buses and pollution

Everyone knows that buses are better then cars right? Because of the amount of people being hauled right?


A couple of things I have noticed.

Take pretty much and residential non high capacity stop. Especially one that is a turn around point that buses will stay in for a while (like 5 minutes) Look at the road directly under wear the bus parks... anywhere else have that much oil and fuel and liquid stains on the road?


Now lets look at a high capacity stop on a major route. You cyclists out there will appreciate this one. Check the road quality right around a stop. Pretty bad eh? Lots of potholes and generally severe wear and tear on the road would you say?

Heck look at the freakin "dents" ie wear patterns around bus stops. Fairly significant no?



No real point to this, just something I noticed and have been meaning to post about for a while.

Buses are causing ALL the road problems. Commie bastards.

Agree whole heartedly on this one Dean. As a cyclist, I will not stop behind a bus because of the fumes that eminate from them. I will wait about a block away until I am capable of passing the bus, not to be passed again by the bus. If it means I have to make a detour I will do it, within reason. And the other thing that I find unique with buses that sit in the turn around and are empty, why are they still running???? Yeah it may be only 5-10 minutes but still saves a bit of gas and pollution.

Pollution is a bad example, as MOST mass transit systems and large fleet operators are now REQUIRED to have alternate-fuel (ie. enviro-friendly) vehicles (in most cases 10% of their fleet).

Heavier vehicles will cause wear & tear on the roadways...but if you go look at the construction of the new "BRT" line by confusion corner...they roads are being built to a different standard than the rest of the roads in Winnipeg. It appears they are being built SPECIFICALLY to accommodate the larger vehicles (as they should)...but the cost is probably TRIPLE what they spend on a standard road anywhere else for the same distance.

I read somewhere the cost of that roadway is $35~ million per kilometer? Does that sound right? What is the average cost of a standard road?

2005 Transportation Facts: Questions & Answers
6. How much does it cost per mile to build a new lane of highway?
It depends on where you are, and factors such as land costs, people or businesses to relocate, environmental needs arising from construction such as noise walls for neighbors and storm water cleaning for streams and wetlands. It also depends on the elements in the project - are we just building a road, or are new bridges or interchanges also included?

Here's a sampling of project construction costs:
+ SR 18 widening in rural King County - about $24.5 million per mile.
+ US 12 widening south of Tri Cities - about $3.7 million per mile.
+ I-5 widening in Vancouver – about $20.2 million per mile.
+ I-90 truck climbing lanes east of Cle Elum and at Vantage – about $1 million per mile.
+ I-5 HOV lanes from Tukwila to Fife – about $7 million per mile.

These costs are for construction only and do not include costs for engineering and design and for a widely-varying factor, land acquisition costs.

God some contractors and suppliers are getting filthy rich on taxes.

Deank wrote:Everyone knows that buses are better then cars right? Because of the amount of people being hauled right?


A couple of things I have noticed.

Take pretty much and residential non high capacity stop. Especially one that is a turn around point that buses will stay in for a while (like 5 minutes) Look at the road directly under wear the bus parks... anywhere else have that much oil and fuel and liquid stains on the road?


Now lets look at a high capacity stop on a major route. You cyclists out there will appreciate this one. Check the road quality right around a stop. Pretty bad eh? Lots of potholes and generally severe wear and tear on the road would you say?

Heck look at the freakin "dents" ie wear patterns around bus stops. Fairly significant no?



No real point to this, just something I noticed and have been meaning to post about for a while.

LRT is the way of the future.
We should have done the LRT thing. Its cheaper to build, Cheaper to maintain, uses less fuel per person.

Is that like in electric LRT?

Doesn't that make the most economical sense considering our province's hydro capacity?

Any money spent on busses is an 87% waste of resources!
I just saw a bus going down Roblin Boulevard with 3 people on it!
How does that calculate for waste?
Who needs empty buses moving? why wouldnt the schedule take into account that no one uses the busses after 7P.M., and just have people hitch hike from the bus stops? Anyone who picks up a hiker gets a credit on their taxes or cash back, and we stop the busses at 7 P.M.?

West bound Graham Ave at Donald St. (bus and cyclist only section)

The increase in costs are very good, as the labourers are finally able to get paid a good wage!

Winklovic wrote:West bound Graham Ave at Donald St. (bus and cyclist only section)

exactly!

Can you explain why you say exactly and put up the same picture?

rosencrentz wrote:Can you explain why you say exactly and put up the same picture?

yes I can!

I can also.

The loads are strange for sure. Each day around rush hour there is this heavy traffic of at least 12 buses at any given time on Portage heading east. There are very few riders to be seen, but the buses always block intersections for both cars and pedestrians. One or two buses shuttling in and out of downtown could easily handle the load and would cause far less congestion.