I like driving Gillig buses. They seem to fit me just fine in the way they handle, the braking and smoothness of the ride. However, it wasn't always like that and I do have my complaints that I've manage to overlook over time. When I first came to this agency over 5 years ago, I had never driven a Gillig. One of my initial complaints about them, and also other drivers, was the braking system. It was difficult to make a smooth stop without the bus jerking as it switched over to a lower gear. The retarder was also jerky. It was so bad that the drivers sign a petition to have the braking system changed. The company luckily listen to us and had a better, smoother braking system installed. Ever since then the Gilligs have been my favorite buses to drive, despite the low steering wheel. (I'm 6'2).)
When comparably equipped, Gillig buses are usually the bargain option that accountants prefer over competitors like New Flyer. For the same amount of money, agencies can either buy a rather mediocre New Flyer or better spec Gillig. New Flyer doesn't really have a competing model to the cheapest Gillig configs (those with the jerky retarders, transmissions that grind on upshift from 1 to 2 on full acceleration, etc - there are transit agencies that still order those despite being universally hated by drivers and passengers alike).
Gillig buses hadn't been in my area for about three years after the retirement of the last diesel Advantage buses. That changed in 2016 when one agency transferred ownership of part of a route to another agency which operates Gillig BRT CNG buses. They recently got the Low Floor Plus EV version and they're sweet rides!
Hey Keywan. I judged a book by its cover when I seen the Gillig. Majority of our fleet is New Flyer and let me tell you there’s a difference between the 2. As we got our new batch I was fortunate to drive and service a Gillig, these buses are really good.
All Gilligs in Duluth, Minnesota. We have massive hills, snow, ice, and sometimes -30. With our special ice tires, they don’t slip at all on the ice and stay warm. Very heavy duty!
To be honest, Nova buses seems like the luxury or Cadillac or buses and that’s because we ( Chicago) only have flyers and Novas and now the Proterra electric buses, which in my opinion is a really smooth ride and seems like that of a motorcoach even thought it’s a city bus. Love the braking on the Proterra buses as well. Flyers are good to drive when your cruising or just like that real bus feel. Novas and Proterra buses get you down the street and you might fall asleep in them lol.
Hello from France, Dear ! I have so poor information about American buses, but if I was American I would buy Gillig buses, because their design is very « American stereotypical » with parallelepipedic body and a wide range of products and a variety of motorization solutions. I appreciate the variety and good appearance of the interior fittings offered by Gillig. Happy New Year ! 🍀🎉🍀💫 Greetings ! 🇫🇷🤝🇺🇸💫
I was excited to check out this particular video! Never rode or drove a Gillig, but heard good things about them (reliability, maintenance a bit easier than other bus makers). Ride quality and noise could make or break the rider experience, so on their future diesel buses I hope they put in lots of sound insulation around the engine bay, differential and wheel wells, and taller air springs to swallow all those bumps.
I like GILLIGs. If you want a workhorse, long lasting transit coach you go G over NFI or Nova. I guess the rep for being a "bus for small town agencies" is a notion because of GILLIG's 'less is more' approach
i can attest to this as my agency still runs alot of mid 2000s gilligs and anytime there is some type of cancelation its usually driver related and not a mechanical issue
@Benjamin Willis Because Indianapolis can't afford High Quality Buses like NF or Nova, at least they did ran Used ones as 2nd Hand Coaches (NF D40LF from COTA, Big Blue Bus and San Diego and Ex-COTA Nova LFs), Louisville never experienced with NF or Nova.
@Benjamin Willis Indianapolis and Louisville can't afford high quality buses like New Flyers and Novas so that's why they stick with Gilligs because it's cheaper and reasonable to deal with.
@@terrencewalker1982 Yep. Gilligs are usually the budget pick, at the expense of satisfaction. A Gillig will usually be cheaper than a comparably equipped NFI.
My hometown in Houston have New Flyers, Novas, NABIs and Orion's. Austin have Gilligs and Novas. San Antonio have the Gilligs, New Flyers and Nova CNGs.
Gilligs overall have nicer quiet ride. Wish they would move the kneel knob, basically redesign the damn dash. Today I was enjoying my 42ft Proterra oversized golf cart. The controls easy use to except where the farbox keypad covers the kneeling and WC ramp switches. I would love for the speedometer to be above the steering wheel on all buses so I can easily see how fast I'm going. Luckily I have pretty good judgement on how fast or slow I'm traveling.
Yeah, I can’t see the speedometer on any bus. I don’t know why they don’t raise them higher. I always have to peek through the steering wheel, so I rarely use the speedometer unless a school zone or I know I’m going fast by don’t want to go too fast.
@@LuckyCharms777 Glad someone else feels my pain and aggravation, joking. Where I live we have law enforcement that's understands, to some extent if we happen to exceed the speed limit.
@@RenoBusdriver Yeah, I don’t think cops in most major cities are worrying about a bus going a few mph over the speed limit. The reality is probably 90%(?) of drivers speed, it’s just a matter of who the cops want to pull over, and they know a bus driver isn’t speeding for the joy of it. Funnily enough, the way buses are, whenever I think I’m speeding I’ll look at the speedometer and discover I’m actually doing the speed limit. Driving a bus at the speed limit actually feels faster than it is.
@@LuckyCharms777 Agreed. We have Gillig BRT, hybrid. Proterra 42ft. Newest to our fleet if New Flyer excelsior 40ft. They seem narrower than a Gillig and definitely feels way faster than what speedometer shows.
Thank you for this! I was a bus driver for almost 30 years, started out in southern California in 1972 with seriously old GMs taking hotel patrons into Disneyland, then switched to Greyhound... which lasted 4 months, when they wanted me to move to Phoenix... but I had a newborn son and a new apartment. Anyway, I continued to drive city buses, mostly in Northern California, until the 80's then I went to long-distance charters, and tours around the Grand Canyon and other parks. The only Gilligs I drove were 40-foot single-door Phantoms in the early 80's in Eureka, California, for Humboldt Transit. Since then it was MCI & Prevost. I watched as my home town of Santa Rosa went from a rag-tag bunch of old buses to new Gilligs, later New Flyers, etc., although I did not drive for them. At the age of 70, I wish I was still behind the wheel. I miss it! Note: I now live in Rutland VT, where they have had a fleet of 30-foot Gilligs for some time, and just took delivery of two electric Gilligs. All are low-floor but not the BRT type.
Hey Keywan, I think this is one of your best videos yet! I really enjoy the concept of you asking other bus operators from various agencies for their opinions on things affecting their daily lives out on the job. Very enjoyable and would love to see you explore this idea more. By the way my name is Malcolm and I said hi to you a couple months ago as you were taking over a 62 on 21st Ave, was very cool to run into you. keep up the good work!
Thanks!! I will definitely do more videos like this..it was fun! I do remember seeing you! It always catches me off guard when someone recognizes me..I’m normally very low key! I appreciate you saying hi!!
I also love riding on the buses in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. Dayton is mostly Gilligs only and Columbus Ohio gonna get rid of their Gillig diesels so most of their buses gonna be Gillig CNGs and New Flyer XN40s CNGs.
