What do these numbers MEAN? You decide.
  • TriMet
  • What do these numbers MEAN? You decide.

I know, this headline sounds like your everyday stuffy, soggy, armpit-y commute—and it's never something you're very elated about. But this time, it'll hopefully be different. If you're really into buses, that is.

TriMet's offering up a chance for 15 lucky riders to get a VIP tour of its shiny new bus fleet, slated to hit the roads for public use this September. One of the contest's main draws? "Smell the new bus smell" (followed by "kick the tires"—is that weird?), a smell I'm sure few alive have had the pleasure sniffing. While the winners of this incredible award will only get to putz around a sole prototype of the "3000-series" bus, TriMet promises 55 of them at a bus stop near you by the fall.

About time. The local transit union's top beef with TriMet is the crumminess of its current ancient bus fleet. According to TriMet, about 150 of their current running buses are over 18 years old. THAT'S REALLY OLD.

Here are a few perks of the new model:

-"Easy-to-clean" vinyl seats
- Bigger windows
- Fancy new GPS
- Lighter interior color scheme
- Automatic drop-down snow chains
- Quieter ignition (and no "blue smoke")

I'm excited to see how these babies ride. Sign up to get a sneak preview here.