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.

Bringing You Home: Community Transit Riders Share Their Stories

"I'm Community Transit. And I ride it."

For over 40 years, Community Transit has been honored to provide safe, reliable and friendly service to Snohomish County. We've come a long way in four decades! Our fleet has grown to include the Swift Blue Line, Washington State's first bus rapid transit line, Double Tall buses with big views and a small footprint, DART (Dial-a-Ride Transit), and Vanpool vehicles. Thank you to the people who make it possible for us to serve our community ... our riders. We are honored with the responsibility you have entrusted in us to take you out in the world each day, and to bring you home again.

We talked with some of our riders recently, and they had great stories about the surprising benefits of using our services. From commuters to students to seniors, they shared their stories of connection, empowerment and freedom. We're excited to share them with you. Look for these stories here on our blog, on our website, and on our social channels over the next few months. And feel free to share your stories with us, too! We'd love to hear them.

Bringing You Home from Community Transit on Vimeo.

Double Tall Seat Update: You Asked. We Asked. You Answered. We Fixed!

Last fall, we added 22 new double decker, Double Tall buses to our fleet.

A new Double Tall, double decker bus. It's an Enviro500 manufactured by Alexander Dennis

We were excited to introduce this new version of the Double Tall, with its 76 seats and a larger area for standing passengers. (Compare this to the previous version of the Double Tall which has seats for 77 and carries up to 80 passengers with standing room.)

Plus, the monitor showing the top deck and that 'new bus smell' was pretty cool, too.

Rear-facing seating on the new double decker buses.

Thanks to our riders, we learned that the seating arrangement on the lower level of the new double deckers definitely had more seats, but less leg room due to the configuration of the rear-facing seats.

We brainstormed options and surveyed riders with two questions: 1) "In your opinion, what should be done with the new Double Tall rear-facing seats?" and 2) If the rear-facing seats are removed, what should we do?"

We received 50 responses to our survey and the majority opinion was from our riders was to remove the seats. With that direction, we worked with Alexander Dennis, the manufacturer, to design and manufacture a rack to transform the former rear-facing seats into a place passengers could stow bags and other carry-on items.

Pictured below is the first installation of the new rack with the rear-facing seats removed. The installation takes about two days per double decker bus. Our bus maintenance crew is currently working on removing the rear-facing seats and installing the new rack on the remaining new Double Talls. A second Double Tall has just been completed and our crew anticipates all buses to be completed this summer.

Pictured left, top: The new configuration allows ample leg room and the rack provides a place for stowing bags and gear. Lower left: Approaching seats on the left; Lower middle: View while sitting; Lower right: Approaching seats on the right.

What do you think of the rack and seating?

Thanks to all our riders who participated in the survey and for your continued patience as we worked to resolve this seating issue.

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.

Welcome Back Sunday Service !

By Emmett Heath, Community Transit CEO

On Sunday, June 7, Community Transit will return to a 365-day transit operation. It has always been our mission to serve the residents of Snohomish County the best we can. The Great Recession interrupted our ability to do so, in a number of ways.

Emmett Heath, CEO

Returning Sunday and holiday service is one of several actions we are taking to make good on our promise to fulfill our mission to customers.

Beginning June 7, we will add 27,000 hours of bus and paratransit service to our system, the largest increase since the recession.
• We are adding more trips in the mid-day and on Saturday.
• We are restoring a one-seat ride between Granite Falls and the Boeing plant in Everett.
• We are providing more robust service along Highway 2 in east Snohomish County, and serving job centers in Monroe that we had previously cut.

In the past year, we have hired 120 drivers to offset attrition and to ramp up for this service expansion. These new drivers are happy to be working here, and we’re excited to have them. Next week, we will have all our buses in service and all our drivers on the road doing their best to get you where you need to go, safely and on schedule.

But we’re not stopping there.

We have 22 new Double Tall buses that will be delivered this summer. Seventeen of those will replace older 60-foot buses, adding extra seats on the Seattle trips they serve. Five of those will be additions to the fleet that will increase our ability to serve that popular Snohomish County-to-Seattle market.

We also have ordered 10 additional 60-foot buses that will arrive in early 2016. Those buses will be available to increase our service within Snohomish County as many of our routes, particularly in the south county, are running at capacity.

