Mississauga Transit gets 53 new 'restyled' buses

[ahrvojic]

Article <- See photo

THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
Transit adds 53 new buses

John Stewart
Aug 22, 2006

A reduction in environmental emissions and more bus service on the road are two one of the benefits of 53 freshly-minted New Flyer buses being delivered to Mississauga Transit over the next few weeks.
"Forty-five of them will replace our 1989 and 1990 vehicles which will be retired and the remaining eight will be used to provide better and more efficient service," Mississauga Transit Manager Bill Cunningham said. "The upgraded features and ergonomic design of these restyled buses make them more appealing and comfortable for both our riders and operators."

The brand new buses are termed "restyled" because they have a new contoured look.

"They are curved on the front and the back. They've rounded out the design," said Terry Dubois of Mississauga Transit's marketing department. "If you look at the buses in Europe, they're all like that, not boxy like they are here. We're so far behind Europe in this respect but I think North American designers are catching up fast."

The eight new buses will be used to bump up service on some of the busiest runs, including routes 19 and 19 A and Route 66 on Hurontario St., Route 5 along Dixie Rd. and Route 42 on Derry Rd.

Dubois said Mississauga Transit keeps adding new service regularly to the high-demand Route 19, which runs between the Port Credit GO Station and Shopper's World in Brampton.

Because the new buses have improved engine technology and fuel efficiency, there will be fewer environmental emissions. The buses also have the latest in equipment to service passengers with disabilities.

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Great news, but I had no idea we were so far behind Europe in contouring our buses!

 

[spmarshall]

Sounds like New Flyer 40 foot Inveros. Nothing all that new.

All the new buses are being sunk into the 19 (with one or two on the 66), which certainly needs it, especially since the artics were pulled.

 

[EnviroTO]

Mississauga went with a bus manufacturer outside Ontario despite there being an Ontario supplier in Mississauga no less. All this debate about where a Toronto subway should be made an Mississauga is buying outside Mississauga. Interesting it isn't an issue.

 

[dashingdan]

Yeah Mississauga is run like a business, not like a union.

The TTC buys its buses from Mississauga-based Orion, and its subways from Thunder Bay-based Bombardier. Coincidence? I think not.

I agree with what some others on here have suggested, if the upper levels of government want transit to support local suppliers, then fund the difference between the local suppliers and lowest price suppliers.

 

[afransen TO]

Is anyone else as concerned as I am that we are so far behind Europe in curvy buses?

 

[adma]

Well, if Mississauga can get curvy condos, it might as well get curvy busses...

 

[spmarshall]

Mississauga went with a bus manufacturer outside Ontario despite there being an Ontario supplier in Mississauga no less.

Mississauga was the first one to buy the shitbox Orion VIIs, but since they discovered they were shitboxes, they went to the somewhat superior (and much older design) New Flyer D40LF. Going with NFI for the first time with the 2003 order was a break from a 13-year tradition of buying only Orions (I, V, VI, VII) for anything but the artics.

To be fair, I think the Orion VIIs being built now by the TTC and MTA are more reliable and better than the ones MT bought first, but I still don't like 'em.

 

[unimaginative2]

I'm no great expert, so what's wrong with the new Orions? I thought their main advantage over the New Flyer buses was their stainless steel body.

 

[Darkstar416]

Boxy is back in style in Europe, so I guess we've fallen behind again.

 

[doady]

Mississauga's Orion VIIs are not shit only because they are Orion VII, but they are shit even compared to the TTC's Orion VII. And they were delivered late as well. Mississauga has bought New Flyer ever since, including a whopping 72 buses last year.

I was amazed when when I rode the TTC's Orion VII for the first time, because it was so much more comfortable than MT's. The inside of TTC's Orion VII does not rattle and shake incessantly and the buses do not feel like they are about to fall apart.

Transit systems across Ontario must have had similar experiences with MT because the TTC is probably the only system still buying from Orion. But still, it looks really bad when your own city refuses to buy buses from you.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

There's nothing out-and-out *wrong* with the VIIs. I think, at least among TTC buffs, that there is still so much lingering affection for the GM New Looks (especially as retirement looms) that anything short of a reincarnation of the Fishbowls with maroon and cream paint will by definition be a disappointment. The VIIs that are being delivered to the TTC are not that bad. I don't care for them, but from all accounts they seem reliable, and they have been constructed to strict TTC/MTA specs, especially in regards to alloys and frames, so they should (fingers crossed) make it to their estimated lifetimes. As a precendent, the Orion V diesels in the 7000 series have all been rebuilt, and they're looking pretty good, so they should be around for awhile yet. The VIIs as well should be okay, but I'm skeptical about the longevity of low-floor buses to begin with (hello Orion VI). Apparently the 2007 batch of VIIs may, in fact, be of the rumoured Invero-like design. Certainly the order after them will be.

Myself, I rue the day GM stopped making buses. Everyone talks about the Fishbowls retiring. Well, their successor, and in my opinion superior offspring, the Classics (6200s) are fast disappearing. That was a superior bus, in my opinion (my dad loved driving them too), and I wish GM had stuck with it and evolved the design to LF specs. I'd take those over Orion in a second.

 

[spmarshall]

Transit systems across Ontario must have had similar experiences with MT because the TTC is probably the only system still buying from Orion. But still, it looks really bad when your own city refuses to buy buses from you.

I think GRT bought Orion VIIs, and I seen them in Windsor, but NFI and Nova seem to be the typical buses bought in the GTA outside Toronto.

I think the Orion V is the best bus they built IMO - I certainly don't mind them, and they seem to hold up fairly well.

 

[unimaginative2]

I believe the new GRT buses are all Novas.

 

[Darkstar416]

A bit off topic, but does anyone know who builds London, Ontario's new busses? They are very strange looking. Especially the "fins" at the back of them.

 

[simply Dan]

Boxy is back in style in Europe, so I guess we've fallen behind again.

Boxy is definately in - take a look at the new Mercedes, MAN or Volvo busses in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia - all big glass low-floor articulated boxes on wheels.