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buses world news
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buses world news
In brief: Worldwide's news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
20.7.09
SECURITY * Germany - Cameras and recording units help to protect bus passengers
In Berlin, from Verint Systems'
Berlin,Germany -Source Security -18 July 2009: --For transport operators, protecting their passengers, staff and their assets is of paramount importance, and increasingly so. Whether on buses, trains or trams, indeed on any passenger transport, combating crime and dealing with the fall-out of crime is a major concern, fraught with challenges... One network operator that can genuinely claim to be at the forefront of providing a safe environment for staff and passengers alike is Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), one of the largest bus operators in the European local public transport sector. BVG's network comprises nine underground railway lines, 22 tram lines and 201 bus routes as well as six ferries on Berlin's waterways...Wholly owned by the State of Berlinsince 1929, when BVG was established in 1847 it operated five bus routes with 20 horse-drawn vehicles and 120 horses.Today its vehicles carry approximately 900 million passengers - equivalent to over 2.4 million people very day - and its bus routes alone total more than 1,600km. Almost 6,600 unidirectional bus stops (total of day and night services combined) are available...(Picture from sourcesecurity: technical details/cctv/image-capture: dome/verint-s2700)
Exploiters * Nigeria - When drivers take advantage of the rainy season
It’s a fact of Lagos: when it rains, transportation fares go up
Lagos,Nigeria -234 Next, By Odunayo Abiodun -July 18, 2009: --... At least for passengers boarding danfo(commercial) buses... Once it rains, most passengers are stuck at the bus stops. Like a flock of sheep they flock around when they sight an oncoming bus, only to run back into shelter when the drivers do not look their way. However, when the buses eventually stop, some still have to wait a little longer due to the hike in cost of transportation... Passengers, however, complained that most bus drivers are exploiters who looked for any opportunity to increase transport fares... (Photo by ABIODUN OMOTOSHOA -Flooded road in Lagos; down comes the rain, and up go the fares)
Aberdeen,Scotland,UK -BBC News -18 July 2009: -- Trade union officials in Aberdeenhave claimed Saturday bus services in the city were thrown into chaos as a result of industrial action on Thursday...Drivers took part in a 24-hour strike in a row over pay, which has been followed by a work to rule... The Unite union said up to 70 buses were out of action on Saturday morning because mechanics would not inspect them and drivers would not drive them... First denied the claim and said only a handful of buses did not go out...The firm confirmed a higher number of vehicles than normal did require a service, but said they were doing all they could to keep the impact on passengers to a minimum... Special timetables were being introduced for some services in Aberdeen from Sunday, due to the ongoing industrial action...(Picture:First apologised over the impact of the action on customers)
BUSMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Charlotte bus maker sees green in hybrids
Charlotte,NC,USA -The News & Observer, by Cameron Steele -Jul. 17, 2009: -- Inside a 100,000-square-foot plant in southwestCharlotte, the production line rumbles with power tools and clanging steel. More than 50 workers assemble the frames and inside seating for green, blue and black buses that run off battery-powered motors... DesignLine Internationalbusesgenerate less noise and pollution than normal diesel-powered buses. The quiet, environmentally friendly ride has landed the Charlottecompany more than two years' worth of contracts, including recent public transit orders from Baltimore and New York...The company's revenue has more than doubled since CEO Brad Glossonand his father brought company headquarters here from New Zealand in 2006... In Charlotte, never considered a vehicle manufacturing center, DesignLineis finding success. It is one of a growing number of local companies looking to make money in the recession by tapping into the public's and politicians' desires for more environmentally friendly practices... (Photo from Wikipedia: Designline's Olymbus model bus)
ALTERNATIVE FUEL * China - Hybrid2 Bikes to Power City Buses
China -Gadget Venue -July 16, 2009: -- The Hybrid2 bike’s aim is to store electricity that can be put back into the grid to power electric powered buses...Electricity is generated each time the bike brakes through a regenerative braking system. Unlike other hybrid concept that then use this generated electricity to give themselves a boost, the Hybrid2 stores the generated power in an ultracapacitor... When the bike is then taken back to the stand the ultracapacitor feeds the energy back into the grid which is then used to charge electric powered buses.An RFID card is also used that allows the rider to unlock the bike, and also it stores information giving the rider free time on the bus in thanks for helping them out...(Video from YouTube, by chiyuchen1981, 28 June 2009: "Demonstration of Hybrid2")
BUSES PURCHASE PROSPECTS * USA - Recovery Act funding to replace buses
International Falls,MINN,USA -The Daily Journal -July 16, 2009: -- Residents in northeast Minnesota who depend onArrowhead Transit to get around will soon see new buses, due to a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act... CongressmanJim Oberstar this week announced that $7.4 million from the ARRA will be used to replace 51 buses that serve rural Minnesota communities. Arrowhead Transit’s share of that grant comes to just over $1 million, and their share will be used to purchase 15 buses to serveAitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis counties...
* USA - Duluthgets $1.8 million for 5 biodiesel buses
Duluth,MINN,USA -AP/KTTC -July 17, 2009: -- The city ofDuluth is receiving $1.8 million in federal stimulus funds to buy five biodiesel buses... The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award Friday... The funds were made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Since the act was signed into law in February, 384 grants totaling $3.5 billion have been made nationwide...
* USA - ColumbusMunicipal School District getsEPA grant for new buses
Columbus,MISS,USA -The Dispatch, by Neal Wagner -July 17, 2009: -- Newer, more fuel efficient yellow buses soon could be rolling through the streets ofColumbus, officials withthe Columbus Municipal School District announced Thursday...The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week awarded a nearly $1.5 million grant to theCMSDto replace and upgrade the district’s school bus fleet... Although the EPAdistributed nearly $156 million to schools and agencies across the nation, Columbus was the only Mississippi school system selected to receive the grant...
* USA - Arizona to get $29M in transportation stimulus funding
Phoenix,AZ,USA -The Phoenix Business Journal -July 17, 2009: -- Nearly $30 million in federal stimulus money has been earmarked for road improvements inArizona...The Arizona Department of Transportation is getting $12 million to purchase 30 replacement buses, four additional buses and two support vehicles.Funds also will be used to build new transit facilities and expand and remodel existing ones... The Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authoritywill get $1.2 million to purchase one 35-foot hybrid electric bus and four passenger shelters for key locations along the fixed transit route in Flagstaff...(Photo from blogcdn/autobloggreen)
BUSES SALES * South Africa - Gautrain operator signs big feeder-route bus contract
Johannesburg,Gauteng,South Africa -Engineering News, by Irma Venter -16 July 2009: -- Bombela, the company building theGautrainrapid-rail link, and the company which will operate it for 15 years, has signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) for the supply of 125 buses which will service the project’s feeder and distribution routes... The luxury buses, all with Euro III engines, will be used to ferry commuters to and from theGautrain stations, up to a radius of 15 km,says Bombela Concession Company CEO Jerome Govender... Of the 125 buses, 118 will be 35-seater to 42-seater buses, of which 59 will be 35-seater buses with wheelchair access, and the remaining 59, standard 42-seater buses.All these buses will offer room for 17 standing passengers, explains Govender. The last seven buses rounding off the 125-strong fleet will be articulated buses, offering standing room, 46 seats and wheelchair access...
