BUS HISTORY ASSOCIATION 2013 CONVENTION

BUS HISTORY ASSOCIATION 2013 CONVENTION
Montréal, Québec – Thursday, June 13th to Saturday, June 15th
The BHA returned to the Montréal area for their annual convention for the third time, marking the first time
since the conventions started in 1978 that a city has been visited three times. The previous conventions in
Montréal were 1980 and 1999.
This year the BHA convention was a Thursday to Saturday event. The convention had to be moved back one
week later than normal (due to the Montréal Grand Prix the previous weekend) and as such, the BHA wanted
to avoid any activities on Father's Day. However, the Thursday to Saturday format would allow more transit
terminals to be visited on the Thursday and Friday which allowed quite a few of the CIT (Conseil
intermunicipal de transport) operators to be photographed in service.
On the day (Wednesday) before the start of the convention, the Co-coordinator of this convention, Shanake
Mario Seneviratne (a.k.a. Mario) arranged for a pre-convention fan trip aboard a Nova Bus Classic from Réseau
de transport de Longueuil (RTL). With high floor buses almost extinct in the Province of Québec, this charter
allowed BHA members one last chance to ride a high floor vehicle in the greater Montréal area.
Being a weekday, the fan trip could only take place during the mid-day time period as RTL does not allow
charters to occur during the peak hours. The start point was chosen at TCV (Terminus Centre-Ville) which
allowed the participants to arrive a few minutes early to catch the end of the morning rush hour. Numerous
CIT (Conseil Intermunicipal de Transport) Operators service TCV.
Our charter bus was RTL 9-401, a
1994 Nova Bus Classic. Numerous
photo stops were made during the
four hour charter, including a quick
stop at the RTL garage. We were
treated to a short ride on one of the
Vanhool artics in the RTL fleet and
posed it beside our charter bus at a
nearby high school (photo at left).
After the charter ended, most BHA
members elected to stay in the
downtown
area
to
ride
and
photograph vehicles during the busy
afternoon rush hour period.
DAY ONE – Thursday, June 13th
The first day of the BHA convention (Thursday) would see the group travel to the north side of the St.
Lawrence River to Laval, Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Eustache, Terrebonne and Sainte-Thérèse. Our charter bus for
the day was from Autocars Skyport and was a Prevost H3-45 (# 9164) that was ex-Autocar Preference.
The first stop of the day was at Terminus Terrebonne. Our schedule was timed for the 8:52 AM pulse which
resulted in about 20 buses from Transport Urbain Les Moulins being present at the terminal. The contractor for
the Les Moulin service is Keolis Canada, formerly Orléans Urbain. The fleet consists of a large number of Orion
V buses, as well as MCI J4500 and Nova LFS units. The branding for the Les Moulins service now uses the
name URBIS.
From Terrebonne, it was on to Saint-Eustache, the home of Nova Bus. Before stopping at the factory, a quick
stop was made at the Saint-Eustache transit terminal. The transit service in Saint-Eustache is operated by
Conseil intermunicipal de transport des Laurentides (CITL). Two contractors, Autobus Deux-Montagnes and
Autobus Paquette are used to
operate the service. CITL also uses
the branding name SURF, although
on the newest scheme, this name is
not present. The fleet operated is
really varied with Thomas Saf-TLiners and Bluebird TX3RE units used
in the service. Nova LFS buses are
also used and we were fortunate
enough to see their newest bus, #
623, a Nova Bus LFS hybrid that was
delivered only a few weeks earlier
(photo at left). Bus # 623 also makes
use of the white LEDs for the
destination sign, a feature that is
becoming more and more common
with transit properties due to the increased visibility. Our schedule was timed to connect with the 9:40 AM
pulse from the terminal.
