Darrayle Williams, 50, a New York City Transit driver, will be testing a double-decker bus for the next 30 days. (Photo: David Goldman for The New York Times)Updated and corrected, 9:20 p.m. |New York City Transit officials unveiled a new behemoth double-decker bus today that will cruise city streets in a 30-day trial run. The two-story
vehicles have not been in wide use for everyday public transit since 1953, although they did make a brief, limited return in the 1970s.
Beginning on Thursday, the 13-foot-tall, 45-foot-long, 81-seat bus will alternate service on local and express bus routes: BxM3 from Yonkers to Manhattan, the X17J between Staten
Island and Manhattan, the M15 limited on First and Second Avenues, and possibly the M5 along Fifth Avenue (if the tree pruning along the bus lane goes well).
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to talk with the driver and passengers to gauge how the bus handles in city traffic and how customers react.
“This is not just a show,” Howard H. Roberts Jr., president of New York City Transit, said at a news conference on Monday. “It’s not a movement to titillate the public.”
The agency, a unit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is considering bringing back the double-decker bus in light of increased ridership and the mounting cost of gas, said Elliot G. Sander, director and chief executive of the M.T.A.
Once the on-board lavatory is removed, the double-decker will seat 83 passengers, compared to the 62 seats on the New Flyer articulated buses, the long buses with the accordionlike middle.
The new bus also has a low floor, eliminating the need for a wheelchair lift. Mr. Sander said the new buses, which will run on ultra low sulfur diesel, are expected to run more efficiently overall and help the M.T.A. reduce its carbon footprint.
“There is a very real chance that New Yorkers will see this in the future,” Mr. Sander said at Monday’s press conference. “We hope it passes the test.”
If the one-month trial goes well, New York City Transit will move to the second phase trial, actually buying a number of the double-decker buses.
The bus used for the trial is on loan from the ABC Bus Company, which partners with the Belgian manufacturer, Van Hool, to distribute models in North America. Each double-decker costs roughly $650,000, said Mr. Sander, compared to the $900,000 price tag on the city’s current articulated bus.
One of the main reasons double-decker buses were discontinued in the 1950s, Mr. Roberts said, was that there weren’t enough manufacturers competing in the United States market to update and improve the mechanics and keep costs reasonable.
“Unless you build your own bus, you’re a victim of the market,” Mr. Roberts said.
If things go well with the double-decker, the city hopes that other manufacturers will take notice to an emerging market and develop competing models that can meet New York City’s standards and handle the harsh operating conditions.
In addition to the practical benefits, there also seems to be a bit of nostalgia motivating the transportation executives at the news conference.
They brought along the “Queen Mary,” a relic double-decker that operated along Fifth Avenue routes between 1938 and 1953. The ripped vinyl seats, sloping aisle and grandmother’s-house smell was a stark contrast with the sleek modern version parked in front of it along Madison Square Park.
As the driver, Darrayle Williams, 50, took a group of reporters for a spin in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, some pedestrians looked up, puzzled.
Mr. Williams is used to the befuddled expressions. “They’re aghast,” he said. “They’re like, ‘Is this the bus of the future?’”
Two-level buses ran regularly in Manhattan from early in the 20th century until 1953, and made a brief, limited return in the 1970s. (Photo: The New York Times)Correction
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article neglected to mention that New York City briefly put eight double-decker buses on the road again in the 1970s, as noted
in the above caption. The article has been revised to reflect this correction.
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