Most of the City of Albany is within 1000 feet of a bus stop, but that is less true in Schenectady and Troy. Albany for the most part has pretty good transit around it's interior parts, although some of the routes run less frequency.
It’s following the lead of cities like Missoula, Montana, Olympia, Washington and Richmond, Virginia. Boston is next in line, with a plan to make some bus routes free in the coming year. But with more than half a million residents, Albuquerque is the largest U.S. city to experiment with zero-fare transit at this scale.
In recent years, Albuquerque’s bus system provided about 9 million rides and derived only 7% of its revenue from rider fares. During the pandemic, both numbers took a nosedive. Sena said the hope is that switching to zero-fare will get riders back on the bus and give them a financial break.
The decline of the streetcar after World War I — when cars began to arrive on city streets — is often cast as a simple choice made by consumers. As a Smithsonian exhibition puts it, "Americans chose another alternative — the automobile. The car became the commuter option of choice for those who could afford it, and more people could do so."
But the reality is more complicated. "People weren't choosing to ride or not ride in some perfect universe — they were making it in a messy, real-world environment," Norton says.
The real problem was that once cars appeared on the road, they could drive on streetcar tracks — and the streetcars could no longer operate efficiently. "Once just 10 percent or so of people were driving, the tracks were so crowded that [the streetcars] weren't making their schedules," Norton says.
Wickman, it turns out, pretty much invented intercity bus travel—which for most Americans equals Greyhound, the company that emerged from that long-ago Hupmobile ride. “Greyhound has become generic for bus travel,ȁ says Robert Gabrick, author of Going The Greyhound Way. “Like Kleenex for tissues.ȁ Indeed, this classic American business icon—which, as it happens, is now owned by a British conglomerate—today has more than 7,300 employees, with estimated yearly sales of $820 million and 2,000 buses serving 3,800 destinations in 48 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces. “I’m amazed at Greyhound’s brand recognition,ȁ says ePaul University professor Joseph Schwieterman, an authority on intercity bus travel. “It’s an American success story.ȁ
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a series of initiatives to increase the number of electric buses in New York as part of the State's efforts to mitigate climate change, create healthier communities, improve air quality, and boost access to clean transportation in underserved communities. Specifically, this effort includes $16.4 million in incentives for the expansion of electric bus usage amongst public transportation authorities, as well as $2.5 million for school bus operators to acquire cleaner forms of transportation with lower emissions. These measures will help take polluting vehicles out of service across the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality in support of Governor Cuomo's nation-leading clean energy and climate goals in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
"Electrifying transit and school buses at scale is an important step in our fight against climate change and is essential in helping us reach our ambitious goals to create a greener New York State," Governor Cuomo said. "Through these initiatives, bus operators will now have the support and resources they need to modernize their fleets, reduce emissions and ensure underserved communities have cleaner public transit options as we work to further reduce our carbon footprint."
That raises concerns about the long-term health of a sector that generally operates on thinner margins and has less financial cushion.
Pantuso estimates that 85% of the 100,000 people who work in the bus industry have been laid off or furloughed — in most cases since March.
It's not just long-haul services like Greyhound that are limping. Traffic on commuter lines that ordinarily ferry workers to and from the suburbs has also dried up, since many people are working from home.
The project is a first in Germany. In the beginning of 2021, its aim is to implement a 100-meter section of road featuring an inductive charging system, with 90 meters of dynamic charging and 10 meters of static. Later, a larger section, of around 600 meters, will be deployed. Electric buses in Karlsruhe will use this special section of road to recharge their batteries a bit, all while driving. This test phase will serve to determine the extent to which this kind of system might be effective.
This technology offers many potential advantages. First, it promises to boost the battery life of electric vehicles, potentially helping to keep buses on the road for longer. Moreover, seeing as batteries would be charged more regularly, each time the vehicle uses an inductive charging road, this kind of system could allow for smaller batteries, cutting the weight of vehicles while gaining space. Finally, it could also help avoid the need to build extra charging stations for buses.