Bringing You Home With Double Tall: Real People, Real Stories

Deedra shares her story on the benefits of being a Double Tall rider.

The view sure is amazing from the top of our Double Talls. When you’re out from behind the wheel, you can look out the windows beyond gridlock to see mountains, trees, and the Seattle skyline. The view inside a Double Tall is pretty great too. It’s clean and comfortable, with plenty of room to stretch out and breathe. Even better? It’s filled with potential friends, professional connections, and neighbors. Meet Deedra, who looks forward to her commute each day to connect with her community.

"I have sat upstairs before and yeah, the view is awesome. I’m so much more comfortable on this bus as far as leg room, and I don’t have to worry about the traffic. It’s stress free.” Deedra has been commuting from Snohomish County to downtown Seattle for 17 years, always taking Community Transit buses. In fact, Deedra has been riding our Double Tall buses since our first feet rolled out in 2011. That initial fleet of 23 buses has grown to 62, with 8 more anticipated later this year. That means even more opportunities to take in the view while everyone else is stuck in traffic.

Deedra’s commute from Silver Firs in Everett to South Lake Union takes less than an hour on a Double Tall, where it would take at least an hour and a half by car. What does she do with this free time to herself? She reads, naps, relaxes, and makes new friends. “When I take the Double Tall I usually end up talking to people I’ve met on my commute. I’ve met a lot of interesting people. I recognize them out and about in my community.” With professionals commuting to and from the downtown area, the Double Talls occasionally act as a networking bus, too. “Some of the connections I’ve made have helped people in their careers, or we talk about other aspects of our lives. We benefit from one another.”

The Double Tall not only saves time, it saves money. “The cost effectiveness is a huge advantage. I’m a single mom and I can avoid spending $24 in parking and money in gas.” Deedra drives 10-15 minutes to the Swamp Creek Park & Ride where she catches her Double Tall. “I take my daughter to school in the morning, so I tend to take any bus that’s after 8:00 am. Coming down to Swamp Creek is easy and I can always find a parking spot. There’s always a Double Tall to take so I’m never going to miss my commute.”

Enjoy a comfortable commute while we bring you home with Double Tall. Find a Double Tall on routes serving Everett, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Marysville.

 How would you use your free time on the Double Tall? Would you enjoy the opportunity to disconnect from others and just relax, or would you be inspired to connect, maybe striking up a conversation with someone new? 

Bringing You Home from Community Transit on Vimeo.

Four Things You Should Know About Our New Double Tall Buses

By Laurel McJannet

Back in May, The Herald had a post on their Street Smarts blog about Community Transit's order of 22 double decker buses to be delivered this summer. These buses will increase our fleet of Double Talls (as we affectionately call them) to a whopping 45 total this summer.

Guess what? Three of them have arrived and I was able to take some pictures and find out what new features these new buses will offer.

I know what you're thinking-- when will they be on the road? Will they be put on my route?

Before the buses can be put on the road, they will be inspected and cleaned, as well as outfitted with transit technology (GPS, ORCA and a farebox.) This process takes 3-4 weeks or longer depending on if we find something that needs to be fixed before they go into service. Once they are assigned to a route, we'll update this post.

In the meantime, we know inquiring minds want to know what's new with these buses, so here are some highlights.

Good Things Come in Small Packages. Here is a picture of a current and a new Double Tall -- an updated Enviro 500 from Alexander Dennis. The new one is on the bottom (you can see it hasn't been branded yet with "The Double Tall" decal on the front). At first glimpse, they appear the same, but the new Double Tall is six inches shorter in height, which is good because this means the buses can fit at places they previously could not.

The new Double Talls, with high-back reclining seats, will hold 80 passengers (49 upstairs and 31 downstairs OR 25 + two wheelchairs).



New Bike Rack. The new Double Tall has a bike rack that holds 3 bikes! All new buses will have this bike rack and, eventually, all buses will follow suit and upgrade from their current 2-bike rack.

(Left) New Double Tall. (Right) Current Double Tall

The upper deck (pictured above) is largely unchanged. As you can see, there's slightly less room in the front row of the upper deck, but the unobstructed view remains the same. You're actually closer to the action!

Last but not least... a lower deck monitor! There is a monitor at the bottom of the staircase leading to the upper deck. Ever have those days where you race up the stairs to the upper deck, find it's full and have to make the climb back downstairs? Now, you'll be able to see if there are seats available on the upper deck before schlepping yourself and your bags up those stairs. Genius, I say!

So, there you have it. A sneak peek at our newest Double Talls. Is there anything else you'd like to see/know about them? Let us know in the comments.