I currently live on the second floor of a building on 7th Ave. in Park Slope. Although the B67 doesn’t run when I want to, it runs often enough to make its presence known throughout the day. It noisly pulls up, sometimes idling at the traffic light, sometimes slowing down to make a stop, and it is loud. With a new generation of buses, though, the MTA hopes to solve that problem.
In late August, Transit announced a pilot program featuring turbine hybrid buses These DesignLine vehicles are both environmentally friendly and very quiet. At the time, Transit had planned a 90-day trial with a decision to order more of these buses coming shortly after the test runs wrapped up, and right now, three of these buses are in service in Brooklyn and Mahattan.
No decision has yet been reached to order 87 more of these buses at a cost of $559,000 per vehicle, but as the MTA gears up to invest in a four-year, $1.96 billion effort to replace 2500 old buses, the DesignLine vehicles are receiving their fair share of praise. Michael Grynbaum spoke to those who have ridden the DesignLine buses, and in general, the people approve. The drivers noted the smoother acceleration, and the passengers were appreciative of the quieter ride. Now if only the city would do something about the painfully slow crosstown trips.
20 comments
I know this has nothing to do with this post….but this was on WNBC’s website
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34312938
F express in 2013.
I saw that. It’s part of Andrew Siff’s new Why Train series. However, it doesn’t say that the MTA is definitely going to do the F express in Brooklyn. It simply says what the agency has said all along: When the Culver Viaduct work is finished, the agency will have the option to run the F express service and will assess the needs and demands for an F express train. (Also, why did they need to “confirm” with the MTA that plans are in place to rebuild the Viaduct? That’s an ongoing and active project right now.)
On another note, if you could please in the future use the contact form for article tips and news, it would be much appreciated.
Look at the photo in that story. Apparently, the will not only run express, it will be extended to Chicago.
the F, I mean
oh of course. Sorry. 🙂
I have 2 questions – 1) why do the new buses ask you to please exit through the rear door? 2) To my experience (not on this new smiley face model, but on similarly new hybrid models) it seems like there is less room for standees on these low-floor buses (before someone chimes in to say that they’re for easier access for disabled persons, let me say that I know, and that’s more than fine). Is that just me, or is there less room for standees?
The instruction to exit through the rear door is simply to keep the buses moving– i.e. to improve time at the stops by letting people on the front while people exit in the back. I don’t know the specifics about floor space, but given my experience, I tend to think your assessment is correct, not only because of the larger space devoted to the disabled (which, as you say, is a good), but also because people seem to have a phobia of going up the stairs and hence the “ground floor” is packed.
That is true and kind of funny now that you point that out – people tend not to stand on the elevated part of the bus. In any case, it did seem like on the older buses you could pack a ton of standees on board, but not so much with these ones. The ride is great, though.
This is absolutely true…and also in the back of the bus, the seats are pushed inwards because of some utility boxes between the seats and the windows. The Orion VII buses are also way too tall-they could’ve cut some cost by making the front shorter and moving some of those battery packs forward.
LA uses nearly all low-floor busses now, and most rapid lines are low-floor 60ft NABI busses – we have a serious problem with people who won’t go up the steps in the back and so there’s a mass of people crammed into the front and middle of the bus.
Exiting in the front causes real delays. Buses have been asking people to exit in the rear for decades–usually via signage. And of course, people have been ignoring the advice for decades too.
Any news on whether they can silence those loud wheezy kneeling buses? Every time I hear them I feel impelled to throw myself under the wheels, which I think is what the loud noises are supposed to deter.
That’s a hydraulics issue. I’m not sure if they can silence that. I’d have to ask.
I don’t think so – I think it’s a warning that the bus is kneeling, so please stand back unless you want your toes crushed. The beep was probably instituted in response to a toe-crushing lawsuit.
But I’m not certain.
The beep is the warning, the hiss is the hydraulics. They are both pretty loud and together they are pretty agonizing.
Why do the high-floor buses beep loudly when the wheelchair lift is being used? The beeping sounds electronic rather than mechanical, so it wouldn’t be just the hydraulics.
I live on a bus line too and the braking, speeding, and especially the loud explosions of air that accompany every gear change are quite annoying. The gentle rumbling of the nearby R train is a lullaby in comparison.
Not too mention that the new fleet of buses have the sharpest braking ever-every stop is a jolt.
I’m pretty sure DesignLine is behind on its delivery schedule, though it’d be great if someone could confirm it.
I spoke with a person who knows the turbine company that supplies the engines, and they liked DesignLine but said that, like most bus startups, they’re swimming upstream.
[…] time, these vehicles were in the running to be the bus of the future, and in late 2009, the public voiced its approval. Alas, it is not to […]