Flxible Metro

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Flxible Metro/Grumman 870
Transmission
ZF, Voith, or Allison
Dimensions
Length30 ft (9.14 m), 35 ft (10.67 m), or 40 ft (12.19 m)
Width96 in (2.44 m) or 102 in (2.59 m)
Height120 in (3.05 m)
Chronology
PredecessorFlxible New Look

The Flxible Metro is a transit bus that was assembled and manufactured by the Flxible Corporation from 1983 until 1995. From 1978 until early-1983, when Flxible was owned by Grumman, the model was known as the Grumman 870, with a Grumman nameplate. The earlier model 870 experienced a large number of major design defects and deficiencies, some of which led to the filing of lawsuits against the company by purchasers, and the successor "Metro" model addressed those defective design issues.

Over the combined 17-year production history, a total of 14,456 were built, of which 4,642 were model 870 and 9,814 were Metros.[1]

History

Flxible/Rohr 870 prototype at Alameda South Shore Center while testing with AC Transit, September 1976[2]

Under the ownership of

MTS).[3] Both models were compromises by the Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA), which sought to develop a "Transbus" design that would be "attractive, roomy, comfortable", and easier for elderly and disabled customers to board, accepting these two models as compromises. At the time, the federal government would subsidize the purchase of only the 870 or the RTS II.[4][5]

In 1978, Rohr sold Flxible to

Orange County, California needed to be fixed.[4]

Eventually, Grumman was forced to sell the line to General Automotive Corporation in 1983 for $41 million, a 25-percent loss after developing the "Flxible Metro" which addressed all of the shortcomings of the Model 870 in 1982.[7] Under the ownership of General Automotive, the Flxible nameplate was restored to the buses.[citation needed]

A 1992 Flxible Metro 40102-6C in Portland, Oregon, in 2013. TriMet was one of the last agencies operating Flxible Metro buses past 2010.

Production continued until late 1995, when financial problems prompted the company to suspend production and lay off most of its workforce at the Delaware, Ohio, factory.[8] The layoffs were initially planned to be temporary, but ultimately became permanent,[8] and in 1996 Flxible was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and liquidated. Parent company General Automotive would meet the same fate as Flxible (bankruptcy and liquidation) the following year.[9]

The last Flxible Metros delivered were ones delivered in November 1995 to

Baltimore, Maryland). However, neither of these orders included the Metro with the highest serial number (106591), which had been delivered the previous month to Columbus, Ohio.[8] The official production total for the Metro model from company records is 9,820, but there is strong evidence indicating that the last six of the 25-bus order for Baltimore were never built, and this makes the total more likely to be 9,814 units.[1]

In 1995, some used 870s were purchased from the Central Ohio Transit Authority (Columbus, Ohio) by Kirov, Russia, where they were used until 2004.[10]

Litigation resulting

New York City Transit Grumman 870 236, preserved as an historic vehicle

The Grumman era of production would result in a number of lawsuits related to defects in the

A-frame
of the 870, involving either Flxible's former owner Rohr or the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York.

  1. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), in whose buses where the first cracked A-frame problem was noticed in early December 1980 at their Ulmer Park Depot, yanked its NYC Transit Authority fleet for the first time in 1980 (a separate batch for MSBA was built with the problem rectified the next year) and sued Grumman. This lawsuit would result in a settlement to fix all 870 buses built until that time (2,656 examples in all), along with an early termination of the build contract where the final 200 buses of the order were transferred to General Motors.[4][5]
  2. In 1983, shortly before Grumman sold Flxible, Grumman would sue Rohr Industries for $500 million in federal court, claiming that it was not aware of design flaws in the 870 model before it began production shortly after the sale closed. Rohr was quickly granted summary judgment, which was upheld on appeal; the court noted that Grumman indeed had access to all of the testing information, including knowledge that testing was incomplete.[6]
  3. In 1984, following a fire in a Model 870 NYCTA bus number 411,
    Queen City Metro of Cincinnati, Ohio, with the remaining 40 buses rebuilt and sold to a transit agency in Puerto Rico. The 16 unsold buses were held for evidence until the lawsuit was resolved;[5]
    one bus (236) was preserved, 13 were sold to the Pioneer Valley Transportation Authority of Springfield, Massachusetts in early 1985, and the remaining two were scrapped.

