End of L.A.'s Diesel Buses

[WhoozOn1st]

While Gold Coast Transit, the rinky-dink - and shrinking - bus outfit in my local area, has been de-dieselized for about a decade, Los Angeles has now become the first major U.S. city to completely replace its diesels with greener vehicles.

MTA buses' diesel era ends

"The last diesel coach is a 40-foot New Flyer purchased in 1998. It operated out of the MTA's Venice division, where it logged many of its 383,180 miles on routes along Wilshire Boulevard, Venice Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

"No. 3004 was ceremoniously retired and towed away during an event at the MTA's Support Services Center in downtown Los Angeles. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, MTA Chief Executive Art Leahy, other elected officials and members of the authority's board of directors were on hand.

"Officials plan to auction the vehicle, which is probably worth a few thousand dollars because of its parts. Before the sale, however, mechanics will disable the engine so no one can operate it again."

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Here in Michigan the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation(SMART) runs buses that run on bio diesel and has acquired 2 articulated hybrid electric buses.

Back on topic why disable the engines? If another bus company wants they can just stick another power plant in it.

 

[Anderson]

Yeah...I don't get the decommissioning bit, either. I don't know much about bus motors, but:

1) I'd think that the motor (which, if I had to guess, isn't entirely as old as the bus and might well have been replaced during the last few years) would have residual value, if nothing else.

2) Not knowing what the average lifetime of a bus is...is 12 years a long run or not for a bus?

 

[AlanB]

2) Not knowing what the average lifetime of a bus is...is 12 years a long run or not for a bus?

Average expected life of a bus is 10 to 12 years, but many systems try to push that to 15 years. That of course means lots of breakdowns and expensive repairs.

 

[Eric S]

As far as the decommissioning bit, perhaps the new buses were paid for with some sort of Clean Air grant that required the buses being replaced be disabled?