* China - BYDto close purchase of Sanxiang busfirm by Oct Shanghai,China -Gasgoo.com/Alibaba -July 14, 2009: --Chinese battery and electric car makerBYD Co plans to complete acquisition of Hunan Sanxiang Bus Group fromthe Midea Group in a three or four month period, the National Business Daily reports Tuesday... BYD wants to use the bus company's facilities to build new energy buses, with the first batch of them, totaling 1,000 units, set to be delivered to Shenzhen municipal government... The Hunan Economic Committee said on its website last week that BYD would pay at least 2 billion yuan ($293 million) to acquire Hunan Sanxiang Bus...
Contactless Ticketing * USA - ACS to provide it for Lima Bus system
Lima,Peru -Datamonitor via COMTEX (USA)-July 15, 2009: -- (ACS) Affiliated Computer Serviceshas won a 14-year $200m contract from Protransporte to providePeru's capital Limawith a contactless ticketing system for the city's buses... The company will supply and operate a fully integrated fleet management and ticketing application forthe Bus Rapid Transit system in one of the busiest areas ofLima.The line is intended to carry over 700,000 passengers a day, and 10 similar ticketing systems are expected to be installed over the next few years... (Photo from farm1.static.flickr)
BUSES PURCHASE PROSPECTS * USA - $1 million from EPA for VIA's cleaner bus engines
San Antonio,TX,USA -The San Antonio Business Journal, by W. Scott Bailey -July 15, 2009: --The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded more than $1 million in stimulus funding toSan Antonio’s VIA Metropolitan Transit to help upgrade its bus fleet...Federal agency officialssay the clean diesel project will create jobs, boost local economies, reduce diesel emissions and protect human health and the environment for people in and aroundSan Antonio... The funds are being provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 via the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program... (Photo from wikipedia: Coach USA sampler Standard Sightseeing UK Bus livery Megabus)
* Federal stimulus grant delivers more buses for Metro
Seattle,WASH,USA -KING5 -July 14, 2009: -- Thanks to a $46 million federal stimulus grant awarded as part ofthe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,King County Metro will be able to buy 93 hybrid-electric buses... King Countysaid Tuesday that an agreement withDaimler Buses North America will also include options to buy more than 400 additional coaches over the next five years... The initial purchase of 93 buses will cost $45.7 million, slightly less than Metro had originally anticipated. The new coaches will replace Metro’s fleet of Gillig buses, which will be 14 years old by the time they are replaced - two years beyond the typical useful life of a transit bus... (Photo: An example of the Orion hybrid buses that will be delivered to Metro in 2010)
DANGEROUS DRIVER *- USA - Ride On Bus Operator Disciplined After Caught Reading While Driving
Silver Spring,MD,USA -The NewsChannel 8 -13 July 2009: -- Pictures taken by aRide On buspassenger in Montgomery County,appear to show the driver reading a book while behind the wheel. ABC 7's Richard Reeve spoke exclusively with the woman who took the photos... The woman, who does not want to be identified, says she took the photos because she feared for her life.She said she got on the bus only to see the driver reading while operating the bus...The woman, described as a 34-year-old resident ofSilver Spring, took the photos while ridingMontgomery County Ride On bus no. 38 Friday night...(See Video)
* Md. bus driver investigated after being caught reading Silver Spring,MD,USA -The Associated Press/Delmarva Now-July 13, 2009: -- Montgomery County transit officialsare investigating whether a Ride On bus driver was reading a book while driving...Officials say the driver is not driving buses while the allegations are investigated... Also Monday, a zero-tolerance policy goes into effect for Metro bus and train operators caught using mobile devices on the job. Commuters have been paying closer attention after a Metro train crash last month killed nine people...
LOCK OUT * India - Chandigarh school buses continue strike for fourth day
Bus operators of private schools in the city continued their strike for the fourth day Monday against a government order making it mandatory for all such buses to install speed governors
Chandigarh,India -Breaking News 24/7-July 13, 2009: ... Over 500 privately owned school buses were off the roads for the fourth day, posing problems to parents and school children... Around 50,000 students, studying in nearly 60 private schools here have been affected by this strike... The administration, which had set July 10 as the deadline for all buses to install speed governors, extended the last date to Sep 30... But the operators are also demanding a reduction in the permit fees and a permission to run buses older than 15 years... (Picture from indiajuice: Kerala bus strike)
Transport Scotland has called in police to pursue rogue bus operators who have attempted to defraud millions of pounds through the government's concessionary travel scheme
Scotland,UK -The Herald, by DAMIEN HENDERSON -July 13 2009: --... The government agency has appealed for public help to identify suspect practices by bus operators and overhauled its procedures after evidence emerged of abuse under the flagship policy, which offered nationwide free bus travel to elderly and disabled passengers following its introduction in 2006... Bus operators have welcomed the initiative, warning that widespread abuse of the scheme could pile further pressure on an already overstretched budget and ultimately threaten its survival... Documents seen by The Herald show that the Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, was briefed in December 2007 that it was pursuing claims from four bus companies worth £2.2m that it believed to be suspect, warning that this could escalate to £3.3m in 2007/8 if not addressed... A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said that suspect claims would not be paid until properly verified and that funding would be reduced from the following year's budget if paid in advance... The action was welcomed by the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK, which represents bus and coach organisations... (Picture from farm3.static.flickr: 27-2-08 - Scottish Citylink Bova Futura, bound for Stirling from Edinburgh)
Perthshire,Scotland,UK -The Perthshire Advertiser -Jul 12 2009: --Councils should be given £15 million to help develop a fleet of pollution-free vehicles,Labour leader, Iain Gray, has said... Of the 20,000-plus vehicles operated by Scotland'slocal authorities, just 23 are either electric or hybrid,Mr Graysaid... But he said this £15 million fromGovernment- which would be matched with money from councils - will allow local authorities to buy 2,000 new electric vehicles... (Photo from zoomilife: Proterra)
BUSES PURCHASE PROSPECTS * USA - Stimulus money to buy buses for northeast Minnesota
St. Paul,MINN,USA -The Minnesota Public Radio, by Elizabeth Baier -July 10, 2009: --Federal stimulus funds will soon help replace more than four dozen transit buses in northeast Minnesota, DFL Rep.Jim Oberstarannounced this week... The $7.4 million grant, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be used to replace a total of 51 buses that serve rural Minnesota communities, Oberstar said...
* U.S. to buy 20 hybrid buses forRIPTA
Providence,Rhode Island,USA -The Providence Business News -July 10, 2009: --The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA)will receive $24.2 million in federal stimulus money to buy hybrid buses and convert trolleys to hybrid propulsion, the state’s congressional delegation announced yesterday...The $24.2 million will pay for the purchase of 20 new, 40-foot hybrid buses; the conversion of 10 trolleys from diesel power to hybrid diesel-electric propulsion; and capital maintenance and transit upgrades in different parts of the state, lawmakers said...
