9 between Roxborough and Center City. It appears SEPTA has a schedule as to when and where the bus will be tested. Based on recent observations, it's possible that a lot of testing is being done on Route 54 (Lehigh Av crosstown). In an interesting side note, quite a few of the Volvo B-10 artics have been seen with the "NABI" red to blue paint scheme (red to blue ribbon along the top of the bus, and white on the bottom.)

It appears that one of the proposed 6 CNG MetroTrans buses is at Germantown and will be used on the Phlash Center City loop. This is not the first attempt at CNG use at Germantown. The first batch of Orion II buses dedicated for Phlash service were CNG powered. One of the buses, #103, has been out of service for a long time due to a fire. The quality of the Orion II buses has been, at best, spotty. BCTransit (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) recently sold it's fleet Orion II buses to Utah after major reliability problems. For more details, follow this link to the Unofficial BC Transit Web Site.

July 18, 1999

The first of 155 Neoplan articulated buses (#7101) made an appearance at the 1999 SEPTA Bus Roadeo July 17. The bus' previous appearance was at the May 22 SEPTA Board of Directors meeting. The fleet numbering will be #7101-7255. These buses will replace the 7000-series Volvo B-10 artics, which entered service in 1984, and some of the lower 8000-series Neoplans, which entered service between 1983 and 1985. The interior is designed with similar specs to the NABI (#5001-5400) fleet, in that the seats are cloth upholstered stainless steel. Another similar feature is the voice annunciator, which is exactly similar to the NABIs. The control panel, however, is located to the left of the driver in front of the side windshield. The new artics are ADA compliant, with the lift in the front of the bus. As with the new Breeze III cutaway buses, the destination sign is made by TwinVision. It appears SEPTA prefers those signs to the Luminators (which, in my own opinion, is a big mistake). 7101 will see revenue service starting July 19, operating out of Allegheny Depot. The new artics will be used on Allegheny Routes 9, 27, 33, 48, 54, and 60, and also on Midvale Routes 6, 18, 22, and 55. As such, Allegheny will become an all-artic depot. This means that Routes 32, 35, 61, and 65 will be re-assigned. The obvious choice appears to be Midvale, however the 65 may be assigned to Callowhill, which currently splits the route with Allegheny. It is also possible that the 35 could be sent to Callowhill, in that the route originates at Wissahickon Transfer Center, just as the 38 does. The remaining NABIs and Neos at Allegheny will probably be sent to the other city districts, though the buses which were originally bought for Red Arrow and Frontier could (and should) return to the Suburban depots.

The first of 80 MetroTrans 30-foot buses, #4501, is back on SEPTA property, after being returned to the manufacturer in Georgia for some minor repair work. These buses will replace the 1300-series Neoplan 35-foot buses, entered into service in 1984, and possibly some 8000-series Neos. The fleet numbering will be #4501-4580. It appears that there may be some more work done on this bus, since the manufacturer's plate (which lists the weight, date of manufacture, and VIN number) is missing. There is also no inspection sticker or license plate for the bus yet. Based on past fleet numbering history, however, it appeared the numbering of this fleet will be #1401-1480. Prior 30- and 35-foot buses purchased by SEPTA were assigned #1150-1156 (GM TDH3301A - 30-foot "Baby" Fishbowls); #1200-1214 (GM T6H4512A - 35-foot Fishbowls); and #1301-1325 (Neoplan AN-435A 35-foot buses - the BN fleet). The only "odd" numbering was of the GM RTS II T7W603 (#4458-4470), which arrived in 1980 (and retired long before it's T8W603 40-foot bretheren). These buses operated out of Frontier District, which might explain the odd numbering. The new 30-foot buses will also have the TwinVision destination signs and automatic stop annunciator equipment, like the Neo artics. The control panel for that device is located in the same area as on the Neo artics, however, it is situated a little higher than on the Neos. The wheelchair lift is also located in the front of these buses. The seats are also cloth upholstered, but with fiberglass shells. The MetroTrans fleet will be assigned to Contract Operations (Germantown) for use on the Horsham and Commonwealth Breeze routes, Red Arrow, Frontier, and possibly to some depots in the city. The Germantown based buses will mean the departure of the three Flxible Metro B buses leased from Baltimore's Mass Transit Administration (#8742-8744). CTD candidates for these smaller buses are Routes 35, 63, and 77, which all have low ridership counts. At Red Arrow, the new buses will probably be assigned to Routes 103, 106, 107, 111, 115, and 116. For Frontier, these buses may replace the Breeze II fleet on selected Norristown-based and Oxford Valley-based routes.

