Buses World News: July 2005

ACCIDENTS - WORLDWIDE - Only big ones, Daily: July 26, 2005

DIEDS: 6 - INJUREDS: more than 30
Connecticut,CT,USA -... several childrens and ocupants of flat bed truck were taken to the hospital... WFSB
BINH THUAN, Vietnam- ... BUS rollover kills 6, injures 30... Viet Nam News -Hanoi

Safety - India - Bus fuss: Who’s responsible?

Principals of prominent schools pass the buck on bus contractors

Chandigarh, INDIA -Chandigarh Newsline/Express News Service -July 27 2005: -- YOU may be paying king’s ransom in the form of fees, but that does not mean that life of your little prince or princess is safe... Your child’s journey from house to school and vice versa in a school bus is nobody’s responsibility, at least not school’s, if the principals of city’s prominent schools are to be believed. These principals have washed their hands off the responsibility of students’ safety... (??)

Free - UK - Coming soon . . . free bus travel for under-16s

London,England,UK -Bromley Express -27 July 2005: -- YOUNGSTERS will be given free bus and tram travel under new plans set out by the Mayor of London... The new scheme, which starts from September 1, will see every Londoner under the age of 16 travel for free across the capital... Youngsters aged 14 or 15 can also travel free during the summer holidays by getting a new...

Security - Ireland - Govt to announce measures to improve school bus safety

Dublin, IRELAND -Ireland Online - 27/07/2005: -- The Government is reportedly planning a multi-million euro package of measures to boost the safety of school buses... Reports this morning said the practice of three children sharing a seat would be abolished for secondary school pupils from September...

Insurance - USA - For Terrorism Gains Support

NY, USA - The New York Times, by JOSEPH B. TREASTER -July 28, 2005: -- Republicans and Democrats in Congress expressed support yesterday for continuing a federal program that pays most of the insurance losses in a terrorist attack, but increasing the share covered by insurance companies...

SPENDS ? - USA - GM providing US$15M in VIAGRA

Detroit, Mich, USA - The Auto Prophet -July 26, 2005: -- ... Paul W. Smith was interviewing The Car Connection's Paul Eisenstein. According to Eisenstein, who has it from a reliable source, GM spends about $15,000,000 a year providing Viagra to its active and retired healthcare beneficiaries. When the ship is in danger of sinking, I think it is wise to give up on medical treatments which are in the cosmetic or "quality of life" category. Let the retirees (... and actives..??, too!!!) pay for their own Viagra... and GM would have to leave the erectivos for itself, and if their sales go for above, doubles Viagras for everybody...

HACKERING II - USA - GM too, furious over Escalade/Tahoe spy shots

Santa Mónica,CAL,USA -Autoblog,by John Neff -Jul 25, 2005: -- Remember those spy photos of the next generation Cadillac Escalade and Chevy Tahoe? Turns out that GM is pretty ticked off they were taken and published on the Internet. The photos could potentially weaken interest in GM’s current crop of large SUVs and offer its competitor’s insight into the company’s plans for its highly profitable replacements...

SHEDS - USA - GMAC to shed $55 billion in loans

Santa Monica,CAL,USA -Autoblog, by Eric Bryant -Jul 27, 2005: -- GMAC, the lending unit of GM that’s keeping the company afloat right now, will sell off $55B in loans to Bank of America over the next five years. Short-term, this will mean little to car buyers - even those that use GMAC, as they will still service the loans - but will hopefully allow GM to significantly reduce its debt load and maybe even put a little cash in its pockets...

HACKERING - BRAZIL - FORD attacked by hackers

Santa Monica, CAL, USA -Autoblog, by John Neff -July 28, 2005: -- Security breaches continue to plague the automakers as Ford Brazil was recently attacked by a group of computer hackers who stole plans regarding a new car to be sold in that country. The hackers got photos, design details, production and market analysis data, though no one knows their motives or what they plan to do with the information they’ve boosted...

SALES - CHINA - Nissan May Export Dongfeng Trucks & Buses Made in China

USA - Bloomberg -July 28 2005: -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second- largest carmaker, said it may export trucks and buses made with Dongfeng Motor Corp., the first time it's making vehicles in China for overseas markets... The two companies will probably export light commercial vehicles and mid-sized trucks and buses to emerging markets such as South East Asia, South America and Africa... The venture expects to sell a total of 620,000 units of cars and trucks in 2007, Nissan said...

SCANDALS - GERMANY - BMW manager arrested for bribery

Santa Monica,CAL,USA -Autoblog, by John Neff -July 28, 2005: -- We don’t know what’s in the water they’re drinking over there in Germany, but apparently it makes you do illegal things. Following a number of corporate scandals involving many of Germany’s largest companies, BMW announced on Wednesday that one of its purchasing managers had been arrested on bribery charges. The manager is accused of accepting a total of $100,000 in bribes from a supplier expecting preferential treatment for his company’s products. The chief prosecutor in the case has noted that the investigation so far has found this to be an isolated incident...

Truckload Rates - USA - Average Fuel Surcharge Per Mile Now Available

Re: Fuel Surcharge Now Available
Richardson, Texas, USA - from: j...@truckloadrate.com/Google Groups -26 jul 2005: -- Just Added Feature to Fuel Surcharge per mile for each lane query that you lookup... now includes these fields: -Average Rate per mile -Fuel Surcharge per mile -Total Charge -Min Rate Per Mile -Max Rate Per Mile -Spread .... The site, http://www.truckloadrate.com/, provides an industry index or "market rate" on any given lane. This is based on actual current freight bills and is designed to help truckload carriers or anyone needing pricing for truckload freight across the United State and Canada... Features: -Gain instant knowledge of market rates to command fair rates -Easily identify candidate lanes ready for a rate increase -Negotiate better rates -Quote rates with competitive intelligence -Analyze new lanes and move into new markets -Reallocate resources to more profitable

BIKE RACKS - USA - Bikers turned away from buses

SUMMIT COUNTY,Frisco,CO,USA -Summit Daily News, by JULIE SUTOR -July 25, 2005: — The supply of bike-rack space on local buses isn’t meeting growing demand among cyclists... About 10-20 bikers are turned away from Summit Stage buses each day, when the racks on the front of buses — each holding a maximum of three or four bicycles — are filled to capacity...

SALES - SPAIN - Tata arm's 800 buses for Casablanca

India -Rediff -July 25, 2005: -- Hispano Maghreb, the fully owned subsidiary of Hispano Carrocera in which Tata Motors has a 21 per cent stake, has bagged a contract to supply 800 urban buses to Casablanca's urban transport operator, M'Dina Bus...

ACCIDENTS - WORLDWIDE - Only big ones, Daily: July 25, 2005

DIEDS: 77 - INJUREDS: 62
BALTIMORE,USA -- Greyhound Bus... 34 people to hospitals... Guardian Unlimited - UK
KANO,NIGERIA -- A long-haul passenger bus in northern Nigeria yesterday, killing 56 people aboard... AP/London Free Press - Canada
PAKISTAN -- A speeding bus and a trailer truck collided Pakistan on Monday, leaving 12 people dead and five others injured... China Daily - China
JAKARTA,INDONESIA -- At least nine people died and 23 others were injured when a train slammed into a passenger bus in North Sumatra province... Khaleej Times - Dubai,United Arab Emirates

BATTLE - USA - Bus battle heats up as business rival files suit

USA -Boston Herald, by Casey Ross -July 25, 2005: -- Intensifying an industry war between inter-city bus carriers, Peter Pan Bus Lines today will file a federal complaint charging that a company operating out of Chinatown in New York is violating disability laws, the Herald has learned... The complaint, to be filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, alleges that Apex Bus company has virtually no wheelchair lifts in its bus fleet...

SENTENCES - USA -Bus driver took bribe to ignore rape

South Caroline,USA --NEWS.com/Australia /AAP -July 24, 2005: -- A FORMER school bus driver in the United States has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting a $US10 ($A13) bribe to ignore two students as they sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl... Lacey Jane Bolen, 26, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to being an accessory after the fact to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor... The bus was equipped with an emergency button to alert authorities to problems, but Bolen never triggered the device during the assault in South Carolina in January...

