Hey, there! Log in / Register
T begins to roll out hybrid panopticon buses
By adamg on Wed, 11/05/2014 - 3:03pm
Scott tries out the driver's seat.
MBTA officials today showed off the first of 60 diesel-hybrid buses that they say will save money on fuel - and give T police real-time surveillance of bus riders.
Around 11:30 a.m., T General Manager Beverly Scott arrived at Haymarket station, where the bus - which still had that new-bus smell - awaited her inspection. She glowingly looked at the new seats - some configured for single riders - declared she loves buses and tried out the driver's seat.
T officials hope the new buses, built by New Flyer of America, will get 6-7 m.p.g., which doesn't sound like much, but it compares to the 3-4 m.p.g. current buses get.
Like Priuses, only larger and with diesel instead of gas engines, the buses feature regenerative braking to help feed energy to the electric motors and are designed to turn themselves off at stops to reduce energy use. The buses are also quieter than current buses, give off fewer emissions and should get longer brake life.
The buses will drive routes based at the Charlestown depot. All should be delivered by March.
The buses also feature advanced electronics, housed in a wiring closet behind the driver that not only lets drivers communicate with dispatchers and T officials track the whereabouts of a bus but which gives T police real-time surveillance abilities, known as Live Look In. Current buses equipped with cameras store the video until it can be downloaded at a bus depot; the new buses will also record the video captured on in-bus cameras - which riders can see on a screen behind the driver.
Police can already monitor subway stations and some subway cars in real time.
The buses are not equipped with screens to block riders from attacking drivers, but can be, officials said, adding driver assaults are on the decrease.
New seats:
Wiring closet with expansion slots:
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Sounds like a huge fuel economy improvement
At those low numbers, every little bit makes a huge difference in consumption.
Going from 3 to 6 saves you about 17 gal/100 miles driven.
A car that gets 25 mpg only uses 4 gal/100 miles, by comparison.
Ergonomic seats with
Ergonomic seats with impervious materials that won't hold grime like ugly carpet remnant ones on the Red/Orange lines = WINNING!
I remember when they
I remember when they "revamped" the orange line with the cloth. Honestly, it looked as bad then as it does now - made no sense :)
Vandelism proof
Under the theory that you cannot make it look worse, the seats are designed to foil taggers and cutters.
Why can't the subway use the
Why can't the subway use the same hard plastic seats as the buses? It would cut down costs by having the entire fleet except the commuter rail using the same standard seats.Nice to be able to bleach them clean and buff out scratched in graffiti too.
The Blue Line
has those shiny fiberglass seats. They're very slippery and you slide back and forth as the train stops.
Yeah, those are awful
These bus seats, though, didn't seem slippery (granted, I only sat in one while the bus was just sitting there).
Fortunately, most bus seats
Fortunately, most bus seats don't face sideways. All subway seats do. That's where most of the sliding occurs.
I head straight for the forward-facing seats on buses, even if it means sharing a seat.
I liked the previous round of
I liked the previous round of subway seats: padded black vinyl.
They were more comfortable than the current unpadded cloth, *and* they were easier to clean. I hardly ever saw any damaged ones.
A Harvard School of Public Health study showed that the vinyl straps have the most microbes of any surface on the T, followed by the cloth seats. The metal poles were relatively microbe-free, because they're a hard, impervious surface.
Yellow Line
So the MBTA is going to be collecting evidence of its own lawbreaking? It's not uncommon for drivers to allow riders to pack into the buses like clown cars, with 3-4 people riding in the very front of the bus, over the yellow line.
It seems like overpacking buses past a certain point becomes counterproductive, as overpacked buses take forever at each stop to let people squeeze past each other to get off.
Perhaps this change will force the MBTA not to overpack their buses and be a little more honest about the inability to provide full service all too often.
Try 10!
3-4? Lol. Try 10 every night on the 116/117!
more
Sometimes they are smashed against the front window.. so unsafe.
Pro-tip: unless you're going
Pro-tip: unless you're going to Chelsea, you can walk faster than the bus most days. You can leave Maverick as a bus is loading, and know that you'll at least hit Central before it likely finishes loading. As often as not, the bus never passes me. If it does, it's somewhere around White/Falcon.
It takes forever for them to load the buses. And, invariably, there's someone who will get off at the first stop, one freaking block away. That's a pretty slow process, as the bus is already packed to the rafters (and hasn't even hit the other big stops, such as the ones on either side of Central).
If you are going to Chelsea, walk down and catch the bus at Falcon, when it's emptied out somewhat.
Can we get a new paint scheme?
Maybe this is a dumb complaint, but now that we've got these brand-new, futuristic buses, is it too much to ask that we update the 1970s paint job? I mean, I guess the consistency is cool, but a cooler paint job might make the bus a more attractive option for casual transit users.
Why fix what isn't broken?
Why fix what isn't broken?
Except it kind of is
The cheatlines (esp. the black one) clash pretty heavily with the curves on the front of the bus, though less so than with the DE60LFRs.