* Transit District gets funding for new buses -U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, announced the grant
Great Falls,MON,USA -The Great Falls Tribune -July 10, 2009: --Some $1.2 million in federal Recovery Act dollars will go to the Great Falls Transit District to buy four 29-foot low-floor buses and two vans... In April, bus district General Manager, Jim Helgeson,said he expected to receive the grant. During the spring,Great Fallsreceived two new buses that came from earmarked congressional dollars... Once the four buses arrive in 2010,Helgeson said the district will need another six new buses to have a strong fleet...
* Fort Worth Transportation Authority awarded $20 million in stimulus money
Fort Worth,TX,USA -The Star-Telegram, by GORDON DICKSON -10 July 2009: -- Articulated buses designed to give riders an experience that resembles train service will be used onEast Lancaster Avenuebeginning next year, after $20 million in federal stimulus funding was awarded Thursday tothe Fort Worth Transportation Authority...Most ofFort Worth’s $20 million will be used to buy eight articulated buses to run along Route 2, the busiest corridor in the system,T spokeswoman, Joan Hunter, said. The buses will be ordered as soon as possible and put into service by fall 2010, she said...
* Collier Transit to buy new hybrid buses using federal stimulus money
Naples,FL,USA -The Naples News, by TRACY X. MIGUEL -July 11, 2009: -- After a positive experience testing a state-of-the-art hybrid bus,Collier County is moving forward with the purchase of “green buses”... The county plans to buy two, 35-foot hybrid full-size buses for its fixed-route bus service using stimulus money from the federal government. The cost of a hybrid bus is close to $600,000 compared to about $385,000 for a standard diesel bus, officials said...
* Azusa School district receives grants to retrofit buses San Gabriel Valley,CAL,USA -The SGV Tribune -11 July 2009: --Azusa Unified School District is among 13 Southern California districtsto receive a total of almost $43 million in grants fromthe Southland's air quality agencyto replace aging diesel-powered school buses with alternative-fuel vehicles, the agency announced Friday...The AQMD also awarded districts more than $3 million to help retrofit 176 newer diesel buses with particulate traps to reduce emissions... AQMD officials said the grants will help districts replace a total of 304 diesel buses built prior to 1987 with buses powered by compressed natural gas or propane...
* NFTA granted funds for 7 hybrid buses
Buffalo,NY,USA -The Business First of Buffalo-July 14, 2009: --The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority will be adding to its fleet of hybrid buses through a federal appropriation... A grant of $2.52 million has been awarded to the NFTA from the Department of Transportation.The funding, delivered through the agency’s clean fuels grant program, will allow for the purchase of seven hybrid-electric buses that will replace the same number of diesel buses... In June, the DOT authorized a separate $294,000 grant to the NFTA for a single hybrid bus...
Karlsruhe,Germany -Inderscience Publishers -26 June 2009: -- Researchers in Germany believe organic computing has the potential to solve the problems of urban traffic systems, which rely on sensors and controllers.Using an organic approach,Holger Prothmann of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and colleagues have developed a decentralized traffic control system... The researchers developed an observer/controller architecture, which enables the traffic light to respond to traffic flow and to forward information to traffic lights on nearby roads. Current systems use fixed timers that are unable to respond directly to traffic, and centralized systems are unable to respond optimally to changes in traffic on the roads... Working with colleagues at Karlsruhe and at Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Prothmann tested the decentralized traffic control system on roads in Hamburg, and found that it can reduce vehicle stops, delays, and the time needed to reach destinations."The environmental and economic importance of traffic control systems combined with the distributed nature of traffic nodes and their constantly changing traffic demands make traffic light control an ideal test case for organic computing approaches," Prothmann says...(Photo from betweenyellowandblue: Traffic lights)
Bus Rapid Transit systems * Colombia - Buses May Aid Climate Battle in Poor Cities
Bogota,Colombia -The New York Times (New York,NY,USA), by Elisabeth Rosenthal -10 July 2009: -- Dozens of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems are being planned or installed in poor cities in developing nations in an effort to ease traffic flow and cut smog, but they also could go a long way toward reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases that are connected to global warning... Bogota, Colombia's TransMilenio BRT system is currently used for an average of 1.6 million daily trips, and the system has enabled the removal of 7,000 small private buses from roads, cutting emissions associated from the use of bus fuel by over 59 percent in the past eight years... The implementation of TransMilenioinvolved Bogota taking over two to four traffic lanes in the middle of major boulevards, separating them with low walls to build "tracks"... The city constructed numerous metal and glass stations where people can board or exit the buses.The system functions like an above-ground subway while costing a fraction of an actual subway's construction cost. In addition,BRTscan be built much faster than subways.Bogotaoffers a template for how international programs to fight climate change can help growing cities by underwriting otherwise unaffordable transit systems.Cities whereBRTs may be less practical are exploring alternate strategies. In India, for example, researchers are developing a new type of motorized cab that is cheap and runs on alternative fuels...(Photo by Scott Dalton/The New York Times - Bogotá, Colombia, has implemented a bus rapid transit system, which improves traffic flow and reduces smog at a fraction of the cost of building a subway)
Privatization * USA - Strapped Cities Outsource Transit Lines
Some cash-starved U.S. cities are planning to outsource the operations of their mass transit systems to private companies so that such systems can be run more efficiently
New York,NY,USA -The Wall Street Journal, by Christopher Conkey-13 July 2009: ... The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (Norta) has entered into a deal to pay France's Veolia Environnement about $56.3 million annually and potentially $600 million over the next 10 years to finance, manage, and run the city's bus and streetcar lines, which Norta Chairman,Cesar Burgos, sayscould save the authority as much as 30 percent... Savannah, Ga., officials are engaged in negotiations with Veolia for a similar arrangement, while Alternate Conceptsis operating Valley Metroof Phoenix, Ariz.'s new 20-mile light-rail line. Transit agencies across the United States are experiencing a decline in their traditional revenue channels, while interest in bus and rail service is expanding. Outsourcing is not appropriate for all transit agencies.Rick Jager, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Los Angeles sayshis agency contracts out service on 21 of its 200 bus lines at savings of about $45 per hour of operation, but labor agreements with its unionized workforce proscribe any further outsourcing plans... (Photo from swta.org: Valley Metro 2009 bus large wrap event)
