OCTA 2006 New Flyer C40LFR #5501

Well its about time (finally) I have spotted the pilot unit or the oldest bus in OCTAs revenue fleet, 5501! I have been tacking it on Transsee and I saw it a bunch of times but not the best quality. Finally, it decided to do the 178 which because it was an in house route now, it's schedule makes it run on the 53, which is great! Usually 5516 runs on this route trip, but because it was already doing another route, this bus served as a replacement. It's about friggin time I have tried to chase this bus down 4 times and getting a good shot of it. During the pandemic this bus got a new wrap, which is a message saying "Join OC in Fighting Human Trafficking." It has worn this wrap ever since and 5534 also sports this wrap too. Some history about 5501, it was the only 2006 model to be in OCTAs roster. OCTA had ordered originally 50 of the C40LFRs before expanding the fleet over to 270+ buses. It was delivered to Garden Grove yard (I think) first before then moving over to Santa Ana yard later, where it still continues to do its routes. Valley Metro, who was the launch customer of the C40LFR, 5501 was leased to Valley Metro until 2007 when it was brought back to OC grounds. An interesting fact about this bus is that the grab bars for the interior used to be yellow instead of the usual grey ones. An interesting note is when this bus departs it makes an interesting noise which it farts not like the rest of the C40LFRs. Anyway, enough of my long spheel and hope you enjoy the video

Route: 53
Bus Number: 5501
Model Year: 2006
Engine: Cummins Westport ISL-G
Transmission: Allison B400R