These buses, once the A frame issues were resolved, served exceptionally well in the San Juan greater metro area of Puerto Rico, under the AMA transit authority.
Moved to Long Beach from Los Angeles in 1980, and they were still running plenty of the sloped rear RTS ll (or series 1) buses and not only did I love the look of these, they rode amazing and had very modern features and interiors for the time. We just lost our family car months after arriving/moving and wouldn’t have another till late ‘84, so it would be an understatement to say we rode plenty of these buses! On bus trips to LA, I clearly recall they had the flat or ‘square’ rear buses first which was a clear update or series 2 with other small insignificant detail changes and I remember finding these far less appealing and sleek looking as our Long Beach buses were. But eventually they changed the rear caps on the LB buses as well, most were new with the square rear ends and some were retrofitted with the flat/square ‘caps’ added due to updated engine/AC/hardware to the series 1 models. Best looking public transit busses to date in my opinion!
I remember as a young European boy, coming with my parents on a holiday to Canada and U.S., I couldn’t get over the huge bumpers on U.S. cars and buses. We just never had those ice breakers up front. Everything was cool and an eye opener for me. I also was under the illusion that everyone was rich and well off compared to what I was used to back home. 😅
$101,000 per unit in 1978 is close to $0.5M dollars in 2023. The extra $10k for the wheel chair is equivalent to $50k extra in present times. Never knew how expensive those lifts were.
There was a D-DOT bussing crisis at the time. Older busses that were built since the mid 1960's. We're broken down. There were delays after delays. D-DOT didn't get new buses until 1979.
Wow this is exactly what they did in Puerto Rico in 1980. They replaced a lot of their GM fishbowl buses with this same type of RTS II buses. It was sensational how the traveling public loved them (me included) and they were a big step forward for the Metropolitan Autobus Authority (AMA) at that time. Watching this video took me back to P.R. 43 years later. Loved the "GMC" logos they had front & back. Only difference was that we got the squareback buses and not the fastback models like in this video. They were white with blue interiors and very similar to these, except for the colour. They also kneeled which the elderly loved. Thank you for this video.
San Juan wait the RTS 04 in 1980, AMA hates the 8v71, they preffered 6v71. But Detroit in urban areas with 8v71 RTS's wow a bombshell. So this RTS 03 receive the 6v71 or 6v92 repower in the 90's?
Good thing the entire state of Florida and some other states were lucky, because Miami made a smart move to turn to GMC and choose the rts over grumman 870 at the time and Broward, Orlando and other cities did not pick up any grumman 870's or flixible metro until between 1981-87.
I wonder if GMC still make buses up to this day and made the RTS successer model. Heck maybe make limited edition low floor bus with design of GM historical well know buses.
GMC sold off the RTS to TMC in May 1987, though the 1987-1988 NYCT order (completed May 1988) was last to be GMC built (shells by GMC, final assembly by TMC in Roswell). The RTS assets and designs would be under Millennium Transit (MTS), but not sure that happened to their assets in bankruptcy.
The truth was, a lot of US and Canadian cities didn’t want these buses and why GM produced with the Classic. RTS had a lot of problems and even Detroit went insofar to buy Canadian-made Classic buses.
I like those buses; I still see them sometimes in San Francisco area as Private Shuttles for the Golden Gate Bridge. Moving people around different places. My Dad drove those busses for Santa Clara County Transit, now VTA. VTA has retired its fleet of the Flexibles back in 2010. Those Buses were used from the early 1980s to 2010. Some of my Family work for GILLIG Bus MFG in Livermore, Ca. They really have the best busses, then you have The New Flyer, not sure who makes the Flyer, I thought it was GM or something like that. because we did have AMC making the same looking busses almost Identical. Some of my Family drive buses and I drive Trucks 18 wheelers. I do miss the VTA Flexible by Grumman.
Man I wish I got to drive the RTS. These were the buses I think of when I think of city buses. As an adult I worked at and drove Greyhound over the course of14.5 years and now drive the city bus. The agency I work for got rid of their last RTS right before I signed on.
September 23, 2022 will be the RTSs Official 45th Anniversary! GMC Created the best buses of the USA, since 1981 the RTS-04s dominated the streets of NYC, along with its offsprings the TMC, and Nova RTSs! Thank you for 38 Years Of Service! 1981-2019
Yeah my transit has a shit ton of Gilligs and new flyer Xcelsiors. I remember when my transit used to have Orion VIIs, Orion VII CNGs, D40LFs, C40LFs, D35LFs, etc. All we have are Gilligs and Xcelsiors now. I think there's only one or two D35LFs still in operation though. The Gilligs replaced most of them.
03s, DDOT wasn't happy with the batches of RTS they got from 1978-1980 and never bought another RTS till 1997, which ironically replaced the original RTS buses that DDOT was still running at the time.
From hearing these videos Conrad mallett was a very eloquent speaker. It appears that he tried very hard to turn that bus system around but he encountered many challenges. From hearing and reading the stories of the past I would give him an A for effort but baby those who watch these videos who were there and rode those buses might disagree. Nonetheless he was an eloquent speaker!
They probably would have still been made if it weren’t for low floors. Millennium transit services failed, and I bet their new T-drive RTS design wasn’t as dramatic as here unfortunately. So hard to find nice information like this video about that company.
These are basically revamped Silverside/RTS I coaches. In Detroit, these ran well into the early 1990s. Even in the first half of the 80s, GMC was still manufacturing RTS Fishbowl buses.
This is where it was the best. Was both modern and acessible. Without loosing the coolness of a loud bus engine, high floor height, and comfort. These new low floor hybrid busses will never compare in the fun factor and comfort of riding buses. I miss riding New York’s RTS busses.
