Uses of Higher Capacity Buses in Transit Service (2008) / Chapter Skim
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From page 7... ...
All transit agencies reporting the use of HC buses for BRT service used articulated buses, except two that used 45-ft buses. The entire bus fleet of GO Transit (Ontario)
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9No. of Transit Agencies with HC Buses*
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The following three tables provide the specific responses by type of HC fleet: articulated buses (Table 6) , double-deck fleets (Table 7)
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No. of Respondents Citing "Important" TABLE 6 SURVEY RESPONDENTS' PRIMARY REASONS FOR IMPLEMENTING ARTICULATED BUSES Reasons for Implementing DoubleDeck Buses Frequency of "Most Im portant" Ranking*
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Comments included: • Improves image and makes program more visible; • Avoids passenger perception of standard bus service; • Encourages "choice" riders to use the transit option; and • Makes bus equivalent to car: reclining seats, provide live satellite feed. DEPLOYMENT DATES OF HIGHER CAPACITY BUSES As discussed in the section on the historical evolution of HC buses in chapter one, articulated buses have operated in North America for nearly three decades.
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Those agencies using articulated buses cited modifications that were related to the longer length of the vehicle. Modifications reported for bus stops included bus bays lengthened, street furniture moved to accommodate the three doors, the installation of new bus stop pads (59 ft in length)
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TABLE 13 ACTIONS TAKEN BY CATEGORY TO IMPROVE DWELL TIME Type of HC Bus Local Service Restriction Articulated Passenger loads restricted to 150% seated capacity Speed limited to 55 mph and interlining with other routes was eliminated Used only on routes where bus stops and roadway could acco mm odate Double-Deck No standees allowed on upper deck Certain routes are restricted because of vertical clearance issues Do not use during high winds 45-ft No standees allowed on coaches on roadways (some transit agencies reported allowing standees on their coaches) Operator training for 45-ft coaches, in particular for use of tag wheels during winter operations 45-ft coaches not used on routes that regularly carry persons in wheelchairs Not allowed on trunk or local lines.
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Certain routes cannot acco mm odate articulated buses, so the scheduling param eters were adjusted to prohibit so me interlining. Changes were made to interlining to ensure two bus types were not put on same route.
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Second, the main benefit from articulated buses, from a customer's point of view, is the reduction of overloads and pass-ups that occur on specific trips. This is a benefit to existing riders, but does not create "new" riders per se; it may, however, encourage retention of existing riders over time, but this is difficult to perceive or measure.
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The transit agencies were asked to indicate the type of HC bus and to rank the major issue/concern, with "1" indicating the most important. The following tables identify the major issues/concerns reported by survey respondents by type of HC bus: articulated buses (Table 19)
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TABLE 18 SUMMARY OF MAJOR ISSUES AND CONCERNS RAISED BY USE OF HIGHER CAPACITY BUSES Frequency of "Im portance" Ranking* (% of all respondents with articulated buses)
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19 Frequency of "Importance" Ranking* (% of all respondents with Double-Deck Buses)
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From page 19... ...
The exceptions for the articulated fleets were for some BRT vehicles and for the articulated buses designed and manufactured in Europe. For the double-deck fleets, one had ramps in both first and second doors, one had only the first door, and one had only the second door.
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and grade climbing (54%) capability with their articulated buses compared with their 40-ft buses.
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TABLE 29 PLANS FOR FUTURE HIGHER CAPACITY OPERATIONS articulated buses, there has not been a widespread need to have a larger spare ratio than the norm. The six agencies reporting a higher spare ratio for their HC buses provided the following reasons: • Three were for BRT applications and a small number of vehicles in the fleet, and • Three were for reliability and maintenance needs of their particular HC sub-fleet.
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