Bus Megathread

[danbrotherston]

So I was on an electric bus for the first time today. It was a rather interesting experience, it was remarkably quiet and pleasant, no diesel smell, generally a great experience in that way.

It was a somewhat harsh ride though. Buses are already bumpier and more erratic in motion than a tram or train, and generally you'll want a seat. This was even more extreme though. The amount of torque or acceleration this bus had was significantly more than the diesel buses I'm used to and it made standing on the bus even more difficult. It was kind of surprising.

This obviously isn't a necessary feature of electric buses and could also be just mitigated with a less aggressive driver, but it was surprising.

That said, it was still a great trip, my daughter even called it a roller coaster so, she had fun too. And honestly being able to have a conversation with someone at the back of the bus was a huge plus.

All in all, I still agree that improving the service of a bus system is more important than converting it to electric, but converting it to electric absolutely has pluses outside of environmental considerations.