GENDER - USA - Boys and girls get separate buses

TUPELO,MS,USA -Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal-7/23/2005: -- Guntown students who need to catch a bus home from Saltillo will ride on gender-specific buses between the towns... Boys will ride on a separate bus from girls when students are returned to Saltillo campuses from Guntown Middle School in the afternoon. The separation applies only to buses running between the schools, not to home routes...

SECURITY - USA - TransLink would put video cameras on buses

Move depends on Transport Canada
Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada -Vancouver Sun, by Jonathan Fowlie -July 23, 2005: -- TransLink would seriously consider installing video cameras on buses and SkyTrain cars if Transport Canada recommends the move, a spokeswoman for the Lower Mainland's regional transit authority said Friday...

NO RIDING - UK - More Londoners getting on bikes and scooters after terror attacks

LONDON, UK -Winnipeg Sun, by MATTHEW ROSENBERG/Canada/AP -July 22, 2005: -- Londoners are taking to bikes and scooters in increasing numbers after a second wave of terror attacks, choosing to brave traffic in the capital instead of riding Underground trains and buses... The Association of Cycle Traders said bike retailers reported an almost 400 per cent increase in sales on July 7, the day of the first attacks...

DANGER - USA - Terminal: Hub’s security-free buses are another London waiting to happen

USA - United States Boston Herald, by Dave Wedge and Laura Crimaldi -July 22, 2005: -- While the London bombings have led to sweeping security clamp-downs on public transit, the thousands of riders who take private commuter buses in and out of Boston are virtually unprotected... A Herald review of bus terminals in Newton, Taunton and Foxboro found no security measures at all, even though thousands of riders take buses from those locations into the heart of the Hub daily. Bags were not screened and there were no metal detectors...

INSPECTIONS - CANADA - N.B. buses to get emergency safety inspections

SAINT JOHN, N.B.,Canada -Alaska Highway News/Fort St. John,British Columbia -July 22, 2005: -- New Brunswick's public safety minister has ordered all buses operated in the province by a Nova Scotia company be inspected by Sunday... DRL Coachlines Ltd. lost its operating in licence in Nova Scotia this week for safety violations that included worn tires, poor steering and expired safety stickers...

RIDERS - USA - Buses, T gain riders in June

Pittsburgh,PA,USA -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by Joe Grata -July 23, 2005: -- The Port Authority continues to see a slight uptick in ridership, a move attributed to an improved economy, higher fuel prices for personal vehicles and expanded parking at the South Hills Village light-rail station... The biggest increase has been on the T, where June weekday ridership increased 10.5 percent, to 26,465 a day, compared with the same month last year...

CONSUMPTION - Indonesia - 'Shuttle buses ease traffic jams'

Jakarta,Indonesia -Jakarta Post -23 July 2005: -- To cut fuel consumption by private vehicles, some parties have called on developers of suburban housing complexes to provide shuttle buses for residents. The Jakarta Post talked with several people for their take on the suggestion...

PROFIT - USA - CUMMINS profit rises 72%

NEW YORK,NY,USA -MarketWatch, by Padraic Cassidy -July 22, 2005: -- Engine maker Cummins Inc. posted a large jump in second-quarter profit Friday, raising its earnings target on the strength of shipments to the heavy-duty and medium-duty truck market... Cummins said second-quarter earnings climbed 72% to $141 million...

HERO - UK - Ulster hails hero bus driver

UK -Belfast Telegraph, by Linda McKee -21 July 2005: -- A bus driver who saved an 11-year-old boy from death by hanging has been selected as the Northern Ireland winner in the 2005 Vodafone Lifesaver Awards... He raced to the scene and rescued an 11-year-old boy who had been swinging on the rope when he slipped and got it tangled round his neck...

FUELL CELL - CHINA - DaimlerChrysler supplies fuel-cell-powered buses

UK -Fuel Cell Today -20 July 2005: -- Three fuel-cell-powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses were handed over to a high-ranking delegation from China at the DaimlerChrysler AG bus and coach plant in Mannheim July 12... The initial aim of this fuel cell project in China, which will run until October 2007, is to examine the day-to-day practicality of fuel cell technology on the roads of China and gauge the acceptance level for the new technology by the inhabitants of Beijing...