Model history

The model history of the Grumman 870/Flxible Metro is as follows:

Grumman-Flxible 870 (1978–1982)
Initially, the same model naming that was used for the Flxible New Look's third generation was retained.
Nominal seating capacity Width Engine type Air conditioning
35 = 30 ft
45 = 35 ft
53 = 40 ft
096 = 96 in
102 = 102 in
-6 = Detroit Diesel 6V711
-8 = Detroit Diesel 8V712
-0 = No air conditioning
-1 = Air conditioning
Beginning in April 1980, the model designation was revised, with the first two digits now indicating length instead of nominal seating capacity.
Length Width Engine type Air conditioning
30 = 30 ft
35 = 35 ft
40 = 40 ft
096 = 96 in
102 = 102 in
-6 = Detroit Diesel 6V711
-8 = Detroit Diesel 8V712
-0 = No air conditioning
-1 = Air conditioning
Flxible Metro (1983–1996)
Following the purchase of Grumman by General Automotive, the model naming was revised to better identify the engines used.
Length Width Engine type Air conditioning
30 = 30 ft
35 = 35 ft
40 = 40 ft
096 = 96 in
102 = 102 in
-4D = Detroit Diesel Series 50
-6C = Cummins L10
-6C8 = Cummins C8.3
-6M = Cummins M11E
-6N = Detroit Diesel 6V71 (1983-1992)
-6T = Detroit Diesel 6V92TA (1983-1992)
-6TL = Detroit Diesel 6V71TA (1983–1989)
or 6L71TA (1990–1992)
-0 = No air conditioning
-1 = Air conditioning
Notes
  1. Some 1981–1983 units used the Detroit Diesel 6V92TA, including 1981 models which went to
    Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines
    .
  2. Some 1978–1981 units used Cummins VTB903, including a few from 1978 which went to Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

A letter is often used to denote the different generations of the Metro:

  • A = 1983–1986
  • B = 1987–1991
  • C = 1992
  • D = 1993–3rd quarter 1994
  • E = 4th quarter 1994–1996

See also

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ "Newly designed buses tour District cities" (PDF). Transit-Times. Vol. 19, no. 4. AC Transit. October 1976. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "History: A little history lesson about the Flxible company". Flxible Owners International. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  4. ^ a b c "Can Anyone Fx Those Flxibles?". Time magazine. March 30, 1981. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  5. ^ a b c d Feinman, Mark. "The New York City Transit Authority in the 1980s". Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Grumman Allied Industries v. Rohr Industries, Inc., - Alt Law". 31 October 1984. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  7. ^ "Grumman Corporation - Company History". Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  8. ^ a b c Ebert (2001), pp. 215–216.
  9. ^ Serwach, Joseph (May 12, 1997). "Bankruptcy blamed on Flxible's downfall". Crain's Detroit Business. Detroit, Michigan: Crain Communications. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved 2014-08-14. (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries that are in the U.S.)
  10. ^ The Russian-language database of public transport - Grumman 870 buses in Kirov (Russia)
  11. ^ a b Anderson, Susan Heller; Carroll, Maurice (4 July 1984). "New York Day By Day - Grumman Tells Its Side of the Story". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  12. ^ Finder, Alan; Levine, Richard (13 May 1984). "The Region - Next Stop, Court". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  13. ^ "Corrections (May 12, 1984)". The New York Times. 12 May 1984. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  14. ^ "Kiley Gets Authority To Sell Flxible Buses". The New York Times. 22 December 1985. Retrieved 3 January 2009.

Further reading

External links