[CA, US]Santa Barbara MTD Electric Hybrid

Before posting the pictures of the hybrids, let's have the diesel-engined 29ft Gillig Low Floor as an appetizer.




If I am correct, the Santa Barbara MTD operates 14 buses of this type. Seen in the pictures above is the one scheduled for Line 9, the Calle Real-Hollister Avenue Shuttle, which runs daily at 30-minute intervals.

Now, the main dishes:


The Santa Barbara MTD introduced eight hybrid 40-feet Gillig Low Floor buses to the Santa Barbara County in 2007. They were subsequently assigned fleet numbers 900 to 907. The Gillig Low Floor series, however, has been in production since 1996.


Rear view of the 40-feet hybrid. Installed on the rear part of the roof are a battery and a DPIM power inverter (not sure what that means, though).
As a side note, the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport advert at the rear of the bus still shows the old Delta Air Lines logo, which had been abandoned back in 2007 in favor of the current one.


An interior shot of the bus. Presumably, low ridership is one factor that explains the neatness of the cabin.

The MTD also operates at least 15 40-feet diesel-engined Gillig LFs, but I have so far pictured none. One can, however, easily imagine how they look like.


The MTD also introduced at least four 29-feet hybrid examples (exact number not known as the MTD website had not been updated since). The one pictured above runs the Isla Vista Shuttle in the city of Goleta, serving the neighborhoods of UCSB and Isla Vista.


Pictured with the short-wheelbase hybrid is a 40-feet Nova LFS, introduced in 1998. While they are in a somewhat dilapidated condition inside, they remain to be excellent performers on the freeway.

I have been unable to find information on the mechanical specifications of the buses shown above.

Comments are appreciated.

[ 本帖最後由 S3BL100 於 2010-7-21 07:56 編輯 ]

I went there one year ago and i didn't notice RTD has some 29ft Gillig hybrids, and they look cute compare to the diesel version.
Here are some info i know about:
The Gillig Advantage 40ft HEV s are  powered by Cummins ISB engine and Allison Ep40 Hybrid drive
The Nova LFS s are powered by Detroit Diesel Series S40 with Allison B400R transmission

Their exterior appearance tells me that the 29ft hybrids must be recent additions into the fleet, as I have yet to locate them on the MTD website (btw, it's MTD, not RTD - you must have been thinking of the Las Vegas transit commission called RTC )

One might also notice that the design of the entrance/exit doors on the 29ft hybrid is different from that on the 29ft diesel or the 40ft hybrid.

MTD has a fleet size of just above 100, and since most bus lines run at 30-minute intervals, small subfleets easily go unnoticed. I, for one, would not venture to stand at the bus stop for 30 minutes just to see if a hybrid comes in.

Thanks for correcting me, and I just found a pic of MTD Gillig LF 40ft to follow

When I went to Santa Barbara in June I found out that most of the Nova LFS have been repowered with cummins engine as I was told from a driver(the repowered ones have a new exhaust pipe), they sounded like ISC to me but it doesn't make any sense if they repower with a discontinued product