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i read that one issue with the new electric buses is the cost of charging stations
Electric and hybrid buses are still fairly new. I assume that the costs associated with maintaining them will decrease with time.
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Trolley buses are not in decline in Vancouver, at least not yet. I could see though how electric buses eventually may phase them out.
I think Vancouver will maintain them for a while due to the overall size of the system and the general terrain they cover. I do see them being gradually phased out with the proliferation of electric and hybrid buses since they do offer some of the same advantages.
To further elaborate on some of the other systems in Canada:
I know there was some opposition to the termination of trolleybus service in Edmonton.
Toronto had an extensive system as well, but it's now completely gone.
I did hear rumours about Laval wanting to develop a new system but that project is either on hiatus or been dropped altogether.
I'm a trolleybus fan, because I grew up in San Francisco and used to ride them many times per week. They climbed the hills of SF better than any other large vehicle could, and were very quiet.
Mexico City has a big fleet of trolleybuses. The city transit system bought many hundreds from US cities in the 1950s and 1960s. Many are still in service, with millions and millions of miles logged on each. They are probably the most used vehicles on the planet, in terms of distance traveled. It would be interesting if there was a world record recorded on this.
For Mexico City, a place with horrible air pollution problems, the benefits of the trolleybuses is they don't emit pollution like the majority of other buses in the city. I recall a visit to Beijing, China 20+ years ago, and remember seeing lots of trolleybuses there also. Again, a big benefit is obvious in a place that has bad air pollution.
I found this on Wiki listing all the systems from around the world. Not surprising that the majority are in the countries of the former USSR, and other nations of eastern Europe. There are not any here in Leipzig, my current residence, but trams with overhead trolleys rule the streets!
I'm a trolleybus fan, because I grew up in San Francisco and used to ride them many times per week. They climbed the hills of SF better than any other large vehicle could, and were very quiet.
Likewise. I'm a big trolleybus and tram/streetcar fan. My fondness for them developed over the years. It started off when I was kid, where I was drawn to the wires and tracks, so I tried to figure out what streets had them. It's only as I grew older that I came to appreciate them for the quiet they provided as well as being more environmentally friendly. The hills of SF, Seattle and Vancouver are one of the main reasons why these three west coast cities have maintained their systems.
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Mexico City has a big fleet of trolleybuses. The city transit system bought many hundreds from US cities in the 1950s and 1960s. Many are still in service, with millions and millions of miles logged on each. They are probably the most used vehicles on the planet, in terms of distance traveled. It would be interesting if there was a world record recorded on this.
For Mexico City, a place with horrible air pollution problems, the benefits of the trolleybuses is they don't emit pollution like the majority of other buses in the city. I recall a visit to Beijing, China 20+ years ago, and remember seeing lots of trolleybuses there also. Again, a big benefit is obvious in a place that has bad air pollution.
I was last in China back in 2002, so nearly 20 years ago and I do vividly remember both Beijing and Shanghai having extensive trolleybus systems.
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I found this on Wiki listing all the systems from around the world. Not surprising that the majority are in the countries of the former USSR, and other nations of eastern Europe. There are not any here in Leipzig, my current residence, but trams with overhead trolleys rule the streets!
That wiki article is what I consult to find out about different trolleybus systems around the world. Sadly, they seem to be on the decline. Africa and Oceania are the two continents fully devoid of them, now that the Wellington system has closed down.
Even in Europe and across the former Soviet Republics, a number of systems have closed down since the dawn of the new millennium.
Speaking to Boston - The only reason there are still lines running as trackless trolleys is because the 1912 vintage Harvard Bus Tunnel can't handle the exhaust of running all diesel service in it and there's no real way to renovate it so that it can.
It's possible they could even get cut for diesel buses once they can manage a mile or two on battery power only, but for environmental optics it's probably more realistic that it won't happen until they've got full battery buses in service to replace them with.
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