And I thought the purpose of a bus
was to move people between A & B. I never realized it was really to make a fashion statement.
That "cooler paint job"
Is dull, boring, and ugly. I like the MBTA's paint job the way it is, and I'm sure a decent amount of other people do too. Remember, the T wants to SAVE money, not spend it.
Careful what you wish for...
PVTA out in the Springfield area had the classic blue (and green, red, etc. for certain lines) stripe that you see on NYC buses, then they rolled out these:
Thankfully that only lasted a couple years before they changed it to this:
Could they use a new paint scheme? Probably, but I think it's low on the list of things that need to get done at the MBTA. For now, the yellow is fine.
Seats for single riders
Alright! The T should have singles nights on the buses. Alright!
But seriously, single seats will be great especially when I'm trying to get off at Broadway and the bus is so packed that the person in the outer seat can hardly move to let me get out of my window seat.
(Yes, I know. I read the article. The buses are only going to run from the Charlestown depot.)
Strollers
Kinda glad to see this. That is what was nice about the 1985/1994 RTS buses was the single row of seats along one sided. It will help with the massive strollers that appear on the buses so people aren't blocking the aisle with them, so people can get off and on easier.
Although I can tell this seat layout wont lost (it didn't on the initial NABI buses). Especially that partition that serves no real purpose in the picture above.
PS - Even though this bus (and future ones) will serve out of Charlestown (which means I'll get them on the 111 and 116/117!), bus driver friend posted a picture of this bus (before its paintjob) a few weeks ago when it arrived at the Northhampton Street Garage. Trust me, the T's color scheme is far better.
It's great that these buses
It's great that these buses have 2+1 seating. 2+2 seating has no place on a busy urban route, since there's no place to stand without being in the way.
The previous bunch of low-floor buses had 2+2 seating, to make up for the seats lost over the wheel wells. But according to http://www.transithistory.org/roster , these new buses have just 2 fewer seats than the previous batch (37 vs 39), so they managed to reconfigure things more efficiently.
The seats in the photo don't look too comfortable -- I hope they're ok when I try them.
Woo hoo, more surveillance.
Woo hoo, more surveillance. Don't forget to live in constant fear!
Do these buses also have the passenger-visible screen which cycles through all the camera views?
Here are some ideas to make passengers even more uncomfortable:
- Blinking red lights on each camera
- Constant beeping noises
- Repeated robo-announcements about surveillance, with a speaker next to every seat so it sounds like they're speaking in your ear
- Cameras that can pan around, and lenses that visibly telescope towards you as they zoom in for closeups while you're trying to mind your own business
Are you f'in kidding? With
Are you f'in kidding? With all the instances of bus drivers getting attacked, thefts and even thugs throwing bleach on others, you jump for the Alex Jones surveillance state mantra as the reasoning behind this?
With all these attacks, it
With all these attacks, it sounds like the surveillance isn't accomplishing much.
Most were added AFTER the
Most were added AFTER the attacks and have reduced the amount of attacks. Video footage has also been released after an incident to help id the perps.
For The Curious...
Charlestown District routes:
89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94*, 95*, 96*, 97*, 99*, 100*, 101, 104, 105*, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 131*, 132*, 134*, 136*, 137*, 325, 326, 352, 354*, 411*, 430*.
*Nearly all weekday trips (before ~8:00p) on these routes operated from Fellsway Garage.
I imagine the odd-numbered buses may likely appear on the Somerville/Bennett District routes:
62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 70A, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 350, 351
Why two separate districts from one garage, you ask? Essentially it goes back to an old horse railroad turf war from the late 1850s. (The was a Somerville Garage from 1926 to 1981. It still stands in Union Square and is currently used as a municipal building. The current Charlestown Garage dates from 1963 and sits on the site of the old Middlesex Railroad's Charlestown Neck Carhouse and Stables.)
Shame, the 70/70A is the type
Shame, the 70/70A is the type that needs these busses the most. In addition to being as slow as molasses with people too lazy to walk 20 paces to the next stop, this line contains a large portion of passengers with battle strollers taking up tons of room and the Aresenal mall crowd with giant shopping bags taking up seats and cramming the passageways. There's also several blind folks I've seen that take this route with seeing eye dogs that rarely find room for their critters on the bus.
70/70A needs 60 foot
70/70A needs 60 foot articulated buses and stop consolidation like yesterday.
It also needs retiming of the
It also needs retiming of the godawful traffic lights on Arsenal Street, and maybe some transit priority while we're at it. I can't *believe* how long it takes to get through that stretch, even late at night when there's hardly any traffic.
Packed buses
The #15 bus from Kanes Square to Ruggles is chronically packed after making just three stops. It is not unusual for it to have three baby carriages up front at any given time. I thought I had seen it all about 2 weeks ago when there were two baby carriages taking up the seats area reserved for elderly/handicapped when a blind woman with a dog got on board. She had to sit about 3 rows back with the dog in the aisle. The bus driver did absolutely nothing about this. It is an absolute FARCE for the General Manager to be out acting like she is involved with the day to day operation so the buses or even gives a sh*t!! Another GM just cashing those checks...
