Orion I 387

Location: East Avenue at Tower Road
Operator of Vehicle: Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit
Date of Photo: December 2, 2005

Much has changed for transit systems in terms of levels of service provided, routes, schedules, and more since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year.  This is especially true for a transit system that primarily serves a college town, such as TCAT in Ithaca, NY.  TCAT’s Fall 2020 service plan includes an interesting quirk where an old route has been partially revived nearly 15 years after its discontinuation.  Prior to January 2006, Route 84 operated between Collegetown and the B-Lot on Cornell University’s campus.  At that time, the 84 was discontinued and replaced by a modified Route 50 and a new route, the 54.  The 50 and 54 were replaced by during the 2010 Transit Development Plan by the 51 and 53, and those routes have basically remained as is since that time.  However, in order to provide additional capacity on routes serving Cornell’s campus (which is open for in person learning this fall), a new circulator route was created to operate between Collegetown and Central Campus, and it will be known as Route 84.  While it won’t extend all the way to the Vet School, what was old is new again, at least to some extent.

In addition to the differences in alignment between this version of the 84 and its predecessor, the bus seen operating the 84 in this photo from 2005 will not be serving the 2020 version.  This Orion I bus was manufactured in 1989, featured a single panel sliding front door (and was not wheelchair accessible), and was retired in 2007, not too long (relatively speaking) after the 84’s previous incarnation was discontinued.  Given the current makeup of the TCAT fleet, the new 84 is likely to be served primarily by Gillig Advantage low floor buses, which weren’t even a part of the fleet in early 2006.

For more photos of TCAT’s Orion I buses, please click here.