We have mcis in our fleet here as well. They are getting old now, but before covid we mainly used them for commuter routes to take people from each city north of sf directly into sf and back out again. For this purpose they are decently suited. Generally I don't think things are completely black and white with buses it's more of pros and cons and certain bus types are better at certain things. Certainly mcis are really well made buses, usually the two things you can count on are a much quieter ride and much better power/acceleration. However the bike racks we have on ours are under the side of the bus, and they are time consuming and difficult for passengers to use, this, along with the rear lift make them I'll suited for busy public transit routes. During covid 19 they mainly put mcis out on all routes for "social distancing" reasons. The stairs proved stressful for many (not all) senior/disabled passengers. Low floor buses are much better suited to senior/disabled, front load bike racks (some mcis have them...but not ours) are better for busy public transit routes, as are front load wheelchair ramps on low floor buses. For routes with lots of highway driving the mci is alright, but I'd almost never choose one for basic service, my primary concern is to accommodate all passengers as efficiently as possible. MCIs have a lot of cons that make them arduous to use for every day transit. Something I'd like to know is if your buses have barriers? Are we all dealing with barriers now? They retrofitted our buses with barriers during covid and it's really annoying to deal with opening and closing them.
I'm a new bus driver in a small Bay Area city. All buses are Gillig, with three of them being hybrids. Gillig is all I know, but I especially enjoy the hybrids, because it feels very smooth with excellent, easy braking. We have 40, 35, and 30 foot Gillig's, and while the 30 footers are easier to maneuver in tight streets, their brakes are stiff and jerky, and they literally bouce. Perhaps it's because they are older buses. We're supposed to get new battery-electric buses in about 1-2 years. In a nutshell, Gillig's do their job.
I have yet to ever step foot on a NovaBus or Proterra bus. Between the limited experience in riding on six different bus manufacturers here with RTD (MCI, Gillig, New Flyer, BYD, Orion, Neoplan), I would say the New Flyer and MCI coaches we have ride the easiest. That says a lot considering both of them are at an extended length (60" and 45" respectively) in comparison to the regular high floor and low floor buses that are on regular routes. The old Neoplan motorcoaches we had rode terribly. I'm glad we retired them.
I’ve never driven one, would like to. Here in nyct I’ve driven Novas, new flyers, prevost, Orions.. hybrids to cng’s.. personally I like the novas the best due to the driver area. The controls, seat / fair box location as well as the radio. It all makes sense, and I can drive with the seat all the way to the floor and still see my right side mirror without the partition blocking me. On the new flyers the seating is weird, can’t sit as low and the phone (radio) is behind you over your left shoulder. Very silly design. They drive good though, especially the older ones.
Agree. I like the Nova driver compartment, it’s set up for driving rather than like an equipment operator of New Flyers. I don’t have to search for buttons and switches on Nova’s, so I can adjust them on the fly.
@@LuckyCharms777 yeah, also on the flyers we have here, you can’t turn off the overhead fan. So you have to deal with that noise all night / day. Very annoying. Also the nova front end was great for sweeping the curb with tight turns.
I drive for a small agency in eastern Washington State, Pullman Transit. We have an all Gillig fleet, from 1996 Phantoms to new 2022 electric low floors. They are all great to drive. Handle the hills and snow we have here well. My biggest complaint is the quality. Somewhere around 2012-2013 the quality plummeted. Our newer hybrid buses all took months to iron out all the issues when they were new, and the three electrics we have spend more time in the shop than running!
I'd say Gillig buses are pretty good depending on the transit if you are a passenger. I wouldn't drive em though as their steering wheel and seats sit too low. I'd gladly bring back and RTS and drive it over a Gillig as it feels way roomier and has that screaming Series 50 or 6v92TA in the back.
I driven both Advantage and BRT here in Rochester NY. The only thing that they mainly used them on school routes so those Xcelsiors(😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬) can be mainly driven. Try driving them in snow.
Gilligs are an interesting bunch although I don't drive em, I do ride them through NICE Bus (Nassau InterCounty Express, which serves Eastern Queens up to Flushing, Jamaica and Far Rockaway, much of Nassau, and Western Suffolk County) and they are pretty fine in performance and comfortability
Im a transit bus operator and our fleet is now 100% Gillig except for the Ford cutaway buses. I have loved driving them and they do well when they're maintained properly and regularly. I'm on the shorter side of the spectrum so I don't experience much of those comfort issues when driving. Biggest complaint is the driver's seat could be nicer and the blind spots (I drive on a busy campus route with a lot of foot traffic so having to move around a lot in my seat is crucial especially during class changes) over all I love Gillig and their electric buses are smooth riders.
I drove Gillig Phantoms and Gillig LFs for Shuttle-UM when I was a student at the University of Maryland. I really liked the Gillig LFs. I thought they rode smoother than our Phantoms, but the build quality was a bit on the cheap side. However it seems that most modern transit buses are built cheaply no matter what the brand. We didn't have BRT versions so the blind spot issues were non-existent. The Phantoms rode very stiff but seemed to be built more sturdy than the LFs. What I didn't like were our Thomas TL-960s. Straight up school bus junk! As good as the Gilligs were to drive, I always preferred driving our Flxible Metro-Bs! Those were my favorites. I loved the look, the way they leaned in corners, and the sound of the Cummins L10 on some of our units. I'd take a Flxible Metro-B over a Gillig any day.
Where I’m from (moco Maryland) we have two operators metro and rideon ride on uses 40 and 29 foot gillig advantage busses and they universally suck ugly uncomfortable etc. metro uses new flyer excelsiors of all different sorts and they are all a joy imho but that comes down to metro putting a lot of care into the furnishing with new fancy screens vinyl seats charge ports and fare boxes.
I really love Gillig buses to be honest with you but unfortunately Chicago doesn't have them so I have to go to the state of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Michigan. Louisville KY is mainly Gillig buses only. We only have New Flyer Industries and Novas for CTA buses and Pace buses have El Dorado National Axess BRT and some with CNGs and New Flyer XD40s.
I call them "illigs!!" I can't stand how they ride. I worked in Ithaca , NY (TCAT) and the bumps were not easy on them. They rattled like crazy. The hybrids scared the hell out of Me due to the fact that they delayed before moving. I was on a hill with it in training and almost had a heart attack. Give Me a sturdy New Flyer or Orion.
Hey, on most of MCTS- It's normally on the Gillings, like when we hit a bump it feels like the engine gonna fall out, passengers riding in the high part in the back feels the bump. Like the suspension failed us and scrapped the ground while driving. One time it gave me a head ache because the bus did it twice. It hurt, it but it does it on some of the new flyers aswell. Every ride to school, either I feel the bus riding these roads, or scraping. More of the newer Gillings on the MCTS roads - witch these roads are pretty messed up, the drivers go a bit slower. But with the 5400's through 5800's these drivers be flying with them riding these bumps - in my opinion.
Rattling inside a tin can is what I think of Gilligs. I do like the handling of the newer Gilligs. However I hate the rattle, slow acceleration, yes the braking and retarder jerkiness, weak interior speakers. My transit service only uses Gilligs. So I don't have anything else to compare them to but I personally don't like Gilligs myself.
Wzup with the color interior lights I remember Orion had the blue and red colored lights what bout the fixable buses they had green some had orange colored lights
I love our gilligs here in Denver, the phantoms we're great, and or LF busses are good to. The orion's and nabi's we had we're great, but id use a gillig anytime. I'm not one to like the design of new flyers tho. RTD makes them look ok for the most part.
Gilligs are a good bus. it also depends on how a transit agency specs their buses that plays a huge role in terms of ride quality and other factors. i hate the NewFlyer excelsior because they sway too much prone to undercarriage damage, and some agencies had issues with warped brakes on the NFs...just seems like QC took a huge nosedrive. their best product was the high floor and the first generation low floor model...but even those had problems like excessive wheel shimming.
