Transbus Program: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:10, 9 September 2022

Revision as of 15:19, 9 September 2022

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AM General filed a lawsuit against the [[United States Department of Transportation]] in 1976 over the "exclusionary" specifications in the GM RTS contract awarded by the consortium,<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|4}} asserting the new ADB specification requirement to qualify for federal subsidies essentially shut them out of the transit bus market altogether;<ref name=AMGvDOT>{{cite court |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/433/1166/1814278/ |vol=433 |reporter=F.Supp. |opinion=1166 |litigants=AM General Corp. v. Dept. of Transp. |court=[[US District Court for the District of Columbia|D.D.C.]] |date=1977}}</ref> the lawsuit effectively halted all transit bus procurement nationwide.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28488981/the-philadelphia-inquirer/ |title=It's the best of all possible buses — on paper |author=Tulsky, Frederic S. |date=April 19, 1981 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |accessdate=9 October 2020}}</ref> AM General lost their suit in April 1977.<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|5}}

[[File:Press conference with John Brademas, Carl Albert, Brock Adams, Thomas P. O'Neill, and John McFall. September 1976.jpg|thumb|right|[[Brock Adams]] (center), at a press conference while serving as a member of Congress (Sep 1976). Seated, L-R: [[John Brademas]], [[Carl Albert]], Adams, [[Thomas P. O'Neill]], and [[John J. McFall]].]]

Incoming Secretary of Transportation [[Brock Adams]] revived the Transbus project, and in May 1977, stated that by October 1979, new buses would have to meet the Transbus specifications to qualify for federal subsidies.<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|114}}&nbsp;<ref name=TBMP/>{{rp|3–10}}&nbsp;<ref name=Reason-80/> In 1978, the [[San Francisco Municipal Railway]] ruled out Transbus for its forthcoming procurement of accessible buses, noting the lowered floor and undercarriage would get caught on the city's hills.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37197407/the-san-francisco-examiner/ |title=Bids weighed for buses that handicapped can use |author=Glover, Malcolm |date=August 2, 1978 |newspaper=San Francisco Examiner |accessdate=9 October 2020}}</ref>