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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:32 am Post subject: [CT] CT Transit fleet update |
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In the next few weeks, the Connecticut DOT will be advertising for bidding on a new bus procurement for CT Transit. This is expected to be a multi year procurement, with 300 to 400 buses being purchased over that period. The state will be obtaining a variety of equipment, ranging from 30 foot buses up to 60 foot articulated vehicles. The bid may be awarded to one bidder or split among two or more companies. The vehicles will be spread among all eight of CT Transit's divisions. Deliveries will probably begin in late spring or early summer of 2010.
In addition, CT Transit is in the process of obtaining several used coaches from Peter Pan for use on Hartford based commuter routes. This should enable the retirement of the last of the 1994 D40HF's still operating in Hartford.
There are also 6 more fuel cell buses being built for use and evaluation by CT Transit. No word yet as to when these vehicles will go into service.
Bill
Last edited by Bill D on Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:24 am Post subject: |
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Conn DOT has posted the request for proposals for the upcoming bus procurement. It now appears that the state may purchase up to 625 buses over the five year life of the procurement agreement. The request includes clean diesel and hybrid low floor transit buses varying from 30' to 60', as well as 45' high floor commuter coaches. Several of the state's transit districts may piggyback on this order as well.
A synopsis of the proposal can be found at the following link: http://www.das.state.ct.us/Purchase/Portal/portal_synopsis.asp?F_Type=1&F_Bid_ID=13560.
Bill |
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RailBus63 Moderator
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 1063
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:56 am Post subject: |
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If New Flyer wins this order, Connecticut is going to become a very boring state for bus fans. |
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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:41 am Post subject: |
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Update:
The bid deadline has been extended until June 15, in order to allow proposers additional time to submit complete RFP packages. Many questions regarding the language and specifics of the bid were raised by the various manufacturers, leading to this extension. Interested parties mentioned include Daimler, Gillig, New Flyer and Nova. Although not specifically mentioned, it appears that NABI is also preparing to submit a proposal.
http://www.das.state.ct.us/rfpdoc/DOT11/bids/2009_bus_rfp_posting.pdf
Bill |
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RailBus63 Moderator
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 1063
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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I see that ConnDOT turned down one manufacturer's inquiry about a 45-foot low-floor model (that must be NABI's Compobus). |
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ctrabs74
Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 15
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 12:02 pm Post subject: Re: [CT] CT Transit fleet update |
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Bill D wrote: | In addition, CT Transit is in the process of obtaining several used coaches from Peter Pan for use on Hartford based commuter routes. This should enable the retirement of the last of the 2004 D40HF's still operating in Hartford. |
I'm sure you mean 1994 D40HF's... I rode one of those once on the I-Bus and wasn't too impressed. |
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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:08 am Post subject: Re: [CT] CT Transit fleet update |
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ctrabs74 wrote: | I'm sure you mean 1994 D40HF's... I rode one of those once on the I-Bus and wasn't too impressed. |
Thanks for picking up on the error. I've corrected it on the original post.
As of today the bid is still under evaluation. I'm sure that it will take some time to sort through the proposals because of the different vehicle types involved. I'll post more when I find out.
Bill |
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RailBus63 Moderator
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 1063
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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Any news on the articulated bus purchase for Stamford that was announced by the governor's office last year? |
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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 4:39 am Post subject: |
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RailBus63 wrote: | Any news on the articulated bus purchase for Stamford that was announced by the governor's office last year? |
That proposed purchase was originally part of the governor's initiative to expand transit service in Connecticut. When the state's economy hit the skids, the portions of the plan not already implemented were shelved. One related issue is that CT Transit's Stamford facility is not set up to handle acticulated buses.
On a more positive note, state law has been changed to allow operation of articulated buses. The current bus bid (which is expected to be awarded in October) calls for 35 articulated buses in the first year as "unlike replacements", which means that ConnDOT is committed to purchasing them. These will replace many of the Nova Classics. New Haven has been mentioned a the recipient of some of the artics, as their new facility should be complete by the end of 2010, and is being constructed to handle the 60 footers. The bid proposal also calls for up to 35 option articulated buses over the life of the contract, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them operating in Stamford and Hartford as well, once any operational issues are addressed.
Bill |
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daimlerbuses
Age: 31 Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 30
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Bill,
Do you have any information as to whether the 30 footers have to have a rear door? If so, that would not allow New Flyer to bid. As well, when does CT Transit want the buses delivered, as NFI seems to be struggling to meet delivery dates these days, the recent Seattle order won by Orion seems to be a good example of this.
As well, from reading the report published, it seems that CT YTransit is looking for "corrosion resistant material" such as stainless steel frame. This could perhaps prevent a manufacturer such as NFI or even Gillig from bidding. For those of you that are wondering, NFI used to offer Stainless Steel Frames but stopped when the Chicago Transit Authority decided to specify carbon steel frames, creating a lack of demand for stainless steel frames from New Flyer. |
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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:13 am Post subject: |
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daimlerbuses wrote: | Hey Bill,
Do you have any information as to whether the 30 footers have to have a rear door? If so, that would not allow New Flyer to bid. As well, when does CT Transit want the buses delivered, as NFI seems to be struggling to meet delivery dates these days, the recent Seattle order won by Orion seems to be a good example of this.
As well, from reading the report published, it seems that CT YTransit is looking for "corrosion resistant material" such as stainless steel frame. This could perhaps prevent a manufacturer such as NFI or even Gillig from bidding. For those of you that are wondering, NFI used to offer Stainless Steel Frames but stopped when the Chicago Transit Authority decided to specify carbon steel frames, creating a lack of demand for stainless steel frames from New Flyer. |
Connecticut is calling for a 52 week delivery schedule, which seems rather ambitious, considering that there is expected to high demand for new buses due to the availability of stimulus funding. A more realistic schedule may be 18 to 24 months.
