Double Decker Buses

spARTacus

Well-known member
Ok let me spell it out, they are mandated by the city. When we had them on NY they turned out to be more trouble than it was worth that’s all.
So you are saying they've erroneously decided/mandated to adopt 70% of their fleet as double decker buses, that they made wrong decisions for their circumstances?
 

Chuck Finley69

Active member
What does that have to do with the benefits or drawbacks of Double Decker Buses? (...and BTW, it's the US that follows Canada for driving on the right side of the road, since in Canada that influence stems from Upper and Lower Canada's background from France, whereas the 13 Colonies where only background from Britian).
Nothing to do with Double D's but DD's could be another thread...
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
Here's an article from a couple years ago about the retirement of the original double decker buses used in Victoria BC, then slated for replacement with modern double deckers.

Apparently, those were the first double deckers in North America for public transit use.


I could have sworn there were double deckers in Victoria in the mid 90s, but the article says they didn't enter service until 2000. Must have been early 2000s then when I saw them in Victoria.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
Here's an article from a couple years ago about the retirement of the original double decker buses used in Victoria BC, then slated for replacement with modern double deckers.

Apparently, those were the first double deckers in North America for public transit use.


I could have sworn there were double deckers in Victoria in the mid 90s, but the article says they didn't enter service until 2000. Must have been early 2000s then when I saw them in Victoria.
In NYC we had double decker busses in the 50s when the fishbowls came out the DDB went away as the fishbowls could outperform them.
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
Here's a posting on the web from 2017 discussing some of the things Vancouver considered for Double Deckers or not (spoiler alert, they didn't adopt DDs).


Personally, it seems to me the most valid consideration in their situation was about clearances (for under existing bridges/trees/maintenance-garages/fuel-depots, etc). A training impact was mentioned, but training impacts would exist for any new bus model adopted, and especially if also a new manufacture, wouldn't they? For bus driver training, would training considerations for Double Deckers vastly exceed the unique training consideration for articulating buses? I guess there is maybe training for passengers, for people now needing to go up stairs, and for the drivers, for needing to wait longer to make sure people off load from upper deck? I guess also certainly training for drivers to make sure they know to not try to go under things that would get messed up for their bus clearances, or to take corners too fast and tip over? For maintenance impact, not sure I can understand what the additional maintenance impact would be for a Double Decker in comparison to a single decker, or at least not exceeding an articulating bus? Maybe that extra trailing axle adds some unique maintenance aspects? Surely that is probably less than whatever comes with the articulating hitches, no?
 
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spARTacus

Well-known member
Sorry, I forget people who were not in the industry might not know certain terms. Yes as in the picture from my dads company
The "fishbowls" were probably the default standard everywhere for quite a while for transit buses, no? A "fishbowl" was the first transit bus I ever rode courtesy of Mississauga Transit (who at one point, maybe still do, also had articulating buses). I think there were articulating fishbowls in some cities, no? I don't think the way back then articulating Mississauga Transit ones I remember were articulating fishbowls.
 
The "fishbowls" were probably the default standard everywhere for quite a while for transit buses, no? A "fishbowl" was the first transit bus I ever rode courtesy of Mississauga Transit (who at one point, maybe still do, also had articulating buses). I think there were articulating fishbowls in some cities, no? I don't think the way back then articulating Mississauga Transit ones I remember were articulating fishbowls.
They still exist but we refer to them as articulated 'fish bowels,'. People here miss the old DD's of days gone by.
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
Hmmm. Seems that thread titles can be edited here in CB2. Maybe this thread should also be about articulating buses?
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
Tons of double decker tourist buses in Manhattan. They seem to be everywhere and on most of the major streets and avenues. They don't seem to have clearance problems on those streets and their routes. Wonder why the touring companies use them? I guess the open air upper deck is a drawing factor for the tourist? If that is the only draw and the lower decks are not also used in busier seasons, wouldn't the touring companies just use some sort of convertible or large windowed viewing single deckers?
 
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spARTacus

Well-known member
Something else that seems odd in Manhattan is what appears to be wide use of what I'll refer to as "highway coach" type buses (think standard Greyhound type bus) for transit. At first it appears that maybe many of those could be from neighbouring boroughs and maybe that making sense in terms of longer distances to cover with the various bridges and tunnels. However, probably not really the case as many seem to be used for also just standard transit routes within Manhattan. It's almost like the city got a special deal on them from the manufacturers or something like that recently, as opposed to buying more traditional types of lower floor and more efficient transit buses.
 
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SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
Something else that seems odd in Manhattan is what appears to be wide use of what I'll refer to as "highway coach" type buses (think standard Greyhound type bus) for transit. At first it appears that maybe many of those could be from neighbouring boroughs and maybe that making sense in terms of longer distances to cover with the various bridges and tunnels. However, probably not really the case as many seem to be used for also just standard transit routes within Manhattan. It's almost like the city got a special deal on them from the manufacturers or something like that recently, as opposed to buying more traditional types of lower floor and more efficient transit buses.
First the coaches are express buses and people pay a premium to ride them, the double deckers are mostly confined to specific areas
 
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