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An electric-grid bus system is highly successful in Seattle. They reviewed the "trolleybus" system in 2011 and it continues to operate. http://metro.kingcounty

An electric-grid bus system is highly successful in Seattle. They reviewed the "trolleybus" system in 2011 and it continues to operate. http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/projects/trolleyevaluation.html http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/projects/trolleyevaluation.ht...

hristov 12y ago
Also in san francisco. Also all over eastern europe. These trolleybuses are really good in places with hills because electric engines have very nice fat torque curves. If you put an internal combustion engine bus on the hills of SF there will be a lot of smoke, noise and gear grinding. However the existing trolleybuses require overhead wires which are unsightly and become very expensive for places with lower population densities. This talks about running buses off batteries which is relatively new.
- Decade 12y ago
  As a rider, the trolleys are my least favorite vehicles. In theory, electric is great, lots of torque, whatever. In practice, they're the slowest vehicles in MUNI's diverse fleet. Go too fast, and the trolley pole comes off the wire, and the driver has to walk back and reconnect it. Get stuck behind a slow driver, and you have a whole pile of buses moving glacially. My least favorite time was when I had to use either the 14 or the 49, depending on the destination, because they share a lot of the same route. The diesels work just fine on first or second gear, and the steepest hills with buses are diesel. I find especially amusing how the 29 scrapes the ground when it moves on and off from Excelsior Heights. The very steepest hills with public transportation have cable cars, obviously.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
wcummings 12y ago
Boston also has these, some are still diesel, though.
- andrewliebchen 12y ago
  Cambridge, Watertown, and other cities and towns outside of Boston as well.
- stephengillie 12y ago
  The electric buses constitute only a small fleet of one bus company, out of the handful operating in Seattle.

hristov 12y ago

Also in san francisco. Also all over eastern europe. These trolleybuses are really good in places with hills because electric engines have very nice fat torque curves. If you put an internal combustion engine bus on the hills of SF there will be a lot of smoke, noise and gear grinding. However the existing trolleybuses require overhead wires which are unsightly and become very expensive for places with lower population densities. This talks about running buses off batteries which is relatively new.

Decade 12y ago
As a rider, the trolleys are my least favorite vehicles. In theory, electric is great, lots of torque, whatever. In practice, they're the slowest vehicles in MUNI's diverse fleet. Go too fast, and the trolley pole comes off the wire, and the driver has to walk back and reconnect it. Get stuck behind a slow driver, and you have a whole pile of buses moving glacially. My least favorite time was when I had to use either the 14 or the 49, depending on the destination, because they share a lot of the same route. The diesels work just fine on first or second gear, and the steepest hills with buses are diesel. I find especially amusing how the 29 scrapes the ground when it moves on and off from Excelsior Heights. The very steepest hills with public transportation have cable cars, obviously.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

wcummings 12y ago

Boston also has these, some are still diesel, though.

andrewliebchen 12y ago
Cambridge, Watertown, and other cities and towns outside of Boston as well.
stephengillie 12y ago
The electric buses constitute only a small fleet of one bus company, out of the handful operating in Seattle.