Gillig Advantage/HEV 4027

Location: A.W. Willis Avenue at North Main Street, Memphis, TN
Operator of Vehicle: Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA)
Date of Photo: November 25, 2017

Memphis is probably best known for its music scene and role in the civil rights movement in the United States.  However, the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is one of Tennessee’s largest bus network.  With the Main Street Trolley heritage streetcar service in the midst of a service suspension that started in 2014, buses are the only form of public transit within the city.  In the past, MATA’s fleet had a wider variety of vehicles.  RTS models were a mainstay of the fleet from 1980 until 2010.  Buses used in the past also include GM TDH-5300 and TDH-4500 “New Looks”, Flxible 40-102 New Looks, AM General 40 foot buses, and MAN articulated buses.  Now, the fleet is made up almost entirely of Gillig Advantage low floor buses, and MATA is looking to make the fleet powered entirely by hybrid engines.  Here is one of those hybrid Gillig Advantages with the Memphis Pyramid, a sports arena that has been repurposed as a Bass Pro Sports outlet store, in the background.

For more photos of MATA buses, please click here.