Hints of TT restoration?

I stumbled across the following buried deep in the Legal Notices of today's Inquirer:

"SEPTA - Invitation to bid:

SEPTA will accept bids for the following ...

No. 10274: Installation of overhead wire for trackless trolley routes 59, 66 and 75 ... Tues. Oct. 5, 2004"

Anyone know what's going on here? More smoke blown so they can say they're doing something, but we later find out that none of the bids were acceptable? Or is this for real?

Its a waste for now, SEPTA is not ordering any coaches until D.C. gives them the money for it, which at the earliest wont be until 2005

jfrey40535 wrote:Its a waste for now, SEPTA is not ordering any coaches until D.C. gives them the money for it, which at the earliest wont be until 2005

2005 is about 90 days away.......

Except, remember this is SEPTA. Add about 3 years to any target date they set. I'm still waiting for the 10 year-restoration target of the Newtown line which has been around since 1984.

Actually, isn't it already FY 2005 for the federal budget?

FY 2005 began July 1, 2004.

walt wrote:FY 2005 began July 1, 2004.

The state fiscal year began July 1. The federal fiscal year began today (October 1). SEPTA's fiscal year begins July 1.

The feds have already given septa funding for design and construction of 2 prototype coaches. This made the news about a month and a half ago.

Daryl Jackson
[email protected]

There probably won't be any trackless trolleys around any time soon. It's true that whenever SEPTA sets a start-up date for something it's usually safe to add years to it. I can't understand why they would need to install new wires for route 59. If memory serves me right, they installed new wires on that line about four years ago, and the TTs haven't run in over two years, so those wires haven't seen that much use. I heard that there was some talk about route 66 being extended to Franklin Mills Mall but mall management didn't want it because they said that the wires would make the outside of the mall "unsightly." I think the plan was to install wires along Knights Road up to the mall. As for route 75, I would leave that route a bus. The crossing at Wyoming and Roosevelt Blvd. is dangerous for a trackless. More than once I've seen an operator trying to reconnect the poles in the middle of six lanes of northbound traffic. Anyway, I'm sure they'll find some way of delaying the trackless just like Route 15.

Hmmmm...

http://www.septa.org/business/over25000 ... apa_1.html



(Just in case it goes away):

SEPTA is soliciting proposals for the purchase of 40-foot low floor trackless trolley buses.
Pre-Proposal meeting: Monday, January 24, 2005, at 9:30 a.m.
Room 11A, 11th Floor, 1234 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19107

(dang, we need a 'dubious' emoticon)

Seems to me that the Boston Neoplans fit SEPTAs requirements (except the left door). Looks promising, but I wont hold my breath especially after the 15 restoration. And briefly regarding the 15... they better get that thing going soon before the national media gets all over it as a waste of tax dollars.

Does NBC still do those "Fleecing of America" stories on the Nightly News?

If it's been budgeted, the funding is probably "use it or lose it." The last time I looked at SEPTA's capital budget, they had an item on TT buses. As for actually seeing them running, that's a problem mired in City politics.

SEPTA had their meeting with the vendors this week and it looks like they will be receiving a prototype of a new design by this time next year.