Sound Transit and Pierce Transit yesterday began testing a new style of commuter bus – and seeking customer input on it – in a demonstration that will run throughout the month of March.

The demonstration bus will operate on select runs of two ST Express routes: the 590 Tacoma-Seattle Express and the 594 Lakewood-Seattle Express.

The new-style bus, a Motor Coach Industries (MCI) Commuter Coach, is 45 feet long with comfortable fabric seats that recline, plenty of knee room and individual reading lamps.

The 57-passenger bus is specifically designed for commutes that last up to an hour or more, provides a smooth quiet ride and can maintain highway speeds.

The demonstration provides one MCI Commuter Coach to Sound Transit free of charge for the study period.

Sound Transit can then evaluate local customer satisfaction and the coach’s performance in this region when making future purchasing decisions.

To gather customer input, passengers on the MCI bus runs will be asked to complete a survey to help Sound Transit evaluate the MCI Commuter Coach.

Technical information on the MCI coach is available on the Motor Coach Industries Web site at:

www.mcicoach.com/commuter.html.

A copy of the survey is available on the Sound Transit Web site at:

www.soundtransit.org.

Passengers who rode the MCI coach but did not complete a survey can e-mail their comments to:

expresscommunityrelations@soundtran-sit.org.