What type of Bus do you like to drive?

[Pipe]

I liked the 1963 GMC TDH-5303 Best. My favorite Bus was 3742.

[Otter]

One with good defog, working body heat, tight mirrors and an operator's seat that hasn't been destroyed by the re-upholstering monkeys.

[Green_713]

Forgot the RTS CNG. Those I would like to get behind of, with the sound of the aircraft jet engine taking off behind you and then winding down as you stop!  "VRRRFFFTTOOOMMMMM!"

[TransitGuy]

Is this for drivers only or is it if you had the chance, which one would it be? Also, you forgot New Flyer C40LF.

[BusManCow]

Well I voted for TMC RTS because the TMC Citycruiser wasnt listed, but i got a chance to drive one once that was a demo bus and man it handled like a dream and was really fast!-Kyle

[Pipe]

Is this for drivers only or is it if you had the chance, which one would it be? Also, you forgot New Flyer C40LF.

TransitGuy. Anyone can vote.   In your reply you can say am a bus fan.

[FutureKBArticOP]

I am a fan soon to be operator in the next couple of years. I'm in love with the 1999-2001 New Flyer D60HF's I applied for the TA test but I really want to work for OA

[Michaelper22]

This topic is for me. I would LOVE to drive an Orion VII HEV. I am a huge fan of that model. But it would also be interesting to see how I would hold up in a huge city bus (and I'm only 15!).

[TransitGuy]

Well I am a bus fan but if I were a bus operator, I would have love to drive a GMC Fishbowl and/or an MCI classic.

[Bennie1138]

I voted for the MCI Cruiser, but I would also love to drive the RTS CNG. I love the roar of the L10G Engine.

[RJM]

I'd like to try the Grumman Flxible.

[Orion_VII]

i picked the Orion...we have 3 Orion V that were retro fitted with Cummins engines....i absolutely love to drive these buses...mainly b/c the way they sound

[Cappy]

I'm no bus driver, but I voted for the New Flyer Articulated buses.  Generally, I like any articulated bus, regardless of the manufacturer.

[SaMo4951]

gmc rts

[Bill D]

Of the buses that I have driven, I like our (CT Transit) Nova RTS best.  The Series 50 engine has decent acceleration, it takes tight turns with ease, and the wedge brake system stops much better than any s-cam type I have driven.  Other favorites of mine over the years were the new look Flxibles, TDM-4512 and PD-4104/6.  Buses that I would like to take for a drive are the PD-3751 (with 4-speed standard shift on the steering column), and anything of a hybrid or fuel cell type bus.

Bill

[Jeff406cid]

Any GMC/TMC RTS! I've driven 6V92's, 6V92 Methanol(Choppy when cold but smooth and powerful when warm, and great sound) L10 Cummins, which may have been the second fastest bus to the HEV(it seems it would lean to the point of tipping over on the highway because of the tanks though)  and the Series 50.

The later versions with actuators at all four rear brake shoes would lock the rear wheels and smoke the street out in a parking brake/emergency brake test! I think MGM must have toned down the springs in the actuators, because they don't seem to do it as much lately.

[SickCert]

This is what i drive, click http://www.dublinbus.cc/05davs.htm and scroll down.

[Driver@BTN]

I'd have to go with the TMC RTS followed by the GMC RTS. Then the Orion VII and lastly the awful Nova (a real (piece of junk).

In deference to Bill D's opinion of the Nova, it's my opinion that while that particular model may be nice to drive as a pleasure vehicle, it woefully lacks as a transit workhorse where driver ease is concerned. The NYCT model is too complicated with far too many constraints (in the name of safety, of course) as opposed to both the GMC and TMC.

And forget the Orion VII's. They're already falling apart and shatter/rattle worse than any bus I've ever driven. Though I can't necessarily fault the manufacturer -- our guys have to have the decency to drive home the screws they remove when they remove panels. And that means ALL the screws, not just the three of eighet that are easily replaced.

Those responsible for such lackluster performance should be required to spend 8 hours a day for each missing screw behind the wheel of the bus they drop at the yard. Perhaps then these mysterious extra screws would then find their rightful homes.

But I digress... the TMC, with or without all screws :-)

[Flxible 9314]

Mine is the Flxible hands down. It runs and drives very well. The suspension system in that bus is something.  But my bus since I had been around them for almost six years is the Orion V.  A very solid bus (I know it doesn't have anything on the RTS) but I like it for driver comfort.  They seemed to be one of the few bus manufactures that kept the driver in mind when designing the bus no matter what configuration it was built in.

[Bill D]

I'd have to go with the TMC RTS followed by the GMC RTS. Then the Orion VII and lastly the awful Nova (a real (piece of junk).

In deference to Bill D's opinion of the Nova, it's my opinion that while that particular model may be nice to drive as a pleasure vehicle, it woefully lacks as a transit workhorse where driver ease is concerned. The NYCT model is too complicated with far too many constraints (in the name of safety, of course) as opposed to both the GMC and TMC.

Our Nova's are 1996 models, which I understand was a continuation of the TMC product.  Nova made changes a year or so after that to make "upgrades" to the design. I know that your fleet had almost continuous deliveries from Nova during their production run, so do you rate them all the same, or did they become worse as newer deliveries were introduced?

Bill

[Transit_Teen]

buses I'll like to drive
 1.RTS CNG=love it.
 2.GMC's rts=the bus looks simple to drive
 3.orion v cng
 4.1990 tmc's=non-repower
 5.HEV's=to see if it's any better than the passager view of things.
 6.MCI classics
 7.MCI D4500=I want to see if I could drive this huge bus.