July 14, 1999

SEPTA launched it's new University City circulator, known as LUCY ("Loop through University CitY"). The weekday shuttle service will originate at 30 St Station and serve the major medical centers along with Drexel University and the Unviersity of Pennsylvania. The fare for this service is 50 cents, a valid SEPTA TransPass or TrailPass, or a valid employee ID from participating employers (Children's Hospital, VA Medical Center, Penn Health System, Drexel University, and University of Pennsylvania). LUCY will be operated by the Trenton-Philadelphia Coach Division of SEPTA (Germantown Depot), using Breeze buses #2056-2062, painted in a special green and gold livery.

June 30, 1999

The first of the new batch of 25-foot cutaway buses (often referred to as "Breeze" buses in SEPTA parlance) are now on SEPTA property, with some buses seeing service starting now. The fleet numbers are #2052-2101. Some of these buses are already in service on new Routes 204 (Lionville to Paoli Rail Station) and 208 (Chesterbrook/Devon Park Dr to Strafford Rail Station) in Chester County, currently operated by Krapf's. In addition, the new buses will operate on new services in Bucks County (Route 313 - Bristol to City Line Loop) and Delaware County (Route 305 - Darby to Airport) starting this fall. Some of these new buses are already in service on the Bucks County contract routes (Route 301 - Newtown Grant to Bethayres and Route 302 - Fox Chase to Southampton) operated by Lion Tours. The buses will also be used on the new Loop through University City (LUCY) service, which started on July 12. The Breeze III buses have few variations from it's predecessors, however, the vehicle's desitination signs were built by Twin Vision, instead of Luminator. You will notice a bit of a difference in the two destination sign manufacturers. A few good examples of a full size Twin Vision destination sign are on the Baltimore MTA NABI fleet, the Park Corp. buses operated for Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ, and on SEPTA Neoplan 3200. Also, the driver's door and heating/cooling controls have been moved closer to the steering column to make it easier for the drivers to reach the controls. There is a rear brake light above the rear emergency exit, and there is a red light above the rear exit, similar to those seen on a school bus. Finally, the doors on the Breeze III buses open noticeably quicker than the Breeze I/II buses. It should be noted, however, that some of the Breeze II features are in place on #2052-2055 (including a Luminator destination sign), which are being used by Lion on the 301/302.

A new operator is now running the Philadelphia International Airport shuttle bus services. Progressive Transportation Services, Inc. (a Coach USA Company) is presently operating some former Neoplans from the Dallas (Texas) Area Rapid Transit system (1300-series 40-foot buses built in 1985). These Neos differ from the SEPTA Neoplan fleet in that the windows are openable, the engine is a 6V71 (the SEPTA Neo fleet sports a 6V92 engine), and the exhaust is mounted on the rear of the roof instead of underneath the engine cover. At first look, these buses could pass for some of the former PennDOT purchased Neos ordered for transit systems throughout the state - LANTA (Allentown), Red Rose Transit (Lancaster), and the Luzerne County TA (Wilkes-Barre) come to mind. SEPTA's Southern District had operated the shuttle service after Laidlaw Transit Systems, Inc. had lost the contract for the service. As such, a lot of buses which were loaned to Southern are now spread out throughout the system, with several being sent to Victory Avenue (Red Arrow).

Most of the Neoplan EB buses (#3132-3251) have gone through the overhaul process at SEPTA's Berrige (nee Wyoming) Shops in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia. The majority of these buses have been repainted in the new SEPTA "NABI" paint scheme (red to blue ribbon on top of the bus, introduced with the arrival of the NABI/Ikarus fleet in 1996). Virtually all of the SEPTA buses (Neos, NABIs, and Volvo artics) have the SEPTA web site address (www.septa.org) posted on the rear engine cover. It appears the next batch of Neoplans going through the VOH process are the EI series (#3252-3371). Neoplan #3315, assigned to Comly, and #3367, assigned to Red Arrow, are already sporting VOH stickers, indicating that it was recently overhauled.

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