The ETI/Škoda Trolleybus era in San Francisco 1999-2019
Автокөліктер мен көлік құралдары
Electric Transit, Inc. (ETI) was a joint venture between the Škoda group in the Czech Republic and AAI Corporation in the United States which made trolleybuses for Dayton and San Francisco (MUNI).
Two prototypes (numbers 5401-5402) for the two-axle trolleybuses (model 14TrSF) were received by MUNI in 1999, while an articulated (model 15TrSF) prototype (number 7101) was received in 2000. These models were specially derived from the Škoda 14Tr and 15Tr trolleybuses.
The 238 production-series two-axle trolleybuses (5403-5640) were delivered between 2001 and 2004. The articulateds (7102-7133) were delivered in 2003.
As they aged, they had a lot of mechanical failures. In 2013 it was decided to replace the whole trolleybus fleet with New Flyer XT40 and XT60 trolleybuses.
The last of the 15TrSF articulated trolleybuses were already retired in 2016. In September 2019 also the last 14TrSF were retired.
Пікірлер: 25
I really hate to see these go I LOVED them when I still lived in NorCal. The great news is that they managed to run for 20 years unlike the new XTs that probably won’t even make it past their tenth year
@publictransportworldwide
4 жыл бұрын
8v71buses The articaluted buses ran for 13 years only. The Skoda’s were fameus for there failures especially when they got older, so they had to be replaced earlier than planned.
@munimathbypeterfelton6251
Жыл бұрын
@@publictransportworldwide Yup! The Flyer E800s lasted a grand total of 30 years by the time the last ones were retired in 2006!
Thanks for taking the time to put this together, there are some great shots in there. I first visited San Francisco from the UK in 2003 as the last new ETI's were being delivered. Can't believe they have all gone already, they were very quirky buses and I thoroughly enjoyed both watching/photographing them and riding on them too. They certainly seemed to me to have plenty of performance for those hills. Fortunately also able to visit in August of this year so just caught the last days of them albeit they had become much harder to find on the network and seemed confined pretty much to the 41 by then and rows more of them were decommissioned waiting to be towed to auction from the depot. Hopefully they have kept one for the heritage fleet?
@ckildegaard
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I'm really hoping they hold on to at least one or two. They were really cool buses.
@cubdukat
2 жыл бұрын
Plenty of grunt and dead silent when stopped.
@munimathbypeterfelton6251
Жыл бұрын
They did keep one for the heritage/historic fleet: #5538.
This video showed up on my recommended and watching it brought back a lot of memories. I used to take the 24 Divisadero a lot since it stopped in front of my house. I loved the sounds of it powering up the steep hills of Noe Valley and speeding down Divisadero. They felt so spacious too. Especially at 1 AM when I would be one of the only people on board. These and the Neoplans are my all time favorite buses of the MUNI fleet. I never really liked the Orions. The New Flyers are ok but you can tell the power can't compare to the old fleet. They also feel a little cramped.
Ik wist niet dat ze in Amerika ook trolley bussen hadden mooie vangst en mooie bussen
The ETI Trolleys were much more comfortable as far as seating, the Flyers' seating arrangement and especially the seating over the wheel wells and that step at the rear is hazardous, especially for seniors.
@munimathbypeterfelton6251
Жыл бұрын
Yeah. Plus, the New Flyer XTE40s are a lot smaller and fill up much faster than did the ETIs and the Flyers before them--which were a lot larger than the ETIs themselves at that.
Engine sounds funny!
Mooie Video ! Met het typische geluid van de Škoda's :-)
@publictransportworldwide
4 жыл бұрын
Dat geluid was heel bijzonder. Maakte de Tsjechische Skoda’s een soortgelijk geluid?
@antonnovotny4499
2 жыл бұрын
@@publictransportworldwide yes thay did, some older even better, our skoda trolleybuses 14Tr in presov city ran for 30 years, now they re replaced by modern ones skoda 30Tr and i m curious how long they ll last.
Are the Skoda’s getting replaced by the XD40’s trolley buses
@publictransportworldwide
Жыл бұрын
They are replaced already. Last Skoda left in 2019
I wonder why Muni thought it was a god idea to paint the bottom windows of the rear doors. Seems silly to me.
@xXdoesitstartXx
4 жыл бұрын
there were no bottom windows of the rear doors... only top
@nelsonricardo3729
4 жыл бұрын
@@xXdoesitstartXx You may be right. But there are cutouts where most transit systems would have windows.
@Virre737
4 жыл бұрын
High risk of people kicking that part of the door when they're exiting the bus. Reliability and low maintenance costs are always priority #1
it’s almost as if electric motors with all of their torque and regenerative braking capabilities were designed strictly for a city like San Francisco
@Lucius_Chiaraviglio
2 жыл бұрын
And Seattle, and I can think of several other places that could use them (Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and even a couple of places in Providence and Boston).
@munimathbypeterfelton6251
Жыл бұрын
Definitely, due to all the hills that the electric trolleybuses have to climb given the routes that they serve.
These units sure made a lot of gear (or was it motor cogging?) noise.