Talk:Ben Franklin Transit

The following references may be useful when improving this article in the future:

Elise Haas (2016-11-12). "All Aboard! Ben Franklin Transit debuts trolley buses". KEPR. – Note Open Graph meta data.

Trans+Plus

It should be noted that Trans+Plus does not operate on Sundays as it once did. -- allen四names 16:56, 24 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It does now, as of October 1, 2013. I've updated the Wiki to reflect this -- Bradfordbrian (talk) 11:18, 25 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Bus routes

Information about bus routes should be verified by schedules published (internet or print) by Ben Franklin Transit. -- allen四names 16:43, 27 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Need for more sections

I think this article needs sections on history, other services, and fares. I may do the fares and other services sections soon but I am not ready do the history section yet. (See Verifiability.) -- allen四names 18:21, 29 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Got the "Fares" section done. -- allen四names 20:25, 29 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All the sections are now in place if not how I thought it would be done. I am still concerned about sources. Newspapers such as the Tri-City Herald have been copied onto microfilm so that may be one possibility. -- allen四names 19:45, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Tri-City Herald on microfilm

I have found out that the Washington State Library (Using Newspaper Microfilm Resources at Washington State Library) and two branches of the Mid-Columbia Libraries (Magazines & Newspapers | Mid-Columbia Libraries: See Newspapers Available at Mid-Columbia Libraries. (PDF)) have microfilm copies of the Tri-City Herald. Hopefully I will be able to find the articles I will be looking for. -- allen四names 01:49, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Richland Public Library has rolls of microfilm copies of the Tri-City Herald. I will have to learn how to use the microfilm reader before I can view them. -- allen四names 08:19, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have done some preliminary research at the Kennewick Branch of the Mid-Columbia Library, 1620 S. Union, Kennewick, WA on November 2, 2009. The first of the two articles was "Tri-City bus issue questions answered" by Bob Woebler of the Tri-City Herald, April 5, 1981, "SECOND PAGE ONE". (Tri-City Herald on mircofilm roll dated April 1981) According to this article the ballot is dated May 19, 1981 to approve a sales tax of three-tenths of a cent for a transit system in the Tri-Cities. The second article on the front page of the May 20, 1981 edition of the Tri-City Herald "Tri-City voters approve mass transit system by 2-1" also by Bob Woebler announces the formation of the Benton-Franklin Public Transportation Benefit Area. -- allen四names 02:19, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Update. The Pasco branch no longer has microfilm. The information at the Mid-Columbia Libraries web site should be corrected shortly. -- allen四names 19:15, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think that if you want to dispute the founding date as stated in the History section of the Ben Franklin Transit website, you should research the actual legislation that created the Public Transportation Benefit Area. Who are you, or a newspaper, to rain on their birthday party? Are the dates you quote, the dates of the newspaper articles? From your extensive research, you could have come up with something more substantial to add to the article than this. You have taken possession of this article and have also inserted many unexplained, seemingly unrelated, external links. Since I am unable to access the local resources available to you, I will leave you to clean it up without my inteference at this time. Good luck. Secondarywaltz (talk) 13:39, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If I wanted to dispute the information I could take it to the Three Rivers Transit Center where BFT has a sales counter, meetings room, and clippings from the Tri-City Herald. To deal with your first question this article is about Ben Franklin Transit not for it. Your other question has been answered by the references to the Tri-City Herald articles. (April 5, 1981 and May 20, 1981 respectively.) Extensive research requires more than getting the first article on the microfilm roll that mentions the proposed Public Transit Benefit Area and using that to get the headline article. Finally, you are not completely unable to access these articles. Here is contact information to the Kennewick branch.

