Feature Photo December 2011 is expected to mark the end of GM New Look service at the TTC. 2855, the oldest bus in the fleet, is seen on Aikenhead Road, the routing for 52S Lawrence West short turns at Islington Avenue, with a Christmas light installation on Tuesday, November 29, 2011.
Since 2008, tunnel liner rehabilitation has closed the TTC's Yonge Subway early, Sunday through Friday, resulting in scheduled subway short turns in the late evening. Since 2009, that short turn has occured at Eglinton, where trains turn back southbound towards Union and Downsview, with northbound passengers shuttled by buses. Captured shortly past 1xm on Thursday, October 13, 2011, this scene looking south towards Davisville Station is iconic of each evening, where regular service trains still serve stations, but work cars begin to make their way out across the network. The southbound T1 displaying EGLINTON on its rear destination sign was correct for the time period, while the H5 just leaving the station was displaying incorrect signage for FINCH, where the train would never reach at that hour. RT-61 and its partner were bound for the Yonge Line north of Eglinton Station where the work was being done.
Even with the high floor era at MiWay coming to a close, the once-plentiful Orion V can still be found serving non-accessible routes like 10, 38, 45 and 53 well into the evening. 9708 is seen here, westbound on Bancroft Drive at Tremaine Court on the evening of Friday, September 30, 2011. The remaining Orion Vs are to be replaced later this year by New Flyer XD40s 1101-1143, which have not yet been prepared for service.
The City of Mississauga has grown remarkably fast in its 37 year history as a city. What started out as an agglomeration of towns and villages has now grown into the largest suburb in Canada and the United States with an increasingly high concentration of tall buildings in the City Centre. Seen at the right of this photo, the Absolute World towers are now the tallest buildings in any North American suburb. MiWay 0877, a New Flyer D60LFR from New Flyer is seen in the foreground travelling north on City Centre Drive approaching Square One Drive on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
Bay Metro of Bay City, MI has one of the largest Orion II fleets remaining anywhere, along with Blue Water Area Transit in Port Huron, MI and Saginaw STARS of Saginaw, MI. These systems have designed their service around having these buses and it will be interesting, especially in Bay City, to see how they handle larger buses that will eventually replace the existing fleets. In Bay City, the conventional routes with the exception of high-ridership route 4 are handled by Orion IIs, which make up the majority of that system's fleet. 6 of those buses are seen here at Bay City's Central Bus Station on the afternoon of Thursday, July 14, 2011.
Staff at the Regina Fire Department were more than happy to show off their two buses to visiting transit enthusiasts on the morning of Sunday, June 12, 2011. At left with the white front is a 1962 TDH-5301 which began life as Regina Transit 235 and was retired as 335. At right with the yellow front is a 1966 TDH-4519 which was previously Regina Transit 468. The 5301 is used a command bus during emergency situations and large fires, and the 4519 is used as a shelter bus for building evacuations.
Friday, May 13, 2011 marked the last day of MiWay service to Oakville Transit's Uptown Core Terminal. As of the following Monday, route 101's western terminus became Ridgeway Drive. 2010 New Flyer D60LFR 1062 is seen at Uptown Core on the last departure from the terminal.
During the annual YUL Bus Charters weekend on Saturday, April 30, 2011, STO GM Classic 8620 was chartered and taken into Ottawa, seen here posed in front of the Parliament Buildings next to an OC Transpo Invero on Wellington Street in Ottawa, ON.
Friday, March 11, 2011 marked the last day of GM service at Wilson Division. Four Wilson GMs were noted to be in service on that final day including the pictured 2340 which I caught at the beginning of a snowstorm northbound on Dufferin Street at St. Clair Avenue West just two days earlier on Wednesday, March 9. On Saturday, March 12, all Wilson GMs were moved to Mount Dennis Division marking the end of a 35-year-long era.
A network of overnight bus routes serves the city of Toronto, a network that has yet to be tapped by transit enthusiasts. I have made it my mission to legitimately photograph each Blue Night route; a feat that few will ever be able to lay claim to. In this photo taken Saturday, February 26, 2011, 7964 is seen at 2:51xm southbound on Islington Avenue at Lake Shore Boulevard West ready for a northbound trip to Kipling/Steeles loop on route 311 Islington Blue Night.
MiWay has retained a number of the 1997 Orion VIs which were replaced by the 2010 buses, and I caught one on January 4 on route 39, westbound on Britannia Road West at Mavis Road.
The TTC operates five Community Routes that are designed to provide mobility to seniors and people using mobility devices. The routes are, however, open to all passengers and have remained as somewhat of a final frontier in the transit enthusiast community. 9704, an Orion II from 1991 is seen here at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Dunn Avenue south of King Street West on Thursday, December 30, 2010 while serving route 402 Parkdale.
© 2010-2011 David Vincent |
