London Comes to SF: Double-Decker Buses Tested On City Streets

Will London style double-decker busses soon make regular rounds on the streets of San Francisco?  Perhaps! Definelty maybe! Possibly.

San Francisco's public transit agency, Muni, this week began month-long field tests of a double-decker bus on some of the city's most crowded routes. The double-deckers offer weary commuters 83 seats, compared to the mere 55 provided on the city's existing fleet of 60-foot articulated buses. Backstage, the double-deckers also take up 30 percent less space in Muni's already-crowded maintenance yards.

The $800,000 double-decker, currently on loan to the city, is an Enviro 500 model manufatured by Alexander Dennis Ltd. of Sussex, England. According to Muni's press release:

From Wednesday, December 12, 2007 to Monday, January 8, 2008, when Muni customers board the distinctive double deck bus, they will be invited to ride free-of-charge and provide feedback to the SFMTA about the bus. Six-days-a-week, from morning to night, the statuesque vehicle will move from route to route to allow SFMTA planners and operators the opportunity to see how well the bus performs. This will allow as many Muni customers and operators as possible the opportunity to let the SFMTA know what they think of the unique vehicle.

“Looking at innovative approaches to our transportation needs is exactly the purpose of the TEP,” said Mayor Newsom. “The SFMTA and San Francisco both have limited resources—financially and geographically. Whenever possible, we should explore all our options and work together to find the solutions that work best for San Francisco.”

To call these buses "statuesque" is pushing it a bit. Nevertheless, a little bit of London style might do everyone in San Francisco a little good.

LINKS:
Double Deck Bus Test Schedule (San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency website)

Enviro 500 double-decker bus (marketing materials and fact sheets from Alexander Dennis)

(Tip of the cap to the San Francisco Sentinel via SFist)

PREVIOUSLY:
Three Reverential Photographs of Buses

PHOTO: Bill Wilson/SF Sentinel. Illustration by Alexander Dennis Ltd.

Comments

[Tom]

I haven't seen any of these in London - we seem to have mostly Tridents (shorter, four wheels) - see http://www.alexander-dennis.com/double_deck/trident.htm. I hope that's not the final paint job, as well! Part of the charm of London's buses is that they're all red, and not in some private operator's colours.

[Simon]

I must admit, it's a bit galling to see that SF might be getting double-deckers when we in London are still being told that the future is the bendy-bus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_O530_Citaro#O530G_-_Articulated_bus

We hate them. Well I do, anyway.

[mwenge]

Like London, Dublin has double-decker buses - and they're also four-wheeled. No prizes for guessing their colour.

[eck]

My biggest disappointment with the Dublin buses was that neither the upper saloon nor the lower saloon lived up to its name. (Then again, I worked there back in 1986, so things may have changed.)

[Austin]

Way cool. I can't wait to get back to The City to test one of these out. That's nice that they post a schedule of it's trial runs.