Re: [VIC? NSW?] An idea of mine - express trams

[Ian Jelf <ian@bluebadge.demon.co.uk>]

Some observations from the home of the double decker.......

In article <01c0d179$b71182c0$bf5e65cb@default>, Bradley Torr <truenorth
@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP> writes
>
>
>Hubert Lam <hubert@imap4.com> wrote in article
><9ch6bo$sim$1@tomahawk.unsw.edu.au>...
>> STA should start using double deckers. Instantly double capacity per bus.
>
>Not quite.
>
>The old Public Transport Commission's Leyland Atlantean double-deckers had
>a seating capacity of 55, only 12 more than the standard STA Mercedes-Benz
>O305 which makes up a large bulk of the current fleet.
Newer double deckers can carry more people than that.   They remain the
mainstay of public transport in most British cities and new low floor
models combine seating capacity with low-floor and standee convenience.

>Also, I think double-deckers, by virtue of being heavier and taller, tend
>to have slower acceleration, are harder to turn corners and harder to
>brake. In Sydney's stop-start traffic, this is a definite disadvantage.
Well they seem to cope admirably in cities like London, Birmingham and
Manchester, all of which must be at least comparable to Sydney (if not
considerably *more* congested).

Hat said, the double decker is definitely less favoured here these days,
not least for reasons of security.   They do not, however, *require*
conductors to operate, as someone suggested elsewhere in this thread.
Only London, out of all UK cities operating DD buses still has them and
then not on the vast majority of routes. 
-- 
Ian Jelf        http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk
Birmingham, UK
        Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide
        for the Heart of England and London