Electric trolley buses have been
part of the public transport system of the city of Seattle since 1940.
Originally introduced to replace streetcars, trolley buses take advantage of the
hydroelectric power available in the Pacific Northwest region of Cascadia.
Electric power collection and return occurs by poles on the roof of the bus
connecting with two overhead wires. Trolley buses provide quiet, no-emission
operation that has excellent acceleration characteristics and hill-climbing
ability. Besides the Seattle system, trolley buses also currently operate in:
Boston, MA; Dayton, OH; Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; and Vancouver, BC
Canada.
Cascada Artpost commemorates the
70 years of trolley bus operation in Seattle with a set of five artistamps,
released with a descriptive booklet. The buses portrayed represent both the
original coach types and the vehicles currently in service. The first trolley
buses replaced streetcars in 1940, and the city procured additional trolley
buses in 1943-44 for a total fleet of 307 trolley buses. We have taken some
artistic liberties in posterizing the scenses of the World War II era Brill and
Twin coaches - pink trolley buses never actually ran on the streets of
Seattle!
Seattle Transit substituted
diesel buses for a portion of the trolley bus network in 1963. A public vote
consolidated public transport in Seattle and King County into a single system
called Metro in 1973. The trolley bus system closed for two years in 1978 for
rebuilding and expansion, with 110 new standard-size 40-foot trolley buses built
by the now defunct American automotive manufacturer AM General starting service
in 1979. In 1986, Metro added 46 high-capacity 60-foot articulated trolley buses
built by the German manufacturer M-A-N to handle larger passenger
loads.
As an alternative to purchasing
new trolley buses, Metro (now part of King County government) decided to rebuild
100 trolley buses with salvaged electric traction systems in new bodies built by
Gillig. These buses began service in 2002. A similar approach was taken in
2006-2008 when 60 articulated dual-power diesel electric coaches built by the
Italian manufacturer Breda originally introduced in 1990 to operate in the
downtown Seattle transit tunnel were converted to full electric
operation.
Metro's entire trolley bus fleet
is near the end of its useful life. A key decision is approaching on whether to
replace the trolley buses with diesel-electric hybrid buses by 2014. This
decision occurs in the context of a Metro budget crisis where there is great
pressure to reduce expenses. Will decision-makers succumb to the temptation to
abandon the trolley bus system in favor of less expensive diesel buses? With the
peaking of global petroleum production and the vulnerability of the United
States to petroleum price hikes and spot fuel shortages in the years ahead, a
decision to purchase buses powered by fossil fuel could prove shortsighted and
foolhardy. Metro's purchase of a new electric trolley bus fleet and possible
expansion of its trolley network would increase Seattle's resilience to the
challenges presented by peak oil.
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saudações!!!!
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