Sunday, July 19, 2015

What if the "Fishbowls" Ruled the World?



New York City always was and remains to this day, very pro-bus.  Around the time that this last remnants of electric surface transportation disappeared from New York, during the period of 1956 to 1960, General Motors designed a new style bus.  Nicknamed "Fishbowls" because of the fish bowl like windshield, GM fishbowl buses would rule the road and streets of America for many years.  In New York City, the transit authority only purchased Fishbowls for a time because perhaps there were very little sources of bus manufactures for heavy duty rapid transit buses. During this time, Europe and elsewhere renewed their trolleybus and streetcar fleets, even after some cities transit systems were destroyed during World War II.   Many cities in Europe have large tram systems, such as Amsterdam, Prague and Warsaw.  I saw some videos such as (A Trip to Prague, 1960) and others giving me the impression that Czechs and Poles love their streetcar systems.  What would have happened if these cities abandoned their street railways after World War II?  Would the United States provided GM Fishbowls?   Would Poles and Czechs and others love their Fishbowls?  I do not think so, in my humble opinion.  In the picture below I took a picture of a New York City Fishbowl and I added a Warsaw tramway destination from their tramway map.  I choose a destination that had text that an American keyboard can handle.  The sign did not come out clear but it is route number 27 in Warsaw.


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