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No one seems to have expanded upon the idea of double-decker buses to allow for
four decks. Although this could potentially create a vehicle too high to pass under bridges, by reducing the height of each deck this should not be an issue. Each deck at present (at least on UK buses) has at least a foot
of spare space above peoples heads that
could be removed to reduce the overall height of the bus. Of course, some technology would need to be utilised to avoid the bus being blown over by strong winds.
With four decks the bus could hold significantly more people and so there is scope to reduce the fare!
This idea could be expanded further to reduce the boarding time at bus stops through the use of four-storey bus stops. At the bus stop passengers would choose a deck in advance so that when the bus arrives, they walk straight on to any of the four decks via doors on each deck. A return to the old days of bus conductors would remove the need for four drivers collecting payment!
bus plunge
http://users.lanmin...om/tcs55/bplite.htm
"Ten people escaped serious injury yesterday [Oct. 13 1999] when a double-decker bus crashed through a wall and plunged 30ft down an embankment..." [egnor, Jul 07 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]
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Annotation:
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Not to mention the fact that some of us are more than five feet tall, and the abovementioned foot is NOT 'extra space'... |
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Oh 'god', your earlier annotation provokes me to reply. Far from requiring any peeling of the laws of physics, this fine suggestion simply demands a quick rethink of the head. 'Such a tall bus' does not necessarily require a wide or long bus. How about a square bus, of width one metre and length one metre? Thus we have perhaps one (or one and a half) person per deck, and as long as we insist the folkperson on the lower deck is of a certain bulk, and that those above are of lesser bulk, we have a finely balanced solution. And in order to preserve fiscal revenue, we pass a law stipulating that the slighter folk pay an increased fare proportional to the inverse-square of their bulk to compensate for (a) the work done by lower/bulkier folk; (b) their enhanced view. And the bus stops would work more like an oil refinery/refraction approach, where lighter folk rise upwards. Possibly. Finally, to prevent collision in the first place, attach hovercraft skirts. And anchor firmly to prevent gum disease. |
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Hmmm! Now call me an old cynic but I reckon the bus companies would probably respond to the invention of these things by reducing the number of buses they run by 75%. So instead of four buses turning up at random intervals each hour (as seems to be the case in Brighton), you'd just get one 'super bus' so that they could save on staff costs. |
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Much as we like the four-storey bus stop, it may be even better to have the bus driven into a bus-sized subterranean chamber at each stop. There are two alternative applications: |
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1) The chamber is gradually flooded and the bus rises, buoyed up by its hovercraft skirt, with passengers quickly embarking/disembarking as the appropriate deck attains ground level; |
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2) Passengers gain entry via chutes from ground level, or disembark via ladders. The chutes could have payment turnstiles at halfway. |
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god+eehen: just build it with a wider base than the top + stiffer/lower suspension |
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kimble: what if the loading tubes didnt connect with the bus? the people would fall out and drown. or if someone got stuck in the slide |
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1 quadruple bus = 4 buses
just build 4 buses instead. |
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How about making it a quadruple-decker bendy bus? That way you can increase passenger capacity even further, and it would look dead impressive barreling down the high street. |
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Just one thought - how big would the engine have to be to cope with all the extra weight of both bus and passenger? Some standard double-decker buses (hell, some single decker buses) have trouble getting up slight inclines so if a quadruple-decker bus (bendy or otherwise) had to climb a hill it would need a powerful engine and possibly as low ratio gearbox. Or a jet engine, that might be interesting... |
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Then you could sell marshmellows and hot dogs to roast over the jet engine. Would also work pretty well to prevent tailgators... |
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/each deck has at least a foot of spare space above peoples heads/ |
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and you plan to fit the two new decks into those two feet? or do the existing decks get squished to three feet high? i really don't see how more height can be crammed into a fixed height, and there certainly isn't enough spare space to reclaim. - |
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Once when I was walking home I hallucinated the passing double-deckers into skyscraper busses many stories high. |
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I suppose you could have people lie down
instead of sitting. Then you could have
four decks in the same space as the
current two. Advantage: A snooze on the
way to the office. Disadvantage: Crawling
the aisle with your briefcase in your teeth. |
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More space in buses? But why? Haven't you witnessed double decker buses pootling all round town with just one single passenger for most of the day (that part before, after and inbetween people leaving their homes and returning), meanwhile spouting enough fumes to make the whole concept of greener transport solutions completely absurd. |
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I witnessed a pretty genius thing a few years ago whilst on holiday. They used single decker buses all the time, and at school finishing time when a single decker bus didn't have enough capacity, they sent two buses together. Simple, elegant, genius. |
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Oh and utalising that 'foot of extra head space'...extra head space, huh!?!! |
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