Albany,NY,USA -The Times Union, by CATHY WOODRUFF -July 8, 2009: --Commuters on CDTAs Northway Xpress buses now can use their laptop computers to work or entertain themselves during the ride... The Capital District Transportation Authorityannounced today that free wireless Internet service is available on all 15 buses in the NX fleet...CDTA assumed sponsorship of theNorthwaycommuter service, which travels between Saratoga CountyandAlbany via I-87, in April 2003... (Photo from wikipedia:CDTA Gillig Hybrid)
New Express Bus * USA - Links Temecula, Escondido. Route was requested by commuters
Temecula,CAL,USA -The Californian, by AARON CLAVERIE -July 7, 2009: --There's a new option for commuters between Temecula andEscondido who are fed up with the daily grind of traffic on Interstate 15...The Riverside Transit Agencyis now offering an express bus, Route 217, that linksSan JacintowithEscondido... The express route ---- which features stops in Hemet and Temecula ---- is the first public transit option linking Southwest County to Escondido, a major San Diego County hub... For people commuting to Escondido from Temecula, or vice-versa, the route is ideal as there are no scheduled stops in between the two cities...Hien Tran, waiting for the bus early Thursday morning at The Promenade mall's bus stop near P.F. Chang's, said he has a hybrid car at home, but he has been using public transportation of late due to the economy... (Photo by Don Boomer/Staff Photographer - Riverside Transit Authority express bus driver Francisco Armendariz adjusts the mirror on his bus outside of The Promenade mall in Temecula before his drive to Escondido recently)
* Sweden -Volvo Presents Hybrid Double Deck Buses inLondon
London,UK -Green Car Congress (USA)-7 July 2009: -- Volvoformally handed over its first sixHybrid Double Deck buses to Arriva London. A total of six Volvo B5L Hybrid Double Deck buses recently entered service on Route 141 in the city... The buses features the parallel hybrid I-SAM technology, developed across the entire Volvo Group... Data from test track development and in service field trials with Arriva London show significant savings in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (C02) emissions as well as reduction in NOx and particulates... With longer intervals between bus stops the expected fuel savings there was 20-25%. The first months of service shows better then expected fuel savings, about 30%...(Picture: Volvo B5TL Hybrid London -The Double Deck Hybrid)
Seeking a 52% Pay Rise * UK - Anger over bus pay claim adverts
Aberdeen,UK -BBC News -3 July 2009: -- First Bus in Aberdeen has placed adverts in local newspapers claiming that staff are seeking a 52% pay rise... The move has sparked a furious response from theT&G Unite union, which is currently balloting members over industrial action over wages... The result of the ballot is expected on 7 July... The company confirmed it had taken out the adverts, butthe union's regional organiser, Tommy Campbell, said the claim was "absurd"... The union is recommending a vote in favour of industrial action this summer... (Picture: The result of the ballot is expected on 7 July)
DANGEROUS BUSES * UK - School buses found in poor state
Scotland,UK -BBC News-3 July 2009: -- Central Scotland Policehave warned that children were put at risk after they discovered 22 faulty school buses during a week-long crackdown... Officerscarried out checks on buses arriving at schools and taking pupils toBlair Drummond Safari Park... Nine of the vehicles were in such bad shape that they were immediately pulled from the roads... On one of the buses, all the nuts on one wheel were loose and half of them could be removed easily by hand...(Picture: All of the nuts were loose on one of the bus wheels)
BUSES PURCHASE * USA - Moorpark to use federal grants for new buses
Moorpark City.CAL,USA -The Ventura County Star, by Michele Willer-Allred -July 2, 2009: --The Moorpark City Councilon Wednesday unanimously approved replacing the city’s diesel engine buses with three new lower emission buses... The cost of the three new compressed natural gas transit buses is $1.26 million. The city’s cost will be reimbursed by federal grant funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009... The city’s current transit system uses three buses daily for the city’s two-route system... Three 32-foot El Dorado National E-Z Rider II buses will replace outdated school-type buses in the city, a 1998 Bluebird and two 2002 El Dorado MST IIs... (Photo from a-zresources)
* City buying 20 hybrid buses -$19.3M in stimulus funds will be used
Honolulu,Hawai,USA -The Honolulu Advertiser, by Sean Hao -29 June 2009: --The city of Honolulu is using $19.3 million in federal stimulus money to buy 20 new articulated hybrid buses...The purchase, which will expand the city's hybrid fleet to 70 buses, allows the city to quickly deploy the stimulus money on a "green" project. However, that additional investment in hybrid buses comes despite the findings of a recent report byO'ahu Transit Services Inc. — operator of TheBus — that buying more modern diesel buses makes better financial and environmental sense than buying fewer more expensive hybrid buses...The 60-foot hybrid electric buses, which cost nearly $1 million each, are being purchased under an option from an earlier hybrid bus order with Canadian bus maker New Flyer...(Photo from soundtransit: NewFlyer Hybrid)
Propane Buses * USA - Los Angeles School District Interested in Adding to Current Fleet of
North Hollywood,CAL,USA -School Transportation News-July 2, 2009: --Some students in the San Fernando Valley will soon be boarding school buses powered by propane, and School Transportation of Americamaintenance staff and drivers located at the company’s North Hollywood yard were scheduled to begin receiving training on how to use a new fueling station installed at the company’s new facilities located just off the Hollywood Freeway...STA, propane distributorDelta Liquid Energy andthe Propane Education Research Councilheld an open house on Wednesday for LAUSD, local business and clean air groups, and members of the media to showcase a 15,000-gallon fuel tank.The propane system will fuel 77 new Blue Bird Type C Vision buses with 8.1 L GM liquid propane injected engines for school district activity trips.Representatives from Delta Liquid Energy began providing end-user and train the trainer training today at the STA yard... (Photo from finmeccanicainc.typepad: shool bus)
* UK - Unique hybrid propulsion system makesUK debut onLondon buses
InnovativeGM-Allison Hybrid EP-Systempowers 10 new Optare Tempo buses for Transport for London, contributing to a cleaner and quieter London
London,UK -JogjaTech -July 2, 2009: --Bus passengers in East London are the first in the UK to experience a unique form of hybrid power with four of 10 new Optare Tempos equipped with the GM-Allison Hybrid EP-System recently becoming operational.
The patented ‘two mode’ parallel hybrid technology combines direct power from an electronically controlled diesel engine with electric power from an energy storage system and is already delivering significant fuel saving benefits, lower emissions, and raising vehicle performance for bus fleets over 115 cities worldwide...The roll-out of these 10 new GM-Allison-equipped buses will contribute to the Mayor’s target of a 60 per cent reduction in emissions across London by 2025. Londoners will notice that hybrid buses are also significantly quieter than diesel buses, making bus travel more pleasant for passengers and reducing noise for local residents along bus routes. TfL currently operates more than 2,500 buses equipped with the smooth fully automatic transmissions across London...
