TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[drum118]

July 21
Came upon the First Batch of NoveBus in The new colour scheme That only been here about a month 8635 & 36. 35 was on Queen 501 and 86 Marine Parade Dr
Hay!! Bike racks

 

[Tuscani01]

These new buses are quite ugly. Seen quite a few of them along Don Mills. They look older than most of the existing fleet despite being the newest additions.

 

[lead82]

Why isn't the back all red and still the ugly white?

 

[Amare]

The NovaBus is quite possibly the worst bus i've ever been on in the past 20 years from a passenger perspective. The bus rides pretty rough, the seating arrangement in the rear is horrid (at least on the older Novas), and the air conditioning isnt consistent throughout the bus. Not to mention the bus jars when it goes from stop to start, and when the gear is shifted from parking to drive.

You can really feel the affects of the shorter length (1ft compared to the D40LF and XD40, 1.5ft compared to the Orion VII) and smaller wheel radius.

 

[Northern Light]

The NovaBus is quite possibly the worst bus i've ever been on in the past 20 years from a passenger perspective. The bus rides pretty rough, the seating arrangement in the rear is horrid (at least on the older Novas), and the air conditioning isnt consistent throughout the bus. Not to mention the bus jars when it goes from stop to start, and when the gear is shifted from parking to drive.

You can really feel the affects of the shorter length (1ft compared to the D40LF and XD40, 1.5ft compared to the Orion VII) and smaller wheel radius.

I haven't been on one yet.

Has anything been done to address the layout at the front of the bus?

I had a discussion awhile back w/Chris Upfold of TTC (who has just left I gather); but at the time he indicated to me they were working on a modified layout to address bottlenecks at the front of the bus.

I was also hoping they would move to flip-down seats for the wheelchair access, rather than flip-up. (Subway uses flip down on the Rockets), that layout seems more intelligent to me.

 

[APTA-2048]

That only been here about a month

The new buses have been in service for a little over three months.

Why isn't the back all red and still the ugly white?

These buses are wrapped (unlike the rebuilt Orions). There may have been concern about how the wrap would fair over time exposed to the heat of the rear.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I've noticed a lot of the busses running on non-streetcar routes now have "proof of payment in effect" on the electronic signs. What does this mean? How are these different from non-POP buses?

 

[APTA-2048]

I've noticed a lot of the busses running on non-streetcar routes now have "proof of payment in effect" on the electronic signs. What does this mean? How are these different from non-POP buses?

Sounds like the driver just forgot to clear the PR on the desto of a bus that was used on a streetcar rte.

 

[drum118]

Sounds like the driver just forgot to clear the PR on the desto of a bus that was used on a streetcar rte.

One bus yes, but all the buses??

I have seen the the sign on other routes as well that aren't on streetcar duty with one above. All the 501 I have seen say Proof of payment.

As for time line of buses, I was told 8636 was about a month by the inspector where I shot the bus. Since I don't follow buses in the first place, no idea of time frame or age and went with was said to me.

What did struck me was the rear of the NovaBus are white while all the 81's are red. Even the rear are different on the 84's to the 86's as shown above.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

What did struck me was the rear of the NovaBus are white while all the 81's are red. Even the rear are different on the 84's to the 86's as shown above.

As was said above the new novas are all fiberglass so the "paint" is actually just decals applied to it and they weren't sure how it would deal with the heat from the engine.

 

[drum118]

July 21
Had a look at that retaining wall being built next to TTC line 2 by Kipling and can't see a reason for it other than being built to allow TTC to smooth that curve area out.

I first thought it was to allow TTC to built the 3rd track sooner than later, but looking at the walkway, it blocking that idea.

Otherwise, no idea why the wall for a short section

 

[APTA-2048]

As was said above the new novas are all fiberglass so the "paint" is actually just decals applied to it and they weren't sure how it would deal with the heat from the engine.

Just a small note: it's not so much that the panels are fibreglass, but that the TTC elected to use decals. If a customer specifies, Nova Bus can paint a bus.

One bus yes, but all the buses??

I have seen the the sign on other routes as well that aren't on streetcar duty with one above. All the 501 I have seen say Proof of payment.

I wouldn't say all buses. But a number of Divisions are doing the streetcar replacement, so it's probably not uncommon to see a bus on a regular bus route still displaying the POP PR.

 

[Amare]

I haven't been on one yet.

Has anything been done to address the layout at the front of the bus?

I had a discussion awhile back w/Chris Upfold of TTC (who has just left I gather); but at the time he indicated to me they were working on a modified layout to address bottlenecks at the front of the bus.

I was also hoping they would move to flip-down seats for the wheelchair access, rather than flip-up. (Subway uses flip down on the Rockets), that layout seems more intelligent to me.

The rear seating layout has been changed on all of the Novas that will be delivered from this point on so they dont have those ridiculous front to back seats that you would find on the Flexity's. Asides from that, the seating arrangement throughout the bus is largely the same.

The Novas just have an awkward bus design altogether so there's only so much that can be done with the seats at the front of the bus.

 

[smallspy]

Just a small note: it's not so much that the panels are fibreglass, but that the TTC elected to use decals. If a customer specifies, Nova Bus can paint a bus.

I don't believe that they can. As I understand it, there are no paint booths at either of the their manufacturing facilities.

Most of the properties use a white base colour, and thus the panels are painted white. YRT's VIVA service uses a light blue as its predominant colour, and I understand that all of the panels need to get painted in that blue by the subcontractors prior to delivery to Nova.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[drum118]

July 21
I noticed TTC has rail stack on the tracks of Lake Shore Blvd west of McD at First St. What was odd is a small section east of First St only has the rail and top coat removed while every thing east of it has everything removed down to the concrete base. Looks like this area hasn't seen any of TTC new steel beam and going to be fun trying to find space to store the beams. Work is only up to Royal York with demo taking place. East of Royal York, crews working on the overhead conversion.

Tracks being install west of Parkside Dr with the overhead support columns being built on the south side of the ROW. Was running late and didn't stop off to get shots.

I noticed the new Bridge over Queen St will have a similar overhead protection, but not in place yet.

As a note, I visited the Keele yard a few weeks ago and its ready for service from what I could see. The fence along the lane way is a lot higher than before. There is a concrete pad for vehicles to park in the yard and all temporary barriers gone. No idea since you can't see in the tunnel area, if there any work still to be done. Depending on TTC budget and time frame no idea when the yard will go into service. When it does, it will free up space at Greenwood as well cut down on dead heading time and crew schedule.