I prefer to call it DESKPAPER (an old
joke I made on a technology forum I used to go to a long time ago)
.
Anyway, back to the topic on the Volvo B9TL. I had the chance to
ride this bus last Sunday (SBS 7302J - the one with the
commemorative livery), and I have to say, this is one beautiful
bus. Acceleration and deceleration was smooth, and the
air-conditioner is top-rated (very much like SBS 9889U's). The
engine also sounded quieter and better, very unlike the Volvo Super
Olympians (which was too loud and low-pitched, like some kind of a
bull). The interior was also very well designed, striking a perfect
balance between a modern design and a functional design. The colour
scheme - with it's hues of yellows, greens, and gold - was much
better than SBS 9889U's, whose hues of blue and purple, while sleek
and cool-feeling, was rather overwhelming. I also like the new
ez-link Card readers' colour scheme, with it's two tones of
not-too-contrasting grays (p.s. I saw one such reader installed on
a particular SMRT Mercedes MB O405 bus a few days ago, seemingly
replacing an older spoilt one - seems like whoever are making them
decided to use a new colour scheme). Leg and head room was great -
my long legs had no problems on several seats I tried, and I can
actually stand up straight - all 1.8 metres of me - on the upper
deck! Not since childhood times had I managed to do this on a
double-deck bus.
Exterior-wise, I find not too many problems with it. In fact, it
looks very sleek and stylish, and the so-called "one-piece"
windscreen manages to look like it's fabricated from a piece of
glass, even though it's really three joined together. Viewed from a
certain angle, these buses even exudes an air of nostalgia - they
somehow look and feel like those "classic" style of buses from the
1950's and 1960's Singapore. Maybe it's the deeper-than-usual
roofline at the front...
One gripe though - the upper deck front windscreen is just too
dark, and distorts the outside world too much. I have never seen
something like this before - and it's just headache-inducing. The
upper deck front row seats are usually my favourite seats on double
deck buses, but not this one.
Also, I don't know if this is a problem isolated to just the
particular bus I took, but the exit door alarm sounded like a
botched-up version of the ones we hear on the Super Olympians.
Until I can take other such buses, I want to believe that this
problem is isolated to this particular bus only.