* Australia - Victoria Launches Australia’s First Trial of Hybrid-Electric Buses; Series and Parallel
Melbourne,Victoria,.Australia -The Green Car Congress (USA), by Vichybrids-2 July 2009: --The government of the state of Victoriahas launched Australia’s first hybrid-electric bus trial.The A$500,000 trial (US$398,000) inMelbourne, which will involve buses on two outer suburban routes, will assess the viability of both parallel- and series-hybrid buses in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the public transport sector...The Victorian government partnered withthe Commonwealth government to fund the trial, which is being conducted withGrenda Corporation (parallel hybrid) andVentura Buses (series hybrid)...(Pictures: The Grenda parallel hybrid -top- and the Ventura series hybrid -bottom-)
* USA - CTA shows off the first of 58 new accordion-style hybrid buses
Chicago,ILL,USA -The Chicago Tribune -July 7, 2009: -- The CTAon Monday rolled out the first of 58 new accordion-style hybrid buses purchased with federal economic stimulus funds... All 58 of the New Flyer buses are scheduled to arrive by the fall, increasing the fleet of articulated hybrid buses to 208 vehicles and helping to save the CTA more than $7 million annually in fuel and maintenance costs, officials said... The New Flyersare equipped with electrical outlets enabling the batteries on the buses to be charged to operate the auxiliary heater and circulate coolant through the engine block during overnight storage in cold weather... The technology eliminates the need to keep buses idling when they are not in use, officials said... (Tribune photo by Alex Garcia / July 6, 2009 - CTA President Richard Rodriguez -far left- and Terrance Muellner, the CTA's chief mechanical officer, look over a new articulated hybrid bus)
BUSES PURCHASE PROSPECTS * UK & USA - New £30 million fund for Green Buses
London,UK -The Green Car Website -1 July 2009: --England’s bus fleet will be helped to go green thanks to a new £30 million fund to encourage the purchase of low carbon buses...The fund is part of the Department for Transport’s wider strategy to encourage a radical shift to low carbon transport and improve air quality in our cities... Bus operators and councils will be able to bid for the money which they can then use towards the additional up front cost of buying low carbon buses... As more low carbon buses are produced and sold, costs will reduce. This will encourage bus technology and will stimulate the market for low carbon buses, an industry in which the UK is a world leader... (Picture from greenbang: Scania ethanol buses)
* USA - School district to buy 10 new buses
Sioux Falls,SD,USA -The Argus Leader, by STEVE YOUNG-July 2, 2009: -- Some of Sioux Falls' yellow school buses are turning green thanks to federal stimulus dollars... The Environmental Protection Agencyhas awarded $500,000 tothe Sioux Falls School Districtto help buy 10 new buses with clean diesel technology and to install 20 fuel-operated heaters... The goal is to reduce exposure to toxic emissions from diesel exhaust, said Rebecca Russo, clean diesel coordinator for the EPA in Denver...(Argus Leader file photo - The Sioux Falls School District is receiving $500,000 to buy buses with clean diesel technology to limit children's exposure to diesel exhaust)
* USA - Half Million Dollar Grant For School Bus Research
Washington,DC,USA -WLTX-6 July 2009: --South Carolina is getting a $553,918 grant to help further reduce the amount of pollution created by diesel school buses, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today... The federal funds will be used to replace old buses with new low emission hybrids and to retrofit existing buses with cleaner technology... Hybrids are more expensive than a standard diesel bus, but have lower fuel costs and greatly-reduced emissions. The new grant will also pay for DHEC to conduct training on specific actions school bus drivers should take to eliminate unnecessary diesel idling...
* USA - State to get 4 hybrid school buses
Charleston County,SC,USA -The Post and Courier, by Yvonne Wenger -July 8, 2009: --The federal government will give South Carolina more than $550,000 to put four new hybrid-electric school buses on the road and help cut pollution from old diesel buses...The low-emission hybrid buses will be the only new school buses added to the state-owned fleet this year, after the recession pushed a 15-year school-bus-replacement cycle by the wayside, Donald Tudor, transportation director for the Education Department, said Tuesday...At least one of the new buses will be assigned to Charleston County...(Photo from Brad Nettles/The Post and Courier - Katie McClure, Contracts Administrator for the Charleston County School District, checks over one of the twenty-five Buses the District recieved)
* USA - $1.6M Grant Targets School Bus Emissions
San Diego,CAL,USA -The San Diego Nusiness Journal, by Ned Randolph-9 July 2009: --The Environmental Protection Agencyon July 8 awarded a $1.56 million grant to theSan Diego County Air Pollution Control District towards lowering emissions of school buses... The district was one of 100 grant applicants to the EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region and will use the money to install, retrofit or replace 125 high-polluting school buses with newer, cleaner engines and filters, the EPA said... The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 allotted $350 million to the National Clean Diesel Campaign, including $206 million in competitive grants associated with developing and implementing clean diesel technology...
* Brazil, and * Czech Republic - Rolling Out Hydrogen Buses
USA -Hydrogen Cars & Vehicles -1 July 2009: Sao Paulo,Brazil:Up to 5 hydrogen fuel cell hybrid buses will be purchased, tested and refueled at a central location. The buses also use regenerative braking to help recharge the battery system...Sao Paulo has the world’s largest bus fleet with 50,000 units manufactured each year and 90-percent of the pollution in that city is due to cars, buses and other engine-powered vehicles.So, the introduction of zero emission vehicles such as hydrogen buses makes sense on the air quality issue alone...
Praga,Czech Republic:Hydrogen fuel cell hybrid buses are also being introduced. The testing of this type of vehicle (pictured) is being called the TriHyBus project. The bus uses a 48 kw Proton fuel cell along with a bank of ultracapacitors... Regenerative braking is also being used to recharge the ultracapacitors and the Linde Group will be building the hydrogen refueling station in the town of Neratovice and delivering the compressed hydrogen gas from off site...
STRIKES WORLDWIDE * Peru - Government and transportation strikers meet for talks after 24-hour strike
Lima,Perú -The Peruvian Times-July, 1, 2009: --Dialogue begins today in Lima between Ministry of Transport officials and the leaders of the association of mass urban transport companies, following the strike on Tuesday in Lima of approximately 260,000 private-sector bus and taxi drivers. The strike was held to protest a new transport law that sharply increases traffic fines... Only a few buses – charging double the normal fare – were seen on the city’s usually overcrowded streets, while the number of taxis available increased as the day proved quiet and calm in most areas. Police arrested 138 people in disturbances on the incoming highways from the north and south cones of the city... According to Radio Programas, RPP, 60,000 bus drivers and 200,000 taxi drivers answered the strike call in Lima. The new traffic law, which calls for increases in fines for traffic infractions, goes into effect today, July 1st...(Photo busesdelperu.fotopic )
* USA - Bus mechanics union strikes atDenali
Anchorage,Alaska,USA -Associated Press/FORBES, by MARY PEMBERTON-2 July 2009: --A union representing 16 bus mechanics, radio technicians and warehouse workers at Denali National Park says the employees have gone on strike... IBEW Local 1547 spokeswoman, Melinda Taylor, saysemployees are walking off the job Wednesday afternoon.That occurred when wage and pension negotiations broke down with the employer, Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture... The strike was called as the national park prepares for the busy July Fourth weekend... (Photo from farm3.static.flickr: The mechanics union that maintains the tour buses that take tourists into the park were on strike.)
* Mercedes Hybrid BusCombines Fuel Cell and Diesel Electric Technology
Stuttgart,Germany -All Cars Electric, by Eric Loveday -June 30, 2009: -- The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCell Hybrid city bus was presented by Daimler at a conference of public transport authorities recently in Vienna... The bus is unique in that it employs Daimler's hydrogen powered fuel cell along with their diesel electric hybrid powertrain called Citaro G Blue Tec Hybrid. This bus combines both advanced technologies that are separately in use by Daimler into one bus... The bus displayed runs with little to no noise and emits few pollutants making it ideal for congested, polluted inner city environments...
