Official Trackless Trolley Thread/Tracker

[octr202]

Okay... might have to run up that way later today if I can and try to catch sight of it.

Update - went home the long way today... saw 4121!

Yeah -- I rode it again on the way home. I think that trolley is stalking me...

This morning on 4109, as we rounded the turn crossing Fresh Pond Ave., the window in front of me swung open from the bottom. Apparently the emergency exit windows are hinged from the top, and can work their way into the release position without the red handle appearing to have been moved. The guy sitting at that seat got quite a scare, as he was leaning on the window with his back to it. I guess we'll have to as "Do Not Lean Against Window" to the passenger instructions with these.

[efin98]

Okay... might have to run up that way later today if I can and try to catch sight of it.

Update - went home the long way today... saw 4121!

Yeah -- I rode it again on the way home. I think that trolley is stalking me...

This morning on 4109, as we rounded the turn crossing Fresh Pond Ave., the window in front of me swung open from the bottom. Apparently the emergency exit windows are hinged from the top, and can work their way into the release position without the red handle appearing to have been moved. The guy sitting at that seat got quite a scare, as he was leaning on the window with his back to it. I guess we'll have to as "Do Not Lean Against Window" to the passenger instructions with these.

I think the handle on that window is damaged, it looked like it was ready to release when I sat there earlier.

BTW that bus had a string of bad luck on it's 11:25 run. It had trouble getting into the busway in Watertown Square and dropped its left pole twice en route to Harvard- the second time getting caught on the switch where the 73 joins the 71. Thankfully there was another 71 behind 4109 so there wasn't too much of a delay in service.

And I must say, I love the new tracklesses. They run great and are extremely quiet, I barely noticed the loss of power or that we were sitting still for a few minutes.

[FatNoah]

Riding home from work last night, I noticed in the TT (4108, I think) were four maps. They were on the curved part of the lights above the windows, where some ads go.

In any case, they were great! The showed a map of the area, with the routes of 71, 72, 73, 77A, Red Line, and Fitchburg Commuter rail superimposed over the street maps. Major streets were marked as well as many of the cross streets along the bus routes.

I'm not sure if it's new or not, but it was definitely the most useful piece of information I've seen in a bus!

[octr202]

Those maps are new. They were first put in the Neoplans when they went into service, and now are in most all of them. They've even gotten into some of the Flyers.

[AEM7AC920]

Well today I saw 4128 runnning as an Instruction Bus,so i'm guessing there all here I also got some pics of 4122/4123 and 4127 in the yard. I caught 4116 on 71 with a broken sign which was stuck reading 73 waverly sq. On the return home I caught 4112 inbound on 71 also. It seems that things are turning out nicely.

[pdxstreetcar]

It seems to me that the Flyers are being replaced quite rapidly, usually once every few months I take a trip to check out the trackless system, 6 months ago all I saw were Flyers now just about all I see are Neoplans.
Is there any idea when the Flyers are going to be completely gone?
I have always liked the time on the Flyers when the bus is moving and completely silent. I will miss that on the new buses, although I certainly do like them.

Yesterday I was taking a few pictures of one of the last Flyers at the Waverly Square terminal and the driver told me not to take pictures and that I needed a permit. He said it was due to 9/11 and I respect the T for being cautious with regards to terrorism but I found this a little extreme, I could understand if I was taking pictures in the subway or even the Harvard Bus Tunnel but an empty bus at Waverly Square? There was someone else taking pictures of the new Neoplans right in the same place 10 minutes before, so I imagine that it is not that unusual for people to photograph the trackless trolleys. I dont mean to turn this thread into a debate over new photography restrictions on transit systems but does anyone else think this is a little extreme?

[Cotuit]

There's a thread about the photo policies.

I'm not sure if they're within their rights to tell you you can't photograph equipment if you are photographing it from public property. I'd think not. But it depends where you were standing if you were on or off T property.

[flyermike]

It looks to me like there are about 20 Flyers left with all 28 Neoplans. In the past week I have to say, maybe because of the cooler weather, but mostly Flyers have been running, even on off peak time. Since most of the remaining Flyers have been repainted inside I think they will be around for a while.

[pdxstreetcar]

I'm not sure if they're within their rights to tell you you can't photograph equipment if you are photographing it from public property. I'd think not. But it depends where you were standing if you were on or off T property.

