Double-Decker Buses

"The University Transport System owns nine of these imported London double-decker buses. This unique system is owned and operated by the Associated Students of UC Davis Campus and serves the UC Davis Campus and the City of Davis with a regularly scheduled bus service during the school year." —From the back of a Unitrans bus postcard, available for sale in the UCD Bookstore.

Two of these buses were purchased back in 1967 by ASUCD direct from England to attract people to use the service. This was the inception of Unitrans, the only transit company in the United States to use authentic London double-deck buses in daily service.

Oct 9, 1967 California Aggie article Nov 10, 1967 Davis Enterprise article

Over the years, other double-decker buses were procured from London. The majority of the double-deckers were of the RT type, though both RTL, RLH and Daimler models were also part of the fleet over the years. The Daimler double-deckers were retired from service in 1999, as upkeep was difficult (the parts were and still are simply unavailable). The RT buses remain in service thanks to the services of Wally Mellor, the former director of Unitrans Maintenance. Most of the spare parts were hand-made by Wally at the Shop facility. RTL 1014, one of the original pair to be purchased in 1968, is still in service today.

The Double-Decker buses currently only provide service to the MU terminal, and operate only on the B, E, F, and G lines. Other lines pose significant hazards to the buses such as low hanging power lines, trees, and the Richards Underpass.

The Double-Decker buses are not wheelchair-accessible and have no bike racks. Other runs during the day on these lines provide wheelchair accessibility.

Interestingly, in December of 2005 London finally retired their line of Routemaster double-decker buses, making Davis perhaps the last bastion of regular vintage double-decker operation.

Currently six buses remain from the original collection.

• RT 742 returned to service very briefly in Spring 2007 after undergoing massive maintenance and restoration. This included replacing all of the wooden beams that hold the body panels to the bus, as well as new windows. 742 is easily identified by its unique (to Unitrans) route number box on the roof, which will once again display its route number "13" from its days in London. Sadly, 742 was pulled from service in Summer 2007 to remove its original pre-select engine and replace it with a brand new Cummins diesel engine as the original pre-select engine will not meet 2008 emissions standards. Expect to see 742 back in service some time during the 2007-2008 academic year.

• RTL 1014 returned to daily service in Spring Quarter 2006 after a three year absence. It is a coveted prize both here and in London, and museums all over the world are eager to get their hands on the bus. "RTL" signifies that the bus was an RT built by Leyland. Keen observers will note the slightly different front grill. This bus has been kept as original as possible. 1014 has its original pre-select transmission, meaning that it is a pseudo-manual transmission bus. The next gear the driver wishes to shift to is "pre-selected" via a lever on the steering column and then a pedal is depressed and released to shift the transmission into that gear. Not many Unitrans drivers are currently trained on this bus and training on 1014 is a priviledge for experienced drivers only.

• RT 1235 is slated to become the second London double-decker to be converted to CNG. Over the last few years it has been easily recognizable as the frame of a double-decker sitting next to the Fleet Services yard. In December 2006, following RT 742 leaving for the paint shop, 1235 was moved into the Unitrans shop to begin its conversion to CNG. To date, even more of the frame has been stripped from 1235 in order to attach and install CNG tanks both underneath the frame and underneath the stairwell.

• RT 2819 is the first and only London double-decker to be converted into a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) fueled bus. It runs in service daily, and is distinctive due to its brighter red paint and extra decals. It also is the fastest double deck in the fleet and is capable of reaching highway speeds, however, this is not recommended and tends to kill the transmission.

• RT 3123 and RT 4735 remain in service, though both have been modified from their original designs. Additionally, neither are running on their original engine. Both have Cummins diesel engines and automatic transmissions. They can run a bit smoky so you may want to avoid bicycling directly behind them.

On Dec 14, 2007, the 1014 made what may be its last run with its original engine. Many Unitrans managers and drivers boarded to celebrate 40 years of faithful service.

Unitrans Manager Geoff Straw and other friends of the 1014 enjoy the ride south on Anderson Road Assistant manager Anthony Palmere and founding manager Tom M. enjoy the ride on the lower level.

