Double Decker Bus Facts

Double-decker buses are an economical means of public transportation that reduces fuel consumption per vehicle, permits passengers to travel in a safer environment by minimizing standing, and are smaller than most standard buses. Double-deckers are particularly important in countries such as Brazil, where public transportation systems must deal with high passenger volumes.

Background

Double-decker buses can be traced to 18th and 19th century horse-drawn coachesm in which passengers frequently sat on top of the coaches while traveling through the city or from village to village. Motorized double-decker buses with seating on the roof emerged as a natural progression. The iconic red double-deckers of the United Kingdom hit the suburban and urban streets beginning in 1956, according to routemasterbus.home.att.net.

Tourist Buses

Although many European and North and South American urban centers use double-deckers as a means of public transportation, more private businesses, such as the Brazilian-based Marcopolo, S.A., have adopted double-deckers to shepherd sightseeers. Recently, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates adopted double-decker buses for sightseeing purposes, according to Big Bus Tours.

Efficiency

Standard double-decker buses seat up to 70 people and can accommodate as many as 90. It provides the same footprint as a 40-passenger single deck bus. The Davis, California-based Unitrans uses one vehicle in its small fleet of double-deckers to run on compressed natural gas. Plans in 2009 were underway to have Scania OmniCity double-decker buses powered by ethanol made from Brazilian sugar cane, according to University of California, Davis, and brazzilmag.com.

Double-Decker Types

England-based Alexander Dennis Ltd. builds 330-horsepower diesel double-deckers that are 40 feet long, 14 feet tall, 8.3 feet wide and can seat 83 passengers. They weigh 51,000 pounds and feature two wheelchair secure areas. In 2002, Johannesburg Transport purchased its first fleet of double-decker buses from Brazil's Marcopolo, which supplied the bodywork and assembly for a Volvo chassis at Marcopolo's South American plant. Similar Marcopolo double-deckers are built on Scania K113TL chassis, according to Community Transit of Everett, Washington, and used-buses.net.

Brazilian Double-Deckers

In Brazil, which has extensive intra- and inter-city bus routes, many double-deckers are in use. Brazilian double-decker buses are manufactured by Marcopolo, S.A., Mercedes-Benz, Scania, Volkswagen and Volvo. In Mexico, Marcopolo supplies buses mounted on Dina chassis. Viacão Cometa, S.A. is a major operator of double-decker buses in Brazil, according to busexplorer.com and used-buses.net.

Double-Deckers vs. Articulated Buses

Many North American municipal agencies are debating the merits of double-deckers over the more common 60-foot articulated buses. The city of San Francisco, for example, is experimenting with double-deckers because they are nearly 20 feet shorter than articulated buses, but carry 30 or more extra passengers. Double-decker buses also minimize the number of standing passengers, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority and used-buses.net.

Cost

Forty-foot double-decker buses cost about the same as the 60-foot articulated versions. In 2006, the City of Las Vegas paid $800,000 per double-decker tourist bus. Costs rise dramatically with added features, such as heating, air-conditioning, onboard security cameras and seating configurations, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority.

References

• Double Tall buses
• Double-Decker fact sheet
• Davis, Calif., buses

Resources

• Routemaster history
• Double-decker tourist buses