Kennewick Public Library · 1620 S. Union St. · Kennewick, WA 99338 · Phone: +1-509-783-7878 · URL: http://www.midcolumbialibraries.org/

You may note that I did not include any email addresses. That is because Mozilla Firefox warned me of a problem with the security certificate being used. Contact a librarian and ask how you can obtain copies of the articles I cited. Interlibrary loan may be an option if your library has a microfilm reader (35mm), but if you live outside of the United States make sure to ask if this will be a problem. If you can access LexisNexis you may be able to view the articles yourself. (Institutional subscriptions noted.) WorldCat may also be of help, but I do not recommend that you resort to ProQuest^{[Sticker shock]}, at about $140US a roll and no sales of less than a year ($1680US) the price is pretty steep. -- allen四names 07:16, 7 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Update: Google News Archive Search has some but not all issues of the Tri-City Herald of that time period. – allen四names 01:54, 10 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Service changes

There are changes that will be made later this month. Please read the Tri-City Herald article linked below.

Cary, Annette. "Ben Franklin Transit Board OKs changes". Tri-City Herald. March 12, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2010.

Regards. – allen四names 01:29, 4 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Bus photos

I have uploaded the following photos to Wikimedia Commons.

I hope these will be useful in improving this article. – Allen4names 17:14, 26 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Someone may want to add information about the dial-a-ride fleet so here is a photo of one of the buses. Allen4names 15:51, 30 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Adding Burbank

I have moved the following text here so that it can be rewritten or kept out as may be.

Talks of Burbank being added into the service area have surfaced several times since Ben Franklin Transit began operating, but is highly unlikely to happen as Burbank is in Walla Walla County and as Walla Walla County has their own PTBA, Their PTBA (Valley Transit) would need to cooperate in this.

Valley Transit may not need to cooperate. See this link. – Allen4names (IPv6 contributions) 19:27, 23 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Fleet

Active Fleet

Model	Motor	Seated Capacity	Length	Time of Service	Quantity	Fleet Numbers	Notes
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	40	40'	2005–Present	5	5245-5247,5249-5250
ZEPS Electric Bus (Gillig Low Floor)	KAM All-Electric Drive	38	40'	2013–2014, 2016-Present	1	E-1	Originally entered service in 2005 as 248, rebuilt by Complete Coach Works in 2012/2013 as an all-electric bus. Has 2016 battery pack retrofit and low-profile tires.
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISM	37	40'	2006–Present	3	5251-5253	First coaches ordered with wide rear doors
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	23	29'	2007–Present	5	5254-5258	Acquired via piggyback contract (CamTran).
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2009–Present	9	5259-5267	Acquired via piggyback contract (Laketran).
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2013–Present	4	5306-5309	Acquired via piggyback contract (Laketran).
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2014–Present	4	5310-5313	Acquired via piggyback contract.
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2014–Present	4	5314-5317	Acquired via piggyback contract (Lynx).
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2015–Present	4	5318-5321	Acquired via piggyback contract (Whatcom Transportation Authority).
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2015–Present	2	5322-5323	Acquired via piggyback contract (Whatcom Transportation Authority).
Gillig Low Floor	Cummins ISL	37	40'	2015–Present	3	5324-5326	Acquired via piggyback contract (Port Authority Transit).
Gillig Low Floor "Trolley"	Cummins ISL	32	35'	2016–Present	3	Columbia, (5002) Yakima, Snake	Acquired via piggyback contract (Lake Transit).

Future Fleet

	Model	Motor	Seated Capacity	Length	Purchased	Status	Quantity	Fleet Numbers	Notes
	Gillig Low Floor		37	40'	2013	2 delivered 2015	4	5322-5323	2 units acquired via piggyback on a Whatcom Transportation Authority order, other 2 units bought directly from Gillig using an extension on the same WTA contract.
	Gillig Low Floor		37	40'	2013	To be determined	10	5327-5336	Acquired via piggyback contract (Port Authority Transit).

