Greyhound seats and fleet questions

[Swadian Hardcore]

Thanks, that makes sense; the engine was working properly.

I'm on Houston Metro's new D4500CTH with the Kiel Seating. The bus also has the new interior and IFS. Unfortunately, the ride is very rough and slow. Perhaps it has to do with the hybrid equipment underneath. Also, the new flap air vents are broken already.

That being said, it still beats a D4505. The bus doesn't smell bad and the seats are more comfortable. Being slimline, they offer loads of legroom. However, recline is minimal and the seat is quite hard. Lumber support is top notch.

Also, for some reason, the bus rides much better on the highway than on local roads.

Thoughts?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Swadian: Houston is infamous for, among other things, its rough,pothole filled streets!

Have you been on the Main Street Lite Rail yet? It stops by the Greyhound Station.

 

[rickycourtney]

Greyhound Lines announced today that it will now operate domestic service within Mexico.

Passengers will now be able to travel on 13 daily departures between Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo, from new stations in each of the cities. There will also be 10 daily departures between Monterrey and several cities in Texas (Laredo, San Antonio, Austin & Dallas).

Greyhound says this makes it the first U.S.-based intercity bus company to operate domestic service within Mexico.

It's an interesting announcement... but there are a lot of domestic carriers in Mexico offering everything from bare-bones to luxury service. It seems like a crowded market to compete in.

Full announcement: http://bloggreyhound.com/news/greyhound-makes-history-with-launch-of-service-in-mexico/

 

[Bob Dylan]

One of the anomilies about Greyhound de Mexico is that Mexicans could purchase tickets for Greyhound cheaper in Mexico than in the US. There were Greyhound tickets available for sale in all Large Mexican Cities, you would transfer @ the Border from a Mexican Bus to a Greyhound.

There actually was a dedicated Lane @ the Laredo, Texas Greyhound Station that had a Sign that said "Latino Expresso/ Laredo a Chicago" and the bus only made a few stops between Laredo and Chicago.( ie San Antonio, Dallas, Little Rock, St. Louis, Chicago)

Not sure this is still the case with so many Mexican Bus Lines and the tighter Border Security after 9-11??

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I rode the light rail yesterday. I really liked the exterior, though I found the inside too cold. Traffic seems like a big problem here.

Greyhound used to operate the Chicago-Laredo until it was subcontracted to SITA under the Autobuses Latinos brand. The route was run by DL3s borrowed off the Transcon routes and was shortly discontinued.

Maybe I shouldn't blame the D4500CTH. I really like the new interior and the Kiel seats, but the air vents need to be more durable and the seats could be a bit softer. The Germans really do know their lumbar support.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Could a driver please explain why the driver of #86317 kept the DEFROST on during most of the drive from DEN to SLC? Most of the time the DEFROST was on either 1 or 3.

 

[mightyjoe1201]

More then likely to help clear the windshield. I know on our buses when it's raining, hot and the air on the Windows like to fog up

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

There was certainly no fog on the windshield. I was sitting in the front, and the windshield was crystal clear. Furthermore, it was a warm, clear summer day in Wyoming. One could see for miles.

On the way back, I reviewed the ride quality of the D4500CTH. I thought about the front-back, left-right, and up-down ride quality. The potholes would have caused mostly up-down instability, but there wasn't too much of that. Left-right instability was occasionally caused by tilting while turning.

But the majority of the instability was front-back. The motorcoach ****** heavily at every deceleration and acceleration. It seemed like the brakes were very rough. I'm not sure why; anyone have thoughts?

BTW, I love the new interior. Looks amazing.

 

[mightyjoe1201]

It's possible that your driver was getting little a/ c thru the vents and put the defrost on to help. But anything is possible.

 

[railiner]

Surprised a warm climate city like Houston should have such a pothole problem....potholes are usually caused by repeated freeze/defrost cycles common in Northern climes...

As for running the defrost, I would agree with the above post....sometimes the baffles that direct the driver's blowers don't operate properly, and the only way for the driver to get sufficient circulation is to utilize the defrost mode....

As for the rough fore and aft movement.....well....that can be caused by poor driving technique....instead of gently modulating the throttle, the driver is on or off to control the speed, causing 'whiplash' effect for the passenger. Some of our old 102C-3's that had the CAT engines made 'bad' driver's out of anyone with their hard to control throttle's...

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Thanks for the info. Since the D4505 driver was keeping defrost on to circulate air, I'm inferring that the D4505 many have other air circulation problems that caused the odors and stuffy air. The air quality can best be described as full if dirty carpet particles. In the case of #86308, this was mixed with the added odor of urine embedded into the seats.

Seems like the new D's often jerk when accelerating or braking. Even senior drivers seem unable to handle the new D's properly. I'm not sure why this always seems to happening on the new D's and not the other buses.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Oh GREAT! I'm on #6925 bottomed out in Huntsville! We're on Schedule 6494, I think. Houston-Dallas. Even worse, we've been bottomed out across a major road, blocking traffic.

 

[Caesar La Rock]

I wonder if Greyhound has ever tested Temsa before?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Not to my knowledge. The TS35 and TS30 could be very useful.

