Iconic Trinity: Flxible Metro

The Flxible Metro was a bus used by TriMet in the 1980s,1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. It was one of TriMet's most iconic buses in its fleet history.

## Order Breakdown

The first Flxible Metros were delivered in 1988. They were numbered 500-549. These were the first buses ordered since 1982. The 2nd order of buses was in 1989. These buses continued the 500 series, with buses numbered 550-637. The next order of Flxible Metros was in 1992, with 2 separate orders of buses. The first order was for 108 40ft buses numbered 1701-1808. The 2nd order was for 10 30ft buses numbered 1901-1910. In 1993, a small order of LNG buses were delivered. These buses were numbered 1809-1816. TriMet's last Flxible Metro order was in 1994. These buses would continue the 1800 series, being numbered 1817-1853. More Flxible Metros may have been ordered later on. However, the Flxible company shut down in 1996, rendering the 1994 buses as the last Flxible Metros built for TriMet. In total, 300 Flxible Metros were built for TriMet.

## History of use

### For TriMet

The first Flxible Metros entered service in 1988, with the fleet growing over the next few years until there were 300 Flxible Metros were in active service. Throughout the entire 1990s, The Flxible Metros served as the dominant bus model in TriMet's fleet. In 2000, the first Flxible Metros were retired. These buses, the 1993 LNG buses 1809-1816, were retired due to lack of replacement LNG fuel pumps. However, the rest of the fleet was not retired, due to the rest of them being diesel buses. In 2006, the last of the 1988-1989 buses were retired due to being replaced by the 2002-2005 D40LF buses. In 2009, 1844-1853 were retired due to budget cuts. The same year, the majority of the Flxible Metro fleet was reassigned to Merlo garage. This meant that most of the remaining Flxible Metros would primarily run on westside(West of Downtown Portland). From 2010-2012, no major retirements took place, due to no new buses being delivered during that time. In 2013, the 1994 buses were retired, replaced by the 2005 D40LFs, which were reassigned to Merlo garage after being displaced by new Gillig BRT buses. In July 2014, the last 40ft Flxible Metros(1992 1700 series) were retired, replaced by the 3200 series BRTs. This left the 30ft 1900 series as the only Flxible Metros left in service. The last 1900 series buses were retired in march 2015, after being replaced by the 30ft Gillig BRT buses, officially ending the 27 year history of TriMet's Flxible Metro.

### After TriMet

Even after being retired, several Flxible Metros survived into later years. One 1989 bus was bought by a private owner and converted into a mobile tattoo studio. 1801 was bought by a private owner and taken to Maryland. 1826 was donated to the Salem fire department. It was used from 2018-2019 for training. It was ultimately scrapped in June 2019. 1902 was bought by a private owner in Washington.

## Significance of The Flxible Metro

The Flxible Metro was the first bus to start off a more modern era of TriMet, replacing most of the Flxible New looks in that were in service. The Flxible Metro became the dominant bus in the fleet in the 1990s. It was also the dominant westside bus in 2000s and early 2010s. It was a common sight for westside residents, even during it's last years of service.

## Trivia

* All Flxible Metros used Cummings L10 and M11 engines except for 1844-1853, which had Detroit Diesel series 50 engines.
* The Flxible Metro is often considered one of the most iconic 1980s-1990s era buses in American transit.

## References

1. ↑ https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/TriMet\_550-637
2. ↑ https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/TriMet\_1817-1843
3. ↑ https://cptdb.ca/topic/20209-update-to-flxible-metro-bus-wiki/