why is everyone saying that full low floor buses from entrance
to exit to third door are unworkable?
tamago is right in saying that 3 door buses are common in
europe. heck, some cities even mandate that city buses have to have
at least 3 doors.
12m citaros, scania omnicities and MANs in stockholm,
copenhagen, germany all have full low floor, 3 door configurations
from entrance to exit.
It is unworkable, because all of the major european
manufacturers which we buy buses from have built a chassis with the
engine block on the left which is their
offside in europe (except uk and some minority).
Since the engine is on the left, the right side is emptied out
and gives place for a 3rd door.
Unfortunately, our roads are on the other side, and they dont
produce a "flipped" version of the chassis just for RHD market
because the demand is not going to be high (count the RHD countries
who needs a premium low floor SD chassis with a 3rd door). Most RHD
countries would rather take up DDs instead.
This is the exact same reason why UK has not been able to have
buses with a 3rd door, until recently.
Look at the A22 chassis and the location of the engine block.
How are you going to install a 3rd door there?
