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Sun Tran unveils new 60-foot articulated bus

Posted at 8:10 PM, Oct 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-03 11:12:21-04

Sun Tran has a new ride around town. On Tuesday, it introduced its new 60 foot articulated bus. 

The new bus will be added to Sun Tran's service fleet. It will serve Route 18 along South 6th Avenue, a high ridership route. 

The bus will be in service at these times starting Wednesday: 

DEPARTS LAOS TRANSIT CENTER DEPARTS RONSTADT TRANSIT CENTER
11:29 a.m. 11:55 a.m.
12:29 p.m. 12:55 p.m.
1:27 p.m. 1:55 p.m.
2:27 p.m.  

 

The bus is made up of 2 30 feet long vehicles and is linked by a pivoting joint. This is for a longer overall length and higher passenger capacity. To compare, most Sun Tran vehicles are 40 feet long. Those buses can hold 34 seated passengers. Meanwhile, the new articulated bus can hold 70 seated passengers.

Sun Tran says it got the articulated bus from Valley Metro in Phoenix. It began testing the bus back in June to see which route it could best serve and whether the bus could safely fit in each designated stop. Route 18 was chosen because it's one of their most productive routes, with an average of 40.5 passengers every hour. 

In addition, Sun Tran says the articulated bus is engineered to turn corners in the same space as a shorter bus.