NashTransit

MTA's brand new hybrid buses made a debut today. Here are some pictures from the first trip, with local media, transit officials, mayor Karl Dean and other guests in attendance.

Our trip was just a quick jaunt out to East Literature Magnet School, and back downtown on another hybrid bus. This was a real scheduled bus trip, and we picked up a few surprised passengers along the way.

It really did have that new bus smell! It was a nice smooth ride. Obviously, it's also much quieter than the traditional diesel buses. Much easier to carry on a conversation with 61 of your closest friends when you're not competing with a noisy engine.

Of course the real benefits are in fuel efficiency. Channel 5 reports MTA CEO Paul Ballard as saying the new buses are 34 percent more fuel efficient. Maintenance costs are also reduced.

There are currently 6 new buses, each costing about $840,000. That's about $140,000 more than a new diesel bus, so it will take a few years to make up the difference, depending on the price of oil. If you're thinking long term, though, this is the way to go.

These new buses will be running the usually jam-packed #26 Gallatin Road route. Soon they'll be destined for the bus rapid transit (BRT) route along the same corridor. Like most MTA buses, they have GPS systems on board. With BRT, traffic lights along the route will 'know' the buses are coming. Buses won't change red lights to green (wouldn't we all like that technology!) but they will keep green lights green a little longer if it will help the bus keep on schedule.

Thanks to MTA for the sneak peek!

# posted by dotsandlines @ 9:34 PM