WHAT'S NEW (Wednesday March 1, 2000)
On Monday afternoon the accident that I have feared since the Busway opened up happened. Bus 9706 , running on the Busway MAX going to the rail, was hit by a tractor-trailer that ran the red light. This happened at what I consider to be the most dangerous intersection on the Busway, at Quail Roost Drive (SW 186 Street). The bus had the green light, The 18-wheeler had just made a delivery to the currently-closed Levitz furniture store that sits on the South-west corner of the intersection. The truck turned onto QRD and was heading eastbound, going to US1, which is about a block east of the Busway,when the driver ran the red. The bus had just entered the intersection. The truck hit the bus' driver's side area. Then the truck essentially jacknifed- the trailer swung around and hit 9706's midsectrion. And the truck shoved the bus into a Chevrolet that was stopped at the red light, going westbound on QRD. A grand total of 18 were injured. The 18 are: the bus driver, 14 passengers, the truck driver, and the two in the Chevy. It was pretty spectacular, and it happened less that 10 minutes from my house.Thankfully it looks like everyone's going to be OK. The bus is in CW's body shop- if 9706 is going to be repaired, it's going to be in the shop a LONG, LONG time. The front end is bashed up, and when I took a look at it yesterday, and the driver's side looks like it crumpled at the top. But the bus stood up very well.
In other things, on Feb. 22nd this site turned 1 year old. I'm glad I've been able to work on this for a year and I hope to do this another 10. And special thanks to all of you who've stopped by here. I try my best to get you all the latest stuff about what happens with the buses, and it's easier now that I'm on the inside.
If you're a regular reader of this section then you know that two of the three Metrobus garages- Coral Way and Northeast - have been trading buses like they were Pokemon cards. Now I have a pretty good idea of what was traded. Coral Way has given Northeast 9301, 9303-9308, 9310, 9311, 9313-9322, 9324 and 9333. CW also gave them 9067,9069-9073, and 9211-9214. The 92 and 9300's generally run on the 2 or the 77. CW got 9001-9019, 9031-9044 as well as 7056,8069, 8071 and 8074.. The buses in the gap between 9020 and 9030 are Central's. CE gave CW 7121,7122
and 8062
Unfortunately 8062's return to CW was short-lived 'cause it's been retired, along with 7004, 7011, 7023, 7024, 7047, and 7121.
I've added pages on Kendall KAT and Sunset KAT.
What's New (Friday February 4, 2000)
There are two new bus routes that are starting up on February 21. The first one is the Golden Glades Industrial Circulator, or route 241. This winding route will serve the warehouse areas up in Northeast Dade.
The other route is the Bird Road MAX, which will run along SW 40 St. (Bird Rd.) and will be a limited stop version of the 40 bus. This bus will begin at Dadeland North, and will take the Palmetto Expressway to 40th Street and it will head west to SW 147 Avenue. Both routes will be done by mini-buses, and will begin running on February 21st.
9068 is back in service. It was never officially retired. It was just in line to be repainted in the new colors. The work still isn't finished, so it isn't back on the road yet. The front still needs the MDTA logo and the fleet number has to be put on in five of the six places that the fleet number is displayed on the outside. It's farebox is in the back of the bus.
8062 has returned to CW.
9323 is in line to be redone in the new livery.
8065 won't be retired after all. In fact, it should be back in service soon, as the steps have been repaired.
9925 is still being worked on.
What's New (Friday January 28, 2000)
During the last two weeks I was able to get my facts straight on just which buses are just parked and which ones are actually retired... 7004, 7011 and 7024 are just sitting around, while 7021 and 8012 can be poked with a fork 'cause they're done.
Also, on Tuesday morning January 18th, 8065's career as a Metrobus came to a screeching halt when it was hit by a car at the Busway and SW 136 St. (In front of The Falls.). The bus was hit at the front door while it was crossing the intersection. The bus was doing the Busway Local, going southbound. The steps were bashed in pretty good, and the hot gossip was that the bus will simply be retired. I haven't seen it since that afternoon after it was towed back to CW, so I guess it's finished.
During the middle of last week 9929 was towed off somewhere. It was towed back 3 days ago.
Northeast got some of CW's 9300 series buses, such as 9320. I also think Central gave NE some of it's 9200's.
The last two missing 9900's- 9984 and 9991 arrived this week.
On the minibus front, 6008 was redone in the new colors. Also, long lost 6022 is back. It was probably over at Fleet Maintenance gettig a thorough check up.
This evening I had the pleasure of taking 1906 past the 10,000 mile mark today. I believe the bus' odometer hit 10000.0 at about 6:45PM while I was mired in traffic on Sunset Drive near SW 117 Ave. heading westbound on Sunset KAT. It took all of 3 months and a week for it to hit 10K. Wow.