Today, with concurrence from our Board of Directors, we approved a plan to add more service hours this fall. It is an acceleration of our planned 2016 service enhancement, but it will not provide extra trips. These 12,000 service hours will be used to adjust our schedules on trips that have been struggling to run on time as overall traffic congestion has increased travel times. These hours will go to trips running on I-5 to UW and downtown Seattle, as well as local trips on Routes 115/116 and 201/202.

We like to get people to their destinations on schedule, and some daily driving conditions prevent us from doing so now and then. When we see trips that run late almost every day, we have to invest in more service hours to give our customers a reliable schedule. That’s what we’ll be doing this fall.

I thank you for supporting Community Transit, and wish you a safe and pleasant ride.

Legislative Update: Waiting for Special Session

The 2013 State Legislature ended its regular session yesterday after passing a transportation budget, but still has to complete work on a biennial operating budget. So, Gov. Jay Inslee has called for a special session to begin on May 13.

It is expected that a new transportation funding package, which includes funding for transit and road projects as well as local options for transit agencies, will be discussed as part of the special session. The most significant part of that package for Community Transit is a provision that would allow the agency to take a ballot measure to local voters seeking new funding. Of course, there is no guarantee that any new transportation legislation will be adopted.

Passage of the regular transportation budget still is good news for Community Transit. A modest amount of direct transit funding that was established in 2012 was funded again. This will bring Community Transit about $800,000 in the next fiscal year.

Also, Community Transit secured two Regional Mobility Grants, one to match federal funding for the purchase of 17 new Double Tall buses and another to begin study and design for efforts to get a park & ride built in Mukilteo.

While the direct funding is welcome, the funding need is much greater. Community Transit cut $23 million of service in 2010-2012 dollars, so it would take at least that much every year to restore the same level of service.

Before the special session starts, Community Transit will continue to ask legislators to support transit funding. This extends to the new House Republican leader Dan Kristiansen, who becomes Snohomish County's highest ranking legislator.

In his remarks calling for a special session, Inslee mentioned transit funding as one of the items he would like the legislature to resolve. Let's hope this next session is truly "special" for transit.

Interest in the Double Talls

British reporter Tim Deakin visited Community Transit this week to learn more about our Double Tall double decker buses.

Deakin is writing an article about bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited's efforts to crack the U.S. market with its double deckers. Currently, The RTC of Southern Nevada has 150 double deckers that serve the Las Vegas area, and Community Transit has its fleet of 23 Double Talls. Several other U.S. transit agencies have either single buses, smaller fleets or demonstration double deckers in operation.

Deakin wanted to know how our drivers, mechanics and customers liked the buses, and was particularly interested in the build process for our buses. Community Transit's bus purchase, which was funded largely through the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (stimulus bill), was the first Buy America-compliant double decker order for ADL. That meant the buses, which have historically been built in Great Britain, had to be substantially built in the U.S. with American-made parts.

"We found there were some language barriers, even though we spoke the same language," said Strategic Planning and Grants Manager June DeVoll, who oversaw the bus purchase. "We could be using the same words, but they meant completely different things to us and them."

Despite the complexities and slight time delays involved in adapting a very British product and process to the American way, and the use of a new set of subcontractors from a different continent, the buses went into operation last year and have been a hit with our drivers, mechanics and, especially, our customers.

I explained to Deakin that when we had the one leased double decker from 2007-09, we created a web page to list the routes and times that bus was in operation because we got so many inqueries from people who wanted to ride that bus. We were resolved not to do that with the new fleet but, again, we were inundated with requests. Now, communications and dispatch staff collaborate to maintain a list of routes and times you can catch any of the 23 Double Tall buses.

Deakin is a freelance journalist based in London and says the article will appear in the trade magazine Buses sometime later this year.

Prepare for Winter Weather

by Tom Pearce, Public Information Specialist

Perhaps you’ve heard that “a butterfly flaps its wings in China, and it rains in Brazil.” That’s how it is for Community Transit when it comes to snow.

We cover 1,300 square miles of Snohomish County. That can mean some long trips, like Route 201 between Smokey Point and Lynnwood. Snow throws a wrench in the works. We’ve seen days with six inches of snow north of Marysville and none in south county. So the bus starting at Smokey Point needs chains and is delayed. As it moves out of the snow zone, the chains need to come off. More delays. And in the end, people in Lynnwood are wondering, “Why is our bus late?”

