Question about a Bus Style

[DHayward]

Hey everyone! I had a question about a certain bus that the MTA owns. I think in the gallery its called '2006 Orion VII.'

 

I had a question about the window style. I see that on the drivers side the windshield is indented a bit. What is this for? Is it for looks? Or is it for efficiency/safety reasons?

 

The picture I was looking at can be seen here.

 

Thanks!

[NewJerseyT]

I was wondering the same,as why can't they have them exactly the same like other buses do?But I guess we will have an answer soon enough.

[Trainspotter]

One of the bus guys can answer this!

[DHayward]

Wikipedia says that the windows 'are unique' in the buses style. That gives a straight answer.. (not!)

 

Quote From Wikipedia

 

• 'Orion V standard floor - Starting in 1989, The Orion V is the true work horse product line for Orion. It offers many options to choose from the length and the width of the bus and also, it was pioneered the (CNG) or Compressed Natural Gas alternative fuel in the Orion V product line to meet the demands of clean air and environment friendly for the transit agency needs. Many transit agencies in North America are buying and operating the Orion V bus throughout the years on the product lineup and still continued today, making the most successful product for Orion's history. The current Orion V's power train offered is Cummins ISM Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) engines, and Cummins C 8.3 and John Deere Gas Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) alternative fuel engines. There are various transmissions options to customize from Allison B 400 R, ZF 5HP592 and Voith D863.'
  

 

• Orion VII low floor - The Orion VII is the new flagship product lineup for Orion Bus Industries. Starting in 2001, the Orion VII is marketed as a low floor bus to the North America market. [1] Based on the Orion VI true low floor bus design, the Orion VII has some of major enhancements to accommodate like a high floor bus model. Instead of making a true low floor, it has a step up at the rear section of the bus that provides additional passenger seats and standee capacity, a full fuel regular 125 gallon (473 L) tank and also the used of the standard rear axle design that was more closely related to the Orion V, instead of the separate control rear axle used in the now discontinued Orion VI bus product. It provides wheelchair passengers that uses a mechanical ramp feature located on the front of the bus that speeds up the loading process instead of using a lift. The convenient of the stop requested push button on the poles. It also adds safety features that includes the emergency exit bar on the bottom of the window located every seat and safety emergency exit trigger box located at the rear and the front doors. The unique part of of the current Orion VII design is the windows and the exterior appearance where it is square or rectangular shape form. All Orion VII models are 102 inches (2,591 mm) wide and powered by diesel, compressed natural gas, or hybrid electric diesel engines.
  

 

You can see the full wiki entry here.

[DOB2RTO]

I have no definate answer, as I never asked. But it could be to make it easier to reach the sun visor, and have the visor cover more window, to reduce more sun-glare. It does do that. I drive the New Flyer Arcticulateds, and have to lean too much, and reach too far to get the visor down. When I drive the Orion V and VII, all I need to do is just reach up, as the tilt in the window brings that area alot closer to the driver.

 

Don't forget the Flexibles had the same design over the drivers window.

[Far Rock Depot]

i have a good opinion for this. Ive been studying to design transit equipment since HS. I even got a few designs in the works. perhaps the driver window on the Metro/870 and the Orion V/VI/VII's are for two reasons. To bring the winshield closer to the driver and to reduce the glare of the sun from the outside and the interior lighting from the inside.