On Board: Santa Clara VTA Gillig Advantage Hybrid 40ft, Suburban (6210)

In 2016 and 2017, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) debuted, not only a new livery, but also over 40 new Gillig Advantage 40-footer Hybrid buses. 34 of them are in an "urban" format (2 doors, no reclining seats, can carry around 35 seated passengers) dubbed the 64xx series. Around 10 of them are in a "suburban" format (1 door, most seats are high back and can recline, with overhead bins, lights, air conditioning vents, and can carry around 40 seated passengers) dubbed the 62xx series.

On this particular trip, I boarded one of the VTA's new suburban buses (unit 6210) doing a southbound Line 181 from Fremont BART to Downtown San Jose (at 2nd & Santa Clara). The segment here is from Stevenson & Omar/Farwell in Fremont to 2nd & Santa Clara in San Jose wherein you get to experience the Express segment of the route, skipping Great Mall/Main Transit Center in Milpitas (served weeknights and all day weekends). You also get to notice the features I mentioned in the description, as well as small commentary on how the line goes by as we go south to San Jose (e.g. light rail, bus connections, etc.).

Enjoy!