WHAT'S NEW (Saturday May 13, 2000)
I've finished the first two pages on the retired buses- they are about 7017 and 7026
On June 24th seven new routes are beginning. They will all begin as minibus routes. One new route starting then will be a new Night Owl route which will connect the Beach with 22nd Avenue, I think.
I've also found out that Paratransit will finally march boldly into the 1980's by buying electronic destination signs. Signs for the Blue Birds have been ordered, I believe the 6000 minibuses will also get them. Also, 70 to 80 baby NABI's have been ordered for PA. They are little low-floors with a bubble front that reminds me of an RTS. Metrobus also has some big NABI low-floors coming. According to Joe's webpage they'll be arriving in January,and it's a big batch so It looks like the last stand for the 7000's will be in January 2001.
Central has sent 7004 and 7041, along with 7126, to Northeast, so CE's only 7000's now are 7128, 7128 and 7129.
The fallout from the Elian raid hit CW very hard. On April 22nd, MDTA went into it's hurricane mode by canceling service. Routes 7, 8 and 11, all CW routes, were cancelled at 2PM that Saturday. These routes run through the heart of the disturbance area. The violent protests soon ended, and only peaceful protests have been seen since.
TheWest Dade and Doral Connections are up and running. They were free the first two weeks, the free period ends tomorrow.
WHAT'S NEW (Saturday April 22, 2000)
This has been a disastrous day here. At exactly 5:15 AM the INS raided Elian's home, and at 5:18 AM, after tearing the house up, they took Elian away. The violent raid sparked disturbances and lots of protests that as of 10:37 PM are still going on. At least 8 bus routes have been affected. The protests began around Flagler and 22nd Avenue, affecting the 22 (The 6 also runs there, but it only runs on weekdays.) . Eventually West Flagler Street was closed between 17th and 57th Avenues. It's still closed from 22nd to 57th. This spelled doom for the 11, which is probably the heaviest route in the city. In fact, there's a perimeter up now bordered on the North by NW 7 Street, on the South by SW 8 Street, on the East by SW 22 Avenue and on the West by 57th Avenue. Everything falling in there is closed. A lot of trash fires were set along NW 7th and Flagler, Here are the routes that run in the area:
The 7 runs down 7th Street. The 27 runs down 27th, the 6 and the 37 cross Flagler at 37th, the 42 runs down Flagler between 37th and 42nd, the J crosses Flagler at 42nd as well. After that, the next north-south crosstown is the 73, which runs on Flagler between 67th and 72nd. The 7 uses Flagler between 62nd and 79th,, the 87 runs on Flagler between 79th and 87th Avenues. Then the 71 runs between 107th and 112th. Beginning April 30th the 137 will "cross" at 132nd Avenue - Flagler ends at 119 Avenue. All of these routes could be affected if this runs into tomorrow and it gets that far west, except the 137, which of course still isn't running. Now on Calle Ocho (SW 8 Street.) we have the 8 bus. The city of Miami police used a lot of tear gas on protesters that were on the sidewalks, which might get the MPD into serious hot water. And they've cleared all the streets, so the protests, all peaceful, have moved into Westchester and the city of Hialeah. The current hot spots are the intersections of West 12 Avenue and 49th Streets in Hialeah and SW 40th Street and 87th Avenue in Westchester. There is no bus service to either of those places now- the 73, 33, 40 and 87 (respectivley)have stopped running. The Bird Road MAX doesn't run weeends. Neither does the Flagler MAX, in fact. So the spasms continue.
There is a new Channel 23 bus- 9345's wrap for Progressive Insurance was peeled off and the bus was re-wrapped for Ch. 23 news.
6030 had an accident recently and it had some damage.
7054 has new front panels, done in the new livery. It's still wrapped for Channel 23.
WHAT'S NEW (Thursday April 13, 2000)
Things are getting really hot here in Miami over Elian. A 2 PM deadline was set for the relatives to take him to Opa-Locka Airport so the boy would be flown to D.C. . They won't do that. But NW 138 Street between I believe 37th and 42nd Avenues is closed, affecting the E , which goes by there. Also, by the boy's Miami house, which is on NW 2 St. between 23rd and 24th Avenues, Flagler and 22nd Avenues is closed right now, This affects the 6, 11 and 22, and if it stretches into rush-hour, the Flagler MAX. Well, Janet Reno won't send the Marshals is today, so there won't be a lot more happening today, but there's so much tension around here that you can cut it with a knife. Let's see what happens (it's 1:47 PM EDT now.)
I've done a page on route 72.
What's New (Friday April 7, 2000)
A lot's happened in the last month.... retirements, reactivations, and lots and lots of ELIAN!!!!! Last week there was a candlelight vigil at SW 8 St. and 22 Avenue, where protesters formed a huge cross. This protest caused the Route 8 to be rerouted- the bus ran on Flagler St. between 12th and 27 th Avenues.
Around the yard, 9706 was repaired and is back in service. The mechanics have also discharged 9925. I don't think it's back in service yet, though. It's got a note on it's windshield begging the mechanics to NOT take any parts from it.
Some of the retired Flxibles are getting new life. Some 3 buses have been re-activated so far- 7004, 7041 and 8062....7004 and 7041 (which last ran on the 87) will probably finish out their careers at Central, where they've been shipped off to. CW also gave 8069 back to Central...also there is 4015. CW also received 9041, which has been redone in the new livery.
Today I made an interesting discovery. I picked up a copy of the training manual for the new Digital Recorders, Inc. Talking Bus control panel . It lists the buses that are noe Talking Buses- they are: 9701- 9750, 9801-9819, and 9952-9994. Now I know for a fact that the current ceiling for 9900's is 9993. So maybe there's one more bus left to be delivered. I'll ask around.
Paratransit will get it's own garage in Cutler Ridge this July. PT is also getting 6 new routes over the next few months. I've listed two of them on the routes page, I'll add pages on them later on. We're also getting the W, which is currently a Central route. Another new route will run from Florida City to Key Largo. I'll bet it'll be called the route 39, since the current company that runs this route with tour buses gives out bus to bus transfers punched as Route 39. Speaking of Florida City, effective on April 30th, the Busway MAX will be extended to the new Wal-Mart down there. The other two routes are a mystery.
I've added pages on some new routes. I'm also working on a section on the retired buses. The latest batch at Lehman has been auctioned off.