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1984 APTA Expo; Look at the bus sitting next to SEPTA's AN435
Topic Started: Dec 4 2011, 04:01 AM (1,107 Views)
NeoArtic7101
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rest in peace to all AN440's that ran the Philadelphia area streets
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http://www.norcalbusfans.fotki.com/north-calif-a-thru-m/ac-transit-1/neoplan-an408/apta1984neoac.html


The bus sitting next to SEPTA's AN435 is a Neoplan AN408, used by Alameda County Transit and even found in Barcelona, Spain. But the star of the pic is SEPTA's AN435.

http://www.cptdb.ca/lofiversion/index.php?t6997.html


I miss Neoplan USA... their design was WAY ahead of their time and made SEPTA look good. REALLY good.

BTW that bus, if I am not mistaken, is 1316.
Edited by NeoArtic7101, Dec 4 2011, 04:32 AM.
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philabob1
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Foamer
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Yes, that was 1316. I recall attending that show (in DC as I recall).
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thelemaque87
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I don't understand with all the funding that this country has, I am surprised that the state didn't push to provide funding to relaunch Neoplan USA back into business. We need more transit manufacturers in the US. The only relied companies that provides mass orders so far are New Flyer and NovaBus. Neoplan filed for bankruptcy and immediately they went out of business....smh...
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Tritransit Area
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Transit Enthusiast
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There are TONS of bus manufacturers in the US (primarily for smaller buses, though), but the larger agencies prefer to go with the tried and true manufacturers of Novabus, NABI, New Flyer, and Gillig. El Dorado makes a pretty decent full size heavy duty low floor bus, but agencies have yet to fully commit to an order. Also, the orders for bigger systems tend to be large, which affects the amount of manufacturers who may even be able to bid on such orders.

Agencies also like having their own specifications with the same type of equipment (powertrain, etc) that's available for any type of american bus. Many agencies (especially the largest ones like SEPTA and NJT) want the buses built THEIR way. That's why a lot of successful European manufacturers gave up on the North American market; our agencies generally don't want buses with "MAN or Volvo engines".

Remember that transit vehicle manufacturers are still private enterprises, too. At the same time, they are affected every time the government wants to play games with transportation funding, which is a serious problem.
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