WTF, Muni? Blue Seats?
@hellajenny (great Twitter name, BTW) states the obvious: “It was so weird seeing blue seats on Muni this morning.”
We just wanna know what line this was. And what the story is. Anyone else see this or know anything about it?
Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
I think they are the reserve buses Muni has and are frequently used by trainee drivers.
It was the 29. I rode it this morning. It’s been running frequently.
Different lines use different model buses. I know the 35 Eureka uses this type. They’re a little bit smaller, the back of the bus is raised and they aren’t the kinds that use the electric lines.
yeah, we’ve seen them on newer models, like the ones that run on the 39-Coit or the old 26-Valencia (god rest its redundant soul). this photo looked like an older bus, which we’ve never seen before.
I (think) I saw this on the 22 last week, when they were using the diesel coaches instead of the electric. The bus was great, it was wide and had tons of seating. My friend thought I was nuts when I was talking to him about how great a ride it was on that bus…
I’ve seen this before too, in shuttle buses and one of my last rides on the 7-Haight. I think they’re backup buses.
Someone is welcome to correct me, but I believe those blue seats can be found on MUNI’s fleet of 1993 vintage Gillig Phantoms they bought from SamTrans.
I think those are buses MUNI bought from AC Transit a couple of years ago. I haven’t seen one in a while though.
Snapped this tonight – this is one of the diesels which I’ve seen run pretty much daily on the 41 Union line PM runs since it switched over to diesels around a year ago. (They may run in the am on the 41 too, but I don’t ride in the am so I can’t confirm.) I had thought they were new, but am not sure. Anyway, they’re out pretty much every day, they are notable from the outside by their really dim displays on the front. You can’t even tell that it is a 41 until it gets close.
http://tweetphoto.com/19154908
There’s one of these in the 29 group, usually running around rush hour. I caught it last Friday and marveled at the seat space. I really liked riding on it.
Actually those Gillig Phantoms with blue seats i believe are from AC Transit.. Samtrans are black blue with a red outline or something like that i can remember… but yeah those busses are actually ex AC Transit’s and i seen them alot on the 29 and Training Drivers
These buses are NOT the hybrids many of you are talking about. However, they also sport the blue seats. Apparently, these are busses recommissioned after a period of deactivation due to the number of needed buses. When the regular busses are in repair and cannot be used, they will substitute them with these. They’re pretty old (about 10-15 years), but they get the job done. These busses kind of remind me of those Sheriff vehicles that transport criminals from jails to places. LOL
Carlos and Brian, you guys are dead-on. If you really pay attention to the details, then you’d easily notice the difference between the hybrids and this old AC Transit bus that Muni has. Personally, I’ve seen them used for the 29 since 2007 and I’ve actually rode one of the buses when they were used for the 48 before.
These buses are used regularly on the 41 line. A bus driver said they were old Samtrans buses. The Translink readers are frequently out of commission on these buses too.
They’re using these buses also for the M, J and K temporary rail replacements.