Old vs. New: To Retain or Not Retain?

A 1994 Nova Bus Classic waits for passengers on De Maisonneuve Blvd.
in downtown Montreal. If the STM has their way, these older, yet more
reliable buses will soon become extinct.

If there is one thing that remains constant in today's modern society, it's that new things will often replace older ones. Sometimes, this is due to the fact that the old things can no longer perform properly, or are not as efficient as they once were. Other times, it's because the old things have become obsolete, and newer things capable of performing the same task(s) have been brought in to replace them.

There are many instances where this comes into play. One such example is in the wold of technology. Every day, the major technology giants try to one-up each other with some kind of new and supposedly awesome gadget. Apple is notorious for doing this. Just as you're starting to enjoy your iPod, Apple releases a newer one, thus rendering yours obsolete. I use an older iPod that is no longer being sold in stores, but it still works great, and I have no plans to get rid of it anytime soon.

Another example is with the Societe de Transport de Montreal (STM) and their bus fleet. The oldest buses in the fleet, called Classics, will reportedly all be retired by year's end. Built by Nova Bus, these buses - ours are all 1993, 1994 and 1995 models - are among the most reliable ones in the city. They may be old, but they rarely break down, and are mechanically sound. The only cons to them are that they lack air conditioning - only a limited number of STM buses currently have this feature - and they are not accessible to wheelchairs. The STM is retiring them simply because they are old, and not for any other reason. Indeed, many of these buses could - and should - still run for several years to come.

The buses that are replacing the Classics are all Nova Bus LFS (Low Floor System / Series). Since their introduction in 1995, they have experienced a plethora of reliability issues, ranging from engine fires to problems with their disc brakes. The 1996 - 1998 models were the worst of the bunch, and the majority of them have been retired or sold off to other transit agencies. Many of these buses were lost to massive engine fires early in their careers. The LFS continued to experience reliability issues until about 2007. Everything built from 2007 onwards seems to be all right, for the most part. The 2011 models have not experienced any problems to date.

Herein lies the problem - why get rid of something that works well even if it's old? As I already mentioned, there is basically nothing wrong with our dwindling fleet of Classics. I've ridden these buses frequently, and they offer a pretty smooth ride. The Classics also have a higher capacity than their low-floor counterparts do, which helps on routes with higher ridership. Also, many of them have been completely rebuilt and refurbished, and look like new as a result. The STM rebuilt some of their 1994 and 1995 Classics as little as a few months ago, and yet they still want to retire them all by the end of the year. To me, it just makes no sense.

Also important to note is that the STM is constantly planning more and more service increases on some of their most heavily-ridden routes. They need extra buses to satisfy the high amounts of ridership these routes experience, and if they retire all of the Classics at once, they may find themselves with a bus shortage. And if that were to happen, they would be inundated with complaints from passengers about late buses, or buses that failed to show up at all. In short, if the STM decides to go through with this plan, they will be shooting themselves in the foot.

In 2010, the STM's many exploits won them the American Public Transit Association's (APTA) award for the best transit system in North America. If they have any hopes of winning this prestigious award ever again, they should retain their older buses, especially if they want to maintain their current service levels. This was one of many factors that led them to winning this award.

Therefore, I say that old things should not be jettisoned simply because they are old. If they still work fine and are virtually free of problems, then they should be kept until they can no longer meet certain demands and requirements. Many people keep their older cars for this reason, and if the STM were smart, they would do the same thing with their older buses. It just makes sense.