That’s why we post Rider Alerts on our website when snow is expected. The first alert may be a general warning. Once the flakes fly, we’re on it, day and night. If snow falls overnight, we post our first alert by 5 a.m. and continue throughout the day into the evening. Every time something changes in local service, we post an alert. For commuters, there’s the 5 a.m. alert followed by a report by 2 p.m. outlining the evening commute. By 8 p.m. we have a forecast for the following morning’s commute, when we’re back at it with a more detailed 5 a.m. report.

We also offer an electronic alert system that sends notices by email or text. We'll send the same general alert out to all subscribers as we post on the website, but if your route's routing or schedule changes during the day we'll let you know.

The addition of 23 double decker buses to our commuter fleet should improve service in the snow. These Double Talls replaced our oldest 60-foot articulated buses. The 42-foot Double Talls can operate like any standard bus in slippery conditions. Artics can jack-knife easily when it’s icy, so the few times a year we get snow, we often pull them from service. That’s also why on snowy days you may see regular 30-or 40-foot buses running on Swift.

If it does snow, check our website for major delays before you head out. Dress warmly, because buses likely will be delayed if snow is sticking to the roads. And remember, just because it’s not sticking in your neighborhood, it may be elsewhere. Check to see if we’re on a reroute, or try to get to main roads, where service can operate more easily. If your stop is on a hill, wait at the top or bottom of the hill and flag down the driver; buses can be hard to stop or start mid-hill when it’s icy.

We’re ready for winter weather at Community Transit. If it snows, we want you to feel comfortable that you can rely on the bus to get you where you need to go.

Riding the Double Talls

Crosscut today ran this great first-person account of riding one of our Double Tall buses for the first time. It made me recall the thrill of that first ride I took on our leased bus back in 2007.

In this article, Mr. Hinshaw discusses the benefits to Community Transit in using double decker buses for commuter service, mainly transporting more people without greater operating costs. Another benefit to the agency is visibility. People in Seattle see the Double Talls and think of Community Transit. Other transit agencies elsewhere in the country call us to ask about our experience with the buses, or if they find out I work here they say, "Oh yeah, you guys have the double deckers."

Hinshaw asks why a U.S. company doesn't get in the double decker market, and that's a legitimate question. But yet another benefit of Community Transit's order for 23 double deckers from U.K.-based Alexander Dennis, Ltd. is that the company set up a plant in California to build our buses. That did employ U.S. workers, and set a precedent for other agencies to purchase such buses with federal "Buy America" money.

The author confesses "a childlike glee" in running upstairs to get a front row seat. What about you? What was your first ride on a Double Tall like? Are you a regular Double Tall commuter? Are you still waiting for that first chance to board a double decker? What's your story?

Double Tall Ads Debut

The first Double Tall bus with advertising made its debut in service this week. AAA of Washington bought the ad that occupies the upper half of the double decker bus.

Community Transit made a decision last year to allow advertising on its Double Tall and Swift buses in an effort to raise more revenue. Transit advertising, like other advertising, has taken a nosedive during the recession. Fewer companies are advertising and they are advertising less than before, causing prices to fall for available advertising space.

Titan, our transit advertising vendor, was eager to make available advertising space on our Swift and Double Tall buses.

Swift buses have a unique look and paint scheme that draws attention to those buses, plus they travel frequently up and down the dense Highway 99 corridor for 20 hours a day. That’s a lot of moving billboard time to a high residential, business and auto-driven population.

The Double Talls are another bus type that draw attention because of their look and size. The ad placement on the upper half of the bus is visible above traffic, a desirable commodity. Plus these buses run through downtown Seattle as well as up and down I-5 during morning and evening rush hours, catching the eyes of stuck motorists.

Some of these same factors help Community Transit. People see these buses and want to ride them because they look different, and the characteristics of their service are different. To help keep brand integrity, Community Transit is not allowing advertising on all its Swift or Double Tall buses. At least not yet. We allow advertising on 10 of our 15 Swift buses and 18 of our 23 Double Tall buses.

