Friday fun post: what type of seat material do you like best?
Friday fun post: what type of seat material do you like best?
If you like, skip to the end of this post to tell us your favourite seat material on transit.
Last week: what do you do when waiting for transit?
Last week, I asked you what you do when waiting for transit.
We had 135 votes, and possibly unsurprisingly, the most popular answer was “watch the street/track like a hawk to see if your ride is coming” with 45%.
Second most popular was “people watch” (21%) and third was using a phone or smartphone (18%). Just 7% said they read, and 7% chose “other.”
There was a diversity of answers in the comments: most people felt impatient waiting, but had different ways of handling it. Here’s Ed:
Playing games on my iPod touch is the easiest way to kill time, or else I’d be reading those free newspapers that are handed out at Canada Line stations during peak hours. Sometimes, I purposely miss the train if I have time, just to catch a breeze or soak in the good weather, a pro of Richmond stations!
Peter and Andrew thought there should have been a category for pacing (Reva did suggest one originally — sorry for pulling it out!) Here’s Peter:
I’m with Andrew on this one — you needed another category for the impatient pacers among us — it might seem like impatience on the surface, but inside, my mind is usually racing around a rich terrain of brilliant fantasy: next time I get restless — a shiny black limo with shaded windows is going to pull up to the bus stop and offer me a ride to exactly where I’m going… and there will be tray with champagne and caviar sitting there for me to enjoy — and everybody at the bus stop will be wondering “who was that.?”
And ericmk was very zen about the whole experience.
When I’m waiting for the bus/train, I usually am pretty calm, especially after work when I’m not in a rush. I don’t have to worry about driving, and worrying about the timeliness of transit is kinda useless because it won’t get you to your destination any sooner! Or at least that’s my mindset! So, I pass the time with my BlackBerry because I’m addicted to it. I’ll check my email or look at whatever else suits my fancy- like the Buzzer blog! And I’m still waiting for an app for Blackberry- developers get to work! I’m not getting an iphone anytime soon!
Also, Tsushima Masaki had a helpful hint for those with smartphones.
Actually (a side note), a little something I noticed a couple months ago is you can actually get a schedule of train times on the Translink website. For example to get actual train arrival times go to http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/hiwire?.a=iScheduleLookup and type in 980 as the bus route.
999 is Expo Line
998 is Seabus
997 is West Coast Express Trainbus
996 is Millennium Line
Anyway, as always, have a look at the original comment thread for more!
This week: what type of seat material do you like best?
Alisha suggested this poll, saying “I have a definite opinion on this one and am definitely disappointed when I get a vehicle with a certain type of seat.”
But before we begin, I asked my colleague in fleet management to help me out with enumerating the seat types, and he offered the following caveat:
I hope that the survey respondents would understand if we buy unpopular seats.
There are a lot of factors that go into the decision to buy a particular seat type, including appearance, comfort, purchase price, weight, ability to be cleaned, and maintenance costs. “Comfort” is usually determined by a dozen employees who’ll be asked their opinions after sitting on different demo seats.
I should also mention that my colleague had a HUGE list of seat types (there are a ton of combinations if you throw in thick/thin cushioning, metal/plastic backs etc), so I am just listing materials here.
Feel free to comment, as usual!
For starters I choose the 3D stuff. However I always wondered how cost effective is it to repair when it comes to vandalism.
Perhaps if the repair cost is high, I would have chosen the white solid seats found on the older Seabuses. Coming back from HKG, I notice their MTR trains is polished steel.
Now that you ask, I don’t really like any of them. The flocked stuff sometimes pokes me in the legs. As for the vinyl, depending on the texture of my clothes, it tends to shoot me off the seat like a rocket!
I actually like the coach buses seats. But, they must be the most expensive.
Second, I prefer the new skytrains, it’s “hard and soft at the same time”.
I really like the seats on the new SkyTrain cars, and I think a couple of the articulated busses on the 145 route have them too. The only seats I really don’t like are the large bulky plastic-backed ones. They don’t leave me much room to use my netbook on the bus, and transit time is writing time! (:
I like the fabric one, but my wife thinks they are not as hygienic as the vinyl ones.
I like the seats on the Orion Highway coaches. They are very comfortable and the high backed reclining seats gives me a comfortable ride.
However, for the questions I don’t know which choice as I don’t know if the seat material on the Orion Highway coaches falls under flocked fabric or cloth.