The T knows the #15 is one of the most busiest routes but for years has done nothing.
Right
So are the buses I ride daily (111, 116, 117, & 116/117). The 15, like mine, are Key Bus Routes. Trust me, it's in the works to have stuff done about it. My routes had bus stops upgraded this year, work will finish next spring.
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/default.asp?id=19047
You should have called 617-222-3200 and complained about the driver. You don't even need his driver ID, just the bus number, route, and an approximate time and date. The garage will take care of the rest.
I have friends who drive for the MBTA, and the MBTA takes all customer complaints about ADA compliance seriously. VERY SERIOUSLY. They've been sued. They don't want to deal with this again. Actually, ALL customer calls about drivers to the MBTA are taken seriously and action is done (I've called a number of times). But no one likes to call, they just liked to bitch. The T can't do anything about it unless they are aware, thats why calling customer service is important when you see this stuff go on.
Edit: I'll also add that drivers seem like they don't care because they don't. For their own safety. We've had bleach, pepper spray, gun shows, spit, and you name it thrown at MBTA drivers. As a driver, would YOU like to approach someone in fear of getting maced, stabbed, or even worse? Most drivers will just let it go in order to avoid conflict and confrontation. It's sad that we've come to this, but blame the unruling passengers, not the drivers. They are looking out for their own safety.
So what do you expect her to do? Put on a drivers cap and pick up a few extra routes on the 15 just to appease you? Yeah, get real.
Did you every also stop to think that she's the head of the agency. Like a CEO of a company. They are the front man for the 'business' and considering its her bottom is on the line there with this stuff (just look at former GMs Mike Mullherin and Dan G and for an example of an MBTA scapegoat), so I'd EXPECT her to be at all openings and announcements. Its her job to be the front end of the 'company'.
Also, keep in mind that the MBTA bus network is 'short' on buses. It's not like the MBTA has garages full of buses they can just take out to supplement routes. 98% of all buses that are in working order are in use during rush hour. This is why supplemental routes (i.e. 111C, 116/117) and high headway bus routes (i.e. 111) have buses taken out of service to go to other routes for other buses that had to be taken out of service. (a good example is a busitution of a subway line).
In short, the T barely has enough buses as is, and these new buses will take some of the oldest buses (the 1985-1986/1993-1994 GMC RTS buses) out of service, and have a few left over for additional services.
Sue over what? The blind
Sue over what? The blind woman got a seat.
You have apparently never had
You have apparently never had the joy of dealing with the ADA :)
Uglier than mom-zilla confrontations?
Yeah, I wouldn't want to confront mom's with baby carriages who often have another 1-2 kids in tow besides.
Additional ways to report
Twitter is a super convenient way to report. Follow @MBTA and you can tweet them or send a direct message. I report issues several times a month and they respond immediately.
Also, here's a link to the MBTA complaint form http://www.mbta.com/customer_support/feedback/
T complaints are worthless
I do plan on contacting the Disability Law Center about the chronic misuse of the elderly/disabled spaces on the #15.
have you tried?
Seriously? Have you tried?
People with children toddler
People with children toddler age and under under a should qualify for taking up the handicap spaces both on public transit and parking. Try lugging a kid around shopping etc.
I have. I've also been disabled too.
Lugging the twins around shopping (in my 40s) doesn't compare in difficulty to when I was in on crutches after knee surgery (in my 20s). The looks I got not giving up seats on the T or using my (9 month!) handicapped placard were incredible. I generally found it easier to go to the back of the lot when they were in strollers to avoid someone running me over trying to get a spot. Now that they're walking, I'd rather they wear themselves out walking from the back anyway - and I can use the exercise too.
Get over yourself. Baby narcissists give all us urban parents a bad name.
Been there, done that
I had two under two at one point. I just planned ahead to fold the stroller and didn't need anything special.
Why should a car user need a special spot with a baby unless they need a special spot anyway? Seriously?
And parking too? What a
And parking too? What a fucking laugh.
Well, shit some poor old soul can't unload his wheelchair because mom who decided to spit out two kids wants to get closer to the store for dem deals. It's a disability I swear!
Are you for real?
Having kids is not a license for discourtesy. I have three, and never felt it qualified me to take from handicapped or elderly riders.
packed buses
The 86 in Brighton is overpacked between 7 and 9am and especially 5 and 6pm because they don't run enough buses. The ones they run get stuck in traffic so there are more and more people gathering at the Harvard Square stop between 5 and 6. And there is usually a double stroller too. It seems to me that these are problems inherent to any above-ground form of transportation, and we have to suffer because city leaders never had the forethought, or cared, to build subway lines when we could have afforded it.
Look ma no hands
and no cell phone.
Are you sure that the GM
isn't saying "How do you stop this thing?"