Big bus coming...

Remember this? China's idea of a big bus:

L.A. isn't thinking that big. But a big new bus makes its debut Monday, part of a trend around the world, according to The Times' Rong-Gong Lin II:

Los Angeles commuters next week will be greeted with a bus so long, it's technically illegal. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to unveil a 65-foot-long bus -- longer than four Toyota Priuses parked end to end -- to debut on its Orange Line busway. It is five feet longer than the longest bus allowed by California law, so the MTA had to seek an exemption from Caltrans to operate the prototype.

Here it is:

Comments

[Shaun]

"Trains? People that want to live in a high population density city with trains should move to Mexico City."

Hey Richard, maybe the people that want to be stuck in their cars all the time shouldn't live in the densest metropolitan area in the nation, LOS ANGELES. Yes, great idea, instead of building ourselves a good transit system we should just move to a city in a foreign country!!

"It's those people that want to ride trains so badly that are having a hard time getting what they want. Just move to where you can ride trains."

another narrow minded quote that is a lot easier said than done. Yes let's pack in millions of people on LA's small rail network even though it misses major job centers. Or how about we give other taxpayers in this region what they deserve, want, and NEED; fast, efficient alternatives to traffic gridlock. And the train is the only mode that can do that. No major city in the world functions solely on one primary mode of transportation, it's sad that cities in third world countries have better rail networks than we do. We need alternatives and we need more trains, just b/c you don't want them does not mean there are not a lot of people out there that do. I doubt you even take transit so what do you care anyways?

LA is only going to grow denser and a large, efficient, rail network is the only way it will be able to move people around. Another complainer than doesn't offer any alternatives from the narrow point of view.

[Richard H]

Somebody wrote: "if you want a bus-only utopia, may I suggest Bogota, Columbia or Curtiba, Brazil."

Bus-only utopia?????

I can get a ride on a bus anywhere. Even in Automobile utopia L.A.

It's those people that want to ride trains so badly that are having a hard time getting what they want. Just move to where you can ride trains.

[Sheryl]

This is SO STUPID.

These buses cost several hundred thousand dollars EACH, and they're going to wear out in FIVE YEARS!!!!!

Which means that unless some kind of groundswell of outrage forces Metro and LA County to crash build a workable train system, WE'RE JUST GOING TO BUY THEM ALL OVER AGAIN!

To borrow a line from Charles Schultz's boy Charlie Brown:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ben]

What's with the black death stripe? Is this a prison bus from China?

[mike]

The ridership numbers on the "successfully" packed to capacity orange line would have been double had it been built logically as an extension of the red line. Few thing are more stupid than a mid-travel transfer. It can add up to 15 min to your commute. Well...the one down wilshire is way more important. Buses are fine for now but we shot ourselves in the foot by not building a line for the future of LA. I mean it is alraedy too full!!! It is now going to cost us so much more when we have to keep buying these expensive buses that don't last as long as trains. LA is the land of short sightedness. It used to be a city that took on bold projects like the freeway expansion!!!!!

[David in Los Angeles]

Shaun hit the nail on the head. WHY IN THE WORLD WASN'T THE RED LINE EXTENDED ALL THE WAY TO WARNER CENTER??? The Orange Line is a step backward in terms of public perception - who wants to ride a bus? If the Los Angeles Freeway system was constructed at the same pace as our "subway & light rail" system is going, we'd have about 30 miles of freeway built so far. The lack of leadership from our elected officials dealing with traffic here in Los Angeles is simply mind boggling.

[Dan W.]

"Trains? People that want to live in a high population density city with trains should move to Mexico City."

Not necessary.

We are living in an every more congested and densely populated city and we will need to build heavy, light and commuter rail for our economic survival. And, we will.

Sorry, if you want a bus-only utopia, may I suggest Bogota, Columbia or Curtiba, Brazil.

The future of Los Angeles is one that requires mulit-modal transportation of rail and bus.

[m]

While I do agree with you, Marcotico, on some levels, buses are way LESS attractive than trains and you are probably more likely to get people used to using public transportation by giving them a train to ride than a bus that is stuck in traffic. I ride the train almost every day, but I rarely ride the bus and I try to keep things that way because none of my bus riding experiences have been very pleasant. I'd rather take/use pretty much any form of transportation over a bus here in LA (which is why I walk everyplace I can).

[Richard H]

Somebody wrote: "I dont think people want to put their lives in the hands of a bus made in CHINA at this point!"

FYI, the articulated bus that LACMTA is giving a trial run on the Orange Lane was manufactured by North American Bus Industries, Inc., a U.S.A. company headquartered in Anniston, AL with their production facilities in the same city.

The LACMTA press release: http://www.mta.net/news_info/press/metro_163.htm

The North American Bus Industries, Inc. website: http://www.nabiusa.com/index.cfm

More here: http://www.nabiusa.com/about.cfm

More on their buses here: http://www.nabiusa.com/buses/products.cfm?bus_type=1

That bus is made in the U.S.A. NOT China.

Those Red Line Cars weren't made in the U.S.A. They were made in Italy.

Trains? People that want to live in a high population density city with trains should move to Mexico City.

[Marcotico]

Guys! Come on! Outside of the Bottleneck blog there is still huge resistance to mass transit rail projects. I'm a huge supporter and I wish we could just snap our fingers and have the Get LA Moving map be a reality, but that is just not politically feasible. In the meantime I think BRT does a great job of getting people used to fixed line routes, and ticket pre-purchase. I've ridden it quite a few times, at various times and on different days of the week, and I was pleased to see a good amount of ethnically, and from what I could see economically diverse riders. Had the Orange Rail been proposed as light rail it never would have been approved just on principle. So I say bring on the big giant bus and lets see more BRT as well as light rail!

[LAofAnaheim]

Next step.......Metro rail? Please!

[Shaun]

Hey does MTA know what can hold 1,000 passengers with just one driver? A TRAIN!!!! Does MTA know what mode of transit is faster than a bus? A Train!! Does MTA know what mode of transit most people in the Orange Line have to waste 15 minutes trasnferring to just so they can continue their journey? a Train!!!

Some may see the Orange Line as a success, which it is from a ridership perspective, but all I see it as a mistake. It should have been a red line extentsion all the way and eventually they will have to turn it into one b/c there are so many bus drivers and so many buses it can handle. And of course it will cost twice as much at least to build it as opposed if we had just built it as a rail extentsion in the first place. And a monorail or light rail is just as bad as these buses; keep the same transit mode and extend the red line!! Also I dont think people want to put their lives in the hands of a bus made in CHINA at this point!

[jung]

ummm.... whhhhyyyyy????????

[Manuel]

Lets get those China buses here.