I also like the seats on the 2006 New Flyer D40LFRs as well as the seats on the articulated buses that were doing the 98 B Line route.
I don’t really like the smooth blue vinyl seats found on most of the older D40LFs/D60LFs, as I find them too slippery. As well I find that these seats crack very easily.
I can’t comment on the 3D textured vinyl as I haven’t been on a lot of buses that have these seats. I have only encountered these seats a couple times, a few times on a Nova bus (not a hybrid nova) and once on the new Skytrain car.
By the way, since we are on the topic of seat materials, what type of material are the seats on the community shuttles and Mark 1 Skytrain cars?
Also, I have noticed that on most buses you push a bar to open the back door once the green light turns on. However, I have noticed on a lot of Nova buses, instead of pushing a bar to open the back door, all you need to do is touch the door. I’m not talking about the doors on the hybrid nova’s but the doors on the older nova’s. What is the reason behind that?
I like the 3D vinyl the best. Comfortable and neat.
@Ric Im going to guess the reason for the door operation on the Nova’s was just part of the design. Im sure that some research went into the best way to have the doors operated and that’s just what Nova chose. Most of the time you don’t have to touch the door at all, just having your hand close to it will cause the door to open, only when the green light is on of course.
Clean, and dry. Other factors are irrelevant :)
I have to say, the type of material used on the seats isn’t much of a concern to me. HOWEVER.
The new SkyTrain’s have absolutely horrid seats. They are quite uncomfortable for tall/heavy people and have a weird orientation that puts far too much pressure on the back of your legs behind your knees.
Hopefully these kind of seats won’t be used on buses ..
Ric, starting with the North Van order of Novas and the artic trolleys, rear doors have been specified with the Vapor CLASS system to open the rear doors.
The hybrid artics and the newest Novas (9400’s and 9500’s) have them too.
Believe it or not the older touchbars were a very maintenance intensive item.
The ones on the Burrard Pacific Breeze for sure! So nice and stretchy!
I voted for 3D texture. (MK2.5 Skytrain, Hybrid Nova, Hybrid Artic, Artic Trolley)
no real reason. it has a nice feel to it, a great improvement over the flocked fabric. ^_-
throwing this out for a new poll in the near future: which type of method exit you prefer: Bar, Hand Placement or Stepping down (which, correct me if i’m wrong, have all been retired now in lieu of the low floors)
@Ric
“Also, I have noticed that on most buses you push a bar to open the back door once the green light turns on. However, I have noticed on a lot of Nova buses, instead of pushing a bar to open the back door, all you need to do is touch the door. I’m not talking about the doors on the hybrid nova’s but the doors on the older nova’s. What is the reason behind that?”
Actually as far as I know. You don’t even have to touch the door. From what I can tell if you look up above the door on either side of the green light. You will see two white dots. I believe those are the sensors. So all you need to do is put something in the line of vision of one of the sensors. Of course I just naturally touch the door as well.
As for seat type. No doubt my favourite is the 3D style found on the newer MKII and I believe it is the same style on the New Flyer trolleys and Novas.
I noticed that a lot of people don’t like the snooth vinyl seats, but if I’m going for comfort, I’d also choose the seats that are kind of a hybrid between the smooth vinyl ones and the flocked fabric ones, like the ones found on the articulated D60LF’s that used to run on the 98 B-Line.
This reminds me of my trip to Mexico… The seats on the bus were just plain painted steel and it was burning when I sat down! Yikes! Definitely not a good choice for seats…! And the mechanism for opening the rear door was a little red button above the door (kind of like our stop request buttons)! It took me a little while to figure out that the button was for opening it.. heheheh…. :S
I love the brown seats on those older GMC buses that were retired. They had the best seats by a longshot due to the excess padding and nice material.
I have a concern relating to some of the new SkyTrains especially the 321-320 car. One time I was supposed to get off at Nanaimo station then I almost missed my stop. I decided to rush out of the train before the door closes, however it abruptly closed without warning. I eventually got hit by these doors but it wasn’t that severe. This isn’t the first time I have seen the new MKIIs closing the doors without warning, I have seen several times where at some stations the doors close without chime sound, but this is the first time becoming the victim of it. Any reason behind this?
On the seat side, I’d go with the 3D texture seating found on the new SkyTrains and buses.
Mark I: seat material OK, but my knees tend to bash into the seat in front. I’m below average male height so I can’t imagine how tall people cope. The plastic “drivers” seat is terribly slippery and I hate it.