It was then onto Nova Bus which was one of the highlights of the convention. The BHA had visited this same
facility during both previous Montreal conventions (1980 and 1999) and Nova Bus really rolled out the red
carpet (literally) for us. Cameras were not allowed during the Nova Bus tour. This is now quite common
amongst all manufacturers and was
similar to the policies that we
encountered in Oriskany in 2012 and
Winnipeg in 2011. The tour was very
in depth and our group viewed
articulated LFS buses on the line for
Montréal and York Region (YRT)
along with one completed unit for
TTC (# 9000). The completed TTC
bus was the pilot bus of an order
that will eventually see over 150
artics operating for the TTC over the
next few years. The artic for TTC
was expected to be delivered at the
end of June or early July with the
rest of the production order
scheduled for Fall 2013. Forty foot buses on the line were for Niagara Falls, Guelph, Fredericton and some of
the CIT operators.
After the tour, Nova Bus did display a demo unit for our group to inspect. A group photo was taken (at the
bottom of the previous page) which was almost immediately posted online to the Facebook page for Nova Bus.
The Itinerary for the Thursday and Friday was timed pretty tightly. The Nova tour went a little beyond the
scheduled time which put our timed connection at Gare Sainte-Thérèse in jeopardy. However, we did manage
to get to the train station just prior to the arrival of the 12:12 PM southbound AMT train to Montréal. The new
dual mode engines made by Bombardier in Germany are used on the Saint-Jerome/Blainville line and the
12:12 PM arrival was one of the new engines. AMT has also taken delivery of quite a few rail coaches as well
the past few years. In the shot of # 3011, one of the cars is seen at Sainte-Thérèse.
With the train arrival, there were numerous SURF buses present, including one of the Nova Bus RTS units. The
contractor for the CITL service in Sainte-Thérèse is Transdev Limocar. The garage for Transdev Limocar is
actually in Boisbriand, QC. While the BHA visited this facility in 1999, we did not get a response from our
numerous inquiries in 2013 to visit the same location.
Lunch was next at Place Rosemère, a short five minute drive from the train station. After lunch, it was on to
the garage of Société de transport de Laval (STL). STL did not want us to be outside taking photos due to the
numerous buses pulling out for the afternoon rush hour. Instead, one of each type of vehicle was lined up in
four of the rows in the garage, which
were taped off as a safe area for
BHA members. The highlight of the
visit was the newest STL bus. STL
has taken delivery of 1 Designline
Eco-Smart Olymbus for testing
(photo at right). This new bus is fully
electric and is the first of its type in
Canada. Originally, it was planned to
give our group a ride around the
garage in the electric bus. However,
problems resulted in the bus not
being able to be moved and as a
result, we had to photograph it
where it was. It was delivered in
December and has only been used
for special event shuttles to this point. It will enter regular service in September. So far there have been issues
with the bus, the least of which is the battery capacity during the winter turned out to be a lot less than
advertised. With the subsequent bankruptcy of Designline in the months following the BHA convention, it will
be interesting to see the future of this one unit in Laval.
Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had also ordered 7 of the Designline electric buses but with the recent
bankruptcy of Designline, these units will most likely never be built.
After Laval, it was on to Saint-Jérôme. The AMT station is the main transit terminal and our stop there was
timed with another pulse. The service in Saint-Jérôme is once again CIT Laurentides, but this time the
contractor is Autobus Transcobec. Our schedule was timed for one pulse at the terminal with about 7-8 local
buses, mainly Nova LFS and LFS hybrid buses arriving. Prior to leaving Saint-Jérôme, one other vehicle pulled
into the terminal. Autobus La Québécoise provides contract service for Transport Intermunicipal des
Laurentides with a line run service between Saint-Jérôme and Mont-Tremblant. Autobus Maheux also has a
line run with a stop at the terminal. They have a line run from Montréal to Val-d'Or and Rouyn-Noranda in
northwest Québec with a deviation to North Bay. A brand new Prevost H3-45 stopped in Saint-Jérôme while
we were there.
We then returned back to Montréal for the afternoon rush hour. In Montréal, we stopped at Metro Côte-Vertu.