AFTER DRIVERS' PROTESTS * South Africa - Company terminates bus service
Durban,South Africa -IOL, by Arthi Sanpath, Bheki Mbanjwa and Dasen Thathiah -June 30 2009: --City officials have yet to reveal how they plan to transport thousands of commuters who rely on the city bus service, after Monday's sudden termination - a day earlier than planned... The decision came after the bus driver protest action on Monday morning when key intersections of the city were blocked off, causing traffic chaos... The action by the bus drivers came a day before beleaguered bus company Remant Alton was due to cease operations after declaring to the city it was no longer financially viable to operate the service... Bus drivers blocked the intersections of AB Xuma (Commercial) and Yusuf Dadoo (Grey) and Monty Naicker (Pine) and Chris Ntuli (Old Dutch) streets... The bus drivers would be charged with obstruction of traffic, which carries a R1 500 fine... Also, as some of the buses had to be towed back to the depot, a further cost of R500 was incurred... Khuzwayo said that if the drivers were found, they would possibly have to pay the fine, but that depended on agreements between the driver and the company... (Photo wsm.ie)
D.C. commuters are not noted for their patience, but has it really come to this?
Washington,DC,USA -The Washington Post, by Robert Thomson -June 30, 2009: --The District's five-route bus service has added a mobile application that will help you track the location of the nearest buses along your route. It's kind of cool, and it didn't cost the District government much to make, but if the Circulator service is working properly, this is an app for the extremely nervous... The selling point of the Circulator is that the buses arrive every 10 minutes.The arrivals are so frequent that the service doesn't publish a schedule. It just posts the hours of operation... So by the time you fire up your app and figure out where the bus is, it should be there... I added the app to my mobile device. So far, the thing I've found most helpful is that it reminds you where many of the bus stops are... (Photo by Thomson: Distinctive Circulator buses now operate on five crosstown routes in Distric)
Fairfield,CAL,USA -The Reporter-30 June 2009: -- Fairfield will receive millions of dollars from the federal government to pay for new city buses... The U.S. Department of Transportation set aside more than $70 million in additional Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds for 12 transit and aviation projects in California... Fairfield will receive $3.1 million to buy nine buses... California is expected to receive nearly $2.6 billion from the Recovery Act for highways and local streets and $1 billion for transit projects...
* India - 118 cities to get new buses with govt help
New Delhi,India -The Indian Express-Jun 30, 2009: -- With an aim to spruce up urban transport services and at the same time provide a stimulus to the economy, the government will provide assistance to 118 cities in acquiring a new fleet for their bus transport systems.At the same time, UPA’s flagship scheme Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) may be extended to 28 more cities having a population of 5 lakh and more, at an additional cost of Rs 25,000 crore to the centre. The 118 cities, having a population above two lakh, could acquire nearly 7,500 buses at a total cost estimated to be around Rs 2,000 crore... The cost of these buses, depending on individual specifications, could vary from Rs 55 lakh to Rs 75 lakh...
New three-day ticket * Greece - For unlimited tourist travel in Athens
Athens,Greece -Living in Greece -June 29, 2009: -- Planning to spend a few days sightseeing in Athens?: From July 1, tourists can purchase a three-day ticket for only 15 euros, which is valid for unlimited travel in Athens on the suburban railway (proastiakos), metro (when re-opened) and ‘X’ buses to/from the airport, the Athens SightseeingTrain/Bus in the city center (line 400) and all lines of the metro, tram, trolley and bus... A three-day ticket is perfect for those who plan to see the town and may be on their way to another destination within Greece, or are coming from a Greek island by ferry and want to spend a couple of days in Athens before heading to the airport... The 24-hour (3 euros) and weekly tickets (10 euros) do not include the Athens Sightseeing Train/Bus (5 euros) or transport to/from the airport (round trip 6.40-12.00 euros). So the three-day ticket is not only versatile but also cost efficient...(Photo from geocities - See too: Video from YouTube:by VforVivi -10 May 2007: Driving in Athens: A road movie)
TAXIS vs. BUSES * UK - Westminster escalate hostilities against the taxi trade
After their initial assault on the licensed taxi trade with the inception of the first private hire rank in Whitcomb Street, Westminster City Council has decided to escalate the hostilities by banishing the word taxi from many of their bus lanes signs
Westminster,London,UK -The Anderson Shelter, by Thomas the Taxi-30 June 2009: --First we noticed the sign had been changed in Victoria Street, junction withBuckingham Palace Road, where the central bus lane now displays a newly erected sign that excludes taxis.As you go over the lights the word taxi is then visible on the sign at the beginning of the bus lane that runs along Grosvenor Gardens. Taxis have been allowed to use this lane for many years as it was felt necessary for the safety of the public and the driver when picking up from the tube entrance not to have to cross the bus lane, when wishing to go north.Now the right has been taken away, or has it?...More and more square footage of the public highway is being denied to the licensed taxi trade every year, with Westminster being the worst offender. Bus lanes, environmental areas and thick red lined bus stops are making our job a headache.With more and more things we have to worry about we seem to be losing the right to just go about our daily work...We also ask if they will be prosecuting taxi drivers who as yet have not noticed this important change to their rightful passage through the borough...
MERGERS * UK - National Express rejects FirstGroup bid
Company says talks with FirstGroupare inappropriate as it struggles with £1.2bn debt and east coast rail franchise
London,UK -The Guardian News/Finance Yard -June 29, 2009: -- FirstGrouphas been warned it must renegotiate Britain’s most expensive rail franchise in order to secure investor approval for a takeover ofNational Express. Analysts said the £1.4bn National Express East Coast contract would have to be rewritten if FirstGroupwere to pull off a deal... National Expressconfirmed that it had rebuffed an approach from its rival to create a powerful force in the public transport industry through an all-share transaction.The company said it “does not consider it appropriate” to enter into talks withFirstGroup while it attempts to whittle down a £1.2bn debt burden and deal with its east coast franchise, which must pay the government £1.4bn by 2015. FirstGroup, owner of four franchises, including First Great Western, said it believed there was “significant industrial and commercial logic” in a deal... (Picture from freefoto: First Great Western Class 180 Adelante train--Gloucester)
* Dubai - RTA buys 518 feeder buses to serve metro
Dubai -The Arabian Business, by Rob Morris -29 June 2009: --Transport chiefs in Dubai on Monday announced a deal to buy 518 buses to serve passengers travelling on the Dubai Metro...The AED1.9bn deal will also include an eight-year maintenance contract for the vehicles which will ferry metro customers to and from stations in the emirate. A senior RTA official said that the buses would cover all the stations...The red line of the $4.2bn project is scheduled to start operating on September 9...
