Added: Jul 7, 2008

From: citytransportinfo

Duration: 6:7

Buses operating in dedicated transit tunnels are very rare. One city where this used to be done was Seattle, Washington State, USA.Originally opening in September 1990, and wholly located within the city's 'free travel' zone the 1 & 1/3rd mile (2.1km) tunnels were served by a fleet of Italian Breda duobuses, with some services providing a direct link to the city's airport.It featured 5 stations which opened on Mondays - Saturdays only. At the time of construction rail tracks were also installed for a future light rail service. Unfortunately despite this commendable forward thinking it was subsequently decided that part of the light rail line will follow a different alignment than the existing tunnels, so on 24th September 2005 the bus subway was closed for two year period of rebuilding.Most of the duobuses were actually withdrawn well in advance of the closure (with many being converted to pure trolleybuses for use on surface routes) and - amazingly - replaced with diseasal powered buses. (diseasal = disease diesel) In April 2005 local users were reporting on Internet discussion groups that the tunnels were often somewhat smelly from (what thinking people know to be) the poisonous diesel engine exhaust fumes.Whilst it is true that the buses are diesel electric hybrids they still needed to use the fossil fuel traction package whilst underground, although this was in a special 'hush' mode which means that the only operate between stations and at much reduced power.Apparently the choice of fossil fuel buses was influenced by the transport operators' belief that it is not possible to mix overhead wire powered light rail and electric trolleybuses / duo-buses in an underground tunnel system - even though Essen proved otherwise!In Seattle the buses were driver steered, it might be assumed that for safety's sake "some" sort of guidance system would have been needed - if only to reduce the chance of a bus accidentally hitting the tunnel wall - especially within the portion of the bus subway which featured narrow London Underground 'tube-like' tunnels (as seen here), but this was not the situation.This video compilation was filmed in May 1993. The sequences only follow a cursory order and because of faulty camcorder lens optics (which was only discovered once back home) the images are not as sharp as they should have been. Which is a shame.------------------------------The tunnel reopened on 24th September 2007, although again for hybrid diseasal buses only.

Channel: Travel

Tags: brt  bus  busway  metro  seattle  transit  tunnel 

Rating: 4.29 (104 ratings)    Views: 124744' favoriteCount='149    Comments: 163

citytransportinfo Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - me too, but right now even $1 million would not get me to set foot in the USA, as I might end up at Guantanomo Bay after campaiging for Gary Mckinnon not to be extradited there. Also, for the PNW, well are you are aware of whats happening in the seas near to you? Lotsa tectonic etc., activity. A west coast city might soon be going the way of New Orleans (flooded - albeit through tsunami) and Seattle is high on the list for being that city. Simon

citytransportinfo Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - In Seattle. But its a big city, and the tunnel is only a few miles long.

citytransportinfo Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - the plans are for shared use - bus and light rail.simon

citytransportinfo Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - get good travel insurance - including quake, tsunami and volcano (Mt Ranier overlooks Seattle).Simon

grahamru Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - I am from Seattle and know precisely when the busses were replaced. I was speaking in context of the video from 1993.

ESRRX Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Seattle just recently got a new streetcar (search youtube for South Lake Union Streetcar) and the new light rail is nothing like the streetcar. While it is a light rail vehicle, it is going to be run more like a subway/metro. 4-6 car trains will run on these tracks. Unlike many other LRTs, Seattle's will not run in the streets and is mostly grade separated much like Germany's U-Bahn network.

ESRRX Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - This is a bit of an overreaction, earthquakes do happen but only about once every 10 years. In addition, tsunamis will most likely affect the shoreline near the Pacific Ocean which is about 150 miles away. Volcano wruptions are the least likely of all disasters to happen. Mt Rainier is dormant and has not showed signs of awakening for quite a long time.

mcguinnesseoin Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Seattle doesnt have a streetcar and LRT system. Its all one system run by Sound Transit. You just have one tunnel in that system that will run multiple car trains. And its a small tunnel anywase. Its better that nothing but its nothing special. Its still pretty cool.

ESRRX Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Seattle does have a streetcar. It's called SLUT, do a search on Google for it. The streetcar is operated by the City of Seattle. The LRT stretches from the airport to the downtown tunnels and is operated by Sound Transit.

sherwelthlangley Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - There is a South Lake Union Trolley line that runs between Westlake and South Lake Union. It is operated actually by King County Metro. Sound Transit is building a Central Link line for the light rail system system set to open in 2009, and which may expand in the future.

ShutUpAndRide08 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - is this true? so if I was on pike I can get down there from macys? I moved here from redmond in 06, and it was closed. now I live up in ballard. Is the tunnel even usefull, as opposed to just takeing surface streets?

prickiland Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - that's it. Just go to the bottom floor of Macy's and ask someone. The tunnels are useful in that they are not affected by traffic and they mostly serve routs that go from downtown to the 'burbs or University District. If you live in Ballard then it might not be so great. I come in from Federal Way so the buses go straight to the tunnel.One advantage though is that all busses stop at all stops in the tunnel so you don't have to worry about which street to be on to catch the #such-and-such bus.

SPS148669 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - That what I call a "BUBWAY" Bus-subway I beleive boston has one called silver line.

jessyiscool5 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - jessy lives in seattle but is only 10, ...

XDUKAHX Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - I find it very usefull and i live in fremont...i just take a bus to westlake and then go into the tunnel to King Street Station and go to a M's game

whoischarjones Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - The tunnel is set up for light rail to run alongside the buses. note the rails.

citytransportinfo Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - In the bus industry its called 'BRT' - Bus Rapid Transit.There are 2 bus subways in Boston, the Silver is the newer route but there is also the short bus subway (including underground bus stop) by Harvard subway station.Simon

nickcastproductions Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Seattle needs a subway system or monorail system or a light rail system coupled with a high speed train system. The buses in Seattle aren't a solution. Buses need fuel which is bad for the environment and they need lanes paved with pavement which is the same as laying rail, why don't politicians do the real math?

Audioscientist Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - haha i bombed in that tunnel so much back then

yoyoyoyoyooyoy Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - i live in seattle...the buses on the video are hella old........our buses are different and were in the process of getting a light rail..........wich goes downtown too the aiport and vice versa and the tunnel jus opened back up..........

XDUKAHX Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - Finally somebody has the right idea!

Jayayess1190 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - They still have some of the buses in the video, they had the diesel engine taken out and are all trackless trolley.

areocrazy Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - very intereseting

mcguinnesseoin Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - o shit, ur right. anywase, the SLUT is tiny, the route is only 2km long, it only has 3 trams, 11 stations, and 950 riders a day. And dont get me wrong, the LRT plan is a really good LRT, but its only 1 line, and still not a subway. If it expands alot in the future it will be a good transit system, untill then its just a start.

HYPHYDUM408 Says:

Jul 7, 2008 - bet it doesnt even feel like you are in a bus.