OCTA to Buy Oversize Buses for Busy Routes
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Waiting for a bus only to be passed by because it’s already filled is an increasingly common experience. On Monday, the Orange County Transportation Authority decided to do something about it and will buy 10 buses that carry more passengers.
“It gives us more capacity on crowded routes,” OCTA spokesman John Standiford said of the vehicles, called “articulated” buses.
The snakelike buses, each about 60 feet long, consist of two parts connected in the middle by flexible, accordion-style joints that enhance maneuverability and provide for 21 more seats than traditional buses. One of the vehicles was tested here in April, receiving rave reviews from more than 400 passengers.
OCTA officials say the $415,000 buses are necessary to offset the increasing number of incidents in which packed buses have to pass up waiting riders. The new buses could be serving passengers, mostly along Harbor Boulevard and Bristol Street, by 2000.
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