# Local city buses: A more attractive exterior/interior design? :-)



## beautifulplanet (Dec 13, 2014)

While there already is a thread about attractive exterior/interior designs in high-speed rail or commuter rail, here is a thread about attractive design in local public transportation buses.

So the idea that in order for rail services to be as successful as possible, it would be helpful for them to have a design as appealing and comfortable as possible for passengers, can also be applied to buses.

For buses, an attractive design might be even more important, because of something sometimes called "rail bonus" (basically a preference of rail over buses), which is a tendency among a certain percentage of human beings to consider using rail but to be hesitant to use buses.

Of course, some human beings might never set a foot into a bus. They will just be like "I'll drive, or take a taxi, but I'll never use a bus under no circumstance". Still at the same time, there might be a large percentage of people who prefer rail, still will also take buses if there is no other choice.

And as in the chain of public transportation modes, there are often combined rail/bus itineraries, it also would be beneficial for rail if buses are as appealing as possible, as the overall travel experience would improve.

A vaguely similar concept in aviation f.e. could be the idea of Etihad Airways buying stock of Air Berlin and then making sure the economy and business class of Air Berlin is retrofitted to be basically the same as Etihad's, that way making sure that there is a consistent quality for travelers who have Air Berlin feeder flights along with long-haul flights from/to Abu Dhabi, ensuring high standards throughout the entire journey.  Something remotely similar could be tried in public transportation, with Etihad being rail and Air Berlin being buses - just without buying any stock. ;-)


At least in this post, there won't be any list of features and design details that could possibly be beneficial for buses, instead here's just one example of what I think is an attractive bus design.


Yes indeed, it's a European design so this exact model can't come to US cities, still that doesn't mean that there couldn't be something similar to it or something that incorporates some of its design features.


The reason to display this here, is because my impression is, that at least for some people, this design creates the impression of "Wow! This is a noble bus!", which consequently means a nice place to be in, which could be beneficial for public transportation to be as successful as possible.

With the overall appearance, this bus at least had a "Wow!"-effect on me, also especially with the wooden floor, and it stopped just short of feeling like I would have to take my shoes off before entering, to not bring any dirt inside onto that floor. Also the noble, satin-like seats, golden handrails, huge windows, the clean lines throughout the interior, the color scheme etc. Using this bus, with was also very smooth and relatively quiet, I felt like, if buses always were like this or similar to this, then many people could possibly be convinced that they don't have to drive to those places where rail can't take them, as these buses could bring 'em there in a way of transportation that's as pleasant as buses could possibly get.

Here is a 5 minute promotional video:




And here is a interior shot that gives a good impression of the noble wooden floor:







Image source:

http://www.nvbo.de/bilder/mot2011/mot2011.htm

The wooden floor actually is not wooden, it just really looks wooden (it doesn't look like any cheap "fake-wood" at all, it looks like noble relatively dark wood), so in case anyone is interested, here is the product page of the French company that manufactures them:

http://www.tarabusbygerflor.com/tarabus_us/product-page/tarabus-gaya-wood,45.html


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## rickycourtney (Dec 14, 2014)

Personally, I think American transit buses have been getting more style in the last few years.

I personally like the design of the New Flyer Xcelsior. Here are the new trolleybuses King County Metro just purchased: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157649172607551/

I really also like the design of the Gillig BRTPlus: http://www.gillig.com/#!brtplus/c1ymg

Anyways I think that American bus manufacturers have done a lot over the last few years to improve their styling and unlike the private bus operators in Europe, American bus operators need to go with the lowest bidder who fits the bill.


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## beautifulplanet (Dec 19, 2014)

Thank you for your reply.



rickycourtney said:


> Personally, I think American transit buses have been getting more style in the last few years.
> 
> I personally like the design of the New Flyer Xcelsior. Here are the new trolleybuses King County Metro just purchased: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157649172607551/
> 
> I really also like the design of the Gillig BRTPlus: http://www.gillig.com/#!brtplus/c1ymg


Thank you for sharing some links of transit buses you like the design of.

Of course there have been improvements, and at least for some that might also be a reason that there could be hope still for the future, that buses similar to the new Mercedes Citaro above might come into service in the United States as well.

While it may not be so important for many, at least some are interested in rail and buses being as successful as possible. And like with any product or service, design plays a huge part. At least some might think that buses are competing with cars (just as rail is competing with cars), and regarding personal automobiles, the manufacturers make incredible efforts when it comes to an attractive design. Car manufacturers seem to make sure the design is pleasing, that the final car product then is a place where users enjoy spending time inside of. At least some might think that in case the people in charge of bus services were serious about competing as successfully as possible, they would do the same. Some might think that at least some buses in service today, they get across the message to the person stepping in - now this is solely about the design, say it was a bus with no other passengers inside - "Welcome - now you have arrived at the bottom of society" - while some might think the design should get across to bus users "all of this looks really nice - the people driving seem to be stupid, because they are missing out, when not experiencing this beautiful and comfortable ride". At least to some it might seem like it, that models like the Citaro with the wooden floor, the noble-looking seating and the overall beautiful design does just that.



rickycourtney said:


> Anyways I think that American bus manufacturers have done a lot over the last few years to improve their styling and unlike the private bus operators in Europe, American bus operators need to go with the lowest bidder who fits the bill.


Maybe it's not known to everyone, also in Europe city buses are a public service. So European cities provide public funding, to have city bus operations on their streets. While in the majority of European cities, the bus service is carried out by public bus companies, who might be 100% owned by a public entity, some cities also put the bus service out to tender, and have private companies carrying out the operations - still basically it doesn't matter, as it's both public funding, and also in both cases (public or private operator), I've already seen the new Citaro with the wooden floor in use.

It seems like also Americans do like the Citaro, at least judging from some reactions when in 2008, a Citaro made a test-run in New York City (and that was even an old-generation "bendy bus" Citaro, not one of the nicer new ones, some might not be able to imagine what the comments would have been like had it been a new Citaro). The New York Times had an article about it, and here are some comments:



> Almost looks too modern for NY streets. European mass transit is so much sexier than ours, hopefully we’ll take some cues from them[...]


At least US car manufacturers probably aspire their products to look sexy, even when bus manufacturers might not yet.



> It’s about time. These buses in Europe are worlds quieter than the buses we have, both for those inside the buses and those outside the buses. I can’t stand our buses especially when outside of them on the street – they’re so loud!! These buses are also so much smoother that it really makes commuting a whole different experience and will probably result in more people commuting. Get those buses!


"Will probably result in more people commuting" - at least for some it might be what they would like, for buses to be as successful as possible.

But then, there was also this comment:



> “I will not abide having my money confiscated so that people who do not even work hard enough to afford a car can ride in a Mercedes-Benz.”
> 
> I just wanted to say that this person is absolutely right-on. Why should people that work pay for poor people to ride around in a Mercedes?


While the person quoted was actually making a joke, the second person seems to have been serious. And at least some might think that's sad. In some places, there are mayors who don't own a car, who just take the bus or bike. In those cases, it seems more like all parts of society might use the bus. In some places, it seems more like buses are only intended to be a service as bare-bone as possible for what is called "captive riders", so people who take the bus because they supposedly have no other choice. Of course if there is a significant amount of people like the last commenter above present, then this might encourage the subpar outcome if there's not enough others pushing back. When having an attractive design like pictured above as a key element of the approach toward buses, then of course this might significantly help for buses to be as successful as possible.


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