Riding on the hitch

[AustinBoston]

Pjay just finished her contract, so my free parking (and carpool partner) is done.  So is my lunchtime romance.   (She starts a new contract Monday, with better hours and better location).  

So I started taking the bus recently.  The buses used for some of the runs on the route I take (854 between Northtown Mall and downtown Mpls.) are "flex" busses.  This means they bend in the middle, so that a large bus can more easily negotiate relatively narrow city streets.  (If you really want to see narrow city streets, go to Boston).

These buses essentially have a trailer on a ball-like hitch.  There are some serious differences, however.  The "trailer" is open to the main bus.  The "walls" of the bus near the hitch point are a couple layers of an "accordion" material.  The hitch can (and does) swivel in all directions (like a hitch ball) - left/right (which is the whole point), up/down, and rotationally (i.e. pitch/ yaw/ roll).  Passengers ride in the trailer.  The bus is a diesel pusher, with the engine in the back of the trailer, so rather than the "tow vehicle" pulling the trailer, the "trailer" pushes the "tow vehicle."  Over the hitch, there is a circular platform approximately the diameter of the bus width.  This platform rotates halfway between the direction of the bus and the direction of the trailer.  On this platform are two pairs of seats, facing each other.  So not only can you ride in the trailer (and I have), but you can ride on the hitch.  :yikes:

Tell this to your trailering friends some time: "There are trailers that are made for passengers, and even hitches with seats for passengers."

There are a couple major differences between taking the bus in Minneapolis and taking the bus in Boston (which I did some of the time).  First, at some of the stops, people in Minneapolis will actually line up to get on the bus.  In Boston, it was always a mad crush to force their way onto the bus, and pity the poor person trying to get off! :yikes:

Second, in Mineapolis, there might be an odd character on the bus.  In Boston, at least half the people on the bus were people you don't want to sit next to. :yikes:

Austin

[Kelly]

Articulated Buses!!   DS loves to point them out when we see them.  He and his sister got to sit on the hitch when we did the park & ride to the State Fair this year.  It's the only time I ever ride a city bus ... I am truly a child of the suburbs.  

[zamboni]

Those were freaky as a kid... but never nearly as fun as jumping on and off the moving double-decker London buses as a kid  :sombraro: