The Railfan Window Blog

MTA New York City Transit issued a press release for the 2009 Holiday Vintage Buses program that, as we reported yesterday, began yesterday.

MTA New York City Transit Runs Special Vintage Buses for the Holidays

M42 crosstown bus customers will be able to take a ride back in time when MTA New York City Transit places into service a fleet of vintage New York City Transit buses for the holiday season. Everything but the MetroCard fare boxes will be original.

The crosstown buses will be in operation from Monday, November 23 through the end of the holiday season, running on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. With a little bit of luck and good timing, you could catch a ride back in time on a classic coach for the price of a regular ride. And don’t forget, these 1950s-era buses are equipped with modern fare boxes, so they’ll accept your MetroCard or coins.

“These buses are a living, breathing part of the city’s history,” said Joseph Smith, MTA Bus Company President and Senior Vice President of Buses for MTA NYC Transit. “Riding on these buses is a fantastic counterpoint to the vehicles we operate currently,” noted Joseph Smith. “It’s obvious that we have come a long way since the 1950s and, despite the charm of the older equipment, our customers are benefiting from major advances in bus efficiency, design and accessibility.”

The agency’s historic fleet contains 19 buses, ranging in age from the Queen Anne – a 1917 wood-bodied double-decker manufactured in the shops of the old Fifth Avenue Coach Company – to bus number 1201, NYC Transit’s first General Motors RTS.

Many of the vehicles have been deemed to have historical significance to the city, including bus number 3100, a 1956 GM which was the first air-conditioned transit bus manufactured, and 5227, the last non-wheelchair accessible bus to operate for NYC Transit, pulled from service in 1993.

List and description of buses that will be in operation:

Bus No. 3100 – 1956 General Motors owned and operated by Fifth Avenue Coach Lines. (First Air-conditioned transit bus).

Bus No. 9098 – 1958 General Motors, among the first buses outfitted with fiberglass seats.

Bus No. 2969 – 1948 General Motors, among the first forty-foot transit buses to operate in NYC.

One of the vintage buses that will be in service along the M42 this holiday season

MTA New York City Transit is once again running select buses from their museum fleet in revenue service for the holiday shopping season. They did it last year, and it was loads of fun.

This year however is even more special – the buses are even older! While last year’s vintage buses were mainly in service in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s before being retired, this year’s buses date from the 1950s! These older buses are commonly referred to as the “old look” buses.

While details of the 2009 Holiday Vintage Bus program have not yet been officially released, it is believed that one or more vintage buses will be running along the M42 bus route in Manhattan (42 St Crosstown) between 10 AM and 2 PM, Monday to Friday, through the end of December.

Photo by: Adam E. Moreira

This morning, the DesignLine EcoSaver IV hybrid electric bus made its passenger-carrying debut for New York City Transit.

DesignLine EcoSaver IV hybrid electric bus makes NYC debut early this morning on the M42 route (42nd Street Crosstown)

The DesignLine EcoSaver IV bus is different from other hybrid buses already in the NYCT fleet because it is a series hybrid. That means that the engine, in this case a turbine, is only used to charge the batteries, and not to directly power the vehicle.

The turbine fills the role of “Auxiliary Power Unit” (APU). The batteries in turn power the electric motor, which makes the bus go. There are many advantages to a series hybrid, and for this bus overall, one of which is the fact that the bus can operate in pure electric mode, with the turbine off (producing no emissions), in some situations. In all other situations, the turbine is running at the most efficient speeds to keep the batteries at an optimal charge, totally independent of the bus’s immediate acceleration needs.

The story of how this bus design, which originated in New Zealand, came to be for sale to bus authorities in the US, is interesting, and worth the short read.

I came away from my ride on the bus’s maiden voyage pretty impressed with its quietness and performance. I have no doubt that the fancy hybrid driveline is well engineered and quite capable. My only reservations are over how well the not-so-glamorous parts of the bus will hold up in the severe service conditions experienced here in New York City. How will the plastic straphangers and the full length glass doors and the flooring, etc., hold up?  Until now, NYCT has generally only purchased proven, “heavy-duty” buses. I don’t know if the DesignLine EcoSaver IV hybrid electric bus can be considered “heavy-duty” in and of itself, but if it survives NYC’s streets and residents, leading to an expansion of the initial eight bus fleet to up to 80 with options, then it will certainly have proven itself worthy.

Here is a gallery of photos I took today of the bus’s grand debut: PHOTOS

Edit: As pointed out by Joe in his comment, the other hybrid buses in the NYCT fleet (Orion VII) are also series hybrids. So the DesignLine EcoSaver IV is not different in that regard.