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Future of Metro’s 2014 trolley fleet down to two options

Only two bus technology contenders remain for King County to choose from in the process to determine how Metro replaces its aging fleet of electric trolley buses: new electric trolley buses and diesel-hybrids. County Executive Dow Constantine’s plan for trolley bus evaluation sent to the King County Council identifies the technologies and areas of comparison that will be used to make the decision on whether to keep electric trolley buses in Metro’s transit system, or replace them with diesel buses.



Stickers
Originally
uploaded by Tom Carmony

The county currently has both types of buses in use.

According to the plan, the study of electric trolley buses will include analysis of battery backup and other “off the wire” capabilities that would allow the buses to travel short distances without electricity, in case of construction, weather, accidents, or other impacts to the trolley routes.

It’s interesting to note what technologies Metro has decided it will not study as potential replacements for the trolleys. The agency’s initial list included some extremely forward-looking technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells or battery-only buses. Those have now been ruled out as there aren’t any buses currently offered with those kinds of propulsion systems, and county staff has decided that any early versions of that technology would have higher costs and reduced performance compared to other options. Metro also ruled out Compressed Natural Gas as a fuel option due to the cost of installing the fueling network and higher environmental impact.

There’s also no room for working to extend the life of the existing trolley fleet because key systems are facing parts shortages and other maintenance issues on both types of trolley buses currently operated by Metro. Without having access to spare parts from the bus manufacturers, keeping the existing vehicles would force Metro to do their own engineering and fabrication of replacement parts, something that has been deemed to difficult and costly to pursue any further.

The plan now calls for Metro to create a detailed analysis of new electric trolley buses versus diesel hybrids, comparing their cost, performance, and environmental impacts over a number of different dimensions:

  • Capital cost to purchase new vehicles
  • Operating and maintenance costs 
  • Energy costs, including a sensitivity analysis for prices changes at low, medium, and high levels
  • Impacts to City Light rate payers if trolley buses were eliminated
  • Power/Maintenance Infrastructure costs, including costs to maintain or decommission the overhead trolley wires
  • Vehicle flexibility as the bus system expands and how they operate in bad weather
  • Impact of grade, including route performance and vehicle maintenance maintenance
  • Vehicle weight and wear on area roadways
  • Impact on vehicle lanes, other transit, pedestrians, and parking
  • Noise 
  • Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
  • Environmental justice
  • Community impacts to visuals, aesthetics, and “sense of place”

Metro will hire consultants to work with county staff to provide the evaluation, which is due to be presented to the County Council in the second quarter of 2011. If the council approves Metro’s technology recommendation, the county will move forward with procurement of the preferred option, with new buses starting to arrive in 2014.

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12 Comments
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BusBetch
BusBetch
13 years ago

i personally live on the hill and i think loud diesels in the morning would suck. besides the county should cough up the dough for those nice low floor trolly’s, like the have in canada. NICE.

BusBetch
BusBetch
13 years ago
Charlie
Charlie
13 years ago

I am encouraged that many issues that are important to the community — like noise — have been included in Metro’s evaluation criteria. But it remains to be seen how much weight each criterion will be given; this is something that the public needs to have a say in determining.

Transit Jeff
13 years ago

You have no idea how wonderful the auxhiliary Diesel EPU feature is in Philadelphia. It’s used almost daily for many reasons. The slightest problem such as a fire, police activity, parades, street protests, neighborhood fairs,accidents, double parking etc., used to completely disable a trackless trolley line. Yes, they’re called trackless trolleys in Philly and Boston. Costly replacement buses had to be pressed into service to maintain the schedule. Passengers waiting for trackless trolleys to get to work, school, doctor’s appointments, etc., were left standing on corners {in heat, Rain storms, freezing cold, ice, snow} wondering what happened. They were not happy !!

With the new, wonderful EPU {off-wire} feature, the operator flicks a dashboard switch and the trolley poles automatically lower. Another switch turns on the Diesel engine and off goes the coach around the blockade. And a street supervisor doesn’t even have to get involved. The two way radio system informs the supervisors of detours and problems. Rarely do they even have to respond. It also informs the operators of what to expect. Service is maintained and costly replacement buses are not needed. Delays in service and gaps are kept to a minimum. A transit system can not afford to keep fleets of Diesel buses in reserve for emergencies or bus operators sitting around just in case an unforeseen problem arises. Riders must not be unduly inconvienced, if they are to continue using public transit.

And there are long term detours such as street construction, water main breaks and repairs, overhead wire or electrical work, gas main work, loop paving or construction, etc. In the old days, the trackless trolley line would have had to be temporarily converted to buses for days or even weeks. This is no longer the case. The Diesel bus fleet is not stretched beyond its normal capacity to “cover” for trackless trolleys. Buses do not have to be kept in reserve for such emergencies. Trackless trolley service continues and trackless trolleys now have all of the flexibility of Diesel buses. No longer can that issue be “held against” trackless trolleys. It is no longer a valid arguement against the use of clean, quiet non-polluting electric trolley coaches.

emartin
emartin
13 years ago

It is worth saying this again, as I know we already have comments about it. just look at our neighbors to the north. Sustainability. I thought that is something King County was striving for and we are supposed to be a forward thinking community. So why not brach out and continue that. Okay so adopting new technology first might be costly. I understand that, but why would you even consider getting rid of something that cuts down on pollution in terms of both sound and emissions.
We already have too much red tape to build a reasonable light rail/monorail system(even though we as a public voted down the light rail and approved the monorail twice!)… so lets cut the BS and start doing something.
Keep the “wired” buses. Get pushing on the light rail, and lets start expanding it even more, ballard/west seattle(mayor you promised), and lets be a leader in this country and stop just talking like one.
-end rant-

BusBetch
BusBetch
13 years ago

They use a similar system in San Francisco too. I believe they are ORION coaches and they operate on a short battery pack to go a couple of blocks around stuff. Nice and wee could have that too.,, PS I love the Trolly’s. Best bus to drive.

BusBetch
BusBetch
13 years ago

You know what else they do?? They print up all the route maps and schedules in a booklet and sell them to the public. Which keeps overhead down and uses less paper. People have an incentive to keep them. They have schedules and maps everywhere. My understanding is Metro prints millions of those paper schedules and most get tossed. Talk about overhead. And really, REALLY, Petroleum is only going up in price in the future. Let’s stick to our clean cheap hydro-electricity.

BusBetch
BusBetch
13 years ago

EPU = emergency power unit, SF MUNI

BusBetch
BusBetch
13 years ago

See here and Love the Trolly’s!~

http://youtu.be/pyJ9lPmOaLI

Phil Mocek
13 years ago

Is consideration being given to the longevity of replacements? It’s ridiculous that we have these otherwise-functional machines ready to be scrapped simply because repair parts aren’t being made. Let’s not buy into more planned obsolescence.

Phil Mocek
13 years ago

Jeff, Do you have any idea how expensive the auxiliary Diesel EPU feature is in Philadelphia? I don’t notice the problems you describe happening in Seattle much. Adding combustion engines to electric buses simply to avoid waiting on a tow truck when something blocks the route seems wasteful.

Natural Gas Vehicles for Ameri
Natural Gas Vehicles for Ameri
13 years ago

Natural gas as a transportation fuel is a reliable, proven here and now technology, so it is disappointing to hear that Metro will not include natural gas in its evaluation. Muncipalities across the country are saving money on their transit systems by using natural gas. And this is a domestically produced fuel that not only improves air quality but creates jobs for the U.S. economy.