Via StreetsBlog SF, this is interior layout of Muni’s newest 40′ coaches:
Metro should take note:
- Passive restraint wheelchair seating, to give wheelchair riders a faster, less-invasive securement option.
- Forward section prioritizes standing capacity and passenger circulation, while still providing up-front seats for frail or disabled passengers who need them.
- Virtually indestructible seats.
Word is that the new 60′ trolleybuses will have three doors and RapidRide-style seating layout, similar to this, but the 40′ trolleys may end up with the 2×2 commuter seating Metro loves so much. That makes sense in the suburbs, but it’s just not going to cut it in the city. We need a bus fleet where interior circulation doesn’t fail completely the moment the bus runs short of seats, or someone brings on a stroller. The buses on Seattle core routes need to have interiors that look like this.
Side-seating layout and passive restraint: Yes please!
Horrible shell seats and eye-searing yellow poles: No thanks. (The yellow poles are present in ST’s latest bus order and they make the whole interior look uglier.)
Looks kinda like that Pipe Dream screensaver that came preinstalled on so many versions of Windows.
You’re absolutely right. Metro should take all that extra money they have and consult a fashion consultant and have someone from China to make sure all the feng shui rules are not broken.
Actually, the shell seats that MUNI uses are actually quite comfortable, despite being plastic.
I’ve never in my life sat in a shell seat I would consider comfortable, and that includes Muni’s.
The escalators in the downtown library are also bright yellow. I don’t mind it, and it does make obvious “Here’s where the escalator is”.
I also like the general color scheme of a dark background with light accents. That’s another reason why the yellow pipework doesn’t bother me.
I don’t mind the yellow poles … but enough with the 2×2 seating on the 40′ ETBs … although I really wish they could realign routes like the 3/4 so they could use 60′ ETBs (especially up to First Hill)
Yellow or red poles are good–safety first! And a “hey, look here, hold on to me if you want to stand!” I like that there are straps on these and ample stop buttons. The seats are horrid though.
In appearance and comfort that is. Not the number.
Do you want to pay upholsterers or bus drivers?
Anyone who rides a bus more than once a decade knows what to do with the unpainted poles in current buses. The yellow is an eyesore.
What about people with poor eyesight?
Yellow should mean “caution,” not just be used indiscriminately to mean “look at me.” Yellow stair edging, the yellow standee line, and yellow moving parts (e.g., door hinges) are appropriate. Yellow poles are just ugly for no reason.
Well, you might walk into them, I suppose.
You’re right. The polls should be hot pink.
As someone who semi-regularly hits his head on the horizontal pole above the seats, “caution” is probably why they’re painted yellow.
I haven’t looked lately, but the retractors for one of the wheelchair slots on the RapidRide buses was in a position where someone sitting below it would bean his head when standing up. Did that become a problem?
@Joseph Pink is calming. Maybe not a terrible idea for some routes.
Pierce Transit’s (sorta new) Gillig hybrids have a good layout — more side-facing seats up front and they are testing a space to store strollers. They took out the first forward-facing seat on the right side, which is in about the midpoint of the coach. My only concern is that there is no partition (and nothing to even hold onto) near the seat that remains behind the empty space. Combined with the slippery shell seats, I’m afraid that, sooner or later, a seated passenger will be launched about three feet forward if a driver has to brake suddenly. It’s a pretty obvious safety issue.
I feel that Metro made a good compromise with the aluminum-backed seats in the current coaches. No need to move to plastic shell seats.
Just today, I was on an Orion with a duct-taped fabric tear and multiple heavily graffitied seats.
And a mid-day drunk who smelt like he had soiled himself.
Seattle isn’t allowed to have nice things.
Well… to be fair, if Seattle can’t have nice things then SF really can’t have nice things. Muni buses have uncomfortable seats but at least they sometimes don’t smell like piss; BART trains, with their fabric-and-carpet interiors, always smell horrible. The trains are old, but Muni buses aren’t exactly new. On the freeway soft seats are kind of nice; in the city I think I prefer hard ones.
“interior circulation”? That must be what taking 5 minutes to elbow past 20 standees is called.
OK, as much as I hate pointing the finger at myself, as a “person of size” who has experienced both the traditional 2-2 seating and Muni’s 2-1, I admit that people like me cause less trouble for both ourselves and other passengers on a vehicle with the 2-1 configuration.
With 2-2, if I have to sit next to someone, I have a choice between squishing that person and blocking the aisle. With 2-1, I would preferentially sit on the “1” side, but regardless of which side I’m on, the aisle is wide enough for people to get around me, even if I’m standing. When I have to stand on a 2-2 vehicle, I have to guess when and where people want off and try to position myself so as to be the least possible obstacle. Essentially, I become the unofficial “divider” between “exit front” and “exit rear”.
I know some of you think obese people are either unaware of the problems they cause on transit or selfishly don’t give a f***. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I personally feel bad anytime I ride a bus that’s more than about half full. Of course, I know the long-term solution is to lose weight, and I keep trying….
With more people having this problem in modern times, IMHO 2-1 seating should be the wave of the future on busy urban transit routes.
RapidRide has the most gawdawful seats at least the ones that go length-wise. I was set for a comfortable ride on these Orion coaches, but unlike the “regular” seats these seats are horrible on your back. Those “nice” seats are likely very uncomfortable. If you want to be totally utilitarian and uncomforable use the molded fiberglass seats like they do in New York.
The metal seats enable room for more seats. The material is less slippery, leading to fewer frivolous claims seeking to charge Metro for doctor bills and triple damages.
I have to admit, though, that that triangular step is a lot of incidents waiting to happen.
I could not agree more. They are all over European cities and you end up having so much more space to get around. I ride the 2, 12, 3, 11, etc. They are always busy and often packed to the gills with people that you can’t get around. Please please please make a good design choice!
Is there something that we, as metro users, can do to make sure Metro doesn’t make a regrettable mistake (like a 2×2 configuration on core routes)? We must have considerable sway, so I’d imagine that organization is the problem. Who do we talk to to express our concerns?
Write your County Councilmembers! They are always hearing from people who complain about a lack of seating. If you really want to see 2+1 on the 40′ trolleys (and I’m a regular trolley rider too) they *need* to hear from you.
They’ve already heard from me.
Yes for the non-tinted windows – more light coming in, easier to see from both inside and outside! And you can open them (at least a little bit)!
It’s the Swift but uglier.
In my experience forward facing single seats provide much better circulation and sideways facing seats because people feet/things protrude into the isles with sideways seats.
I protrude in to the aisle with forward-facing seats. And I’m not even particularly tall.
I don’t have any particular objection to a 2+1 forward-facing setup, though. Then I can sit slightly sideways without blocking anyone’s path.
I would like to see some bus interiors that can handle bikes being carried inside a bus that would otherwise be almost empty. The lack of bike rack capacity makes it very difficult to plan any kind of group trip that makes use of them.
Why don’t you plan a group kick-scooter outing?
I was thinking of taking the 209 to the John Wayne Trail. Unfortunately, the John Wayne Trail is gravel and kick scooters preform horribly on gravel (believe me, I tried).