Plymouth open house next Tuesday (June 22)
Joshua Daniel Franklin
SUPPORT ELECTRIC BUSES
King County Metro electric trolley bus evaluation open house
Tuesday, June 22, 5-‐7pm, Plymouth Church
King County Metro Transit has a fleet of 159 electric trolley buses
that run along nearly 70 miles of overhead wire in Seattle. Metro
hasn't purchased a new trolleybus since 1979 and these buses are
reaching the end of their useful lives.
A public open house about the Trolley Bus System Evaluation will be on
Tuesday, June 22 from 5-7pm at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1217
6th Avenue in downtown Seattle.
Metro is in a severe budget crisis and we need to hear your support
for quiet electric buses!
Joshua Daniel Franklin
>> hasn't purchased a new trolleybus since 1979 and these buses are
>> reaching the end of their useful lives.
On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 5:11 PM, John Stewart wrote:
> That's not entirely true...they put old engines in new Gillig coaches a lot
> more recently than '79...and they repurposed the old Breda buses as
> trolley-only as well.
Thanks John! The exact details are not clear, but Mike Lindbolm's article
says "Metro has been cannibalizing spare parts, but those will run out by 2016"
according to Mike Eeds. Maybe that means the Bredas, but I thought he
meant the electric motors from 1979, now in the Gilligs:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011818844_trolleybus09m.html
> Honestly, I think part of the message needs to be that while getting a new
> ETB fleet (a la Vancouver) needs to be part of the long-term program, the
> short-term requirement is really only replacing the Bredas, which were new
> when I was in high school and the tunnel opened. That was a while ago now :)
> The Gilligs, as far as I can tell, are fine.
That's a good starting place. According to wikipedia there are just 59 Bredas,
so replacing them would cost considerably less than the whole fleet. If the
old drive trains in the Gilligs are wearing out, though, there are 100 of them.
You're right that it doesn't make sense to claim that they're all wearing out at
the same time though.