Classics (transit bus)

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An MCI Classic bus in Vancouver.

An MCI articulated Classic bus in Halifax.

An MCI Classic bus owned by MTA Bus in Yonkers, New York, now withdrawn from service.

A 1996 NovaBus "Classic" operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County. They were the last transit system in the United States to acquire the coaches, which were built in New York rather than in Canada.

The GMC Classic was a modern design of the popular GM New Look transit coach. The Classic was produced from 1982 to 1997, and was a favorite among transit agencies in both Canada and the United States.

1 History
2 Models
3 Currently operating Classics
4 Former Classics operators
5 External links

[edit] History

When GMC in the United States decided to replace the New Look with the RTSII series in 1979, they hoped that they would win over operators in both the US and Canada. But the design and the futuristic look turned off Canadian transit operators. So in 1979 GM Canada's Transit division decided to continue producing New Looks until 1982, when it unveiled the Classic. Several orders for New Looks were still accepted, built and delivered until 1986 for U.S. properties, although the buses were made in Canada.

The buses proved to be a hit among not only operators in Canada, but in the United States, where the Utah Transit Authority would be the first US transit agency to buy the buses in 1984.

In 1987 GMC sold the transit bus division to MCI and TMC. By 1992 the bus division changed hands again, this time going to NovaBus. During the two transitions the Classics continued to be built until NovaBus ceased production on the coaches in 1997, as most customers were favoring the new LFS low-floor model. The last ever Classics built were in Canada, in 1997, for Auger Métropolitain in Chateauguay, QC.

NovaBus also made Classics in the US in 1995 and 1996 from its now-defunct New York state plant. That version are the ones now used by Buffalo, Connecticut, Rochester and Pittsburgh, who was the last transit agency in the U.S. to acquire Classics.

[edit] Models

Classic model numbers use the following format: The first letter indicates the type of bus it is (T for transit), next the model (C for Classic), the length in feet, the width in inches, and an A for air conditioning or N for no air conditioning. There were only two primary models of Classic buses produced; a 40-foot and 60-foot, both of which were 102-inches wide. Thus, the 40-foot Classic model number was TC40-102A/N (A being air conditioned, N for non-air conditioned) and the TC60-102N.

The 60-foot version was not introduced until 1992, after MCI took over production of the Classic design, and only 16 of these articulated buses were ever sold (14 were sold to Metro Transit in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and 2 went to the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) in Quebec City, Quebec. NovaBus discontinued the 60-foot articulated version when it took over production from MCI in 1993. This bus is not to be confused with the rather confusing TA60-102N, a 60-foot articulated version of the New Look manufactured by GMC in 1982, which had the body of a New Look but the front end of a Classic grafted on. This was actually GMC's way of testing the newly designed Classic style front end, but on a tried and tested body.

Seating ranged from 39 to 50 seats and included handicapped-equipped lifts, which was optional for Canadian operators but was a must for American operators, who had to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 when it came to purchasing the coaches.

There were a lot of unique feature in the Classics, among them was in its exit doors, with most of the orders featuring wide-door versions while some opted for the narrow-door ones. Other modifications during its tenure was in its front destination sign windows, which had been narrow in its GM Canada/MCI 1982-1990 versions. MCI and later NovaBus would later widen it after 1990 as more transit systems ordered larger electronic destination signs to be included in their bus orders. The main exception was Montreal, as MCI/NovaBus built an 'M-version' (M referring to the Montreal edition) of the Classic, which continued with the narrow destination sign windows, which was ordered mainly by properties in the Montreal area up until Classic production ceased in 1997.

GMC, MCI or NovaBus never made a 35-foot version or a 96-inch version of the Classic.