 

[Caesar La Rock]

Orlando has been testing a Temsa (45ft bus) for few days now. A number of companies have bought some Temsas too. Something big is going to happen with Van Hool and Florida transit systems. I won't go into details on that until more information comes out.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I think, as far as 45-footers go, Prevost probably beats Temsa, Setra, or Van Hool, if not simply with that silky-smooth ride. But for smaller buses, Temsa is definitely king with their 30- and 35-footers.

Van Hool seems perfect for the likes of Megabus and other low-cost, short-haul bus lines. Setra is probably better for charters and tours.

Here's a brand-new Greyhound D4505, which is apparently owned by South Carolina and boasts the new interior, LED headlights, and presumably IFS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wgabb/19741976292/.

Interior shot off Facebook attached.

 

[Caesar La Rock]

ABC Companies (aka Van Hool) is about to release the CX35, so ABC will be competing against the TS35 from Temsa.

http://www.abc-companies.com/about/press-releases/show/70

http://www.metro-magazine.com/motorcoach/news/293258/abc-features-new-coaches-partnerships-and-future-plans-at-uma-expo

The TD925 is now TDX25.

 

[rickycourtney]

The new interior is a nice update, but the design all feels so dated at this point.

The LED headlights are nice and are where most public operators are specifying these days.

I really like the illuminated fasten seatbelt sign in the passenger service units. I wonder if the driver has a switch to control those lights like a pilot does on an aircraft.

 

[railiner]

I really like the illuminated fasten seatbelt sign in the passenger service units. I wonder if the driver has a switch to control those lights like a pilot does on an aircraft.

I would hope not....the driver does not need another task to perform....the signs should always flash when a seat is occupied, until the belts are fastened....just like the way they operate in modern cars......

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I rode Houston Metro's D4500CTH with the same interior. The seat belt signs stay on at all times. I guess they would only turn off when the engine has been shut off.

I wish MCI would start designing a K4500 already. The big forehead of the D4505 is really ugly IMO. What was MCI thinking?

BTW, the 86500s have a different forehead from the 86300s. Their forehead interior panel is completely one piece and smooth. The 86300s have a rounded panel bolted in on the interior. Also, the 102DL3 parcel racks are different from the old D4505. The DL3 had molded depressions on the racks.

Edit: You know, there's one problem with the D4505 that I can't put my finger on. It's the air inside. There's also a weird smell/odor and the air is stuffy. None of the other Greyhounds, even the second-hand J4500, had this smell.

 

[rickycourtney]

I honestly think the smell is a Greyhound thing. I've been on plenty of D4505, D4500, D4500CL and D4500CT coaches and none of them have a smell (except for a new bus smell on Amtrak California's new D4505 coaches).

Maybe it's being caused by how Greyhound is maintaining the AC system on its D4505 coaches.

For the record, the one Greyhound D4505 I've been on didn't have any particular smell. The passengers on the other hand...

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I noticed that Greyhound uses grey synthetic carpet as their interior fabric on the D4505. This is the only bus I've ridden or seen interior photos of that had grey carpet interiors. Perhaps this carpet holds odors very easily and traps the odors of smelly passengers. I don't know, it's just a theory.

Another theory is that perhaps Greyhound's high mileage on their D4505s make them smell worse. And let's not forgot those Painful Premiers that often crack and break. Clearly, they were built with cheap materials which could contribute to the weird smell.

Lastly, maybe Greyhound has deferred maintenance on the HVAC in Los Angeles Maintenance Center or maybe the HVAC falls apart at a certain mileage.

I guess, most realistically, it's probably a combination of dirty passengers, dirty carpet, bad seats, inconsistent build quality, and poor maintenance. That being said, the ex-Americanos 102DL3s I rode to/from Los Angeles were in better shape than some of these D4505s and did not have the odor. The D4505s also smell different from the G4500's signature smell.

Is there some way Greyhound can get rid of the loitering suspicious people in front of their terminals? It's a good way to driver away customers.

Also, I noticed how the Florida Turnpike bypasses Orlando, and Greyhound buses have to detour a long way just to stop at the Orlando terminal. Isn't there a better way, like US 441?

 

[Caesar La Rock]

US 441 gets riddled with traffic very easily. Plus, do you really want passengers to see the ghettoest part of Orlando? Nothing beats traveling down US 441 then seeing all the drug dealers, drunks, homeless, pimps, and prostitutes out at night and the early morning hours.

Who knows, they might even see a police chase if they're lucky and could be part of it too. ^_^ It's bad enough that an Amtrak station is not too far away from US 441.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Couldn't Greyhound run schedules that bypass Orlando? I know it's a big city, but through service could bypass it and locals could connect along the way, like how the subways work in New York City.

 

[railiner]

Couldn't Greyhound run schedules that bypass Orlando? I know it's a big city, but through service could bypass it and locals could connect along the way, like how the subways work in New York City.

Greyhound used to run lots of trips straight down US 1 and later I-95 along the coast....there were some that ran nonstop from Jacksonville to either Fort Lauderdale or Miami, with only a highway rest stop around Ft. Pierce. Greyhound has pretty much given up local service along the Florida east coast, as well...to get from Daytona to Fort Pierce, you must go inland to Orlando, and back out... \

I see there are a couple of odd trips that run express from Atlanta and Jacksonville via Fort Pierce to West Palm Beach and beyond....