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| COLTS - Scranton Update and New Paint Scheme | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 11 2009, 10:17 AM (132 Views) | |
| Helman700 | Sep 11 2009, 10:17 AM Post #1 |
Occasional Rider
  ![]](http://209.85.48.18/static/1/pip_r.png)
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The COLTS System in Scranton, PA is 100% Gillig, and although their livery isn't too bad I find it pretty unimaginative or distinctive. Here's two recent photos of the standard livery they've apparently had for awhile. I find the stripes basic and overdone, but the colors do actually have a purpose. The blue striping is a system color and continues into their brochures, office etc. But some of the vehicles have an orange stripe and some have a green (which matches the color of the word Colts in the logo on the vehicle). I'm not sure if that is to indicate anything about the vehicle, but the three colors together match a county wide "beautification" campaign many years ago that painted murals on overpasses and tunnels in bright pastels and a Lackawanna County Logo (Lackawanna Wonderful) with some sort of swirl graphic. If you've been to the area you've undoubtedly seen them If you'll notice, all of the vehicles have a Lackawanna County Banner where alot of sytems have an American Flag. Posted Image Posted Image Blue Wireless Ad Wrap Posted Image Blue Cross Ad Wrap Posted Image I'm sad to say that we do have one of those glorious tourist trolleys. At least we're in a town that actually had trolleys though, has a trolley museum and a marker indicating that we had the first electric trolley (I think, I really don't know what it says). Posted Image And the coup de grace are the quick images I got last night of what I believe is the only vehicle with the new livery scheme (and the only new vehicle they seem to have) Posted Image Posted Image As you'll notice, no county logo or flag opting for the modern tradition of having a long name spelled out above the drip edge. And they dropped the orange and/or fluorescent green for just simply the blue/green basic color which makes sense. Posted Image Posted Image I both think this is a major improvement on the livery from the early 90's and could tear it apart. Scranton is not an innovative city, so I'll let slide the "Lackawanna County" wording on the roof which is a design element going through systems like wildfire (when they're afraid to copy LA's metro graphics). Obviously, I'm not happy that they stole the rest of their paint scheme from an RV the head of the system probably had to sell last year because of the depression, but I really do like the fact that they chose the taupe and brown rather than copying the silver/grey of everyone's new BRT vehicles. I think it's a good alternative that achieves the same goals but does it with a twist. As you can see from the photo, alot of the buildings downtown are faced with stone and they all have brown hues to them, so I think it fits in well with the landscape of both downtown and blends with a background of trees as well. It's distinctive because it's new, but it will then blend in nicely in a year or two when all the vehicles have the scheme. BTW, they don't seem to be repainting any old ones yet. |
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| Helman700 | Sep 11 2009, 10:21 AM Post #2 |
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Occasional Rider
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Oh, and I just noticed the white wheels. I'd have gone with something else that might match - that taupe wouldn't show dirt as much and would match much nicer. Even black or grey would work. |
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| buswizard | Sep 11 2009, 10:51 AM Post #3 |
^^^ My sister needs a copy
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very nice shots. Does Wilkes-Barre have a separate TA or is it the same? are the TAs separated by county? |
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| Helman700 | Sep 11 2009, 11:22 AM Post #4 |
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Occasional Rider
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Yes, Wilkes-Barre and all of Luzerne County is served by the Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) and Scranton, Lackawanna County is served by the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS). |
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| MichaelBug | Sep 11 2009, 12:23 PM Post #5 |
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Occasional Rider
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Don't forget about Hazleton (in southern Luzerne County). It has its own city-operated transit system, Hazleton Public Transit (HPT). On a side note, I find it puzzling that there is no direct LOCAL service between Scranton & Wilkes-Barre by either COLTS or LCTA (I know about Martz Trailways' service, but it's more of an intercity operation than local transit). There's also no connection whatsoever between HPT & LCTA-although they are both in Luzerne County. Neither COLTS nor LCTA's basic route structure has appeared to have been updated in several decades, & both systems cry out for a freshening. |
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| Helman700 | Sep 11 2009, 01:04 PM Post #6 |
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Occasional Rider
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Yes, sorry - Hazleton has it's own city transit authority and LCTA doesn't actually cover that part of Luzerne County which is silly. If your the County transit authority you would think they would recognize that Hazleton needed some service, but I doubt they ever even looked outside the valley. Generally both of these systems only run local service to the city centers and to grocery stores as a basis for their operation, I would imagine there isn't enough "local" demand for a route from Hazelton to Wilkes-Barre. And yes, the only public transit option (which isn't really public) is the Martz Coach bus between Scranton and W-B which is city center to city center express. It runs frequently, and I've heard with their "commuter" pass its pretty cheap, but there's obviously no connection to the two transit authorities directly. I would imagine there is a coach to Hazelton but I haven't looked into it. With this being said, both COLTS and LCTA have service to downtown Pittson (which is in Luzerne County) so in theory you could take the COLTS route to Pittston, get on the LCTA from Pittston to W-B. I have no idea if the schedules line up to be able to do that I would imagine that they aren't coordinated that way and if they do it's a nice coincidence. And with that being said, as part of the bi-county Transit plan there ARE actually "plans" -nor dreams which is more likely -of a BRT line from Hazleton to W-B, another from Nanticoke to W-B to Dallas another from Covington (out 380 to the East) to Scranton to Dalton (route 6/11 to the north-west) AND an LRT line from Carbondale down the valley to Scranton and finally - an LRT Line from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre along with the over-hyped Scranton to NYC commuter (or in some dreams High Speed) Train Of course being a bus fan I would rather see a BRT Line from Scranton to W-B and to tell you the truth all but maybe a north and south extension of that line seems ridiculous to me. Though if it doesn't exist at all right now, I suppose they need at least a minimum service from Hazleton to W-B. |
