Classics (transit bus)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other meanings, see Classics (disambiguation).
The GMC Classic was a modern design of the popular GM New Look transit coach. The Classic was produced from 1982 to 1997, and was a favorite among transit agencies in both Canada and the United States.
Contents |
[edit] History
When GMC in the United States decided to replace the New Look with the RTSII series in 1979, they hoped that they would win over operators in both the US and Canada. But the design and the futuristic look turned off Canadian transit operators. So in 1979 GM Canada's Transit division decided to continue producing New Looks until 1982, when it unveiled the Classic. Several orders for New Looks were still accepted, built and delivered until 1986 for U.S. properties, although the buses were made in Canada.
The buses proved to be a hit among not only operators in Canada, but in the United States, where the Utah Transit Authority would be the first US transit agency to buy the buses in 1984.
In 1987 GMC sold the transit bus division to MCI and TMC. By 1992 the bus division changed hands again, this time going to NovaBus. During the two transitions the Classics continued to be built until NovaBus ceased production on the coaches in 1997, as most customers were favoring the new LFS low-floor model. The last ever Classics built were in Canada, in 1997, for Auger Métropolitain in Chateauguay, QC.
NovaBus also made Classics in the US in 1995 and 1996 from its now-defunct New York state plant. That version are the ones now used by Buffalo, Connecticut, Rochester and Pittsburgh, who was the last transit agency in the U.S. to acquire Classics.
[edit] Models
Classic model numbers use the following format: The first letter indicates the type of bus it is (T for transit), next the model (C for Classic), the length in feet, the width in inches, and an A for air conditioning or N for no air conditioning. There were only two primary models of Classic buses produced; a 40-foot and 60-foot, both of which were 102-inches wide. Thus, the 40-foot Classic model number was TC40-102A/N (A being air conditioned, N for non-air conditioned) and the TC60-102N.
The 60-foot version was not introduced until 1992, after MCI took over production of the Classic design, and only 16 of these articulated buses were ever sold (14 were sold to Metro Transit in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and 2 went to the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) in Quebec City, Quebec. NovaBus discontinued the 60-foot articulated version when it took over production from MCI in 1993. This bus is not to be confused with the rather confusing TA60-102N, a 60-foot articulated version of the New Look manufactured by GMC in 1982, which had the body of a New Look but the front end of a Classic grafted on. This was actually GMC's way of testing the newly designed Classic style front end, but on a tried and tested body.
Seating ranged from 39 to 52 seats and included handicapped-equipped lifts, which was optional for Canadian operators but was a must for American operators, who had to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 when it came to purchasing the coaches.
There were a lot of unique feature in the Classics, among them was in its exit doors, with most of the orders featuring wide-door versions while some opted for the narrow-door ones. Other modifications during its tenure was in its front destination sign windows, which had been narrow in its GM Canada/MCI 1982-1990 versions. MCI and later NovaBus would later widen it after 1990 as more transit systems ordered larger electronic destination signs to be included in their bus orders. The main exception was Montreal, as MCI/NovaBus built an 'M-version' (M referring to the Montreal edition) of the Classic, which continued with the narrow destination sign windows, which was ordered mainly by properties in the Montreal area up until Classic production ceased in 1997.
GMC, MCI or NovaBus never made a 35-foot version or a 96-inch version of the Classic.
[edit] Currently operating Classics
United States
- Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus (1990 and 1992 versions have been retired; 1995 versions still in service)
- Port Authority of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh)
- PACE (suburban Chicago)
- Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (Buffalo) (1992 versions retired; 1996 versions still in use)
- Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (Rochester, New York)
- Connecticut Transit (most 1990-1991 versions sold or retired; 1996 versions still in use)
Canada
- Calgary Transit
- St. Albert Transit
- Strathcona County Transit
- Coast Mountain Bus Company/Translink (Vancouver) (1989 versions being retired; 1990 versions to retire in 2008)
- Lethbridge Transit
- Fort McMurray Transit
- Medicine Hat Transit
- Red Deer Transit
- London Transit
- Metro Transit (Halifax) (Retired 22 buses, but has retained or refurbished most of their remaining 84 Classic coaches)
- Metrobus (St. John's)
- Fredericton Transit
- Saint John Transit
- Codiac Transit (Moncton)
- OC Transpo (Ottawa)
- Regina Transit
- Saskatoon Transit
- Prince Albert Northern Bus Lines (For Prince Albert, Saskatchewan transit services)
- Réseau de transport de la Capitale (Québec City)
- Réseau de transport de Longueuil
- Société de transport de Laval
- Société de transport de Lévis
- Société de transport de Montréal (The following -xxx series have already retired: 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, and 60; both 11xxx and 12xxx series are slowly being phased out but still in service; 13xxx, 14xxx and 15xxx being retained)
- Société de Transport de l'Outaouais (STO)
- Société de transport de Sherbrooke
- Société de transport du Saguenay
- Société de transport de Trois-Rivières
- Régie de Transport en Commun de Shawinigan
- Various suburban bus operators in the Greater Montréal area
- Toronto Transit Commission (To be retired in 2008)
- Victoria Regional Transit System
- Winnipeg Transit
- Brandon Transit
- Beaver Bus Lines (Operates suburban bus services in the Winnipeg area)
- Transit Winsdor
- Grand River Transit
- Guelph Transit
- Greater Sudbury Transit
- Brampton Transit
- York Region Transit
- Durham Region Transit
- Brantford Transit
- Cornwall Transit
- Sault Ste. Marie Transit
- St. Catharines Transit Commission
- Niagara Transit (Niagara Falls)
- Hamilton Street Railway
- Burlington Transit
- Stratford Transit
- Sarnia Transit (Two out of the three ordered have been retired)
- Peterborough Transit
- North Bay Transit
- Thom Transit (Pembroke, Ontario)
- Kingston Transit
- Belleville Transit
- Welland Transit
[edit] Former Classics operators
- Grand Rapids Transit (Michigan)
- Detroit Department of Transportation
- Utah Transit Authority
- Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission
- St. Thomas Transit (Ontario, Canada)
- New York City Department of Transportation for seven companies and later MTA Bus
- The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
