OC Transpo

Double-Decker Pilot Project Evaluation

Pat Scrimgeour

Manager, Transit Service Design

Presented to Transit Commission on

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Double-Decker Pilot Project Evaluation

Background

In June 2007, Ottawa City Council approved the purchase of three double-decker buses to operate under a pilot project as part of the OC Transpo Fleet Acquisition Strategy. The three double-decker buses were tested in regular service through 2009 and 2010, to determine their applicability for future operations.

As part of the pilot project, staff studied issues such as winter operability, fuel costs, emissions and customer satisfaction.

Evaluation of double-decker buses

The evaluation has found that double-decker buses offer considerable capital and operating cost savings when used on particular service types, and that there are no physical or logistical obstacles preventing their use in the system. There are, however, changes to the detailed design and configuration of the buses that staff would make if further double-decker buses were to be acquired.

Ridership on the OC Transpo system continues to grow, particularly through the downtown core. Until the light rail line opens and replaces the rapid transit and express bus operation, there is no ability to operate more buses along Albert and Slater streets. Capacity increases to respond to ridership growth can only be made by assigning higher-capacity buses.

New articulated buses have replaced 40-foot buses to provide more capacity. Once all of the trips through downtown are operating with articulated buses, however, double-decker buses are the only identified feasible way of increasing capacity beyond that point (double-articulated buses take more space on the street and thus are not a practical solution). Current estimates are that the first phase of light rail will be complete before ridership reaches that point, but if downtown employment levels increase sooner or if there is any delay in the construction of the light rail line, double-decker buses may be required to increase capacity.

Though double-decker buses may not be required to provide sufficient capacity, staff conducted an evaluation to determine if there were economic or customer-service advantages of double-decker buses compared to articulated buses. The following table summarizes the findings of the evaluation. The figures in bold show the more favourable bus type for each characteristic.

Characteristic	Articulated buses	Double-decker buses	Remarks
Seated capacity	55	82
Service capacity standard	70	90
Availability of seats	79% of capacity	91% of capacity
Crush load	105	96+	Double-decker crush load could be higher with a different axle specified than on the pilot buses
Waiting times for customers	Shorter	Longer
Operating speed downtown	Same	Same
Operating speed outside downtown	Faster	4 percent slower	Pilot buses, with an unsatisfactory rear door mechanism, are 6 percent slower than current articulated buses
Fuel economy per bus	Higher	11% lower
Fuel economy per customer	Higher	31% lower
Emissions per customer	Higher	31% lower
Winter handling	Worse	Better
Maintenance facilities	No new costs	Modifications required
Transitway road structure	No new costs	Earlier replacement and slightly higher future costs
Management of clearances	Not required	Required
New operating procedures	Not required	Required
Specialized training	Not required	Required
Security on-board	Concerns with rear section	Concerns with upper deck
Emergency response	Easier	Harder

When the first section of the light rail line is complete there will be high numbers of feeder bus routes terminating at Blair, Hurdman, and Tunney’s Pasture stations. Double-decker buses would require less platform and staging space than articulated buses, because they are only 40 feet long, and would require fewer trips to operate, because of their higher capacity. This may allow cost savings in the design of the new bus platforms at these light rail stations.

To illustrate the difference in costs between the different bus types, staff compared the costs to operate all peak-period service from Kanata with different bus types:

All 40-foot buses – 69 trips per hour, operating cost $10.4 million per year, initial purchase price of buses $37 million

All articulated buses – 45 trips per hour, operating cost $6.8 million per year, initial purchase price of buses $31 million

All double-decker buses – 35 trips per hour, operating cost $5.5 million per year, initial purchase price of buses $26 million

These calculations illustrate that the operating cost of part of the system could be 19 per cent lower with double-decker buses than with articulated buses, and that the capital cost to buy the buses could be 16 per cent lower with double-decker buses than with articulated buses. The operating cost savings of the double-decker more than compensate for the slower operation of double-decker buses. Cost savings can more than offset the costs of training and new operating procedures.

The evaluation identified several ways that double-decker buses are less suitable than articulated buses. Some of these, such as slower operation of the rear doors and a lower crush capacity, would be addressed by revising the specifications for any future orders. Others, such as clearance management and safety/security matters, would be addressed by operating procedures.

Customer Satisfaction

Through 2009, customers provided approximately 40 comments about the operation and configuration of double-decker buses. Almost half of the comments reported that the operation of the double-decker buses was unsatisfactorily slower than operation of other bus types. Most of these comments were received early in the trial period, when some introductory problems with the pilot buses had not yet been resolved. The next-highest groups of comments reported either that the headroom on the upper level is too low or the seat spacing is too close, balanced by an equal number of positive responses, referring to the additional seating and capacity or a general positive impression. Apart from these groups, there are no significant groupings of comments.

Very few comments were received from customers during 2010, as the operation of double-decker buses became a more normal part of OC Transpo service.

Conclusion

Based on the evaluation, the conclusions of the double-decker buses are:

When used in the right service, double-decker buses will ease operations and reduce operating costs;

Double-deckers are the better choice for busy express and feeder routes during peak periods;

Articulated buses are the better choice for rapid transit routes and busy main line routes; and

40-foot buses are the better choice for lower-ridership routes and in evenings and weekends.