New Buses testing today at WDW

[Melanie]

Seeing some reports that a new bus style is testing at the resort today. They are apparently manufactured by Nova, a Canadian company, and have a higher passenger capacity than the current buses used at the resort. The following image gives an idea of the larger size.

[ElenitaB]

It's an accordion bus. I wonder how they're going to accomodate the longer length in the resort parking areas.

[Melanie]

It's an accordion bus. I wonder how they're going to accomodate the longer length in the resort parking areas.

Ha! Makes sense. You can tell I've never really lived anywhere (big city) where public transport was a big thing.

Yeah, I don't see those whipping in and out of some of the resort bus stops, that's for sure.

[sixshot19]

Love the bus system. More capacity will be a great addition, hope they don't reduce the number of buses on each route, though that is probably the plan.


My kids are going to love "bendy buses".

[Scar]

Yeah, I don't see those whipping in and out of some of the resort bus stops, that's for sure.

I'm not a bus driver, but from what I've been told, if the wheel base on the main part is smaller than the current buses (which it appears to be,) then the articulated version will be easier to manuver.

[Disney4us2]

The bus looks too long to fit in the spaces at the value resorts. Unless they do the stops like at the mods and deluxes.

[faline]

It would also appear to be difficult to use such a vehicle at a resort such as Old Key West where the bus transportation does not appear to have been well thought out when they built the resort. Existing busses already have a difficult time getting around in that resort.

[brad192]

I've seen these in action. They have to make very wide right turns (like a semi) due to the back section not following the same path as the front (the geometry for this makes my head throb). I can't see them negotiating some of the tighter turns at the parks & resorts, but I'm certain they'll make a great addition to a lot of routes!

[SBETigg]

Wow, that's a long bus.

[Sunshine1010]

Well....at least they are trying to solve the problem.

Something needs to be done.

My opinion....spend 10 billion dollars and come up with an underground Subway system for all the resorts.

(wink)

[Kairi_7378]

These look like the articulated buses that are used in many large US cities. They may not be able to use them at all of the resorts due to small turning radii but I'm sure that the entire fleet won't be replaced with these.

[Polynesian Dweller]

According to the Canadian Urban Transit Association, the 60 ft Nova articulated bus has the same turning radius of a 30 to 35 ft regular bus. The turning radius is apparently dependent on the length of the front section, not the whole articulated bus. So, it probably wouldn't have difficulties. But then that's why they would be testing them.

[Quadstriker]

I like calling them "bendy buses".

[Christine]

I like calling them "bendy buses".

Love it! That's what my daughter calls them. The Lynx busses in Orlando has them. We saw one at dtd this weekend- my kiddo says "look! A bendy bus!"

[BrerGnat]

According to the Canadian Urban Transit Association, the 60 ft Nova articulated bus has the same turning radius of a 30 to 35 ft regular bus. The turning radius is apparently dependent on the length of the front section, not the whole articulated bus. So, it probably wouldn't have difficulties. But then that's why they would be testing them.

I used to work for a transit authority. This is true. It works like a trailer hitched to the back of a pickup truck. The trailer will follow the same path as the hauling vehicle.

These buses are cool, and I think would greatly increase capacity.

They are EXPENSIVE though! I wonder how many Disney is planning to add?

[ChipNDale79]

Well....at least they are trying to solve the problem.

Something needs to be done.

My opinion....spend 10 billion dollars and come up with an underground Subway system for all the resorts.

(wink)

no no no no, if you're going to spend that kind of money then expand the monorail to all the resorts and parks .

[TheDuckRocks]

It would also appear to be difficult to use such a vehicle at a resort such as Old Key West where the bus transportation does not appear to have been well thought out when they built the resort. Existing busses already have a difficult time getting around in that resort.

When I saw the picture of the "bendy bus" these were my exact thoughts. Miller's Road and Southpoint Road immediately came to mind.

[DisneyGiant]

Any word on how these buses fare in accidents?

Last 3 times I've been down, there was at least 1 bus accident I heard about.

Heck, I was in a bus when the driver hit the car in front of him. Jolted us all. And do you know - he never got out of the bus? He just continued driving on ........

[DizneyFreak2002]

I dunno, I never found anything truly wrong with the buses they have now.. But yea, they do get crowded... If they can fit in a bigger bus and get more people in and make it feel less crowded in the bus, then fine... But something tells me these bigger buses will fit in more people, keeping waiting lines down, but will make it worse for the passengers (more people = more crowded)... I'll give this a wait and see...

[disneynarula]

They use these large buses here where we live in Germany. If they can get around my German neigborhood I am sure they can negotiate a WDW resort.

I am so used to seeing these now it took reading several posts in this thread to understand what everyone was talking about.