Ott:

C Below.

Tim

Ottawa LRT wrote:

> Hybrids are relatively new and rare technology for buses. Other than
> old diesel-electrics (with the overhead wires) I am pretty sure that
> Hamilton's transit system used diesel as well.
>

Hamilton used trolley buses, which are straight electrics - no diesel engine.

My brother, a bus driver for HSR (Hamilton Street Railway - yes, they still
call their transit system by that name, 50 years after streetcars disappeared)
took me on his trolley bus when I visited him years ago.

The trolley buses are now gone, of course, from Hamilton.

One of the main reasons fro getting rid of them was that
HSR wanted to model their system after Ottawa's, where
bus meander all over the place, and routes change every
6 months.

That's hard to do with trolley wires.

Also, your system exudes more "pizzazz" in your employee
list has a whole phalanx of university educated route planners,
rather than a gaggle of trade school overhead wire maintainers.

:>)

Now, just to complicate things, there are a very few examples
of dual mode (NOT "hybrid") trolley buses around.

Seattle Washington uses diesel-electric dual mode buses.
In their downtown transit tunnel, the bus driver raises his poles,
shuts off the diesel engine, and travels electrically through the
tunnel.

Outside the tunnel, the poles are lowered, and the bus proceeds
dieselly (is that a word? - My spell checker thinks not!)

And, to complicate things further, Seattle also has diesel-electric
HYBRID buses, where a small diesel engine runs a generator to
charge a battery bank.

The bus travels on the power from the battery, which turns
electric motors to drive the wheels.

When braking, the electric motors become generators, to
charge the battery.

That way, you recover some of the energy that would be otherwise
wasted as heat in the brakes.

This energy is released from the battery to help the bus get going
again, or to climb hills.

This system is ideal for a bus that makes frequent starts and stops,
such as the #2 here in "Disneyland on the Rideau".

The problems arose in Seattle when they tried to use these hybrids
on long, fast express runs.

The little diesel engine was not powerful enough to run the bus
at a constant, high speed, as there was not enough power available
to charge the battery.

As a result, the engines were strained, the battery ran down,
and the fuel mileage was no better than the regular diesel buses,
with their larger engine.

So, if OC Transpo gets similar buses here, we will be VERY
disappointed with their performance, unless they are restricted
to milk runs.

Of course, under the FOTO plan, more TRAINS will be
used to cross the wide wasteland known as the "Greenbelt",
and more of the buses WILL be restricted to what they do
best - milk runs.

Therefore, the FOTO plan provides a good justification
for getting hybrid buses, and using them where they would
do the most good.

- What a concept!

:>)

Volunteer researcher, Friends of the O-train.