Non-step bus
What a non-step bus is
A non-step bus is a local bus with no staircase-style step at the doorway, built with its floor lowered close to the ground. Older buses required you to climb one or two steps on the way in, whereas a non-step bus lets you step aboard from the sidewalk at what feels almost level. It eases the effort of getting on and off for everyone: people unsure on their feet, wheelchair users, riders with a stroller, anyone carrying bulky luggage.
Toei Bus was one of the earliest operators to push ahead with these low-floor vehicles, and low-floor stock is now widespread across the buses working its routes.
Equipment that helps you on and off
A non-step bus builds in a whole set of devices for doing away with the step up. The best known is the function that tilts the body toward the curb on arrival at the stop, lowering the floor further still. It works by releasing air from the air suspension so the body settles, making the gap with the sidewalk smaller again.
If you are traveling by wheelchair, a ramp can be laid across the doorway for you. The crew member sets the board in place and helps all the way through to securing you in the wheelchair space inside, so a word to the crew as you board, or waiting somewhere clearly visible at the boarding point, keeps things smooth. Inside, alongside the wheelchair space, priority seats and handrails shaped for a firm grip are positioned to support standing, sitting and moving about the vehicle. Strollers can sometimes be brought aboard without folding, in which case the rule is to secure them in the designated space.
Things worth knowing when you ride
The price of that low floor is that the rear of a non-step bus has its floor raised a level to clear the wheels and the engine, leaving a small step midway along the interior. When you move to a seat further back because the bus is quiet, watch your feet so that step does not trip you. If standing and sitting are a worry, using the priority seats on the low-floor section at the front is the reassuring choice.
Tilting the body and setting up the ramp also take a little time, but that time is what makes boarding and alighting safe. There is no need to feel you are being hurried along. From how to wait for the bus through to how to move once you are aboard, our article on riding the bus for older passengers covers the tricks for traveling with confidence.