TriMet bus fleet
From PortlandAfoot
The TriMet bus fleet includes about 620 buses as of February 2011, most of them manufactured by New Flyer. TriMet says its fleet is among the oldest in the United States.
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[edit] TriMet's fleet unusually old
As of April 2011, the agency had 175 buses (29 percent of its fleet) with 15 years of service or more. Another 264 buses (44 percent) were 10 to 15 years old; 121 (20 percent), five to nine years old; and the remaining 40 (8 percent) less than five years old. The average bus is 12 years old, compared to an average of 7.4 years among the largest 100 U.S. agencies.
Though buses, like all vehicles, tend to live longer in the Pacific Northwest than in other parts of the country, TriMet also says its older buses suffer for a lack of bus access ramps, bus air conditioning and modern emissions reduction.
As of April 2011, TriMet says its buses' optimum life, based on past expense trends, is "15 or 16 years." Older buses cost more than twice as much to maintain as newer ones, the agency estimates.
[edit] Bus purchase schedule
See full article: TriMet bus purchase schedule.
Starting in 2012, TriMet hopes to cut its average bus's age from 12 years to 8 years by borrowing money to accelerate its purchase of new buses.
[edit] TriMet buses by the numbers
The following statistics are current as of April 2011.
[edit] Floor height
TriMet has 240 high-floor buses and 360 low-floor buses.
[edit] Air conditioning
TriMet has 425 buses with bus air conditioning and 175 without.
[edit] Locations of buses
TriMet keeps its buses in three locations. As of April 2011, the buses are distributed as follows:
- 273 at the Center Garage
- 122 at the Merlo Garage
- 205 at the Powell Garage
[edit] 125 buses in reserve fleet
As noted by Max Campos on Al Margulies's blog, the agency seems to keep:
- 26 "contingency buses" for "emergencies, or for a major accident where a bus will be out for 6-8 months."
- 99 buses that are not needed for the active fleet at peak travel hours.
[edit] Facts this page should have eventually
- How many buses of each model?
- Which have which kinds of heating and air conditioning?
- Which have auto-chains?
- Which have low floors?
- How many seats in each model?
- How many of each at each garage?
- How many buses of each age bracket?
- Estimated annual operation cost for a new bus and an old bus?
- History of bus purchasing at TriMet?
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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