Our original request of Terminus Montmorency in Laval was turned down by the AMT who manage all of the
Metro stations in Montréal. Metro Côte-Vertu is just as busy during the afternoon rush hour, but most of the
photography has to be done on the street. Needless to say, with people and traffic, it was quite chaotic but
most people were able to find a good spot to photograph. Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has
numerous routes serving the station, including route 121-Sauvé that used articulated buses. STL also has a
few routes that come to the station and actually lay over on a street a couple of blocks away from the station.
STL 0504 is seen departing on an outbound trip to Laval.
Conseil intermunicipal de transport La Presqu'Île, operated by Le Groupe Transbus, operates one route from
Metro Côte-Vertu. A Prevost H3-45 departed to the West Island during our time at Metro Côte-Vertu.
The final stop of the day was at the Autocars Skyport garage in Dorval, which was only about 0.5 kilometres
from our host hotel, the Best Western Plus in Dorval. Only a few buses were at the garage including some of
the transit buses that are used in their contracts with Concordia University. Nova LFS buses, specially wrapped
for the service are used. A New Flyer D40LF # 110 (ex-MARTA, Atlanta) is currently stored but was used in
service for a few years previously. Finally, a rare MCI F3500 (built in Mexico) was also seen at the garage. Bus
8101 in the Skyport fleet is one of the very few F series models that were produced.
DAY TWO – Friday, June 14th
The Friday of the BHA convention would explore the West Island as well as transit properties south of the St.
Lawrence River.
Our charter bus for the day was a
Prevost H3-45 from Excel Tours.
Excel Tours is the Montreal tour
division of Autocar Excellence from
Levis, QC. Our first stop was at the
AMT Gare Vaudreuil.
Conseil
intermunicipal de transport La
Presqu'Île services the station and
surrounding
areas.
CIT
La
Presqu'Île has 2 New Flyer Xcelsior
(XD40) buses that were reallocated
from CIT Sorel-Varennes. Our
arrival at the train station was
perfect as one of the XD40 buses
was present (photo at right). The contractor for CIT La Presqu'Île is Transbus and equipment operated
includes cutaways and Prevost X3-45 (like 329).
After a quick stop at Gare Vaudreuil, it was on to the south shore via the newly opened Autoroute 30. This is a
new highway (with a toll bridge) that functions as a bypass of Montréal. Once on the south shore, our next
stop would be at the garage of Autobus Dufresne who is the contractor for Conseil intermunicipal de transport
du Haut-Saint-Laurent. The buses are still painted in the purple colors of Autobus Dufresne, but most have the
logo and letter for CITHSL. Buses operated include Prevost X3-45, LeMirage XL-II and one MCI D4505. They
even have a few older Prevost LeMirage XL-45 buses in the fleet although their days are numbered.
After Autobus Dufresne, our next stop was supposed to be at the CITSO (Conseil intermunicipal de transport
du Sud-Ouest) garage of Transdev Veolia in Châteauguay, QC. However, the day prior to the convention, the
convention organizers received word that the size of our group was too big to visit the garage. CITSO was
concerned about the safety of BHA participants at their old garage. A new garage is under construction and
the BHA was invited to tour it next year, but obviously it will be quite some time before (like 15-20 years)
before that tour will happen.
Instead, the BHA continued to
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. The extra
time would come in handy as the
SJSR stop was definitely one of
the better ones during the
convention. Our first stop in SJSR
was at the transit terminal.
Transdev Veolia is the contractor
for the SJSR service. Upon arrival
at the terminal, one of the Orion
VII NG 30' buses was laying over
(photo at left). SJSR has two of
these buses which were most
likely the last Orion buses
delivered to a Canadian transit
property. Also in local service were
Nova LFS buses. The 196 Super Express bus route utilizes Prevost highway coaches. During our visit, a brand
new 2013 X3-45 came in.
The Transdev Veolia garage in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu was the next stop. This was the same garage that the
BHA visited in 1999 when Autobus Viens operated out of it. The Veolia Transdev garage in Saint-Jean-surRichelieu is located just across the commuter parking lot from the transit terminal, a short 2-3 minute walk.