Modern Double-Deck Buses

Unitrans was considering the purchase of modern double-deck buses. A bus was borrowed for a two-week "test drive" to see if the bus will work well for Unitrans. Testing began on January 21st, 2006. Unfortunately these buses are not available for purchase with a CNG engine. However, the modern diesel engines (the 2007 engine model year specifically) are just as clean and efficient as 2007 CNG engines. Unitrans will be taking this issue to the City of Davis in the near future. More information can be found on the Unitrans website at http://www.unitrans.com. Here are some photos:

Big Windows Lower Deck

Wide Stairway Upper Deck

Comments:

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These are the slowest things ever — SS

I love these buses. There have been several times when I was in a down mood and just riding on a double-decker bus cheered me up. - KenjiYamada

These are my favorite busses to ride. It makes my day if I get to ride on double-deckers both to and from campus. - MargieHalloran

2006-01-21 10:15:08   I love double-deckers. They may be slow and stinky, but the interiors are much more inviting (to me anyway) than the generic buses. —CindySperry

2006-01-21 17:06:47   Those are some ugly, ugly new busses. The uplostery especially. —TravisGrathwell

2006-01-21 17:48:22   eewwwwwwwww. I hate the paint job and upholstery... and the feel of the bus is way too sterile. :( —CindySperry

• That's a demo bus, on loan from the Great White North. The upholstery and paint job will probably be different, since all busses are essentially custom made. —BrentLaabs
  

2006-01-21 18:11:02   Can anyone tell me what the purpose of the "flag girl" (may be sexist, but all I've seen were young females) on the rear of the old busses? —GrumpyoldGeek

• You've obviously have not ridden many of the DD because there are many male conductors also. Conductors help out the driver by collecting fares, ensuring everyone is seated or standing in a designated area, and ring the bell for stops people need to get off of so the driver knows when to stop. They hold out the reflector flags so that cars see this as a signal of passengers boarding or disembarking the bus, when the bus is travelling at slow speeds or merging with another lane of traffic. — JoAnnaRich
  

• It is because in England vehicles drive on the left side of the road so the bus door is on the left. In the U.S. this faces traffic, so the flag person protects people getting on from traffic going by. -NickSchmalenberger
  

2007-06-04 01:35:17   Can't the engineering dept modify the modern double deckers to run on CNG? Or would that be cost-prohibitive? —TusharRawat

2007-06-05 12:08:12   I don't know if Unitrans shop mechanics can do that, and I don't know why they just can't be all CNG. I'll ask the General Manager later today and respond, :D —ChristyMarsden

• Different kind of engine. Would be very expensive to change, I'm surprized the manufacturere doesn't have a CNG option though as so many bus outfits are heading that way. — rocksanddirt
  

• 2007-12-23 07:15:58   Hey Tushar, I work in the unitrans shop and the reason behind not converting all the double-deckers to CNG is 1) it is cost prohibitive to change the engines. Each of these buses is about 30 grand...not including adding the CNG tanks and all the rehab work needed 2) the companies making CNG engines, like John Deer, are starting to stop offering CNG engines. We had one already for the next CNG conversion on 1235 but now it will be a spare if 2819's John Deere has a meltdown. 3) The conversion process for each Double Deck takes at least a year and usually more like 5. 4) The biggest misconception is that CNG is better than Diesel, this is not necessarily true. CNG has many chemicals and emissions that can be much more hazardous to your health than any emissions coming out of a diesel engine's exhaust. Remember just because it's emissions clear doesn't necessarily mean that it's better for the environment. Anyways that's my 2-cents on that whole issue. -NathanielJarrett
  

• Turning a modern diesel DD into CNG would require replacing the engine and finding a place to mount the CNG tanks. Retrofitting the old DD buses requires a significant amount of engineering (done mostly by our incredibly talented student shop mechanics) and is done while we have the bus stripped during a complete retrofit. Doing this to a modern bus is less than ideal. Nobody in the world makes a new CNG double deck bus, and Davis may have the only one in the world. -ScottWeintraub
  

• It would be great if one or several people who know the details could just add the information to the entry itself so people don't have to read through the comments to learn this stuff. It's obviously a question that people have, so just rewrite the entry to answer it. If your answer gets too long, feel free to create a whole new entry about it — the engineering (both modern and the history of what has been done to the buses in the past) is a neat little story unto itself! —JabberWokky
  

2007-09-22 02:17:23   I had the privilege of being a passenger on the 1014 today—it was a real treat. A grand old bus, so much of it looks to be original. Too bad the original engine needs to be removed for smog purposes. Hats of to Unitrans and 1014—40 years of continuous doubledecker bus service. —TedBuehler Are any of the old Daimler buses still around in 1 piece, or who could I ask about these as I have a single decker Daimler, thanks.