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Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
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Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
WMATA just sent out images of their brand new Metrobuses. The new red and silver color scheme looks pretty sweet. Keep an eye out for one of the 22 new 60-foot articulated buses when they make their debut in August, on lines yet to be announced.
The rest of the press release stats are below the jump.
Maximum number of passengers each bus can hold: 61 seated; 42 standing; 103 totalNew-look buses
* Aerodynamic look is sleeker with more curves than older, boxy buses.
* Exterior paint shows off Metro’s new red and silver color scheme. Express buses will have the blue and silver color scheme used on MetroExtra Route 79.
* Advanced continuous glazing passenger windows give the illusion of one continuous window from the outside.
* LED interior and exterior lighting and Luminator GEN 4 destination sign system are energy efficient and help improve visibility inside and outside the bus.
* Polished aluminum wheels and wheel skirts finish off the look.Passenger amenities
* Cushioned passenger seats are fabric upholstered and vandal resistant.
* The first handhold straps in the fleet provide added support for customers who are standing in the front area of the bus.
* Heating and air conditioning system allows faster heating and cooling.
* Automated voice annunciator system with stop request and two amber interior LED signs help customers see and hear bus locations and stops.Safety/reliability features
* Onboard video camera surveillance system of nine cameras per bus includes a reverse camera to help the bus operator see behind the bus and a camera at the rear door to observe passengers.
* Vapor Contact Less Acoustical Sensing System on rear doors senses when passengers are near the door and makes an audio announcement to warn customers when doors are closing.
* Hard guards surrounding the curbside center and rear wheels reduce the likelihood of pedestrian injuries.
* Automatic Vehicle Monitoring System monitors the bus performance, including the engine and braking, heating and air conditioning systems, and provides an electronic and printed report when maintenance is needed.
* Low-floor buses are ADA compliant and include a kneeling and raising system to meet various curb heights, a wheelchair ramp and two wheelchair positions.Bus system features
* Manufacturer: North American Bus Industries (NABI), located in Anniston, AL
* Model: NABI bus model: 60BRT-08-01 (fleet numbers: 5401-5422)
* Engine: Cummins ISL-G Gas Engine (320 horsepower rating)
* Transmission: Allison B500 transmission
* Fuel tank capacity: 27,088 standard cubic feet of Compressed Natural Gas
* Brake System
>> All wheel disc brakes
>> Anti-lock brakes
>> Traction control
* Dimensions
>> Length: 60 feet
>> Width: 102 inches
>> Height: 137 inches
>> Curb weight: 45,128 lbs.
>> Floor Height: 16.6 inches at front door (11.8 inches when bus is lowered for boarding and alighting)Other transit agencies that have the same model buses
* Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority
* Charlotte, NC
* Foothills Transit, CA
* Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
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damn, those are fly!
they should really add some bullet holes and stick some chewing gum on the seats for full effect though. and fill it full of stinky people who give you dirty looks.
That pic kinda reminds me of that awful movie The Big Bus about a nuclear-powered bus loaded with C-list celebrities.
Anyway, I can't wait to befoul one with my soil. Or get hit by one.
Cool! Accordion buses, bendy buses, bi-articulated buses, slinky buses. But why not tri-articulated buses? A couple of tri-articulated buses could really ferry Metrorail passengers around problems, not like the sad perfunctory efforts we have to date.
Regarding the automated stop announcements...dont we have that on some newer busses now and the drivers just turn them off, or they just never work for some reason??
What, no automatic seat cleaners?
how do these compare to the current buses, size-wise? are they larger, or do they just look larger?
and i'm taking bets on when the first of those fancy new side-view mirrors gets sheared off by a lightpost...
Vapor Contact Less Acoustical Sensing System
ummm. what is that?
are there cameras to ticket drivers who don't let the bus back into the lane or cut it off?
i think they should also install something on the front, just in case they accidentally hit someone with one of these new fangled buses. just in case.
@nowisthetime, more appropriately, are there cameras to ticket the bus drivers who talk on their cell phone while driving, side-swip parked parks, and hit pedestrians?
ummm. what is that?
ShotSpotter?
These looks sweet!
@loganmo ... or even to document, say, when a bus does not do such things so we don't pay more money to a certain someone.
* Fuel tank capacity: 27,088 standard cubic feet of Compressed Natural Gas
In other words, enough to store the aftermath of a typical Taco Bell meal.
Wow, I think those are incredibly ugly. That red looks awfully orange to me, but maybe that's just my monitor's fault. And I've never really thought silver makes a good branding color.
The thing is, when people talk about BRT or Rapidbus, what they normally end up meaning is buses like this with slightly fewer stops. While that may be a formed of improved bus service, it is hardly as effective as well-planned light rail.
And for what it's worth, most of the buslines I ride announce the stops already. I didn't realize any didn't.
Will metro ever go retro and bring back the ol' DC Transit bus bodies and the green scheme.
It looks like since DC bus stops are so facking close together, these buses could stop at two stops at once.
I love how there are two bus stops at 14th and U--one on the south block and one on the north.
Seriously, bus stops shouldn't be closer than 4-5 blocks apart. This is why I don't use buses often. I can usually walk places almost as quickly.
"The thing is, when people talk about BRT or Rapidbus, what they normally end up meaning is buses like this with slightly fewer stops. While that may be a formed of improved bus service, it is hardly as effective as well-planned light rail."
Yeah no kidding. The Purple Line will absolutely fail in its intentions if it is born as a BRT line.
You can see all 22 of these at once at the same stop, coming soon to the 16th Street line!
Nice! I was in Los Angeles in June and was coveting their MUCH nicer buses! Of course, few people actually were riding them- but I was only there on a weekend.
But only 22 buses were ordered? I HOPE they're used on the most heavily used lines.
what about those other fancy new metro buses I see serving the suburbs? (they are the same colors as the old but have a new shape) I'm a little confused as to why we have two new style buses. (as well as why the suburbs get the nice buses)
Where's the "Knight Rider" strobe to alert pedestrians that there is a big honkin' bus coming down the street?
Where's the 3rd door?
drew: they probably weren't included because they were an add-on to the current buses after the death at 7th and pennsylvania last year, and the design of these buses was probably finalized well before that.
Man these things are fugly! Call me nostalgic, but I like the red, white and blue scheme on the current buses. All the new gizmos sound pretty cool, though.
too bad they don't run on electricity.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1487435/natural_gas_prices_predicted_to_soar/
The "Big Bus" was awful, but for the priest with no faith. "Where's you're God now old woman!?"
I agree with AMDCer - thumbs down on the color scheme, I prefer the current red, white, and blue over this.
@McGillicuddy: come on, they aren't that malicious. This would be more useful.
It would be nice, once they have all these transit cadillacs running, to be able to transfer from bus to metro without paying double the fare.
i just hope metro has factored in the extra expense of the inevitable barry-hit. now that the new models are out, barry will most certainly want to be hit by, briefly forget, and then file a complaint just a wee bit later.
Damn. Just read the Post story on the buses. The seats have Kevlar. I guess that makes sense now that everyone in DC will be packing heat.
"Vandal Resistant?"
Does that mean that people who try to deface the bus get their asses kicked by a robotic boot? Maybe electroshocked too? Help me out here, WMATA.