I was standing in the street taking the picture. The driver called me over, I thought at first he was being nice and was going to talk to me about the trackless trolleys but instead he told me I needed a permit. I said "but I'm on city streets" and he said its not about that its 9/11.





Will some of the Neoplans already operating out of N. Cambridge Yard be moving temporarily over to the Silverline or will brand new Neoplan buses start operating out of there? I'm assuming Flyers wont operate in the Silverline mostly for accessibility reasons and probably also their old appearence.

[jwhite07]

All of the Neoplan TTs have been delivered, but there are ten that are not yet in service. Those ten will be assigned to the South Boston Piers Transitway when it opens, if the dual mode fleet is not available by then (which appears likely). Once enough dual modes are accepted, the TTs will be reassigned to North Cambridge and the remaining Flyers will be retired.

Just a guess, but I'd say the Flyers have a year or so to go before they are all retired. More if the dual modes turn out to be problematic.

As far as photography from public areas goes, read this:

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

Print out the PDF and keep copies with you!

[octr202]

I know its tough going against the tide of love for the new Neoplans on this board, but as a commuter, I'm getting more and mroe dissapointed with them. I haven't managed to catch a Flyer all week, sadly.

Performance on the 71 (I don't ride the 73 to tell) seems much worse this year since the Neoplans took over most service. Given the lack of space inside the Neos, anytime a bus is even a minute off schedule (or if there was a backup of red Line trainsarriving Harvard in the afternoon), there's no way the Neoplan can handle the crowd. Over the last three weeks, every single outbound 71leaveing Harvard between 5 and 6 pm I've been on has been at crush load capacity, people packing the aisles front to back. Its so bad that on almost every one of these trips, the drivers have had to open the back door to let people off -- there's simply no way you can move up and down the aisle until the bus is well into Watertown. Its taking 20-25 mintues to get just a few stops into Watertown, as each stop becomes a 25-45 second (or more) process of opening both doors, letting people get off the back, and walk around to the front to pay or show passes (believe it or not, most seem to do that!), and then asking the passengers if there's anyone else coming out or if its okay to close the back doors. Its gotten to the point where I dread getting caught at work late enough (I usually try to hit Harvard before 5 on my way home) that I get pushed into rush hour.

At least when the Flyers ran everything, the buses ran ontime (on the 71 at least). They were always crowded, but rarely were they so full that it caused the stop dwell times to swell so much. There were often days where you could be at Harvard in the afternoon and set your watch by the time the 71's rolled in to go to Watertown (not every day, but it happened). Now, it seems like the route is rarely on schedule.

My apologies for the diatribe, but the commute's been pretty lousy since the Neoplans arrived. They are great buses to ride late at night, or on Saturday, when they're not full -- I continue to be surprised at how smooth and comfortable a ride they have -- but they just can't handle the crowds at rush hour. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble about the new TT's.

[Cotuit]

It should be pay when you board, does anyone know why it's not? I know you usually board from the wrong side of the bus, but when a deisel comes through the busway, you have to enter through the front anyway.

They could install turnstiles for entry to the busway, people boarding at Harvard would pay at the turnstiles, and people boarding on the street would pay as they board, like any other bus. This would allow people to leave from the back.

[jwhite07]

They could install turnstiles for entry to the busway, people boarding at Harvard would pay at the turnstiles, and people boarding on the street would pay as they board, like any other bus. This would allow people to leave from the back.

That's an excellent idea!

Only issue I see with that would be how to accept cash fares at the turnstyles... don't want to have to use a $1.25 subway token for a 90¢ bus fare, and turnstyles don't accept cash.

Of course, the upcoming (?) AFC system would probably be able to resolve that.

[Cotuit]

They could install turnstiles for entry to the busway, people boarding at Harvard would pay at the turnstiles, and people boarding on the street would pay as they board, like any other bus. This would allow people to leave from the back.

Only issue I see with that would be how to accept cash fares at the turnstyles... don't want to have to use a $1.25 subway token for a 90¢ bus fare, and turnstyles don't accept cash.

Well the buses don't accept cash either, the turnstiles would need to accept change, like the ones at Chinatown (are those still there?), and of course bus passes.

I assume the Silver Line Transitway is going to have turnstiles. Or am I assuming too much?

[jwhite07]

Well the buses don't accept cash either

Huh?!?

cash n. 2. bills and coins; currency
(From Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College Edition)



In any case, and by any definition, who here hasn't ever seen someone pay a bus fare by stuffing a dollar bill into the slot on the side of a farebox? I see it on a daily basis!