We’ve told the RTS story here, but I thought it would be interesting to highlight the last version of this controversial and conflicted design.
Early RTS 01 “Slantback”
We all know the history of the RTS – GM’s vaunted successor to the iconic “New Look” bus, and its initial years that were filled with numerous teething problems, poor build quality, and disappointed operators.
DART – Dallas
The Bus – Honolulu
But after being in production for over eighteen years, and cycling through three owners, all the “kinks” had been pretty much worked out. That brings us to the final variant, the 06 WFD. While TMC and Nova Bus made an RTS 08 model, the 06 WFD was actually a successor to the 08 and the last model produced in quantity.
Not an RTS – example only
Why the WFD? It was the best option for making this old design compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which required buses to be accessible to people with physical challenges, specifically those that use wheelchairs. Previous versions had the wheelchair lift on the rear door, which required the driver to exit his/her seat and walk back to operate it. Moving it to the front door allowed them to remain seated and shaved a few precious seconds off the dwell time.
TTC – Toronto
Sun Tran – Tucson
And it had some other major changes over the “legacy” model. First, the front was changed to a more flatter appearance, with the headlights lowered to just above the bumper. Then around 1999, the transverse engine layout was modified to a longitudinal one – using either Cummins ISC/ISM or Detroit Diesel Series 50 engines (diesel or CNG).
But with newer low-floor models being introduced, which had significantly faster dwell times, the writing was on the wall. In 2003, with its own new LF model, Nova Bus sold the RTS rights to Millennium Transit Services (MTS), which was mostly owned by the employees at the Roswell New Mexico manufacturing plant where the bus was made. MTS’s new model was called the RTS Legend; it kept the flat front windshield but reverted back to the old-style headlights. The company did receive several orders from New Jersey Transit and El Paso – but wasn’t able to complete them due to lack of capital. New Jersey Transit rescinded its order and twenty-five buses already built were re-sold to Texas A&M University. MTS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few years later, re-emerging, then closing again. While there was no formal announcement of them ceasing operations, their offices in Roswell have been vacant for the past five years.
I hadn’t read the old RTS post back in 2016 – for those who haven’t, it’s another of those truly excellent Brophy Bus Education Specials – but now I have, this bus is a very sad fizzlement of what could have been.
That original ’68 proto model shown in the 2016 post looks and sounds (in its ideas) terrific, and somehow transmits that excited-for-the-future idea of the times. Alas, it wasn’t to go that way, and the final splutter to the end is this very utilitarian and dull device.
Ah, GM.
I re-read the old post after reading this one and you are correct.
My early teen years were spent on a lot of Los Angeles buses, there were a few New Looks still around on some routes which were a breath of fresh air (literally) after many, many hours on RTS buses. But then the Neoplans were introduced around ’84 or so and wow, it put the RTS misery into very stark relief, as a rider at least.
Comparatively I guess it was sort of like every once in a while riding around in a solid vintage Buick, then having to daily drive a Chevy Citation, and then a couple of years later your carpool partner shows up in a Lexus LS400. I well recall standing next to the bus bench, craning my head and focusing my eyes into the far distance trying to make out if the white blob with orange and red stripes was an RTS (Noooo!….) or the more square-rigged shape of the Neoplan (Score!!!!!…).
The wide door on these was I’m sure a welcome addition for some, but it was well past time for the door to firmly slam shut on the RTS which would probably let it hit it in the rear too on its way out just for good measure. Such promise, such disappointment, the cynical part of me (who, me?) guesses GM at the time of RTS development probably had no real reason to make transit appealing or comfortable.
I remember when the original RTS buses hit the DC-area Metrobus fleet in the ’70s. I can’t overstate how futuristic these looked compared to any previous transit bus. To pre-teen me they looked more like the Disney World monorails than any bus I’d seen, particularly the early ones with sloped front, sloped back, and big flush unopenable side windows (they were mostly white; this was before buses became festooned with advertisements on every available square inch). I was quite disappointed when I first rode on one – the interior looked nothing like the 1968 prototype shown in the aforementioned 2016 post; instead it looked like any other bus from the inside.