Mark II: seat material OK, seats are decent for comfort too.
Mark II (2009): seat material is pretty good, but the seats themselves are not comfortable. Like another person said they put pressure in the wrong part of the leg.
Canada Line: I ride every day, but usually stand. I sat down once and the seat seemed fine, but it was only for a couple of stops.
Nova buses: I like the seats, both material and shape.
Older buses: not fond of the thick padded, smooth vinyl seats.
Old SeaBus: the moulded plastic is not comfortable at all.
@ zack
I had that same problem a few times too. The new mark II trains didn’t close with the sound! Also, there was another problem with the Mk II new trains. The stop to stop light display (on top of the doors) showed all the stops on the route, and flashed the wrong stop! CMBC should fix that immediately!
@Jacob,
CMBC does not operate nor maintain SkyTrain cars; those services are performed by BCRTC.
I like the 3D vinyl seats, but they are slippery during winter months with my rainproof clothing.
Cree: good idea for a poll. Saved!
[…] Last week, I asked you what type of seat material you liked best. […]
*is late to the party* I really really like the thickly padded smooth vinyl seats you find on the older buses. They’re very comfortable. The newer buses’ seats are adequate (I don’t care for the fuzzy fabric texture on the newer New Flyer models, though), but only adequate.
The SkyTrain seating I would consistently rank as ‘okay’ across the Expo/Millennium Line train types. They’re good enough to satisfy me, since I can sit in them indefinitely without the chair causing any discomfort. But they’re not comfy, per se.
I don’t ride the Canada Line or the SeaBus often enough to weigh in on their seats, really.
I was one of the staff members who sat through many hours of meetings on seat fabrics… It looked like we’d have to make real trade-offs between comfort (including breathability and friction coefficient), “branding” (does it look good and come in the right colours?) and maintainability (long-lasting, easy to clean and repair). Then we discovered the 3-D textured vinyl which scored well on pretty much all accounts and saved the day!
Now that we have a “stable” fabric choice for urban bus and SkyTrain seats, it may be worth revisiting the seats themselves. Should TL continue with the stainless steel seats used on the newer buses, or switch to the high-tech composite (glass-reinforced nylon) seats as used on the new SkyTrain cars? I find the latter far more comfortable and attractive, being less institutional looking and saying “we value you as a customer” rather than “we need to protect our equipment from customer abuse.” The maintenance experience with them on SkyTrain has been good so far. I see one dissenting opinion above on their comfort though. So, which is more comfortable? The stainless steel-frame seats or the composite?
If the question is seat back…. Which design is more solid?
Some riders sit with their knees up against the seat ahead of them. As the bus starts and stops, it creates a very uncomfortable ride as the seat back moves backwards and forwards by the passenger behind them. At times it feels like there is someone kicking the seat.
Ian F:
Personally I like the composite seats better! Stainless steel is prettier but they can be quite unyielding, which isn’t the most comfortable seat experience.
zack: Sorry this is so late! But my contact at SkyTrain says they haven’t had any reported incidents with the doors & chimes. If you can get the car number next time, please let us know what happened and they will check it out!
My favourite type of seat are the seats on the orion highway coaches. I also like the seats on the articulated buses that were once used on the 98 B-Line.
However, when it comes to the vinyl seats, I like the smooth blue vinyl, even though I mentioned that I didn’t really like them before. I now like them because they are much better then the 3D textured vinyl seats. After riding buses multiple times that had the 3D textured vinyl I have found that they are too hard.
The smooth blue vinyl was a lot more comfortable compared to the 3D textured stuff as the are softer maker them more comfortable. The 3D textured stuff is just horrible. I hate the Nova buses as most of them have the 3D stuff. I also hate the new Mark 2 skytrains for the same reason.
I wish that when old buses with the smooth blue vinyl seats are retired, the seats will be removed and used to replace the seats in the newer buses that have the 3D textured stuff.
I hope that in future bus orders they will switch back to the smooth blue vinyl.
1) Why did they switch from smooth blue vinyl to 3D textured vinyl?
2) Is it possible to switch back to the smooth blue vinyl in the future?
Hey, is it possible to order more of the blue vinyl seats found on the arctics ( older ones e.g 1998 )? Those are comfortable!
Cool suggestion Thomas! If you’ve got a few minutes I’d suggest you visit our feedback page and help us track your idea. We really appreciate hearing from our customers!