* Thailand - Cabinet gives NESDB30 more days to study bus project
Bangkok,Thailand -The Bangkok Post -30 June 2009: --The cabinet has approvedthe National Economic and Social Development Board's request for another 30 days to studythe Transport Ministry's planto lease 4,000 NGV buses... He said the 30 deadline was final. No further extension would be allowed... The NESDB presented a report but it did not give a direct answer to the question that was posed - was leasing, outright purchase or hire-purchase the best way to acquire Bangkok's new commuter bus fleet, and at what cost... The prime minister saidthe board made some suggestion but also said it needed more information from the Transport Ministry, including the routes the buses would operate on and projections for the number of passengers... Transport Minister, Sohpon Zarum, has pushed hard for the leasing of the 4,000 new buses, which he argues would not only improve the service but pull the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) out of its financial quagmire... (Photo from ache.jalopnik:Bangkok Buses)
Port Angeles,WA,USA -The Peninsula Daily News, by Paul Gottlieb-29 June 2009: -- Twice a day, Border Patrol officers step onto buses operated by Olympic Bus Lines at the company's Discovery Bay stop between Port Angeles and Port Townsend.They check for terrorists, contraband and illegal immigrants.... The bus checks began late last year along with Border Patrol checkpoints onNorth Olympic Peninsulathoroughfares that started in August 2008... North Olympic Peninsula and Washington, D.C.-basedBorder Patrol officials told Peninsula Daily News in April that the checkpoints hadn't been necessary for several months, and there haven't been any more since then, Dyer said... The bus checks have been successful in producing arrests of mostly illegal immigrants whose visas have expired or who have committed some other kind of immigration violation...
NEW BUSES * USA & Canada - LI Bus rolls out fleet of 100 greener vehicles
Introducing the new Long Island Bus: It's sleeker, greener, more high-tech and a little less colorful
Long Island,NY,USA -Newsday, by Alfonso Castillo -July 12, 2009: --Long Island Bus has rolled out 100 new state-of-the art buses, replacing nearly one-third of the agency's aging fleet, including some buses that were nearly 15 years old and had logged a half-million miles, officials said...The Orion VII buses, priced at about $400,000 each, were purchased using a combination of grant money from the Federal Transit Administration and funds fromNew York State and Nassau County.Nassau owns LI Bus, but has been embroiled for years in a dispute with the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the agency, over who is responsible for funding it...(Photo from wikipedia: MTA Long Island Bus Orion VII Next Generation bus)
* The ECO Saver IV, gives you service with a smile
New York,NY,USA -The NY Daily News, by Pete Donohue/NicerNews -June 30, 2009: -- NYC Transit’snewest bus is not only environmentally friendly, it appears to be smiling... The ECO Saver IVis a hybrid electric 42-footer that’s much quieter and has lower emissions than other buses, reducing both noise and air pollution...The first thing straphangers will notice is the sleek, space-age design. The giant front windshield is curved upwards from the bottom, like a smile... One transit executive scrutinizing the bus on display outside NYC Transit headquarters on lower Broadway yesterday dubbed it “the smiley bus” ... “It’s pretty cool,” agreed Trevor Logan, 29, a flight attendant from Westchester. A subway-and-bus buff, Logan snapped photographs of the DesignLine bus...(Picture nicernews: Eco Saver IV bus)
* Canada - First hybrid buses rolling on city streets - Pricey diesel-electric vehicles provide cleaner, smoother ride
Ottawa,ONT,Canada -The Ottawa Citizen, by Patrick Dare -June 30, 2009: --The first three Daimler Bus Orion VIIhybrids have entered service on the streets ofOttawa.OC Transpo will have 177 of the vehicles in service by next year... After many years of planning and waiting for cleaner transit vehicles,the City of Ottawais finally getting hybrid buses rolling in itsOC Transpo fleet... Three hybrid buses are operating in the city and 94 more are set to arrive this summer and fall. An additional 80 hybrids are to arrive next year... The hybrids look much like any other 40-foot bus in theOC Transpo fleet. They have seating for 39 riders and are propelled by a diesel-electric motor system that uses a lithium-ion battery. The only noticeable difference is the smoother acceleration, thanks to the more powerful system.,, (Photograph by: Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen)
NEW BUSES * UK - Arriva promises Skelmersdale a new fleet of buses by the end of the year
Skelmersdale,Lancashire,UK -The Skelmersdale Advertiser, by Nick Moreto-Jul 9 2009: -- Bus company Arriva has confirmed it is looking to bring new vehicles to the town’s depot towards the end of 2009... It has also promised to run more low-floor vehicles following complaints that disabled users are not getting a fair service... Skelmersdale has for years been saddled with cast-offs from other areas and there was outrage earlier this year when 10 second hand buses arrived from Wirral, with Birkenhead receiving a brand new fleet of double deckers... And we revealed in May how wheelchair users were unable to use the buses from Wirral, highlighting the shocking case of 18-year-old Victoria Young, who was stranded in Wigan for three hours waiting for a bus with wheelchair access and eventually had to pay £17 for a taxi back home... (Photo from oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk: Arriva's bus)
Living Green * USA - Sarasota County adds to hybrid bus fleet
The benefits of using public transportation are obvious - it keeps cars off the road
Sarasota County,FL,USA -My Suncosast/ABC News TV7 -July 7, 2009: --... And in Sarasota County, a growing fleet of hybrid buses are showing up on those roads... The county added four more hybrid buses last week, making 14 in all...with plenty more to come... They're 27% more fuel-efficient than the standard diesel powered bus. That adds up to a savings of $16,500 per bus, per year... The new buses are shorter and will save even more fuel and money -- about $21,000 per bus... The county's hybrid fleet is a huge help in these budget-conscious times. "Overall, the 14 buses total are going to amount in savings to Sarasota County of $228,000, which is a tremendous savings," says county commissioner Jon Thaxton...But it's not just about money. The hybrids help the environment, too. Pollution is 50-90% less than a typical diesel bus. And they're quieter...
Buses' Drivers Controls * USA - Target Aggressive Ones
Austin police cracking down on aggressive driving with buses
Austin,TX,USA -CBS 42, by Stephanie Serna -29 June 2009: --In addition to the cracking down on drunk drivers this holiday weekend. Austin police will also be cracking down on aggressive drivers under the TACT program or Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks...That means police will be looking out for drivers who break the law by not using their turn signals, tailgating, speeding and cutting people off.Police will be out on the roadways, not in a patrol car, but inside of a Capital Metro bus...Austin Police officers use a team of two on these buses. One officer drives, while the other will use the radio to alert four to six other officers in patrol cars about the aggressive driving they can see on the bus...Officers tried the system last week and made about 20 stops from calls they got from the patrolling sergeant on the bus...(Photo by John Salazar - Austin police officer oe Pennington drives a CapMetro bus looking for driving violations)
MERGER * UK - National Express rebuffs FirstGroup approach
London,UK -Reuters, by Matt Scuffham & Paul Hoskins -Jun 29, 2009: -- Bus and rail operatorNational Express has rejected a bid approach from larger rival FirstGroupto create a global giant ferrying millions of American school children and British commuters each day... Britain'sFirstGroup, which operates Greyhound busesin the United Statesand ranks itself as the world's leading transport company moving more than 2.5 billion passengers a year, said on Monday that National Expresshad rejected a preliminary all-share approach... The two British groups between them also operate some 75,000 yellow school buses in North Americaor 14 percent of the 533,000 buses that FirstGroupestimates carry children to and from school in the United Statesand Canada...(Photo from REUTERS, by Darren Staples - A railway worker is reflected in the window of a Midland Mainline train at Loughborough Station, central England)
New bus service * Pakistan - For Lahorites to be launched today
Lahore To Get Buses from Chinese Company
Lahore,Pakistan -Pakistan Defence -June 28, 2009: -- In the provincial metropolisa new bus service is being inaugurated in the City, while an agreement is also being made with a Chinese company for getting air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned CNG buses... Secretary Transport while giving details about Chinese company informed that company will provide 2000 CNG buses in different phases and an agreement is being finalised with the company in this regard. He informed that under the agreement, the company would provide 700 buses during September to December this year while 500 buses to be provided during January to June 2010...Similarly, 500 buses would be received during July to December 2010 and 300 buses between January to March 2011. He said company would also set up five CNG stations for these buses...