I retired from cta in 2018. They never ordered or had Gillig buses. It's going to be interesting for cta because Novabus will no longer manufacture buses for the US. That leaves only New Flyer and Gillig for cta. Potera gone bankrupt so Gillig may have a shot
I just recently started driving and I got a love hate relationship with them because they have a Voith Transmission in them so it feels weak out on the road in my opinion and man the new Newflyers sway so bad I be hesitant to drive them
I live in the Seattle area. I usually ride king county metro and most of our 40 footers outside of Seattle are gilligs. They aren't terrible for riders, but there are times I prefer new flyers or the Orions that we have. Although Orions that we have I know aren't popular with our drivers because of blind spots. Orion stopped making buses and instead of fulfilling our contract they bought new flyers to fulfill the remaining 40 footers and all of our 35 footers that Orion was to make. I prefer new flyer but gillig is alright as a bus. I don't know what our drivers think of the low floor diesel hybrids that we have though.
Not a bus driver, as a passenger, the New Flyer Xcelsior is a little better than Gillig - less rattles, a little “smoother”. However, Gillig seems to be better for maintenance and training as well as fleet commonality - if I managed a fleet for a transit agency, give me a fleet of NON-BRT Gillig LFs and MCIs and I’ll be happy. I’ll say this, talk to an AC Transit driver - they will almost always say the VanHools are the worst bus ever.
Currently I went back to the public transit sector myself. And all we have are Gillig BRTs and trolleys as well as a bunch of cutaways, oh yeah and soon some MCIs, that's it Needless to say I prefer the Gilligs. MCI.. if anything like Croswell I'm sure I'll like those too. EDIT: Only problem I have with Gillig: they're too damn high up and it's a pain in the ass to get aboard ALSO: New Flyer sucks Gillig is better
I hate gilligs because all of the ones out one of our yards are garbage. Seats worn, brake peddles are on the floor, transmissions crap. The only thing I like about them is being able to hit the door switch while moving. Other than that, I’d rather the new flyers.
Most of these are the local buses. What about the GILLIG COMMUTER Buses? Also, we are getting close to the 2100’s here at NICE. More GILLIGS to come. Also GILLIG Spelled backwards is Still GILLIG.
Gotta say, the driver ergonomics of those Gilligs look awful! We have Scania and MAN low floors in diesel and CNG. The Scania CNG buses are gutless, nasty and uncomfortable. The MANs are ok and the Scania Euro 6 diesels are comfortable and beautiful to drive. This is in Canberra, Australia.
My city recently got new gillig buses ran on h20 they are not made for expressways and break down almost daily very poorly made bring back the diesel gilligs work horses
I used to HATE Gillig buses! They used to have tons of suspension problems, and fuel leaks. I love New Flyers and the old GM/TMC/Novas. However, I have changed my mind a bit. Our new Gilligs at MARTA however are quite comfortable and fully loaded, with mirror turn signals and back up cameras. I also miss the Orion V and VII. Being in NYC for a decade before ATL, they definitely won me over. But again our new Gilligs aren’t that bad and our upcoming order will most likely be split between Gillig and New Flyer
I like the Gilligs overall. I’m not a bus driver, and I haven’t ridden the bus in a while, but Gilligs are smooth, especially the old GILLIG Phantoms. Charlotte CATS has some 19 year old Phantoms from ‘03, and they still have the best suspension feel of any bus. Seriously, they’re 19, and still ride smooth af. I also like the GILLIG advantage, and the BRTs. However, the oldest First Gen Nova LFS are my favorite, just cuz they’re unique. From: Charlotte NC
Gillig buses are just glorified airport shuttles. If you analyze the comments from driver who claim they love them (such as the driver you mentioned from Loyola, which is just a campus route), they are either from systems in which they are placed on short routes, newer gilligs that are less than 5 years old, or from cities that that invest in the upkeep of their roadways. By far, the BEST buses in the industry are New Flyer (who also owns MCI and have a partnership with Alexander Dennis), and Nova (a subsidiary of Volvo Bus). This is due mostly to Gillig modifying their modular design that were first introduced as a Rental Car shuttle for the airport (I believe it was Avis or Hertz) and only modified that same tired design for mass transit use (door placement, no luggage racks, etc.) Transit agencies usually buy Gillig because they are cheaper and don't really think about their overall body structure lasting beyond 5 years (depending on infrastructure). (Yes I know about the government testing in Altoona to see if they hold up for the 12 year service life before allowing them to claim that they are heavy duty buses. Gilligs are the 1990's Hyundai's of buses, they just squeak by....literally squeak and pop). As a result, you have more drivers being injured (back injuries) because Gillig does not make heavy duty buses although they are marketed as such. In terms of buses breaking down, just like cars and trucks, you will get mechanical problems (engine, transmission, etc.) that has nothing to do with the manufacturer of the buses themselves (MCI, New Flyer, Nova, Gillig, etc.) doesn't make their own engines and transmissions inhouse. The engines and Transmission options are ordered based on the person at the transit agency who orders them (which is why some buses have steering wheels that doesn't telescope all the way, or lack of power mirrors, mirror defroster/defogger, dim headlights, underpowered engines/ poorly paired engine/transmission combinations, uncomfortable driver seats, bad switches etc.) By far Nova and New Flyers are the best (just like Prevost and MCI are better motorcoaches than Van Hools). In a nutshell, Gillig buses are just the Van Hools of mass transit coaches. P.S. that is why, MCTS (Milwaukee County Transit System) is buying electric buses from Nova even though Gillig offers electric bus options. Gillig does not have 60 foot option (articulated buses) because of their cheap modular design. Thank you for the channel. If more people knew what we as drivers go through daily, they would be more appreciative and appropriate in their conduct.
Damn, that’s disappointing to hear. We just started getting all electric Gillig’s. I love our Nova’s because of their driver layout, lack of blindspots, and wheelchair straps. I heard the Gillig’s are opposite of that, but have wheelchair straps similar to Nova’s rather than New Flyers. New Flyer wheelchair straps are the dumbest and most time consuming and difficult straps to use. I hate them!!! The only complaint I have about Nova is their rough ride.
The Gillig BRT CNG's we've gotten at NICE Bus are very similar to your new ones. Except I don't think we have a digital speedometer display, most likely they were spec'd cheaper. They're better than the New Flyer XN40's though (the older batch) the New Flyers definitely seem more poorly made, plus a bad engine fan design has led to more breakdowns. Only the more recent batch of XN40s' we got a few years ago were better. I will say I will miss the Orions when they're gone through, the remaining 2010 VIING's we have will be goners real soon as the latest batch of Gilligs come in. But we still have 3G's from 2013 ish. We're also getting New Flyer XE40's but I'm skeptical of the quality of the fully electric buses. CNG's seem more robust. Of course the MCI's are way nicer and more comfortable, NJ Transit has lots of those and the newest batches are pretty damn comfy and quick. But transit buses don't have that same ride quality but I will say one of my favorite buses of all time (The Orion V) was close. Of course everything is low floor now which means a less smooth ride. As for driver's opinions, a lot of the drivers like the Gilligs more than the New Flyers, but the taller drivers don't, for the reasons you specified. They actually prefer the Orions.
I live in Ann Arbor, MI and I love riding our Gilligs and Novas. We also have Gilligs for the University of Michigan and some of them bus operators are college students. My favorite city is Grand Rapids because they have a lot of Gilligs. Lansing, MI the state capital have New Flyers and Novas. Detroit have New Flyers, Proterras and Gilligs. I love my public transportation in the state of Michigan.
all we have are Gillig buses my only complaint would be why is the windshield wiper switch way down on the dash & the power switch right next to me. it would make much more sense to have them swapped.