Fleet Pending Retirement

Model	Motor	Seated Capacity	Length	Time of Service	Status	Quantity	Fleet Numbers	Notes
Optima Opus	Cummins B5.9	23	29'	2003–Present	In progress	6	501-506	Acquired via a "piggyback" on a Long Beach Transit order
Optima Opus	Cummins B5.9	23	29'	2004–Present	In progress	3	507-509	As a result of customer complaints, ordered with cushioned seats
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11	29	30'	2010 (1995) - Present		4	268-271	Ex C-TRAN 2036, 2043, 2045, and 2051
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11	37	35'	2010 (1995) - Present		3	272-274	Ex C-TRAN 2061-2063. See 275 in "Retired Fleet" below.
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11	45	40'	2010 (1995) - Present		1	277	Ex C-TRAN 2088. See 276, 278-280 in "Retired Fleet" below.
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11+	45	40'	2011 (1999) - Present	Contingency	11	283-293	Ex-Sound Transit 9016-9017, 9019, 9022, 9045, 9048-9049, and 9052-9053 [283 was 9017, 284 was 9016](originally acquired via a "piggyback" on a King County Metro order). 293 has new engine, reset governor, capable of 70 mph
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11+	45	40'	2012 (1999) - Present	Contingency	12	294-305	Ex-Sound Transit 9000-9001, 9003-9009, 9013, 9037-9038 (originally acquired via a "piggyback" on a King County Metro order). "Wave" livery is removed. 297 has the new BFT livery.

Retired Fleet

Model	Motor	Seated Capacity	Length	Time of Service	Quantity	Fleet Numbers	Notes
GM New Look	GM 6V71	45	35'	1982 (1961) - 1990?	37	101-138	#121 is ex-Alexandria, Barcroft & Washington Transit Company #134
Mercedes-Benz O309							Ex-Community Transit. Purchased for West Richland Route 10, replaced by 139
MCI MC-7	Detroit Diesel 8V71 (might have been repowered to 8V92)			1983 (1972) - 1995	7	701-707	701 and 707 ex-Kerrville Bus Co. V111 and V110. 702-706 ex-Gray Line of Hawaii Inc. 402, 405, 409, 404, and 405. All units entered service as NASA - Kennedy Space Center #'s 17, 25, 12, 14, 21, 13, and 16.
TMC MC-8	Detroit Diesel 8V71			1987 (1975) - 1995	1	708	Ex-Greyhound Lines (West) 2413
Gillig Phantom	Detroit Diesel 6V-92TA	29	30'	1986 - 2003	1	139
				1988 - 2005	5	201, 203-206
				1989 - 2007	1	202	Replacement for original #202 which was damaged in delivery
Gillig Phantom	Detroit Diesel 6V-92TA	38	35'	1988 - 2011	27	207-233
Gillig Phantom	Detroit Diesel 6V-92TA	43	40'	1992 - 2012	8	234-241
MCI 102-B3	Detroit Diesel 6V-92TA	47	40'	1993-2012	4	709-712	Sold to Kitsap Transit
MCI 102-D3SS	Detroit Diesel Series 60	48	40'	1995 - 2012	4	713-716	Sold to Yakima Transit
Gillig Low Floor	Detroit Diesel Series 40	38	40'	1998 - 2012	3	242-244	Acquired via a "piggyback" on an Intercity Transit order. Scrapped instead of auctioned due to high value of aluminum.
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11	45	40'	2010 (1995) - 2013	1	278	Ex C-TRAN 2089. Sold to Grant Transit Authority.
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11	45	40'	2010 (1995) - 2014	3	276, 279-280	Ex C-TRAN 2087, 2090, 2098
Gillig Phantom	Cummins 6CTA8.3	29	30'	2011 (1993) - 2013	2	281-282	Ex-Mason Transit 801,803. Sold to Grant Transit Authority.
Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11	37	35'	2010 (1995) - 2014	1	275	Ex C-TRAN 2065

Page flow redesign

I'm in the process of re-flowing the main page to make the TOC more useful. Feel free to make minor adjustments as seen fit, but please leave main headings intact. Bradfordbrian (talk) 05:51, 12 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Also, we need to clean up the talk page a bit, it's all over the place Bradfordbrian (talk) 05:51, 12 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This is a test KML file based on a shapefile i procured. Template:Attached_KML/ Bradfordbrian (talk) 10:43, 27 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Bradfordbrian: You should fix the link to the KML file to look something like Template:Attached KML/Ben Franklin Transit or KML file. – Allen4names (contributions) 16:15, 31 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]