The staff at the garage were very friendly and moved a number of buses for better photography, including a
35’ Orion V, possibly the only one of that size ever built new for a Canadian transit property.
Veolia Transdev is also the contractor for Conseil intermunicipal de transport Chambly-Richelieu-Carignan, now
marketed at BLUS. The fleet for BLUS consists of mainly highway coaches but there are a few transit type
vehicles. Nova LFS suburban 3622-23-1 was positioned for better photography. Other vehicles operated by
BLUS include Thomas Saf-t-Liner HDX and Prevost X3-45. Note that one of the X3-45 buses has a split door
and is the only one in the fleet like that. It is the ex-demonstrator that was used by the MTA in New York City.
Veolia Transport also has a few buses that do not have CIT markings, instead with the standard grey and
white scheme of Veolia. RTS buses 3524-23-0 and 3348-23-0 were posed for our group. The 30' Nova Bus was
one of three that were originally produced for Lanau Bus, the previous operator for the transit service in
Repentigny. One has since been reallocated to Joliette (east of Saint-Jérôme) while the other went to Veolia in
SJSR. You will note that the 5th and 6th digits in the fleet numbers for the RTS buses are 23. This would
indicate that these buses are used for the BLUS service as the 23 is the division number. For Saint-Jean-surRichelieu, the division number if 25.
After the Veolia Transdev garage, our next stop would be our lunch stop at Métro Longueuil. The one hour
stop would allow us time to grab a quick bite to eat as well as take photos on the streets leading into Métro
Longueuil. When the terminal was last rebuilt about 10 years ago, it was done in such a way that photography
inside the terminal is no longer possible.
After lunch, it would be on to Boucherville and Delson on the south shore. Veolia Transdev also has the
contract for Ville de Sainte-Julie (division 24). Their garage for this contract is located in nearby Boucherville
and that was our first stop.
Our host at Boucherville was very
friendly and moved numerous
buses into the sun for us for
better photography. The Ville de
Sainte-Julie fleet has a great
amount of variety including Orion
05.501, Nova LFS, Prevost H3-45
and X3-45 and MCI 102DL3. They
even had one old Prevost
LeMirage XL still operating in the
fleet. For its age (1995), this old
Prevost is in very good shape
(photo at left).
Our next two stops would involve
CIT properties that did not answer
our letters and e-mails for requesting a garage visit. Thus, it was necessary to try to track these buses down in
service. A short distance away from the Veolia Transdev garage is Terminus Montarville. This is a transit
terminal located in Boucherville that is serviced by Réseau de transport de Longueuil and Conseil
intermunicipal de transport de Sorel-Varennes (CITSV).The contractor for CITSV is Transbus and they are the
company that has taken delivery of brand new XD40 (Xcelsior) suburban buses in the past few years. A few
people had managed to get some shots of the XD40 buses at Métro Longueuil during the lunch break, but this
timed transfer at Terminus Montarville would allow one more opportunity.
Next it was onto Autoparc Georges-Gagné in Delson, which is located west of Longueuil. It is serviced by
Conseil intermunicipal de transport Roussillon, operated by Veolia Transdev (division 22). The BHA had passed
their garage on autoroute 30 earlier in the day but the stop at the Autoparc (commuter parking lot) was timed
to see quite a few of the buses during a short period of time. Unfortunately, as we arrived it started to rain
(the only rain we would see during the convention) so photography became a bit of a problem. Never the less,
BHA members were not deterred. CIT Roussillon operates a varied fleet of buses including Nova Bus LFS,
Prevost H3-45, Bluebird TX3RE and Girardin cutaways. After Delson, it was back to the hotel after another
good day.