So far, there have been five ads sold for the Double Talls. You will see the other ad-equipped buses coming out soon. As part of the Buy Local for Transit promotion, Titan is offering a buy one, get one deal on Community Transit bus ad space. Just in case you’re considering…

By the way, speaking of Double Talls, the heating/air conditioning problem we were experiencing on these buses has been fixed. Because the separate HVAC systems on each floor of the buses were not working together, customers were complaining about it being either too hot or too cold on the buses, depending on where they were sitting. We stopped putting new buses on the road until the problem was fixed. The fix came last weekend and this week another three Double Talls have been put into service, bringing to total 18 on the road. The last five of these replacement buses should be out soon.

Return of the Double Tall

Despite the dreary rain and wind, it was a bright morning for some Snohomish County commuters on Community Transit's Routes 413 and 415.

Surprise surprise! Riders watched a shiny, new 14-foot high Double Tall bus roll up to their stop to welcome them aboard.

My co-worker Jason and I met up with the bus and its driver, Ron, at 4 a.m. to tag along on those first trips and record a virtual ride-along for fans of our Facebook page. We loved seeing the surprised looks on customers' faces as we rolled up. We took some photos and chatted with customers, many of whom welcomed the return of the much-loved Double Tall. Others took a ride for the first time; we suggested they sit up top, of course.

Join the Conversation

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, public transportation is social. I’ve known bus riders who celebrated birthdays (with cake) on board, who met and fell in love, who seemingly share their life stories or simply a small part of their day with each other.

So it’s only right that Community Transit jumped on the social media band wagon early, launching our Facebook page in fall 2008. Government pages don’t have “friends,” but more than 850 people “like” us. Actually, we know many more of you like us, so check out our page! We have some interesting discussions there, with hot topics including service changes and Double Talls, the replacement fleet of double decker buses.

Where Are Those Double Talls?

One of the most frequently asked questions we’re getting these days is why aren’t the new Double Tall double decker buses in service yet?

Many people are aware that the buses started arriving last fall and are now parked at our base. They’ve been seen around Everett as they go through road testing.

Fact is, a perfect storm of circumstances has transpired to keep them out of service so far…

A little background: Community Transit leased one double decker three years ago to try out in commuter service to Seattle. The bus can hold twice the number of riders as a typical 40-foot bus in the same amount of space, while using only one driver and roughly the same amount of fuel.

Our pilot testing of this bus went great. People loved the bus – the novelty of the stairs, the great views from above and the smooth ride of a triple-axle, single-frame chassis. We did a dwell time study for the Seattle Department of Transportation to see if it took longer to load and unload the Double Tall on busy downtown streets. The result: no. In fact, the shorter length of the bus compared to articulated buses helped to keep vehicles from “blocking the box” at rush hour.

The leased bus (yes, we only had one!) went back to the manufacturer and, in 2009, thanks to federal stimulus funding, Community Transit placed an order for 23 Double Talls to replace the oldest articulated buses in our fleet.

Now the storm…

Because Community Transit uses federal funding to buy its buses, there is a “Buy America” requirement – buses must be substantially built in the U.S. using mostly American-made parts.

The winner of our public bid for the double deckers was Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) of Great Britain – the world’s leading double decker manufacturer. To stake its claim in the American market, ADL specifically bid to build a “Buy America” compliant double decker, it’s first ever.

This new build process for ADL created some new issues with the buses, from working with new subcontractors to manufacturing at a U.S. plant. Some of these issues are still being resolved to meet Community Transit’s high standards. At the same time, our mechanics are spending lots of time with these buses to get to know how they work, installing ORCA, fare box and other equipment, and placing a new set of decals on these 14-foot tall buses.

We’re just about ready to hand these buses over to the drivers for training and they will soon (don’t ask for a date) be on the road!

The good news is we know that our customers are looking forward to these buses, and we know they will love them. The buses will save fuel and maintenance costs over those 1995-built artics they are replacing. They will expand capacity for riders, which is a good thing after the service cuts last year created more crowded commuter buses.

And, while we haven’t had the chance to test this yet, the Double Talls should perform well in icy conditions. Similar buses in other cities have been able to operate well in those conditions. Most of our commuter fleet is articulated buses, so when snowy or icy conditions hit we have to take those buses off the road. The Double Talls should help us to have enough buses to carry passenger demand during those bad weather periods.