TRANSPORT POLICIES * New Zealand - Metrobus for Auckland?
Buses are, by a very long stretch, the most popular form of public transport in Auckland
Auckland,New Zealand -Auckland Transport Blog-26 June 2009: --I think around 80% of public transport trips in Auckland are on the bus. However, generally bus travel is pretty unappealing when compared with travelling either by train or by car – because it is generally so slow... I think this contributes quite significantly toAuckland’s very low level of public transport use... Along various corridors where bus travel has been “sped up”, like Dominion Road and Onewa Road, the results are significant. Around 50% of people usingthe Dominion Road corridor at peak times are on public transport, while for Onewa Road I think the total is around 40%... Considering that across Auckland as a whole less than 10% of people use public transport, there’s obviously something that these corridors are doing right, which Auckland could learn from and expand to other corridors... Clearly, in the longer run some of these routes should be replaced by rail services: most obviously in the far east between Panmure (or Glen Innes) and Manukau City via Botany, as well as having the Northern Busway eventually turned into a railway line.But in the meanwhile I think having some kind of Metrobus system would provide a higher-quality public transport option for Aucklanders.It’s something that could be relatively easily and cheaply (at least when compared to building railway lines) initiated, and it could be up and running pretty quickly.
Jackson Hole,WYO,USA -22 Local, by Teton Area -25 June 2009: -- Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit (START) is constantly working to go above and beyond to reduce our impact on the planet...STARTrecently purchased two clean diesel electric propulsion hybrid buses... These buses will reduce emissions and will provide an estimated 35% reduction in fuel costs... These are the first hybrid buses in the state of Wyoming...
* New compressed natural gas transit buses going into service
Beaumont,OH,USA -KFDM6, by Scott Lawrence -June 29, 2009: --The City of Beaumontis placing new compressed natural gas transit buses into service Wednesday and it's offering free fares to call attention to the environmentally friendly vehicles...William Munson, General Manager of Beaumont Municipal Transit, says the city will place 12 buses into service and three additional buses will be placed in reserve...The buses were paid for by a $6.2 million grant from the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission... The 35 foot long, low floor buses will be fully accessible to the disabled with front door ramps...
BUSES PURCHASE PROSPECTS * India - Tamil Nadu to buy 3,500 new buses
Chennai,Tamil Nandu,India -Sify News -24 June 2009: -- Tamil Nadu'sseven statetransportundertakings (STUs) will purchase 3,500 buses this fiscal with funding assistance from Tamil Nadu Transport Development Finance Corpandthe central government... Some 1,600 buses will be bought under the central government's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission - an initiative to promote planned development of cities, according to a policy note of the state transport department submitted in the assembly by Transport Minister, K.N. Nehru... These buses will replace the existing fleets in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai... Last fiscal, the STUs bought 3,182 new buses - 2,541 as replacement and 641 for augmentation - with a Rs.352-crore funding assistance bythe Tamil Nadu government... (Photo from wikimedia: MTC new bus)
* Dubai - RTAbuys 518 buses for Dubai Metro passengers
Jebel Ali ,Dubai -Kipp Report -Jun 30, 2009: -- The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has purchased 518 buses fromVDL, aHolland-based company, for AED1.9 billion to transport passengers to and fromthe Dubai Metro...The RTAhopes over 30 percent of the emirate’s population will use the metro... The metro’s red line, running fromJebel Ali to Rashidiya, will be completed in September 2009... (Photo from wikimedia.org: Arriva VDL Wright Commander)
DART's Going GREEN * USA - With New Electric Hybrid Buses
Wilmington,DEL,USA -Sbay News -June 24, 2009: -- The DART bus fleet is going GREEN with 15 new electric hybrid buses. The new hybrid buses, built by the Gillig CorporationofHayward, California,feature a colorful headliner banner, Powered by Hybrid Electric Technology Doing Our Part For Clean Air.The hybrid electric technology on DART buses consists of a highly efficient diesel engine, running on super low-sulphur fuel, in combination with an Allison electric drive transmission system.The bus operates in its electric mode at speeds up to 25 mph. The diesel engine will then provide power solely or in combination with the electric motor as needed.Unlike gas engine hybrids, the diesel motor keeps running when the bus is operating on electric power. The reason is that diesels can sometimes be more difficult to start quickly.When not in demand the diesel operates at low idle and continues to generate electricity...(Photo from dart.org: NABIBus2)
Video-cameras in Buses * Canada - May put brakes on bus troubles
Next time you get on aMetro Transit bus, smile for the cameras
Halifax,NS,CAN -The Chronicle Herald/Metro, by KELLY SHIERS -June 24, 2009: -- With video rolling on more than 175 buses, the president of the bus drivers union says he thinks the presence of the recording devices will help drive down the number of confrontations occurring between passengers or between passengers and drivers...Dan MacDonald, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 508 president, said, "The biggest thing is that if an incident does occur, we have a very good description of the individual that was involved in the incident"... Metro Transit began installing the cameras in its buses in February, after its original plan to do so over five years was fast-tracked in the wake of serious assaults on drivers... Last October, HRM councillors awarded a $1.28-million tender to do the work... (Photo by CHRISTIAN LAFORCE - Stephen Field sits in a bus equipped with several video surveillance cameras at Metro Transit’s Burnside depot on Tuesday)
Berlin,Germany -Source Security -18 July 2009: -- For transport operators, protecting their passengers, staff and their assets is of paramount importance, and increasingly so. Whether on buses, trains or trams, indeed on any passenger transport, combating crime and dealing with the fall-out of crime is a major concern, fraught with challenges... One network operator that can genuinely claim to be at the forefront of providing a safe environment for staff and passengers alike is Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), one of the largest bus operators in the European local public transport sector. BVG's network comprises nine underground railway lines, 22 tram lines and 201 bus routes as well as six ferries on Berlin's waterways...
Wholly owned by the State of Berlin since 1929, when BVG was established in 1847 it operated five bus routes with 20 horse-drawn vehicles and 120 horses. Today its vehicles carry approximately 900 million passengers - equivalent to over 2.4 million people very day - and its bus routes alone total more than 1,600km. Almost 6,600 unidirectional bus stops (total of day and night services combined) are available... (Picture from sourcesecurity: technical details/cctv/image-capture: dome/verint-s2700)
