APTA 2006:

This page contains transit vehicles photographed on October 10, 2006 in relation to the annual meeting of the American Public Transportation Association held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

SAN JOAQUIN RTD:

Gillig BRT diesel-electric hybrid bus number 6001 toured downtown San Jose. These photos were taken on Market Street at St. John (first picture) and at San Fernando (second, third, fourth pictures). 6001 is one of up to 157 vehicles ordered from Gillig by a consortium of operators: Benicia Transit, Fairfield/Suisun Transit, Golden Gate Transit, Humboldt Transit Authority, Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, Monterey-Salinas Transit, SamTrans, Santa Barbara MTD, Citifare (Reno), and ABQ Ride (Albuquerque, NM). San Joaquin RTD, the leader of the purchasing consortium, will receive 50 of the BRTs in three lengths.

SANTA CLARA VTA:


Standard VTA bus lines were sporting "Welcome APTA 2006" messages on many buses. Light rail did not have the messages. Left to right, Gillig 1040 on route 82, Gillig 9750 on route 63, Gillig 9905 on route 180, New Flyer 2333 on route 22, and Gillig 1027 on Rapid 522. In fact, seeing this message on buses up in my neck of the woods on Friday, October 6th led me to find out about the APTA meeting.




VTA brought Gillig fuel cell bus number 4001, signed "APTA Special," for conference attendees to board for a tour of their bus facilities. Note the water vapor coming from the exhaust pipe. (A tour of the light rail system was given starting on a standard two-car train signed for Winchester.)



VTA also trotted out Milan Peter Witt trolley number 2001 that was running from Civic Center to Convention Center stations.

SAMTRANS:


SamTrans offered a WIFI tour of Caltrain using NABI articulated buses 104 and 113.


Gillig Phantom 800, a suburban single door "regional express" bus, headed off for a tour of SamTrans.

HIGHWAY 17 EXPRESS:

Santa Cruz Metro offered a tour of small operators by boarding Highway 17 Express Orion 2309.

ALL-TOGETHER-NOW (ALL TOGETHER NOW):

Here's a group shot of all three operators (VTA, Hwy 17 Express, and SamTrans) loading their respective tour groups at McEnery Convention Center. Representatives held up signs to guide prospective participants.