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A Hybrid Transit Bus of Capital Metro in front of the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin, Texas
A Hybrid Transit Bus of Capital Metro in front of the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin, Texas

A transit bus (US) (also known as a commuter bus, city bus, public bus) is a bus used for public transport purposes. History The creation of Capital Metro was approved in 1985 by the citizens of Austin with a one-cent sales tax The roles and specifications of transit buses are not clear cut, and vary with operator and region.

With the development of bus building technologies and urbanisation, the emergence of specific transit bus features emerged for the different operating conditions compared to other private or public transport bus use.

The features of a transit bus are geared for operation on regular urban or suburban bus routes, with multiple defined stops, in a commuting or short distance leisure role. This is as opposed to more comfortable all seated inter-urban or long distance coach public transport; shuttle buses; demand responsive buses such as paratransit or private hire bus or coach operations. In British English and Australian English, the term coach is used to refer to a large motor vehicle for conveying passengers Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules Increasingly transit buses are built as low floor vehicles.

Contents

Specifications

Generally, a transit bus will have:

Modern transit buses are also increasingly being equipped with passenger information systems, multimedia entertainment/advertising and passenger comforts such as heating and air conditioning (as opposed to historically where actually necessary). Passenger information is information provided to Public transport users about the nature and state of a Public transport service though visual voice or touchable Some industry members and commnetators promote the idea of making the interior of a transit bus being as inviting as a private car, recognising the chief competitor to the transit bus in most markets.

Operations

As they are used in a public transport role, transit buses can be operated by publicly run transit authorities or municipal bus companies, as well as private transport companies on a public contract or fully independent basis. Due to the local authority use, transit buses are often built to a third party specification put to the manufacturer by the authority. Early examples of such specification include the 'Greater Manchester' Leyland Atlantean and DMS class London Leyland Fleetline. The Leyland Atlantean was a model of Double-decker bus built by Leyland (with bodies added by a variety of companies in the United Kingdom from 1958 to The Daimler Fleetline (known as the Leyland Fleetline from c1975 was a rear-engined Double-decker bus Chassis built between 1960 and 1973 New transit buses may be purchased each time a route/area is contracted, such as in the London Buses tendering system. London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL that manages bus services within Greater London, UK.

The operating area of a transit bus may also be defined as a geographic metropolitan area, with the buses used outside of this area being more varied with buses purchased with other factors in mind. Some regional size operators for capital cost reasons may use transit buses interchangeably on short urban routes as well as longer rural routes, sometimes up to 2 or 3 hours. Often transit bus operators have a selection of 'dual-purpose' fitted buses, that is standard transit buses fitted with coach type seating, for longer distance routes.

Sometimes transit buses may also be used as express buses on a limited stopping express service at peak times, but over the same distance as the regular route.

Fare payment

Fare payment is done via

and is done upon

Doors

Depending on payment systems in different municipalities, there are widely different rules on which door, front or rear, one must board/exit via.

Types

Transit buses can be single deck buses, double deck buses or articulated buses. A double-decker bus is a Bus that has two levels While double-decker long-distance coaches are in widespread use around the world double-decker city buses are Articulated buses (either motorbuses or Trolleybuses) also known as tandem buses, bendy buses, banana buses, slinky buses or Selection of type has traditionally been made on a regional as well as operational basis; however, with the advent of global manufacturing, all three types can be seen in the same location or country. Depending on local policies, transit buses will have 2 or 3 doors to facilitate rapid boarding and alighting.

In cases of low demand routes, or to navigate small local streets, some models of minibus and small midibuses have also been used as transit type buses. "Microbus" redirects here For the Volkswagen Microbus see Volkswagen Type 2. OptareSolojpg|thumb|right|An Optare Solo midibus]]A midibus is a classification of single decker buses which are identified as neither being Minibuses or full

The development of the midibus has also given many operators a low cost way of operating a transit bus service, with some midibuses such as the Plaxton SPD Super Pointer Dart resembling full size transit type vehicles. OptareSolojpg|thumb|right|An Optare Solo midibus]]A midibus is a classification of single decker buses which are identified as neither being Minibuses or full Plaxton is a builder of Bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough, England.

Developments

Due to their public transport role, transit buses were the first type of bus to benefit from low floor technology, in response to a demand for equal access public service provision. Equal Access is an international not-for-profit organization that provides information and education about healthcare and social issues through radio in developing countries Transit buses are also now subject to various Disability discrimination acts in several jurisdictions, dictating various design features, also applied to other vehicles in some cases. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries a number of countries have passed laws aimed at reducing Discrimination against people with disabilities.

Due to the high number of high profile urban operations, transit buses are at the forefront of hybrid bus and fuel cell bus development and testing aimed at reducing fuel usage and environmental impact, as well as operational use of CNG powered buses. See also Fuel cell vehicle A fuel cell bus is a bus that uses a hydrogen Fuel cell as its power source for electrically driven wheels sometimes augmented

Developments of the transit bus towards higher capacity bus transport include tram like vehicles such as guided buses, longer bi-articulated buses and tram like buses such as the Wright StreetCar, often as part of Bus Rapid Transit schemes. Guided buses are Buses steered for part or all of their route by external means usually on a dedicated track. A Bi-articulated bus is an extension of an Articulated bus in that it has three cabin sections instead of two The Wright StreetCar is an Articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo Buses for FirstGroup. Bus rapid transit ( BRT) is a broad term given to a variety of transportation systems that through improvements to infrastructure vehicles and scheduling attempt to use Fare collection is also seeing a shift to off bus payment, with either the driver or an inspector verifying fare payments.

See also

External links

A transit district or transit authority is a Special-purpose district organized as either a corporation chartered by statute or a government agency created
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