In Chicago we don't have Gillic but we do have Nova, New Flyer and recently we've obtained Portora and will be putting them to use soon. I personally prefer the Flyer we trained in it and the breaking is lighter than the jerky Nova. The Portora is smooth but the steering wheel doesn't come up high enough I'm 6 feet so I agree with you on that. I hate riding low tho
Up there in Houston, TX we have New Flyers and Novas 40 foot diesels and CNGs, our New Flyer XD60 is our bus rapid and we also have Orion VIIs and we have Nova Artics. Austin, TX we have Gilligs, New Flyers and Novas LFX 40 ft and 60 ft. San Antonio, TX have Nova LFS CNGs, New Flyers and Gillig LF CNGs
Out here in Cincinnati we have Gillig diesels and New Flyer D40LF's + DE40LF's + DE40LFR's and D60LF for SORTA and TANK we have Gillig diesels including BRT and Hybrids. Cleveland also have Gillig BRT Plus CNG and Diesels.
MCI built buses in Canada 🇨🇦. The transit bus is the Classic which was originally built by General Motors Diesel Division from 1983 to 1987. Later from 1993 to 1997 by Nova Bus.
So Last Year NICE Bus (Long Island Bus) order the 2021 Gillig BRT Plus Bus CNG now this year they order the Brand New 2022 Gillig BRT Plus CNG Bus in my area
My aunt lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan and they have Gilligs and Novas. Detroit also have New Flyer Xclesiors 40 and 60 foot buses, Proterras and Gilligs. Detroit is gonna bring some XE40 and XE60s. My city have New Flyers, Novas and El Dorado National Axess BRT and BRT CNGs for CTA & Pace. My favorite city is CT Transit and Fastrak because those bus operators be putting the pedal to the medal with their Xclesior buses. Boston is also my favorite because of their New Flyers. Some of my bus operator friend can't stand the Novas at all. They prefer driving New Flyers.
I really don’t like giligs. I’m a big Orion fan as they have a great pick up especially trying to get in and out of traffic. I believe the giligs are underpowered but they are more comfortable unless they are 2014 giligs which have the wheel too low. The orions have a tendency to roll in winter or rain bc of the abs which locks up the wheels so not optimal for those climates either.
I never driven a GILLIG, I’ve only Driven New Flyer, NABI, and Eldorado. But my company is supposed to be getting Electric GILLIG’s…..but my favorite choice is New Flyer by a long shot. But I would love to drive a NOVABUS
Being That Nova Buses Are Durable and well built I have to say that gillig buses are super cool I own 15 Gilligs from Phantoms to Low Floor and they are cheaper to maintain.
I’m new to Gilligs and transit buses, coming from the Motorcoach world. I really like the gilligs, wish the steering wheel was thicker. Lots of blind spots especially doorside with the sign board being a driver around 5’11”.
At Disney, they have a combination of Gillig and Nova. I prefer the Gillig. I really didn’t like the retarters kicking in the second I took my foot off of the gas pedals. Personally, if I have to drive a Nova at Disney, I liked the newer Novas (numbered 5000 to 5009).
I love Gillig buses with a passion including Gillig BRT diesel buses. We also have New Flyer Industries up here in Houston, TX. I also love Orion VII buses too.
My favorite bus is and always be the GMC "New Look" buses. They were the best and a mainstay of cities in the United States and Canada. I have ridden on the GMC buses many times. Thanks for posting. I have ridden other buses as well. The NABI was based on a bus designed by Ikarus of Hungary 🇭🇺. I rode buses by Orion which were built in Toronto, Canada. The Flyer and New Flyer are from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have ridden Gillig buses going school back in the day and they went into the transit buses when the lucrative school bus business was getting too competitive. I rode both Gillig school and transit buses.
In the State of Hawaii, we have at least 16 40 footer All Electric Gillig buses that have been released in 2021-2022 as Kalihi division buses. They are not bad, however, previously they have had battery issues so they were all sent to Gillig before but now, they’ve been coming back one by one to be on routes. There’s going to be more Gillig Low Floor buses coming which are replacing the retired 300s Gillig Phantoms. I do have a question to ask you, do you think Electric Gillig buses are overrated?? A friend of mine says they are overrated that’s why.
We have a lot of gillig buses, and all the new ones have the MFD. What on earth was Gillig thinking putting the dimmer control in a mechanic's menu? The mechanics want to disable our dimming control, leaving the mfd bright and unsafe at night! We drive a lot of pitch black, unlit highway too. Also, the mirrors are not great. Super small for unusual backing situations. By far not enough vertical range.
I think Gillig is one of the best. Although some improvements, but even the guys that build them are well talented. The new electrics are so quiet that both the drivers and the passengers love them. The Phantoms did have the larger wheels. I do also remember the Orion IIs. When the Phantoms came out, they had two different kinds of front doors. They had the two-pane style like we have seen on many of the old buses, and they had the full-height single pane which gave the driver a larger view out the door. Gillig needs to put more products onto the list of buses they build so that paratransit departments of the transit companies can buy them and so can Via.
Fact: these buses are not used in Canada along with NABIs, but they still use New Flyers, MCIs, Novabuses, Proterras, Alex Dennis, Grande West, Eldorados, Van Hools and Orions. Do you know why Gilligs and NABIs aren't used in Canada? Please reply below.
I’ve driven all makes of buses and while don’t know what is the best, I definitely know what is the worst, Proterra!!! $1m pieces of junk. All plastic w a lousy control layout. Always broken down. Talk about a government subsidized company.
Here in Buffalo New York our Transit (NFTA) we got Novas and Gilligs. We will soon have some new flyer xe40s. I definitely like the gillig hybrid buses the most. I'm no driver but as a passenger I think they ride the smoothest.
I like driving Gillig buses. They seem to fit me just fine in the way they handle, the braking and smoothness of the ride. However, it wasn't always like that and I do have my complaints that I've manage to overlook over time. When I first came to this agency over 5 years ago, I had never driven a Gillig. One of my initial complaints about them, and also other drivers, was the braking system. It was difficult to make a smooth stop without the bus jerking as it switched over to a lower gear. The retarder was also jerky. It was so bad that the drivers sign a petition to have the braking system changed. The company luckily listen to us and had a better, smoother braking system installed. Ever since then the Gilligs have been my favorite buses to drive, despite the low steering wheel. (I'm 6'2).)
When comparably equipped, Gillig buses are usually the bargain option that accountants prefer over competitors like New Flyer. For the same amount of money, agencies can either buy a rather mediocre New Flyer or better spec Gillig. New Flyer doesn't really have a competing model to the cheapest Gillig configs (those with the jerky retarders, transmissions that grind on upshift from 1 to 2 on full acceleration, etc - there are transit agencies that still order those despite being universally hated by drivers and passengers alike).
Gillig buses hadn't been in my area for about three years after the retirement of the last diesel Advantage buses. That changed in 2016 when one agency transferred ownership of part of a route to another agency which operates Gillig BRT CNG buses. They recently got the Low Floor Plus EV version and they're sweet rides!
Would've been funny if as soon as he said "I'm 6'2", he had the guy saying "He lying." lol
Lol!
Hey Keywan. I judged a book by its cover when I seen the Gillig. Majority of our fleet is New Flyer and let me tell you there’s a difference between the 2. As we got our new batch I was fortunate to drive and service a Gillig, these buses are really good.
Thanks for sharing that!! I don’t have much experience with New Flyers outside of being a passenger... I definitely think they look nice.
All Gilligs in Duluth, Minnesota. We have massive hills, snow, ice, and sometimes -30. With our special ice tires, they don’t slip at all on the ice and stay warm. Very heavy duty!
Nice!!
To be honest, Nova buses seems like the luxury or Cadillac or buses and that’s because we ( Chicago) only have flyers and Novas and now the Proterra electric buses, which in my opinion is a really smooth ride and seems like that of a motorcoach even thought it’s a city bus. Love the braking on the Proterra buses as well. Flyers are good to drive when your cruising or just like that real bus feel. Novas and Proterra buses get you down the street and you might fall asleep in them lol.
Hello from France, Dear !
