Mega-bus to debut in L.A. next week

Los Angeles commuters next week will be greeted with a bus so long, it’s technically illegal.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to unveil a 65-foot-long bus — longer than four Toyota Priuses parked end to end — to debut on its Orange Line busway.
It is five feet longer than the longest bus allowed by California law, so the MTA had to seek an exemption from Caltrans to operate the prototype.

“When you get inside, the middle aisle looks like a bowling alley,” said MTA spokesman Dave Sotero.

But those extra five feet give the bus three extra rows of seats and the ability to hold up to 100 passengers, while the current 60-foot models on the Orange Line can hold up to 84.

The bus comes in two sections with a flexible, accordion-style center that allows the bus to bend around turns.

It is part of a new trend in recent years of transit agencies around the world ordering longer buses for their commuters.

Although the L.A. bus is certainly long and futuristic, it’s not the world’s longest bus. 

That distinction goes to the bus on the right, an 83-footer that can hold up to 300 passengers.  It is currently being used in China.

Source:  Los Angeles Times