As far as the 30' bus, New Flyer submitted this question to the state. The reply (from addendum #1 of the proposal) was: "Two doors are desired for the 30 foot bus. You may propose a single door 30 foot bus but it will receive a lower rating in the evaluation process for not meeting this preference."
In response to a question for one of the manufacturers reqarding the use of corrosion resistant materials, the state replied: "The intent was to obtain a bus structure that the majority of which did not require corrosion prevention but would allow incidental component parts to be so treated as needed. A bus may be proposed with a corrosion treated structure but it would not be rated as high as a non corrosion bus structure in the evaluation process."
The state will review and score the proposals using the following criteria, listed in order of relative importance:
1) Product Design and Performance
2) Price per Bus
3) Delivery Schedule
4) Qualifications, Performance and Financial Resonsibility
5) Fleet Standardization
There is more detail of the selection criteria on pages 87 and 88 of the proposal (pages 215 and 216 of the PDF document).
Connecticut also reserves the right to split the bid award among more that one manufacturer, so there is potential for some variety of equipment to come out of this process.
I hope this answers your questions.
Bill |
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thehartfordboy
Age: 32 Joined: 29 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Hartford, CT
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Bill,
I was wondering about the leased MCIs. When are they going to deploy them and when will the CT Transit takeover of Peter Pan's routes will happen?
Thanks a bunch,
Daniel Mitchell |
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Bill D
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: Waterbury, CT
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 4:23 am Post subject: |
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thehartfordboy wrote: | Hey Bill,
I was wondering about the leased MCIs. When are they going to deploy them and when will the CT Transit takeover of Peter Pan's routes will happen?
Thanks a bunch,
Daniel Mitchell |
Hi Daniel,
From what I can make of the below report, this may not be a case of Peter Pan giving up the routes, but simply returning older state owned buses to ConnDOT, who in turn will add them to the CT Transit fleet. It appears that Dattco will be returning some coaches as well. Some of these buses have over a million miles on them, so they may be receiving a thorough overhaul before being placed in service. Some of them may be sent to Stamford for use on the I-Bus route.
Last night, I spotted D4500's #303 and 304 in Waterbury, covering the Metro North Waterbury branch bustitution service. The MCI coaches, as well as some Peter Pan coaches, are being used to cover the train service until mid August while track work is being done.
If any more information becomes available, I will pass it along.
Bill
Bill D wrote: | From the Connecticut Public Transportation Commission minutes of June 4, 2009:
... Lastly, [ConnDOT Administrator for Transit and Ridesharing Michael] Sanders was asked about the three Peter Pan buses which appeared a few months ago at the Hartford Division garage. Sanders explained that the state purchased those buses in 1983 and 1986 for the Greater Hartford Transit District, who then leased them to private
operators to run some express service routes. These operators were allowed to use the buses for incremental charter service also. These were state-owned but privately-operated buses. Peter Pan ultimately operated some of these express routes and used the state-purchased buses. When
Peter Pan took some of the buses out of service, they were returned to Connecticut Transit. They have now been rebranded with the Connecticut Transit Express logo. Five to seven more of these buses from DATTCO are likely to show up in the coming months." |
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thehartfordboy
Age: 32 Joined: 29 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Hartford, CT
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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Bill D wrote: | thehartfordboy wrote: | Hey Bill,
I was wondering about the leased MCIs. When are they going to deploy them and when will the CT Transit takeover of Peter Pan's routes will happen?
Thanks a bunch,
Daniel Mitchell |
Hi Daniel,
From what I can make of the below report, this may not be a case of Peter Pan giving up the routes, but simply returning older state owned buses to ConnDOT, who in turn will add them to the CT Transit fleet. It appears that Dattco will be returning some coaches as well. Some of these buses have over a million miles on them, so they may be receiving a thorough overhaul before being placed in service. Some of them may be sent to Stamford for use on the I-Bus route.
Last night, I spotted D4500's #303 and 304 in Waterbury, covering the Metro North Waterbury branch bustitution service. The MCI coaches, as well as some Peter Pan coaches, are being used to cover the train service until mid August while track work is being done.
If any more information becomes available, I will pass it along.
Bill
Bill D wrote: | From the Connecticut Public Transportation Commission minutes of June 4, 2009:
... Lastly, [ConnDOT Administrator for Transit and Ridesharing Michael] Sanders was asked about the three Peter Pan buses which appeared a few months ago at the Hartford Division garage. Sanders explained that the state purchased those buses in 1983 and 1986 for the Greater Hartford Transit District, who then leased them to private
operators to run some express service routes. These operators were allowed to use the buses for incremental charter service also. These were state-owned but privately-operated buses. Peter Pan ultimately operated some of these express routes and used the state-purchased buses. When
Peter Pan took some of the buses out of service, they were returned to Connecticut Transit. They have now been rebranded with the Connecticut Transit Express logo. Five to seven more of these buses from DATTCO are likely to show up in the coming months." |
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Thanks alot Bill. Two things though. I don't see the returned buses being sent to Stamford compared to the 3xx series MCIs due to the door issue. Second, I am working on a roster for CT Transit buses 1990 to now, I was wondering if you can proofread and give your input. I'll PM it to you.
Thanks again, Dan |
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timecruncher
Age: 73 Joined: 23 Dec 2008 Posts: 456 Location: Louisville, Kentucky
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:35 am Post subject: |
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There was an RFP for overhaul/rehab of those MCI coaches in the industry rag Passenger Transport just a few weeks back. I suspect the buses will be hauled off for that project as soon as a bidder is awarded the work.
Just wondering -- and this is too obvious -- does Peter Pan still do rehab/overhaul work on coaches?
timecruncher |
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