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Created: November 08, 2024

The name Gillig Phantom may not mean much to some people, but it elicits an excited response from many transit enthusiasts.

For those unfamiliar, the Gillig Phantom is a type of bus manufactured from 1980 through 2008. Phantoms were first added to the C-TRAN fleet in 1990 and last purchased in 2003. As the fleet modernized, some of the Phantom’s traits became rarer: The high-floor design, distinct rectangular shape and slanted windshield panel on one side, for example.

As of October 2024, the run of the Phantom at C-TRAN has officially ended, as the last of those 2003 buses have been retired from service. Over the years, almost 100 Phantoms have passed through C-TRAN’s maintenance bays. They’ve transported passengers through rain, sleet, snow, extreme heat, and everything in between. Seeing them leave is bittersweet but inevitable as we say goodbye to this iconic bus to usher in a new era of efficiency. Almost all of the vehicles in C-TRAN’s current fleet are newer models of Gillig buses.

For what it’s worth, C-TRAN held onto its Phantoms for an exceptionally long time, largely thanks to the agency’s outstanding maintenance team led by Chief Maintenance Officer Tim Shellenberger and Manager of Fleet Maintenance John Orsetti. Shellenberger started as a mechanic in 1996 and has been with the agency for over 26 years. December 2024 will mark 10 years at C-TRAN for Orsetti.

The transit industry standard is for a bus to remain in service for a minimum of 12 years. C-TRAN has a benchmark of 16 years, but that’s often exceeded. Many of our vehicles remain in service more than 20 years before they’re retired, as the 2003 Phantoms did.

“It’s just a testament to the maintenance that we do,” Shellenberger says. “Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve always taken pride.”

“We have an outstanding (preventative maintenance) program, and the mechanics take such good care of the vehicles,” Orsetti says. “Our team cares and is passionate about what we do and how we do it. If you compare our buses to others out there, they’re cleaner, and they’re a lot more maintained. The outstanding program that we have is such a huge thing for us.”

Shellenberger and Orsetti also give credit to operators who drive the buses daily.

“We could do all the maintenance work, and if they didn’t take care or have incentive to treat it like their own vehicle…they could throttle off and on, you know,” Shellenberger says.

“And they’re not afraid to write things up,” Orsetti says. “If something is wrong, they always bring it to our attention. Everything from a major issue like an oil leak to writeups for scratches. They pride themselves on how they look, too, not just how they run.”

While not part of C-TRAN’s regular fleet, one very special Phantom was retired a few years ago but has been retained as a special event bus: Coach 1776. The bus bears a striking star-spangled exterior with an eagle on each side—hand-painted by C-TRAN Coach Technician Mike Felts years ago.

“I just think of what has gone into that bus and what it represents, and it’s just absolutely amazing,” Orsetti says.

“I think it holds a lot of sentimental value,” Shellenberger says. “We were talking about a patriotic bus, so marketing got involved. Mike stepped forward with a piece of paper and said, ‘Hey, what about this?’ He took his piece of paper, taped it to the side of the bus, and he would just start drawing on the side of the bus, and then he started airbrushing it. That’s all free-hand. It’s his design, so I think that’s why it means so much. Before that happened, we had no idea that talent existed, because he was very humble. We had no idea. Now it’s like, what else can he do?”

When buses are retired from C-TRAN’s fleet, they are either scrapped to reduce the number of carbon-polluting vehicles on the road or auctioned via public surplus. The buses that have been auctioned have gone on to some unique second lives beyond the C-TRAN bus yard. 

“People do different things with them,” Orsetti says. “I talked to one guy that wanted to convert one of them into a greenhouse. The things people do with them, you never know.”

Retired buses are sold as-is (with C-TRAN logos removed) to anyone who wants to buy them. That may be another transit agency, a nonprofit organization or a private owner. Shellenberger recalls one bus that was sold for $1 to a fire district to become its mobile command center.

 “We painted it for them, and they gutted it, put in a generator and beds for first responders, a first aid station, the works,” Shellenberger says. “I think they finally got rid of it, but they used it for a number of years.”

C-TRAN introduced the practice of scrapping old vehicles when it makes sense to do so, or if it’s required following the addition of zero-emission buses to the fleet. In that case, an outside company comes to pick up the bus and salvages any valuable metals from it. C-TRAN then receives payment for the material. That approach produces a win-win: It reduces waste while taking an older, polluting vehicle off the road, and it provides a fiscally responsible solution for C-TRAN.

The sun may be setting on the Gillig Phantom, but the future of C-TRAN’s fleet remains bright. As part of C-TRAN’s Zero Emission Bus Transition Plan, we’ve already added battery-electric buses to the fleet. Hydrogen fuel cell electric buses are next, in addition to a hydrogen fueling station that will be available for other agencies to use. That facility is expected to be complete in 2026. Hydrogen fuel cell buses will follow soon after.

What’s the fate of the final three Phantoms that left the fleet in October?

“There’s a gentleman coming out later today to look at them,” Orsetti said on the day that we spoke with him. Maybe they’ll become a workspace, a party bus, or an art installation. Whatever the buses become, they’ll remain a part of C-TRAN history.

UPDATE (November 12, 2024): All of the final outgoing Gillig Phantoms have been auctioned off and have new homes.