I have so poor information about American buses, but if I was American I would buy Gillig buses, because their design is very « American stereotypical » with parallelepipedic body and a wide range of products and a variety of motorization solutions. I appreciate the variety and good appearance of the interior fittings offered by Gillig. Happy New Year ! 🍀🎉🍀💫
Greetings ! 🇫🇷🤝🇺🇸💫
None of these new buses will ever compare to the GMC Fishbowl.
Amazing buses!!
The Jimmies were beasts!!
I was excited to check out this particular video! Never rode or drove a Gillig, but heard good things about them (reliability, maintenance a bit easier than other bus makers). Ride quality and noise could make or break the rider experience, so on their future diesel buses I hope they put in lots of sound insulation around the engine bay, differential and wheel wells, and taller air springs to swallow all those bumps.
I like GILLIGs. If you want a workhorse, long lasting transit coach you go G over NFI or Nova.
I guess the rep for being a "bus for small town agencies" is a notion because of GILLIG's 'less is more' approach
i can attest to this as my agency still runs alot of mid 2000s gilligs and anytime there is some type of cancelation its usually driver related and not a mechanical issue
@Benjamin Willis Because Indianapolis can't afford High Quality Buses like NF or Nova, at least they did ran Used ones as 2nd Hand Coaches (NF D40LF from COTA, Big Blue Bus and San Diego and Ex-COTA Nova LFs), Louisville never experienced with NF or Nova.
@Benjamin Willis Indianapolis and Louisville can't afford high quality buses like New Flyers and Novas so that's why they stick with Gilligs because it's cheaper and reasonable to deal with.
@@terrencewalker1982 Yep. Gilligs are usually the budget pick, at the expense of satisfaction. A Gillig will usually be cheaper than a comparably equipped NFI.
My hometown in Houston have New Flyers, Novas, NABIs and Orion's. Austin have Gilligs and Novas. San Antonio have the Gilligs, New Flyers and Nova CNGs.
Gilligs overall have nicer quiet ride. Wish they would move the kneel knob, basically redesign the damn dash.
Today I was enjoying my 42ft Proterra oversized golf cart. The controls easy use to except where the farbox keypad covers the kneeling and WC ramp switches.
I would love for the speedometer to be above the steering wheel on all buses so I can easily see how fast I'm going. Luckily I have pretty good judgement on how fast or slow I'm traveling.
Yes the kneel knob placement is bad!
Yeah, I can’t see the speedometer on any bus. I don’t know why they don’t raise them higher. I always have to peek through the steering wheel, so I rarely use the speedometer unless a school zone or I know I’m going fast by don’t want to go too fast.
@@LuckyCharms777 Glad someone else feels my pain and aggravation, joking. Where I live we have law enforcement that's understands, to some extent if we happen to exceed the speed limit.
@@RenoBusdriver
Yeah, I don’t think cops in most major cities are worrying about a bus going a few mph over the speed limit. The reality is probably 90%(?) of drivers speed, it’s just a matter of who the cops want to pull over, and they know a bus driver isn’t speeding for the joy of it. Funnily enough, the way buses are, whenever I think I’m speeding I’ll look at the speedometer and discover I’m actually doing the speed limit. Driving a bus at the speed limit actually feels faster than it is.
@@LuckyCharms777 Agreed. We have Gillig BRT, hybrid. Proterra 42ft. Newest to our fleet if New Flyer excelsior 40ft. They seem narrower than a Gillig and definitely feels way faster than what speedometer shows.
We also have MCI buses and we only used them for express routes only during weekdays.
Thank you for this! I was a bus driver for almost 30 years, started out in southern California in 1972 with seriously old GMs taking hotel patrons into Disneyland, then switched to Greyhound... which lasted 4 months, when they wanted me to move to Phoenix... but I had a newborn son and a new apartment. Anyway, I continued to drive city buses, mostly in Northern California, until the 80's then I went to long-distance charters, and tours around the Grand Canyon and other parks. The only Gilligs I drove were 40-foot single-door Phantoms
in the early 80's in Eureka, California, for Humboldt Transit. Since then it was MCI & Prevost. I watched as my home town of Santa Rosa went from a rag-tag bunch of old buses to new Gilligs, later New Flyers, etc., although I did not drive for them. At the age of 70, I wish I was still behind the wheel. I miss it! Note: I now live in Rutland VT, where they have had a fleet of 30-foot Gilligs for some time, and just took delivery of two electric Gilligs. All are low-floor but not the BRT type.
Hey Keywan, I think this is one of your best videos yet! I really enjoy the concept of you asking other bus operators from various agencies for their opinions on things affecting their daily lives out on the job. Very enjoyable and would love to see you explore this idea more. By the way my name is Malcolm and I said hi to you a couple months ago as you were taking over a 62 on 21st Ave, was very cool to run into you. keep up the good work!
Thanks!! I will definitely do more videos like this..it was fun! I do remember seeing you! It always catches me off guard when someone recognizes me..I’m normally very low key! I appreciate you saying hi!!
Me personally. Gillig has always been my favorite bus model as a bus fan I hope too soon buy one of my own
Love Gilligs as a customer! They are beautiful on the NICE system on Long Island.
I would love to see a fleet of Gilligs operate for the CTA. Something different besides seeing Novas and New Flyers all the time.
If you’re going to buy 60 foot buses, you will probably buy from New Flyer or Novabus
I also love riding on the buses in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. Dayton is mostly Gilligs only and Columbus Ohio gonna get rid of their Gillig diesels so most of their buses gonna be Gillig CNGs and New Flyer XN40s CNGs.
We have mcis in our fleet here as well. They are getting old now, but before covid we mainly used them for commuter routes to take people from each city north of sf directly into sf and back out again. For this purpose they are decently suited.
Generally I don't think things are completely black and white with buses it's more of pros and cons and certain bus types are better at certain things.
Certainly mcis are really well made buses, usually the two things you can count on are a much quieter ride and much better power/acceleration. However the bike racks we have on ours are under the side of the bus, and they are time consuming and difficult for passengers to use, this, along with the rear lift make them I'll suited for busy public transit routes.
During covid 19 they mainly put mcis out on all routes for "social distancing" reasons. The stairs proved stressful for many (not all) senior/disabled passengers. Low floor buses are much better suited to senior/disabled, front load bike racks (some mcis have them...but not ours) are better for busy public transit routes, as are front load wheelchair ramps on low floor buses.
For routes with lots of highway driving the mci is alright, but I'd almost never choose one for basic service, my primary concern is to accommodate all passengers as efficiently as possible. MCIs have a lot of cons that make them arduous to use for every day transit.
Something I'd like to know is if your buses have barriers? Are we all dealing with barriers now? They retrofitted our buses with barriers during covid and it's really annoying to deal with opening and closing them.
You need to drive a Volvo B8R and B8RLA with Marcopolo Torino body, it’s the best transit bus in Chile, I love driving on this!
I would love to drive one of those one day!
I'm a new bus driver in a small Bay Area city. All buses are Gillig, with three of them being hybrids. Gillig is all I know, but I especially enjoy the hybrids, because it feels very smooth with excellent, easy braking. We have 40, 35, and 30 foot Gillig's, and while the 30 footers are easier to maneuver in tight streets, their brakes are stiff and jerky, and they literally bouce. Perhaps it's because they are older buses. We're supposed to get new battery-electric buses in about 1-2 years. In a nutshell, Gillig's do their job.
I have yet to ever step foot on a NovaBus or Proterra bus. Between the limited experience in riding on six different bus manufacturers here with RTD (MCI, Gillig, New Flyer, BYD, Orion, Neoplan), I would say the New Flyer and MCI coaches we have ride the easiest. That says a lot considering both of them are at an extended length (60" and 45" respectively) in comparison to the regular high floor and low floor buses that are on regular routes. The old Neoplan motorcoaches we had rode terribly. I'm glad we retired them.
