Spent some time on an electric bus

[meep]

We took a trip to Norway to visit family, and while in Oslo had the opportunity to ride in their buses. Goodness. These were 2 segment buses that had a pivot (hinge?) in the middle. So they were long.

They had excellent seating, solid AC, and air ride. They’d drop 3” at every stop, and then pop back up in 1 second to roll off. Ride was smooth smooth smooth…

They were near silent, and absolutely flew up the hills. Driver was accelerating, cornering and braking faster than I usually drive. And again, uphill climbs were effortless and awesome. Add the silence and smooth ride on top? Darn fine bus ride.

I heard they did run into capacity problems in the winter, and they adjusted their use patterns to accommodate, and kept going.

That whole area has advanced public transport and train systems. I figure they know what they are doing and are figuring out new things too.

Good experience, impressive.

 

[daves87rs]

Something I would like to try…..

 

[hrv]

We had electric busses in Cleveland Ohio in the 50s and early 60s...road them many times. They had two overhead trolleys and looked just like a regular bus for that day except that it was electric...

 

[billt460]

We had electric busses in Cleveland Ohio in the 50s and early 60s...road them many times. They had two overhead trolleys and looked just like a regular bus for that day except that it was electric...

Chicago had much the same. Electrically powered public transportation is nothing new. With the exception of trying to accomplish it with batteries. And that has a long way to go.

 

[hrv]

Chicago had much the same. Electrically powered public transportation is nothing new. With the exception of trying to accomplish it with batteries. And that has a long way to go.

If I remember right the big push to get rid of them was General Motors selling there diesel busses as a better way....

 

[bullwinkle]

We had electric busses in Cleveland Ohio in the 50s and early 60s...road them many times. They had two overhead trolleys and looked just like a regular bus for that day except that it was electric...

Dayton OH still has them, mostly on the older in-town routes. Rolling along with 2 posts up on the trolley wires...

 

[KrisZ]

All of that stuff is great until you bankrupt your country. EU countries are at the forefront of this. I’m glad that at least the experience was good.

 

[Pablo]

They will burn up instantly. Frying all the people inside and everything within a 100km radius.

Musk.

 

[anderson]

wouldn't the tried and true overhead wire system be far superior in long term running costs ?

 

[Snagglefoot]

If I remember right the big push to get rid of them was General Motors selling there diesel busses as a better way....

Vancouver, BC was full of electric busses but the city got rid of them and the overhead electric cables in time for Expo 86. They didn’t want the stodgey streetcar image.

 

[fantastic]

Our small town local school just bought an electric Bluebird. Thanks for sharing this experience.

 

[hrv]

A couple of years ago the Louisville tarc purchased a few electric buses... They were plaged with problems and are still in the shop.. Parts were too expensive and they kept on breaking dowm....A total waste of tax payers money...

 

[billt460]

wouldn't the tried and true overhead wire system be far superior in long term running costs ?

Considering all of the seemingly unsolvable problems associated with downtime involving batteries, especially in frigid weather, I would think so.

 

[edyvw]

2 segment busses are old, OLD thing. Very popular in Europe. When it comes to public transportation, Europe is different planet. It is very urban, and cars can be serious pain in something to go around.
While electric wire above is also very popular, I can see using electric buses in some areas where developing that infrastructure might be an issue.

 

[JohnnyG]

I think there might be some confusion here.

Are they "trolleys", or or they rechargeable electric busses?
Pittsburgh still has trolleys. Those run on tracks with overhead wires.
There are also segmented busses there, and "kneeling" busses, which lower at every stop.

Please help me clear up my confusion.
Norway, Germany and many other eastern European countries have been focused on public transportation for MANY years.

 

[Bjornviken]

All of that stuff is great until you bankrupt your country. EU countries are at the forefront of this. I’m glad that at least the experience was good.

All Western countries are in the same boat

 

[andyd]

In Cambridge there were "trackless trolleys' powered by overhead wires. They worked fine,the MBTA still used them up to 2/22/22. About 1900, my 16 yr old grandfather rode trolley cars, one line at a time, from Providence to Boston. Walking was involved here and there, IIRC

 

[meep]

I think there might be some confusion here.

Are they "trolleys", or or they rechargeable electric busses?
Pittsburgh still has trolleys. Those run on tracks with overhead wires.
There are also segmented busses there, and "kneeling" busses, which lower at every stop.

Please help me clear up my confusion.
Norway, Germany and many other eastern European countries have been focused on public transportation for MANY years.

These were specifically electric buses. In the heart of the city they additionally had electric trolleys for local routes. Then for long range connections to dense populations they had electric rail. We saw roughly 120mph on one of them. Most were closer to 60-70 mph.

 

[walterjay]

As a youngster in Baltimore I remember the electric trolleys with the overhead wires. And then they went and improved everything with the old GM soot choking diesels.

 

[nthach]

Here in the Bay Area, the trolleybus still rules San Francisco. New Flyer built a trolley version of the Xcelsior for SF and Seattle. They’re an upgrade from their old Czech Skoda trolleys. Across the bay in Oakland, AC Transit’s running a small fleet of ZEVs - a mix of fuel cell and battery New Flyers and battery Gilligs. The fuel cell New Flyers move swiftly for a heavy bus.