New Bus Type Rolls Through Marin County

Author's note: this is my 100th blog post on the website. I know it took me a long time to get to this feat, but, I want to make sure I produce quality posts for you, my readers.

Marin Transit is rolling out eleven new buses that will operate throughout Marin County. These buses are built by Gillig in Livermore, and these are being used right now on select school trips in preparation for more intensive use come June 2016.

Marin Transit recently ordered seven 40-footer and four 30-footer Gillig BRT Hybrid Buses, in which these are powered by both diesel fuel and electric power to run these coaches. Numbered 1505 through 1511 for the 40-footers while (I believe) numbered 1501 to 1504 for the 30-footers, these numbers are identical to what Golden Gate Transit uses on its Orion V buses (in service since 2003). And these buses will be operated by MV Transportation, the same company that operates the Muir Woods Shuttle and West Marin Stagecoach. In a related development, operations on Golden Gate Transit routes (Routes 22 and 49) will be handed over to MV Transportation come June, in which those routes will be using these new Gillig hybrid buses.

Below is a photo montage of what I saw on St. Patrick's Day, 17 March 2016. I saw, not just 1505, but also 1507, both of them doing the 122 between College of Marin in Kentfield and San Rafael Transit Center.

And the following images below show the 30-footer variant of the Gillig BRT Hybrid bus, taken on 22 and 23 April 2016. These are numbered 1501 to 1504, in which these can carry 26 seated passengers and up to 20 standees.