I’ve never driven one, would like to. Here in nyct I’ve driven Novas, new flyers, prevost, Orions.. hybrids to cng’s.. personally I like the novas the best due to the driver area. The controls, seat / fair box location as well as the radio. It all makes sense, and I can drive with the seat all the way to the floor and still see my right side mirror without the partition blocking me. On the new flyers the seating is weird, can’t sit as low and the phone (radio) is behind you over your left shoulder. Very silly design. They drive good though, especially the older ones.
Agree. I like the Nova driver compartment, it’s set up for driving rather than like an equipment operator of New Flyers. I don’t have to search for buttons and switches on Nova’s, so I can adjust them on the fly.
@@LuckyCharms777 yeah, also on the flyers we have here, you can’t turn off the overhead fan. So you have to deal with that noise all night / day. Very annoying. Also the nova front end was great for sweeping the curb with tight turns.
I drive for a small agency in eastern Washington State, Pullman Transit. We have an all Gillig fleet, from 1996 Phantoms to new 2022 electric low floors.
They are all great to drive. Handle the hills and snow we have here well.
My biggest complaint is the quality. Somewhere around 2012-2013 the quality plummeted. Our newer hybrid buses all took months to iron out all the issues when they were new, and the three electrics we have spend more time in the shop than running!
Thank you for sharing!! I’ve also heard of issues with the newer models..even where I work!
I'd say Gillig buses are pretty good depending on the transit if you are a passenger. I wouldn't drive em though as their steering wheel and seats sit too low. I'd gladly bring back and RTS and drive it over a Gillig as it feels way roomier and has that screaming Series 50 or 6v92TA in the back.
I driven both Advantage and BRT here in Rochester NY. The only thing that they mainly used them on school routes so those Xcelsiors(😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬) can be mainly driven. Try driving them in snow.
Gilligs are an interesting bunch
although I don't drive em, I do ride them through NICE Bus (Nassau InterCounty Express, which serves Eastern Queens up to Flushing, Jamaica and Far Rockaway, much of Nassau, and Western Suffolk County) and they are pretty fine in performance and comfortability
I haven’t seen Gilligs in my area after 11 years, those 2000 Gilligs LF or Advantages were all diesel making them the last diesel buses to retire too.
Im tall, gonna go Flyer, also I believe that the New Flyer design team is doing a bit more than Gillig.
Im a transit bus operator and our fleet is now 100% Gillig except for the Ford cutaway buses. I have loved driving them and they do well when they're maintained properly and regularly. I'm on the shorter side of the spectrum so I don't experience much of those comfort issues when driving. Biggest complaint is the driver's seat could be nicer and the blind spots (I drive on a busy campus route with a lot of foot traffic so having to move around a lot in my seat is crucial especially during class changes) over all I love Gillig and their electric buses are smooth riders.
Thanks for your input!!
@@BusDriverLife any time! Drive safe out there
I drove Gillig Phantoms and Gillig LFs for Shuttle-UM when I was a student at the University of Maryland. I really liked the Gillig LFs. I thought they rode smoother than our Phantoms, but the build quality was a bit on the cheap side. However it seems that most modern transit buses are built cheaply no matter what the brand. We didn't have BRT versions so the blind spot issues were non-existent.
The Phantoms rode very stiff but seemed to be built more sturdy than the LFs.
What I didn't like were our Thomas TL-960s. Straight up school bus junk!
As good as the Gilligs were to drive, I always preferred driving our Flxible Metro-Bs! Those were my favorites. I loved the look, the way they leaned in corners, and the sound of the Cummins L10 on some of our units. I'd take a Flxible Metro-B over a Gillig any day.
Where I’m from (moco Maryland) we have two operators metro and rideon ride on uses 40 and 29 foot gillig advantage busses and they universally suck ugly uncomfortable etc. metro uses new flyer excelsiors of all different sorts and they are all a joy imho but that comes down to metro putting a lot of care into the furnishing with new fancy screens vinyl seats charge ports and fare boxes.
I really love Gillig buses to be honest with you but unfortunately Chicago doesn't have them so I have to go to the state of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Michigan. Louisville KY is mainly Gillig buses only. We only have New Flyer Industries and Novas for CTA buses and Pace buses have El Dorado National Axess BRT and some with CNGs and New Flyer XD40s.
The bus company where I live recently got 2022 Gillig Brats as well.
As a transit rider, I prefer New Flyer Xcelsiors. However, Gilligs are good; I like their boxy design.
I call them "illigs!!" I can't stand how they ride. I worked in Ithaca , NY (TCAT) and the bumps were not easy on them. They rattled like crazy. The hybrids scared the hell out of Me due to the fact that they delayed before moving. I was on a hill with it in training and almost had a heart attack. Give Me a sturdy New Flyer or Orion.
Hey, on most of MCTS- It's normally on the Gillings, like when we hit a bump it feels like the engine gonna fall out, passengers riding in the high part in the back feels the bump. Like the suspension failed us and scrapped the ground while driving. One time it gave me a head ache because the bus did it twice. It hurt, it but it does it on some of the new flyers aswell. Every ride to school, either I feel the bus riding these roads, or scraping. More of the newer Gillings on the MCTS roads - witch these roads are pretty messed up, the drivers go a bit slower. But with the 5400's through 5800's these drivers be flying with them riding these bumps - in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing!
Rattling inside a tin can is what I think of Gilligs. I do like the handling of the newer Gilligs. However I hate the rattle, slow acceleration, yes the braking and retarder jerkiness, weak interior speakers. My transit service only uses Gilligs. So I don't have anything else to compare them to but I personally don't like Gilligs myself.
Those buses looks horrible!! I love New Flyers! The best of the best!
Wzup with the color interior lights I remember Orion had the blue and red colored lights what bout the fixable buses they had green some had orange colored lights
I love our gilligs here in Denver, the phantoms we're great, and or LF busses are good to. The orion's and nabi's we had we're great, but id use a gillig anytime. I'm not one to like the design of new flyers tho. RTD makes them look ok for the most part.
Gilligs are a good bus. it also depends on how a transit agency specs their buses that plays a huge role in terms of ride quality and other factors. i hate the NewFlyer excelsior because they sway too much prone to undercarriage damage, and some agencies had issues with warped brakes on the NFs...just seems like QC took a huge nosedrive. their best product was the high floor and the first generation low floor model...but even those had problems like excessive wheel shimming.
I retired from cta in 2018. They never ordered or had Gillig buses. It's going to be interesting for cta because Novabus will no longer manufacture buses for the US. That leaves only New Flyer and Gillig for cta. Potera gone bankrupt so Gillig may have a shot
I just recently started driving and I got a love hate relationship with them because they have a Voith Transmission in them so it feels weak out on the road in my opinion and man the new Newflyers sway so bad I be hesitant to drive them
Another thing that’s annoying about gillig is the turn signal is a buzzer I am not a bus driver but I say a video of a Gillig turn signal
I miss driving Gilligs. My current company has New Flyers and Novas. Though all have their pros and cons, Gilligs to me has a better flow in movement.
Interesting! I have no experience with new flyer or nova. Mainly Gillig and Orion here in Sacramento
Love Orion's but almost ready for their retirement , Gilligs replacing them not too bad .
I live in the Seattle area. I usually ride king county metro and most of our 40 footers outside of Seattle are gilligs. They aren't terrible for riders, but there are times I prefer new flyers or the Orions that we have. Although Orions that we have I know aren't popular with our drivers because of blind spots. Orion stopped making buses and instead of fulfilling our contract they bought new flyers to fulfill the remaining 40 footers and all of our 35 footers that Orion was to make.
