The Seattle buses are New Flyer low-floor hybrids with GM/Allison hybrid drive system. While they were much-touted in the local press initially they actually get only 3.5 mpg, worse than the buses that they replaced (which got 3.8 mpg!!!). The Orion-VIIs used in the city get ~4.5 mpg (they have a superior hybrid system from BAE systems). This bus is supposed to get 7 mpg.

This bus is from New Zealand, but the company has an american headquarters.

I have yet to try out this bus but I do plan on it and will give you a full report.

Can’t we swallow our pride and steal their ideas – or at least their Mercedes, Volvo and Saab buses?

And is it just me, or is this bus decorated to look like a rolling Wachovia bank ad?

The MTA’s existing hybrid buses also run on electricity all of the time — the diesel engine is not connected to the wheels — it is used to charge the battery. The only downside of the existing hybrids is that the engine does not shut off when the battery is fully charged.

The turbine generator is much more efficient at generating electricity for charging the battery, and it will shut off when the battery is fully charged.

These buses will be much more expensive than the existing hybrid buses, but not because of the turbine. This turbine bus most likely has electric-driven air conditioning and power steering, which is much more expensive, but also much more efficient than the belt-driven accessories on the existing hybrids.

It appears that these turbine buses can also be plugged in at night, so that the bus will leave the depot with a fully charged battery. This further reduces fuel use and emmissions.

While I doubt the MTA will buy this particular bus, I certainly see them asking the current hybrid bus vendor to investigate designing new hybrid buses by replacing the existing diesel engine with the diesel turbine.

We also need to see some low-floor, hybrid articulated buses, with additional exit doors to reduce dwell times. There are low-floor articulated hybrids in Seattle, but so far, the MTA has shown little interest.