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| ctrabs74 | Sep 11 2009, 02:28 PM Post #7 |
Advanced Transit Fan
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By the looks of it, it would seem that the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area needs a one-seat ride between the two cities before even considering BRT. Same with Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton (though, IIRC, there is supposedly some sort of connecting bus between the Hazleton transit system and the Schuylkill County transit system in the McAdoo area). Come to think of it, it might not be such a bad idea of the Lackawanna County and Luzerne County systems to merge into a regional system in the long-term (maybe throw Hazleton into the mix as well, but the Hazleton system seems to be too separated from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton systems). |
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| Helman700 | Sep 11 2009, 05:04 PM Post #8 |
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Occasional Rider
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I tend to agree, a regional transit system would probably implement a local line between the two cities as first order, although since there are routes serving most of the smaller towns in the valley sending them either to Scranton or WB (depending on which their closest two) and Pittston (in the middle) is served by both, I think a BRT with stops in the 3 or 4 town centers between Scranton and WB with terminus' at the current city center stops (or the future intermodal transit centers - should they become a reality) would allow the setup of the two local systems to work pretty well together as is. Like I said, if you want to cross between the two systems you need to take a local and connect with another to get from center to center. If you want to get from an outlying area to another outlier in the other county you need to take 4 different locals. If you had a BRT route between centers you would have a local - BRT - local which would allow for more cross pollination. Basically it would cut one exchange off of any cross valley excursion you might need to take. |
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| Tritransit Area | Sep 11 2009, 09:10 PM Post #9 |
Transit Enthusiast
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While the new scheme looks nice, unfortunately it's quite similar to Red Rose's scheme: Posted Image Posted Image Nice pics though! I'd hope a Regional Transit service would work out, though, but the systems really do need a bit of work. Service ends ridiculously early... I've never ridden COLTS (and I only rode LCTA a few blocks). Do a lot of people transfer between the two systems? I'm guessing the white wheels on number 302 is so that they can be interchanged with the Phantoms. That's one of the major selling points with Gillig LFs - you can use full sized wheels with them. |
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| Helman700 | Sep 14 2009, 12:11 PM Post #10 |
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Occasional Rider
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Apparently Sioux City Transit has the same (even more similar to Red Rose) on a side note Sioux City also has Real-time vehicle tracking. Sioux City Transit 1318 Might it be a standard from Gillig? Like, hey you can get white for free, or, for just 499.99 we'll give you this nifty "European style" (whether it is or not - manufacturers seem to be pushing european styling) paint job? As for crossing systems, I haven't heard of anyone who does it, but it looks like it could be somewhat doable for a few trips. There are two ways to connect - Mohegan Sun and Pittston routes. The Pittston trips in the early morning and at the end of the work day give you a 5-15 minute layover for your exchange. The ones in the middle either put you there at the exact time the other is leaving (which means you'll probably miss it) or you have to wait for an hour for the transfer. It could work, but since the systems don't communicate you would never have a guaranteed connection. And it would cost $3.00 one-way (the Martz bus is $2.63 one way for an everyday communter) and the trips are locals so It would take an hour to hour and a half + whatever layover you may have again with no gaurantee (the Martz commuter takes 30min) |
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| Tritransit Area | Sep 14 2009, 12:32 PM Post #11 |
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Transit Enthusiast
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Wow! I didn't realize that there was a third that shares that scheme! Honestly, Red Rose's scheme predates the Phantoms and BRTs, as they originally came in off on the Opus buses. Maybe you can get it out of a catalog or something. It's great that Martz only charges 3 dollars between the two cities. I did not realize that! I really should make my way back out to that area one day. |
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| TRANSIT_FREAK | Today, 12:11 AM Post #12 |
Simpsonized!
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It look like the same livery just in different colors. LOL I did not know TA's can take the same design and change around the colors. |
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| buswizard | Today, 8:53 AM Post #13 |
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^^^ My sister needs a copy
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Look at LUCY/8258/8272/8068!!!! |
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6:56 PM Nov 23
