Meet the Fleet

Aerial view of Convention Place Station
- Photo by Dllu -Creative Commons

Original Owning Agency
Seattle Municipal Street Railway
Seattle Transit System
Suburban Transit System
Metropolitan Transit Corporation
Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle
King County Metro

  • American Car Company Birney Safety Car - Car 210 🔴

Streetcars

  • Twin Coach GWFT - Coach 905 🔴

  • PCF-Brill 40 SMT - Coach 798 🔴

  • Twin Coach 44 GTT - Coach 636 🟡

  • Pullman Standard 41CA-100-44CX - Coach 1005 🟡

  • AM General 10240T - Coach 1008 🟡

  • Gillig Phantom C28D102N4 - Coach 4195 🟡

  • Breda ADPB350 Trolley Converson - Coach 4203 🔴

Trolley Buses

Dual Power Bus

  • Breda ADPB350 - Coach 5034 🟢

Motor Buses

Operational Status
🔴 Out of Service
🟡 Ongoing Repairs
🟢 Operational

1955 GMC TDH-5105
Coach 263

Seattle Transit System
Number Purchased: 105
Fleet Numbers: 200–304
Length: 40 feet (12 meters)
Persons Seated: 51
Motor & Powertrain: Detroit Diesel 6-71 / 2-speed Allison V-drive
ADA Accessible: No
Air Conditioning: No
Retired: 1982

The General Motors “old look” bus is commentary to the many trolley buses the Seattle Transit System operated. Descended from a 1940s design, the coach features minor streamlining. Seattle Transit opted for city gearing for the coach’s hydrostatic (automatic) transmission that allowed the bus to be better able to climb hills but limited speed to 47 MPH (75 KPH). The bus was in service for 27 years before being retired from service in 1982 as part of Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle.

Coach 293 was restored to her historic colors in 2018, but still holds nods to her past such as the 1972 Metro schedule holder with the circular M logo.

1979 Flyer D900 D10240C
Coach 1657

Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle
Number Purchased: 224
Fleet Numbers: 1600-1823
Length: 40 feet (12 meters)
Persons Seated: 47
Motor & Powertrain: Cummins VTB903 / Allison V730
ADA Accessible: Yes - Wheelchair Lift
Air Conditioning: No
Retired: 1997

The Flyer D900 was once common in King County with over 200 exampled purchased. Ordered during Metro’s commuter service era, the D900 offered passengers travel to work in comfort if not style.

The D900 was mechanically similar to bus that Seattle Transit bought the “New Look” decade prior, the largely simplification of the front end of the coach. The flat glass and body panels was cheaper to fix and maintain than the curves of the “New Look” coaches. The body styling help give Metro a modern vibe that fit into the slightly utilitarian look of the 1980s.

The D900 was not without trouble. One Metro mechanic quilted “The reason Flyer became New Flyer was we bankrupted them with recall work.”

1987 MAN Americana SL40102L
Coach 3152

Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle
Number Purchased: 157
Fleet Numbers: 3000-3146, 3150-3159
Length: 40 feet (12 meters)
Persons Seated: 44
Motor & Powertrain: MAN D2566 MLUM/ Renk-Doromat 874B
ADA Accessible: Yes - Wheelchair Lift
Air Conditioning: No
Retired: 2004

The MAN Americana was not the most common bus in the Metro fleet, but the Americanas helped service expand when they started arriving in 1986.

Nicknamed “Breadboxes” by the Metro employees for its slight puffed box shape. The Americianas had a reputation for “dancing” down the freeway as they swayed back and forth. Getting up to freeway speed was also a challenge as the coach, at least in Metro’s spec, slowed to 25 miles per hour while climbing hills and took a long time to reach 55 mph, its governed top speed, even on the flat.

The driver area features a push button transmission selection and special 2 pronged steering wheel.

Coach 3152 was part of the a second batch of Americana received by Metro in 1987 and one of the last buses to be delivered by MAN’s Cleveland, North Carolina before MAN abruptly left the North American Market in 1988.

1997 Gillig Phantom 40102TBM11
Coach 3374

King County Metro
Number Purchased: 395
Fleet Numbers: 3200-3594
Length: 40 feet (12 meters)
Persons Seated: 42
Motor & Powertrain: Cummins M11/Allison B400R
ADA Accessible: Yes - Wheelchair Lift
Air Conditioning: No
Retired: 2019

The Gillig Phantom was the first bus delivered to Metro since the merger with King County 1993. The change was cemented with a new paint scheme of Yellow on the bottom with Blue, Green or Teal on the top of the coach with a reflexive strip of black in the middle. The biggest change of all was the King County Crown logo next to the front door.

Not all the old Metro was gone from the paint. The Phantom was the last class of bus to have the Metro font that was used in conjunction with the old daisy logo.

The Phantom was a mainstay of the Metro fleet for the next two decades and only completely retired in 2019. This late retirement date made it the last high floor bus (Where a passenger has to climb steps to board) in service.