DAY THREE – Saturday, June 15th
For the Saturday of the convention, the BHA had two historic vehicles from the Fondation l'Héritage du
Transport en Commun du
Québec (FHTCQ). The buses
were 33-008 (ex-STCUM, GMCT6H-5307N) and 55-001 (exSTCUM GMC TC-40102N, photo
at left). The BHA actually had
the opportunity to ride 33-008
during the 1999 convention so it
was a pleasure to ride it again
14 years later. The FHTCQ keep
their buses in immaculate shape
and they ran well throughout
the day.
Our first stop of the day was at
the Keolis Canada garage in
Terrebonne. This is the garage
where all of the equipment for URBIS (Transport Urbain Les Moulins) is kept. Friendly staff at the garage
moved a number of buses for us, including an Orion V, an MCI J4500, a Nova LFS and a Ford E-450 cutaway
with a Girardin G5 body. Also at the garage were some buses from their charter fleet. Keolis Canada bought
out Groupe Gaudreault who had in turn bought out Murray Hill a number of years before. The Murray Hill
name is very well known in the Montréal area and there appears to be no desire with Keolis to kill it off.
Instead, buses are being repainted into the standard Keolis colors with the Murray Hill name applied. Buses #
8302 (Prevost H3-45) and # 29531 (Prevost X3-45) were moved into better sun positions for the BHA
members present.
The next stop was at the Keolis Canada garage in Repentigny. The BHA had visited this facility in 1999 when it
was being used by Groupe Gaudreault (Lanau Bus). Buses housed at this garage included MCI J4500 buses for
Conseil régional de transport (CRT) de Lanaudière. Bus # 29522 was moved out for better positioning. The
garage also houses the buses for Réseau de transport collectif régional de la MRC de L'Assomption. Their fleet
includes Nova RTS and Nova LFS along with Girardin cutaways.
Our next stop was planned to be at Metro Radisson in east Montréal but this had to be changed due to a
change to the itinerary in the afternoon. Instead we went straight downtown for a lunch stop at Dorchester
Square. The activities from Saturday afternoon will be covered in the next e-mail.
After lunch at Dorchester Square, the FHTCQ had a bit of a surprise for our members. While we thought that
we would have buses 33-008 and 55-001 all day, a minor deviation from the itinerary was made on our way to
the Legendre garage of Société de transport de Montréal (STM). Instead we stopped at the Mont-Royal garage
of the STM where another one of the FHTCQ buses was awaiting our arrival. Bus # 14-008, a GMC T6H-5307N
from 1972 has been immaculately restored to the as delivered paint scheme of CTCUM (photo below). We
would end up swapping this bus
with 33-008 for the afternoon.
The quick stop at the MontRoyal garage allowed us the
unplanned chance to get some
shots of first generation Nova
Buses. There are not that many
first gen LFS buses left in the
fleet so it was good to have an
opportunity to photograph a
few during our brief stop.
After Mont-Royal, it was on to
the Legendre garage of STM.
This is the garage that houses
all of the articulated Novas
(over 200) and has a total of
336 buses (as of the March 2013 fleet listing). We had a very nice tour of the garage and took a few photos of
the buses outside of the garage. A few shots from inside the garage are also attached.
Our final stop of the day
would be at the Coach
Canada/ Gray Line Montréal
garage. Being a Saturday,
most of their buses were out
for the day but there were
still a few buses present.
Included were a few MCI
J4500 buses, some double
deck Routemasters, some
Gray Line Nova LFS buses
(ex-Rockland County NY) as
well as one Megabus Vanhool
TD925 double decker.
It was then back to the hotel
after a very good three day
convention. There were a number of people who were involved in the organizing of this successful convention.
Thanks are extended to Shanake Mario Seneviratne, Doug Shields, Bernie Drouillard, Alex Tipaldos, Stephen
Matalucci and David Vincent for their help with this convention.
The BHA convention for June 2014 will be Minneapolis, MN from Thursday, June 12 to Saturday, June 14.
Watch the BHA website for a pre-convention preview to be posted in late 2013. We hope to see you in
Minneapolis in June 2014.