CapaCity bus allows boarding from all doors

A Mercedes Benz CapaCity articulated bus is trialled on Jokeri route 550 (Itäkeskus - Oulunkylä – Westendinasema) from Friday 26 February to Thursday 4 March. The bus allows boarding from all doors.  The bus has four sets of doors, each of which is equipped with a card reader so that passengers can pay their fares the same way as on trams.

The CapaCity bus starts service on Friday afternoon 26 February and from 27 February to 3 March it operates from early morning to midnight. On the last day of the trial, Thursday 4 March, the bus operates until 2pm.

HSL is using the trial to study the amount of time saved when passengers can board the bus through all doors instead of just the front door. It is expected that queues will be shorter and thus also the time spent at stops will be shorter. The bus also has a kneeling feature that lowers the floor to allow easier entry and exit.
Single tickets for the CapaCity bus must be bought from the driver as usually. 

Bus 550 was chosen for the trial because it is a high-frequency route and one the future scenarios for the route is that the bus service could be replaced by a rail service. CapaCity is being used to test whether a long articulated bus makes it possible to introduce tram-type service on the route. The low-floor CapaCity bus is 19.5 metres long and has capacity for almost 200 passengers. 

The bus has been built by equipping an articulated bus with an additional rear end module. Thanks to its four axles, two of which are steered, the bus moves through traffic just as easily as a conventional 18-metre articulated bus. 

During the trial, HSL gathers passengers' and drivers' views on the articulated bus and open fare collection. Passengers’ views are gathered by questionnaires distributed onboard. HSL wishes that passengers participate actively in the survey. 

HSL conducts the trial in cooperation with Veho Group Oy Ab and the operator of bus 550, Nobina Finland Oy.

Departures operated with CapaCity (in Finnish)