"It's great. The difference is like daylight and darkness," Williams said as he test-drove the prototype for the Muni's new, 60-foot-long articulated electric trolley buses down Market Street.
The 33 buses, along with 240 new standard 40-foot trolley buses, will be the workhorses of the system. Muni operates 17 trolley bus lines, which together carry about 250,000 of the system's 700,000 daily passengers.
Many of the current trolleys, covered in dings and scrapes, are ancient -- 25 years old and some with 1.5 million miles on them. They sorely need to head for the scrap heap, if Muni service is to improve.
"It's like driving a luxury car, it's so comfortable," said Dan Cayabyab, a 23-year Muni veteran who, with Williams and others, is taking the prototype through its 9,000-mile shakedown cruise. The bus is driven on all the trolley lines, usually loaded with sandbags to simulate a full passenger load.
One reason for the test drives is to let
the Muni
troubleshoot the many systems on the computer-age
vehicle.
"There is more electronics on these
buses than there
was on an Apollo spacecraft," said Galen Dutch, a
Muni technician. The vehicles' innards look less like a
bus than a Silicon Valley factory.
Some of the highlights include features
designed to
cut down on drivers' injuries, which the Muni hopes
will reduce its historically sky-high workers'
compensation costs. The features include
ergonomically sound drivers' seats, tilt steering wheels
and power mirrors.
Raising and lowering the trolley poles,
perhaps the
No. 1 cause of injury to Muni drivers, is now a breeze.
The poles are lowered by pushing a button and
raised with the help of pneumatic force. No more
cranking or getting fingers caught.
The ride is supposed to be much smoother,
thanks to
electronically controlled propulsion systems that
quickly tell the motor how much power is needed to
get the bus up a hill.
Perhaps the biggest change from the old
trolley buses
is that the new ones aren't strictly limited to where
the trolley wire runs. The poles can be lowered and
each bus' batteries can operate for about 2 1/2 miles,
with the bus fully loaded.
This means buses can get around accidents,
or can
be turned anywhere and sent where they are needed.
Riders will notice that like the Muni's
new diesel
buses, the vehicles talk
--announcing stops -- thanks to a global
positioning
satellite system. Four cameras that digitally shoot
several photos a second will be on every bus, as an
anti-crime measure.
For the disabled, the new buses kneel to
the curb
and have wheelchair lifts,
unlike the Muni's 25-year-old trolleys.
Out on the street, workaday passengers
notice the
change on the two buses already in service.
"I like it," said Tracy Watts
of Pleasanton, who rides
the 31-Balboa trolley bus line about three times a
week. "I like the stop announcements. Sometimes
when the bus is too crowded you can't even see
where to get off."
The buses, covered by a $230 million contract,
are
made by Electric Transit Inc., whose lead partner is
Skoda, a Czech conglomerate that ran into big
financial problems a few years ago.
The Muni had to change payment schedules
to keep
the contract on time, but there have been no delays,
said Kersten Magary, senior project manager for the
buses.
The bus shell and motor are made in the
Czech
Republic, but final assembly, which will be a 26-day
process, will be done at Pier 15, where an assembly
line is being put together and about 75 workers are
being hired.
There's one 40-foot bus there now, and
the arrivals
will gradually speed up,
until the plant is producing 18 buses a
month for the
Muni. Buses should start appearing on the street in
bigger numbers in April.
"And after we're done, Muni will get
a trained work
force, people who could work in maintenance or other
areas," said Charlie Hahn, an engineer from Electric
Transit who is helping to set up the factory.After 34
years operating Municipal Railway vehicles, Billy
Williams feels he is finally in Muni driver heaven.
The Muni's use of nonpolluting trolley
buses dates to
1935, and, given today's debate over the future
makeup of the Muni fleet, each bus is emblazoned
with the words "Zero Emissions Vehicle" in big black
letters.
Like other transit agencies, the Muni has
been forced
by the state to choose a path for its future nontrolley
buses, with the goal of reducing air pollution. It chose
so-called clean diesel over natural gas, and
environmentalists are trying to block Muni's decision
to buy 175 more diesel buses.
But all sides agree a better option might
be stringing
more trolley wire. The Muni is studying the addition of
an 18th trolley bus line, perhaps the 19- Polk.
E-mail Edward Epstein at
eepstein@sfchronicle.com.
Previous articles in the Chronicle on Muni's
trolleys:
08/16/1999 - Muni: Fair to Middlin'.
06/01/1999 - Muni trolley firm in crisis.
02/10/1998 - S.F. Urged to Buy Nonpolluting
Vehicles.