There’s nothing quite like that new furniture smell – especially on your bus!

I recently boarded a 135 Burrard Station bus outside my home in North Burnaby and noticed the bus smelled like new vinyl. Upon closer investigation I discovered the seats appeared to be brand new. This was nice!

Coast Mountain Bus Company which manages 96 per cent of the bus services in the Greater Vancouver area have, in fact, replaced the seats on the New Flyer Industries D60LF low floor articulated bus that serves my route.

“The 135 bus you are inquiring about did have its seats replaced as part as part of the midlife repair in December 2013,” says Vic Carreira who is the director of fleet maintenance at Coast Mountain Bus Company. “TransLink is committed to keeping our system in a state of good repair. We have strict maintenance practices where in the long run, it will help our buses run better and ultimately service our customers better. Thanks for noticing our efforts.”

I don’t drive so I rely on public transit to get around. I spend at least an hour a day on the bus or SkyTrain so a hassle-free and pleasant transit experience contributes to my quality of life. I like it when the buses and trains are clean, arrive on time and have enough seats for everyone on board.

They installed the comfortable Model 6484 (City Service Bus) seats which are manufactured by American Seating. Their website describes them as follows, “Superior comfort and styling define the fully upholstered 6484 design. This comfortable and refined seating solution is built and tested for durability, safety, comfort and style.”

The old seats were also the 6484 design but they were getting quite ratty and greasy with age. The new seats, however, are comfortable, clean and sturdy.

“As a regular maintenance practice, the interior and exterior of our buses are cleaned on a daily basis, this includes sweeping the floors and washing the exterior of the buses,” says Carreira. “In addition, approximately four times per year, we fully clean the interior of each bus by vacuuming the seats with a hepa filtered industrial vacuum and then spraying the seats with disinfectant. Also, our buses go through a rebuild near the midpoint of their 17 year life. Depending on the condition of the bus the midlife repairs can include seat replacement.”