I prefer new flyer but gillig is alright as a bus. I don't know what our drivers think of the low floor diesel hybrids that we have though.
Not a bus driver, as a passenger, the New Flyer Xcelsior is a little better than Gillig - less rattles, a little “smoother”. However, Gillig seems to be better for maintenance and training as well as fleet commonality - if I managed a fleet for a transit agency, give me a fleet of NON-BRT Gillig LFs and MCIs and I’ll be happy.
I’ll say this, talk to an AC Transit driver - they will almost always say the VanHools are the worst bus ever.
To be honest, the Electric Gillig Low Floor buses are really good in my opinion.
Currently I went back to the public transit sector myself.
And all we have are Gillig BRTs and trolleys as well as a bunch of cutaways, oh yeah and soon some MCIs, that's it
Needless to say I prefer the Gilligs. MCI.. if anything like Croswell I'm sure I'll like those too. EDIT: Only problem I have with Gillig: they're too damn high up and it's a pain in the ass to get aboard
ALSO: New Flyer sucks Gillig is better
Rate the new flyer xn40
I hate gilligs because all of the ones out one of our yards are garbage. Seats worn, brake peddles are on the floor, transmissions crap. The only thing I like about them is being able to hit the door switch while moving. Other than that, I’d rather the new flyers.
New Flyers are way better then a Gillig better
They are Electric steering wheel that’s why they’re small
Great busses. Horrible driver seat.
Personally I can’t stand Gillig. New Flyers are more comfortable for the driver and passengers.
Most of these are the local buses. What about the GILLIG COMMUTER Buses? Also, we are getting close to the 2100’s here at NICE. More GILLIGS to come. Also GILLIG Spelled backwards is Still GILLIG.
Gotta say, the driver ergonomics of those Gilligs look awful! We have Scania and MAN low floors in diesel and CNG. The Scania CNG buses are gutless, nasty and uncomfortable. The MANs are ok and the Scania Euro 6 diesels are comfortable and beautiful to drive. This is in Canberra, Australia.
Ac Transit ones are the worst buses i have ever been on. There are 50 year old ikarus models which outperform the Gillig
My city recently got new gillig buses ran on h20 they are not made for expressways and break down almost daily very poorly made bring back the diesel gilligs work horses
I miss the gillig phantom with the loud Allison and the 6v92
I used to HATE Gillig buses! They used to have tons of suspension problems, and fuel leaks. I love New Flyers and the old GM/TMC/Novas. However, I have changed my mind a bit. Our new Gilligs at MARTA however are quite comfortable and fully loaded, with mirror turn signals and back up cameras. I also miss the Orion V and VII. Being in NYC for a decade before ATL, they definitely won me over. But again our new Gilligs aren’t that bad and our upcoming order will most likely be split between Gillig and New Flyer
I like the Gilligs overall. I’m not a bus driver, and I haven’t ridden the bus in a while, but Gilligs are smooth, especially the old GILLIG Phantoms. Charlotte CATS has some 19 year old Phantoms from ‘03, and they still have the best suspension feel of any bus. Seriously, they’re 19, and still ride smooth af. I also like the GILLIG advantage, and the BRTs. However, the oldest First Gen Nova LFS are my favorite, just cuz they’re unique. From: Charlotte NC
Gillig buses are just glorified airport shuttles.
If you analyze the comments from driver who claim they love them (such as the driver you mentioned from Loyola, which is just a campus route), they are either from systems in which they are placed on short routes, newer gilligs that are less than 5 years old, or from cities that that invest in the upkeep of their roadways.
By far, the BEST buses in the industry are New Flyer (who also owns MCI and have a partnership with Alexander Dennis), and Nova (a subsidiary of Volvo Bus).
This is due mostly to Gillig modifying their modular design that were first introduced as a Rental Car shuttle for the airport (I believe it was Avis or Hertz) and only modified that same tired design for mass transit use (door placement, no luggage racks, etc.)
Transit agencies usually buy Gillig because they are cheaper and don't really think about their overall body structure lasting beyond 5 years (depending on infrastructure).
(Yes I know about the government testing in Altoona to see if they hold up for the 12 year service life before allowing them to claim that they are heavy duty buses. Gilligs are the 1990's Hyundai's of buses, they just squeak by....literally squeak and pop).
As a result, you have more drivers being injured (back injuries) because Gillig does not make heavy duty buses although they are marketed as such.
In terms of buses breaking down, just like cars and trucks, you will get mechanical problems (engine, transmission, etc.) that has nothing to do with the manufacturer of the buses themselves (MCI, New Flyer, Nova, Gillig, etc.) doesn't make their own engines and transmissions inhouse. The engines and Transmission options are ordered based on the person at the transit agency who orders them (which is why some buses have steering wheels that doesn't telescope all the way, or lack of power mirrors, mirror defroster/defogger, dim headlights, underpowered engines/ poorly paired engine/transmission combinations, uncomfortable driver seats, bad switches etc.)
By far Nova and New Flyers are the best (just like Prevost and MCI are better motorcoaches than Van Hools).
In a nutshell, Gillig buses are just the Van Hools of mass transit coaches.
P.S. that is why, MCTS (Milwaukee County Transit System) is buying electric buses from Nova even though Gillig offers electric bus options.
Gillig does not have 60 foot option (articulated buses) because of their cheap modular design.
Thank you for the channel.
If more people knew what we as drivers go through daily, they would be more appreciative and appropriate in their conduct.
Great info! I have been wondering why MCTS went with Nova over Gillig for electric buses!
Damn, that’s disappointing to hear. We just started getting all electric Gillig’s. I love our Nova’s because of their driver layout, lack of blindspots, and wheelchair straps. I heard the Gillig’s are opposite of that, but have wheelchair straps similar to Nova’s rather than New Flyers. New Flyer wheelchair straps are the dumbest and most time consuming and difficult straps to use. I hate them!!! The only complaint I have about Nova is their rough ride.
No.
Bear in mind, Gillig buses and NABI buses are only available in USA. Canadian drivers will never ever drive a Gillig unless they go to the USA.
And to add, NABI hasn't been a thing since 2015
@@lambo8961 Yeah Nabis we’re cool until New flyer bought them
The Gillig BRT CNG's we've gotten at NICE Bus are very similar to your new ones. Except I don't think we have a digital speedometer display, most likely they were spec'd cheaper. They're better than the New Flyer XN40's though (the older batch) the New Flyers definitely seem more poorly made, plus a bad engine fan design has led to more breakdowns. Only the more recent batch of XN40s' we got a few years ago were better. I will say I will miss the Orions when they're gone through, the remaining 2010 VIING's we have will be goners real soon as the latest batch of Gilligs come in. But we still have 3G's from 2013 ish. We're also getting New Flyer XE40's but I'm skeptical of the quality of the fully electric buses. CNG's seem more robust. Of course the MCI's are way nicer and more comfortable, NJ Transit has lots of those and the newest batches are pretty damn comfy and quick. But transit buses don't have that same ride quality but I will say one of my favorite buses of all time (The Orion V) was close. Of course everything is low floor now which means a less smooth ride. As for driver's opinions, a lot of the drivers like the Gilligs more than the New Flyers, but the taller drivers don't, for the reasons you specified. They actually prefer the Orions.
I love the livery on the NICE Gilligs. I think it’s my favorite color scheme of all of them! Thanks for the input!!
