Bustitution : DC Transit GM Fishbowl bus, 509

DC Transit GM Fishbowl bus, 509
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Ralph forwards to us some writing from a transit e-list, featuring comments by Ed Tennyson.

Mr. Tennyson ran SEPTA, the transit system in Philadelphia, and then served as the Deputy Transportation Commissioner for the State of Pennsylvania. He was in the position during the creation of the bus rapid transit system in Pittsburgh. In the Purple Line hearings, he testified that BRT ridership numbers in Pittsburgh have never achieved projections.

1. Here's what Ed Tennyson, one of the nation's top transit experts, has to say about the advantage of rail over buses in DC (he was replying to a post that streetcars have "emotional" appeal):

NOTHING EMOTIONAL ABOUT THE RECORD
When Washington started to replace street cars with buses (1949) street cars attracted more passengers than buses did. By the time Congress outlawed the street cars bus riding did not increase as street cars were phased out so the National Capital lost 70 % of its transit riders, weakening the economy of tne city very seriously.

With MetroRail supplemented by some commuter rail all those lost passengers have come back and passenger-miles have expanded even more. There is nothing emotional about it. It is acceptable service that people appreciate as opposed to lousy service they don't like.

New buses do not make any difference in most cases. There is always some "exception to prove the rule", as they say.

2. Noteworthy is the fact that the last streetcar lines in Washington were replaced by air-conditioned "new look" buses. Washington was the first place where the new "fishbowl" buses were operated. The new vehicles were a departure from the traditional bus design and were touted as a major advance over the older models. Yet in spite of all the hype, ridership still plummeted after they replaced the streetcars.

The image of a DC Transit GM Fishbowl bus, 509, shows the kind of bus Mr. Tennyson was describing.

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Last week there was a round of private emails of active people in the Capitol Hill area, some of which soundly excoriated streetcars and/or light rail in favor of buses. Surprisingly, some of the "old folks" are in favor of streetcars, although they were a bit timid in that particular thread...