TCRP Synthesis No. 2, "Low-Floor Transit Buses," described the technology and issues as of January 1994. However, much has taken place since then. New designs have been introduced, and transit managers seek objective information concerning operating experiences to assist them with their purchasing decisions. In the case of low-floor and flat-floor buses, the technology is evolving so quickly that a follow-up study is required to keep pace. Certain issues identified in the original study have not been fully addressed. In addition, new issues discovered as a result of revenue service experiences also need to be identified and addressed.

The objective of this project was to gather and synthesize information available as to the operational experiences of transit agencies that currently operate low-floor buses, including user acceptance, safety considerations, service impacts, operator acceptance, ridership impacts, and maintenance impacts.

Status: The final report has been published as TCRP Report No. 41, "New Designs and Operating Experiences with Low-Floor Buses." TCRP Report 41 is also available in portable document format (PDF). Double-click on the files below to access the report. (A free copy of Adobe Acrobat Readers is available at https://www.adobe.com.) Note: Because of the large size of these files, it may take some time to download. We regret the inconvenience.

TCRP Report No. 41
Part A - Front Matter; Executive Summary; Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Operating Experiences with Low-Floor Buses; Chapter 3: Market Status and Trends

Part B - Chapter 4: Technology Status and Developments; Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations; References; Acronyms and Abbreviations; Appendix A: Technical Description of Low-Floor Fleets; Appendix B: Factors Impacting Capacity; Appendix C: Interview Guide; and Appendix D: List of Participants