I live in Ann Arbor, MI and I love riding our Gilligs and Novas. We also have Gilligs for the University of Michigan and some of them bus operators are college students. My favorite city is Grand Rapids because they have a lot of Gilligs. Lansing, MI the state capital have New Flyers and Novas. Detroit have New Flyers, Proterras and Gilligs. I love my public transportation in the state of Michigan.
all we have are Gillig buses my only complaint would be why is the windshield wiper switch way down on the dash & the power switch right next to me. it would make much more sense to have them swapped.
In Chicago we don't have Gillic but we do have Nova, New Flyer and recently we've obtained Portora and will be putting them to use soon. I personally prefer the Flyer we trained in it and the breaking is lighter than the jerky Nova. The Portora is smooth but the steering wheel doesn't come up high enough I'm 6 feet so I agree with you on that. I hate riding low tho
@Benjamin Willis Oh Wow
Up there in Houston, TX we have New Flyers and Novas 40 foot diesels and CNGs, our New Flyer XD60 is our bus rapid and we also have Orion VIIs and we have Nova Artics. Austin, TX we have Gilligs, New Flyers and Novas LFX 40 ft and 60 ft. San Antonio, TX have Nova LFS CNGs, New Flyers and Gillig LF CNGs
Out here in Cincinnati we have Gillig diesels and New Flyer D40LF's + DE40LF's + DE40LFR's and D60LF for SORTA and TANK we have Gillig diesels including BRT and Hybrids. Cleveland also have Gillig BRT Plus CNG and Diesels.
..and New Flyers
Though as a passenger have to have b as balance if you're standing on one equipped with that Diesel and Allison transmission.
I perfer New Flyer and MCI over Gillig.
MCI built buses in Canada 🇨🇦. The transit bus is the Classic which was originally built by General Motors Diesel Division from 1983 to 1987. Later from 1993 to 1997 by Nova Bus.
@@frankdenardo8684 Nova was actually 1994-2001, with the first models actually being 1995’s. GM was 1977-1987, TMC from 1987-1994.
So Last Year NICE Bus (Long Island Bus) order the 2021 Gillig BRT Plus Bus CNG now this year they order the Brand New 2022 Gillig BRT Plus CNG Bus in my area
My aunt lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan and they have Gilligs and Novas. Detroit also have New Flyer Xclesiors 40 and 60 foot buses, Proterras and Gilligs. Detroit is gonna bring some XE40 and XE60s. My city have New Flyers, Novas and El Dorado National Axess BRT and BRT CNGs for CTA & Pace. My favorite city is CT Transit and Fastrak because those bus operators be putting the pedal to the medal with their Xclesior buses. Boston is also my favorite because of their New Flyers. Some of my bus operator friend can't stand the Novas at all. They prefer driving New Flyers.
Nashville, TN we have Gilligs diesels and hybrids, New Flyer 60 foot XDE60 and XD60s and we have NABI 60-BRT Hybrids.
But really, why would higher-ups care about what the mundane operators think? You cant be relatively efficient AND logical...
You gotta pick one.
I really don’t like giligs. I’m a big Orion fan as they have a great pick up especially trying to get in and out of traffic. I believe the giligs are underpowered but they are more comfortable unless they are 2014 giligs which have the wheel too low. The orions have a tendency to roll in winter or rain bc of the abs which locks up the wheels so not optimal for those climates either.
I'm nostalgic about the gillig phantoms, but I like the new low floor buses better. (I'm bus passenger)
Nice!
I never driven a GILLIG, I’ve only Driven New Flyer, NABI, and Eldorado. But my company is supposed to be getting Electric GILLIG’s…..but my favorite choice is New Flyer by a long shot. But I would love to drive a NOVABUS
We also have Gillig BRTs and some New Flyer XD40 and D40LFRs up here for MCTS. We suppose to be ordering Nova Electric buses soon.
Being That Nova Buses Are Durable and well built I have to say that gillig buses are super cool I own 15 Gilligs from Phantoms to Low Floor and they are cheaper to maintain.
Great insight!!
I love driving the Gilligs up here for IndyGo .
Love the Gilligs.
did u get electric buses yet
Yes..Gillig and Proterra
I’m new to Gilligs and transit buses, coming from the Motorcoach world.
I really like the gilligs, wish the steering wheel was thicker. Lots of blind spots especially doorside with the sign board being a driver around 5’11”.
Yes it’s definitely a lot of blind spots on the BRT models.
In my opinion, you won’t see a single Gillig bus if you’re in Canada. Most transit agencies in that country use mostly New Flyer and Novabus
Yea I think Gillig is mainly in the US.
At Disney, they have a combination of Gillig and Nova. I prefer the Gillig. I really didn’t like the retarters kicking in the second I took my foot off of the gas pedals.
Personally, if I have to drive a Nova at Disney, I liked the newer Novas (numbered 5000 to 5009).
I love Gillig buses with a passion including Gillig BRT diesel buses. We also have New Flyer Industries up here in Houston, TX. I also love Orion VII buses too.
Nice!
I like the Phantom.
My favorite bus is and always be the GMC "New Look" buses. They were the best and a mainstay of cities in the United States and Canada. I have ridden on the GMC buses many times. Thanks for posting. I have ridden other buses as well. The NABI was based on a bus designed by Ikarus of Hungary 🇭🇺. I rode buses by Orion which were built in Toronto, Canada. The Flyer and New Flyer are from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have ridden Gillig buses going school back in the day and they went into the transit buses when the lucrative school bus business was getting too competitive. I rode both Gillig school and transit buses.
I miss the flxibles
City bus drivers in Cleveland Ohio say they don't like them the Nabi's drive better in the snow and high wind.
NABIs are going Bye bye
In the State of Hawaii, we have at least 16 40 footer All Electric Gillig buses that have been released in 2021-2022 as Kalihi division buses. They are not bad, however, previously they have had battery issues so they were all sent to Gillig before but now, they’ve been coming back one by one to be on routes.
There’s going to be more Gillig Low Floor buses coming which are replacing the retired 300s Gillig Phantoms.
I do have a question to ask you, do you think Electric Gillig buses are overrated??
A friend of mine says they are overrated that’s why.
I really wish AC Transit still had it's older 1980'S/1990'S to 2010'S New Flyer and Gillig phantom buses but sadly AC Transit scrapped a lot of them.
We have a lot of gillig buses, and all the new ones have the MFD. What on earth was Gillig thinking putting the dimmer control in a mechanic's menu? The mechanics want to disable our dimming control, leaving the mfd bright and unsafe at night! We drive a lot of pitch black, unlit highway too.
Also, the mirrors are not great. Super small for unusual backing situations. By far not enough vertical range.
1:14 "They talk up the buses, emphasizing how comfortable they'll be for the RIOTERS..." Umm...wow.
I think Gillig is one of the best. Although some improvements, but even the guys that build them are well talented. The new electrics are so quiet that both the drivers and the passengers love them. The Phantoms did have the larger wheels. I do also remember the Orion IIs. When the Phantoms came out, they had two different kinds of front doors. They had the two-pane style like we have seen on many of the old buses, and they had the full-height single pane which gave the driver a larger view out the door. Gillig needs to put more products onto the list of buses they build so that paratransit departments of the transit companies can buy them and so can Via.
Fact: these buses are not used in Canada along with NABIs, but they still use New Flyers, MCIs, Novabuses, Proterras, Alex Dennis, Grande West, Eldorados, Van Hools and Orions. Do you know why Gilligs and NABIs aren't used in Canada? Please reply below.
I’ve driven all makes of buses and while don’t know what is the best, I definitely know what is the worst, Proterra!!! $1m pieces of junk. All plastic w a lousy control layout. Always broken down. Talk about a government subsidized company.
Here in Buffalo New York our Transit (NFTA) we got Novas and Gilligs. We will soon have some new flyer xe40s. I definitely like the gillig hybrid buses the most. I'm no driver but as a passenger I think they ride the smoothest.