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Rts Potential With Septa
Topic Started: Dec 25 2005, 01:51 AM (2,258 Views)
RedArrowDoug
Transit Fan
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
philabob1
Nov 30 2011, 07:30 PM
Mark
Dec 26 2005, 10:21 AM
CACrafter88bk2504,Dec 25 2005
06:51 AM
I think the RTS buses on SEPTA propertyc ould have lasted until 2000. They were speed demons & SEPTA should not have let them fall into disrepair like they did.

Had they kept the RTS buses around, then maybe we would not have a NABI order. Maybe we could have gotten the 15 running sooner & gotten resume service on the entire 23 & entire 56.

Friend, those RTS's were finished by '96 [actually many of them were on their last legs around '94]. What SEPTA should have bought were the Neoplans instead of NABI's. That would have been more compatible with the rest of the fleet [which were Neoplan] than the NABI's.

In fact, why did SEPTA get the NABI's in the first place?

In addition, Ed Rendell [as our then Mayor] should have been more forceful with SEPTA concerniong thye restoration of the 15/23/56. He really should have traded more stable funding for the restoration of the trolley lines.
Agree - the RTS's were falling apart in the late 80's. Through no fault of SEPTA, in many ways - they were not very well designed. The later variations were strengthened (NYC didn't buy any until I believe the 04 model hit the streets, having gone for the big Flxible order in the early days of the advanced design bus (and then having them all tossed off the property). It was interesting that the Ikarus/NABI's had similar problems but got into rehab programs a little more quickly, which solved some of the issues.

Rendell at least got 15 but SEPTA resisted greatly and the results are evident, e.g. the 15 having only 18 rebuilt PCC's which could never make the line, etc.
SEPTA in 1996 had to go with the lowest bidder required by Federal Law to keep tighter controls on federal spending. SEPTA was not happy Ikarus underbidded Neoplan. SEPTA wanted Neoplans. They did everything they could to make life hard for Ikarus. It was so bad that NABI took over Ikarus during the building of the SEPTA order. SEPTA put Ikarus out of business. Today the rules are different but politics still play a roll in equipment orders. SEPTA was under heavy political pressure to take the Hyundai-Rotem bid for the Silverliner V order over Kawasaki since Hyundai-Rotem promised local jobs by building them in Philly. Basically Vince Fumo and Bob Brady could cut SEPTA funding from Harrisburg if Hyundai-Rotem didn't get the order. Sometimes the best qualified bidder doesn't always get the contract despite that is now how the Federal Law reads today. Had the current law been in effect then we would have never gotten Ikarus/NABI buses.
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