Didn’t know the RTS had an afterlife after GM. These came and went from the Metrobus fleet in a matter of just a few years; the ones that remained were retrofitted with larger rear A/C caps and slide-open windows which spoiled the futuristic look somewhat. But these still look like the most modern transit bus ever to my eyes, much more so than the current blocky buses which look like they’re from the same design school as European-style vans that have taken over the US market over the last decade. Too bad even with extensive mechanical revisions (and at least two new owners) they couldn’t compete with newer designs. Quite a contrast from the GM old-look and new-look buses that each dominated the market for several decades.
Being ‘blocky’ has a major advantage: more space inside. That’s a big plus for any type of commercial vehicle, buses included.
Justy-ism of the day: fizzlement. 🙂
I sometimes wonder if Justy has a side gig, writing scripts for ‘Ozzy Man Reviews’ at YouTube. lol
Given that I’ve never heard of that, it seems to me to be unlikely, but I may be wrong.
Top shelf mate.
The final RTS chapter; the bus that just wouldn’t die. And I’m quite sure we’ve seen the last of it.
“But after being in production for over eighteen years, and cycling through three owners, all the “kinks” had been pretty much worked out. That brings us to the final variant, the 06 WFD. While TMC and Nova Bus made an RTS 08 model, the 06 WFD was actually a successor to the 08 and the last model produced in quantity.” The MTA Bus shown on the photo actually was an Orion V (not an RTS 06 WFD) but its chief final competitor) which was acquired from Westchester County-The Bee-Line System (Liberty Lines Transit).
Thank you – if you’re referring to the picture showing the front wheelchair lift in operation, you are correct – I couldn’t find any pics with an RTS.
The RTS story was interesting to say the least. I knew some people in public transit and their consensus was the RTS overall was a disappointment compared to the GM New Look, but as bad as the RTS was (particularly the early models) it was better than any contemporary advance design bus (I am talking about you, Grumman 870). Some GM people told me that trying to meet the old Urban Mass Transit Administration’s requirements compromised the design, dictating some rather dubious features like kneeling independent front suspension, integral air conditioning with non-opening windows, wheelchair lift on the back door, and very heavy modular stainless steel and composite construction. Some of these ‘features’ were improved or deleted over time for the benefit of the vehicle’s reliability and efficiency. The back door wheelchair lift was a good example, the device was so large and heavy GM had no choice but to mount it at the back door near the rear axle (and it was powerful enough to almost lift the bus it if malfunctioned). The 06 model finally addressed the issue. T-drive setups had been under development at GM before they exited the transit coach business, supposedly as Allison Transmission planned to discontinue the V730 transmission.
Another great bus biography Jim.
Canadian transit operators rejected the RTS, the first time around. Creating a market, for the Canadian-developed GMC Classic bus. Ironic, that Canadian-based Nova Bus, would use the RTS as the basis for this transitional high floor bus. Offering front door wheelchair accessibility, before Nova’s low floor bus was ready.
1980s GMC Classic:
At the time, the RTS and most existing high floor buses, still offered a specific distinct advantage over the early first generation low floor buses. Capacity. Significantly more passengers could ride comfortably seated, on traditional high floor buses.
I used public transit at the time (late 1990s), and was generally disappointed in the first gen Nova Bus low floor model. As it offered a fraction of the seating of traditional buses. Plus, more awkward seating configurations. Buses became overcrowded much more easily. Accommodation for bus wheels, in the passenger seating area, became a factor. Another reason why, so many transit operators use articulated low floor models. They help make up for the loss of seats, and passenger capacity, on individual buses.
Up in Canada the RTS in general was a rare sight. However, after the Classic died an early death due to organ rejection (attempts to install a Cummins C8.3 in a longitudinal arrangement proved troublesome) the 1st-gen LFS still had enough teething issues to scare a few operators into purchasing the RTS WFD. Toronto and Gatineau were the most significant Canadian WFD operators, with 1 order each of 52 and 12 buses respectively. In Toronto they were generally considered inferior to the Orion V as far as high-floor buses went, and Gatineau got rid of theirs after 12 years (this same system ran secondhand 1991-92 Classics until 2019-20) so they weren’t particularly well-regarded up here, although they weren’t nearly as disliked as the early years of LFS.