San Francisco Looking at Double-Decker Transit Buses

from MassTransitMag:



San Francisco Looking at Double-Decker Transit Buses


Rachel Gordon, staff writer,



San Francisco officials revealed Thursday that they are looking at adding double-decker buses to the city's public transit fleet, and are expected to roll one into service by year's end for a short-term experiment.

The borrowed double-decker bus will travel along some of the city's busiest transit corridors, including Geary and Mission streets, to see how they perform and whether the riding public likes it.

At 14 feet tall, the buses should not interfere with overhead utility lines, city officials say. They also can fit through the Stockton Street tunnel as long as drivers stay in the middle lanes.

Double-decker buses, an iconic transportation option in London, "have a lot of advantages," Muni chief Nathaniel Ford told The Chronicle. Among them: They can hold a lot of people without taking up too much room on the congested streets and will be easier to maneuver through traffic and around corners than the long, double-jointed articulated buses.

They also will be easier to store in the city's crowded maintenance yards because they take up less floor space.

The test vehicle will be able to seat 80, with additional standing room. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/San-Francisco-Looking-at-Double-Decker-Transit-Buses/3$4812

Replacing them with articulated "bendy buses" is a really bad idea, IMO. The deckers take up a lot less room.

I consciously avoided them when I was there in November. And in a city with so many narrow streets and "roundabouts," you'd think they'd prefer the DDs.

The Geary corridor needs a light rail line but I suppose that the DD buses are worth a try because if they choose bus RT instead they would still be able to use the double deckers on that run. There are already very frequent articulated buses on that route. The 30 Stockton bus through Chinatown and North Beach is probably the reason for the Stockton tunnel reference. It's another line with high frequency service and crowded buses.