King County Metro and the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) have taken two very different approaches to the use of the 60-foot behemoths. The STM keeps a very small fleet of articulated buses, at around 250, whereas Metro boasts more than three times that, and is in the process of adding another hundred vehicles to its current fleet of more than 800, including RapidRide. Only a handful of STM routes rely on articulated buses; Metro uses them much more liberally.
This might seem counterintuitive, given the ridership of both systems. The STM's most-used routes have twice the daily boardings of their Metro counterparts. However, most downtown-bound trips in Montreal can be made, or at least ended, in the metro, which is especially important during peak period. Even with the expansion of light-rail in Seattle, buses still carry much more of the downtown-bound load. Additionally, buses in Montreal are routed to feed the metro system, and fewer downtown-express buses circumvent the rail option than in Seattle. Only one of Montreal's five most-boarded routes goes downtown, compared to four of Seattle's five.
It's expensive to switch out buses during the day. Doing so adds on a gratuitous trip to and from a bus base, and disrupts driver schedules. Thus, to be able to handle peak-period loads, routes like Metro 27 run three articulated buses during weekdays, but their capacity is only used for very short periods of time. It's a waste of resources, and a burden on drivers trying to twist the vehicles through Lake Dell Avenue, but from Metro's point of view, it's the only way they can ensure peak-period trips will have enough capacity.
The STM seems to be much more deliberate about the routes on which the 60-footers are used. With the exception of the 69, 435, and 470, they are single-corridor routes, with few or no turns, apart from at termini. Where they do turn, intersections are almost always designed to accommodate the buses' wide turn angles and lack of maneuverability. This is usually done by ensuring that parking is removed, especially at smaller intersections, and recessing the stop-line for cars in the opposing direction.
 |
| Intersections at, from left to right, Ogilvy/Bloomfield, Ogilvy/Champagneur, and Park/Sherbrooke. Red arrows denote the direction of the bus. Notice the recessed stop-line, the no-parking strip, and another recessed stop-line. Images: Google Earth |
Seattle's intersections couldn't be any different. Even on routes that have been using articulated buses for decades, there are intersections where turning in a 40-footer would be difficult, let alone in an articulated bus. Part of this is due to the constraints of geography in Seattle; roads are much less straight, end at peculiar spots, and hills are much steeper. Still, intersections like Madison/MLK, 15th/John, and Broadway/Pine are still a tight squeeze for 60-footers running at 12-minute headways.
Intersections like these endanger the safety of other road users. Inattentive or mobility-reduced pedestrians and cyclists are particularly put at risk at these intersections, as buses often have to disobey the light cycle or encroach on sidewalks and bike lanes to complete the turns. Additionally, steep curbs can damage the tires on buses. Delays worsen when drivers have to wait for an oncoming car to back up, or miss a few light cycles before proceeding.
STM's adoption of articulated buses is fairly recent. The 60-footers haven't been used for more than ten years in the system. Metro, on the other hand, has had them for decades. Yet the STM seems much more capable of accommodating their fleet. The solutions they have put in place are inexpensive, simple, and from my observations, well-obeyed. Although there are contextual differences between both cities, such as intersection angle and narrowness, the solutions Montreal has come up with can certainly be applied at various Seattle intersections. More generally, the STM's holistic planning in regards to the usage of these vehicles is something that King County Metro could certainly learn from, even if replicating almost perfectly straight routes like the 139 would be impossible in Seattle.