Bus fanatic

[Saturn]

So after riding buses more in late 2021 I've grown quite a liking to them. Prior to that I was more into trains, though that interest has started to fade.

Depending on the area of my city there are still fairly old (2001) buses running around by the... very neglectful operator over there, they are however fairly nice buses with a pretty interesting history.

I like, in particular, the ZF Ecomat gearbox. You may have heard it yourself depending on where you are; they used to be quite common. Some of them sound good, others can be a bit quiet (meh).

Here's an example of one of these older 2001 ones. You'll see why I say "very neglectful operator" after watching some of these. This bus is so bad that other operators who bought it had it scrapped early... although it does have a very nice sounding ZF Ecomat.



A 2003 bus, in a just as bad, if not worse, condition. This bus has died ~twice in the last year.

[scooter]

Our state just got some new zero-emissions buses recently...this is MDOT's announcement. You get to see Governor Moore shaking hands with the bus driver, and so forth. Oddly, they don't talk about the make and model of the buses. (Also, as noted, it'd also be good to hire more drivers.)

[Saturn]

Sadly the route bus industry here isn't doing too well, as quality family-run business are getting replaced by multinational corporations where the money just goes straight overseas.

With the government introducing sector-based contracts, this will be even more true soon.

Oddly, they don't talk about the make and model of the buses.

Yeah, they don't do that here either. I think they just assume that the average commuter doesn't care (which to an extent is understandable).

[Saturn]

Another beautiful beast here, shame this bus will be gone for good soon.

[scooter]

Sadly the route bus industry here isn't doing too well, as quality family-run business are getting replaced by multinational corporations where the money just goes straight overseas.

With the government introducing sector-based contracts, this will be even more true soon.

So you have private bus routes for commuters? There are long haul bus lines here, like Greyhound or Peter Pan, but commuter bus routes are always run by cities or states.

[Saturn]

So you have private bus routes for commuters?

Sorta, they're contractually run by companies on behalf of the government, the government decides the routes, bus stops, ticketing system etc, while these companies actually run the buses. There's long haul bus lines here too which are private.

[scooter]

So you have private bus routes for commuters?

Sorta, they're contractually run by companies on behalf of the government, the government decides the routes, bus stops, ticketing system etc, while these companies actually run the buses. There's long haul bus lines here too which are private.

There's a similar thing with many bus services here as well as school buses. And Howard County had a serious problem with their buses at the beginning of the school year in August and September.

[WolfofWords]

So you have private bus routes for commuters?

Sorta, they're contractually run by companies on behalf of the government, the government decides the routes, bus stops, ticketing system etc, while these companies actually run the buses. There's long haul bus lines here too which are private.

There's a similar thing with many bus services here as well as school buses. And Howard County had a serious problem with their buses at the beginning of the school year in August and September.

I remember when Hogan changed the bus routes for the MTA buses in Baltimore and everybody righteously flipped their lids. Changing bus routes is tricky and can create a lot of chaos and problems.

[Saturn]

There's a similar thing with many bus services here as well as school buses.

are yellow school buses the norm everywhere in the US? over here you generally get a lowfloor citybus assigned to the school route aside from some schools who pay extra for a coach

[WolfofWords]

There's a similar thing with many bus services here as well as school buses.

are yellow school buses the norm everywhere in the US? over here you generally get a low floor citybus assigned to the school route aside from some schools who pay extra for a coach

They are yellow in every state in the US. This is helps indicate that the bus will be stopping at unmarked bus stops and that young children will be boarding and deboarding and for drivers to be careful when a bus stops. In fact, US school buses have little stop signs that fold out and traffic is required by law to stop.

In fact, there is an official paint color that school buses must use called "National School Bus Glossy Yellow"