LOSSES - USA - GM Posts Another Huge Quarterly Loss

USA -FORBES/Associated Press -07.20.2005: -- General Motors Corp. reported another huge quarterly loss Wednesday, intensifying pressure on CEO Rick Wagoner to speed up the overhaul of North American operations that produced a $1.2 billion torrent of red ink in the second quarter... A surge of U.S. vehicle sales in June, when GM extended its employee discount plan to all customers, helped the company reduce bloated inventories, but it added little to the bottom line... That highlights the challenge Wagoner faces as the world's largest automaker tries to come up with new hit models while cutting costs in a way that doesn't trigger open warfare with unions...

PRODUCTION - RUSSIA - SCANIA to build bus and trucks factories in Russia

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia -FORBES/USA/AFX News Limited -07.20.2005: -- Scania AB is planning to build a bus factory near St Petersburg in the Leningrad region, and is also considering building a truck factory, the local government of the Leningrad region said... The bus factory would initially have production capacity of 400 buses per year, which could rise to 600... The truck factory, which Scania Russia is planning to build in the Lomonossov region, would have production capacity of 10,000 vehicles per year, according to the same source...

RECALL - JAPAN - Toyota to Recall Sienna Minivans

USA -FORBES/Associated Press -07.20.2005: -- Toyota Motor Co. said Wednesday it would recall 345,000 Sienna minivans because the seat belt in some seating positions may become difficult to retract when unbuckled... The company said there was a possibility the shoulder portion of the seat belt in the middle row seats may get stuck in a plastic piece that the belt glides through, binding it up and making it difficult to put it on or take it off...

PRODUCTION - UKRAINE - ISUZU to start producing trucks in Ukraine in 2006

TOKYO,Japan -Forbes/USA/AFX News Limited/Nihon Keizai Shimbun -07.19.2005: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd, an affiliate of General Motors Corp, plans to begin manufacturing trucks in Ukraine around 2006... It will set up a joint venture there with Holding Bogdan, a local bus maker based in Kiev, to assemble auto parts exported from Japan... the joint venture will be the first production base to be created by a Japanese automaker in the former Soviet bloc, the paper said... Starting with an annual output of several thousand units...

STRANGE People - USA - Man Jumps From Emergency Escape Window

Car Strikes Passenger Who Jumped From Bus On I-10

ONTARIO, Calif,USA -NBC4.TV/Los Angeles,CA -July 19, 2005: -- Minutes after a Greyhound driver refused a passenger's request to get off a Los Angeles-bound bus, the rider opened an emergency escape window as the bus hurtled down Interstate 10 and he jumped... The unidentified man landed on the freeway Sunday night and was struck by a car and killed...

DAMAGE - USA - One pothole may have ruined steering systems

T blames Big Dig for bus damage
USA -Boston Herald, by Casey Ross -July 19, 2005: -- MBTA officials have linked widespread damage to their new $300,000 buses to the Big Dig, saying a single pothole on the $14.6 billion project may have cracked several steering systems... The T yanked 154 of the buses from service Friday after a malfunction on the same part of the steering system was responsible for two accidents, including a head-on collision that injured three people...

SECURITY - UK - Ex-IRA man calls for better security on buses

UK -Guardian Unlimited, by David Pallister -July 19 2005: -- A call for the return of bus conductors was made yesterday at a seminar on how to prevent terrorist attacks on London's transport system. The suggestion was given authority by the man who made it: Sean O'Callaghan, former IRA leader turned informer... Former Metropolitan police commander Ray Ramm suggested that a fixed penalty fine be introduced for people who leave their baggage behind, causing false alarms and diversion of resources...

STRIKE - UK - How has the bus affected you?

UK -BBC News -18 July, 2005: -- A walkout by more than 1,400 drivers employed by Lothian Buses has caused problems on Edinburgh's public transport network... Drivers have rejected a 5% wage rise, saying that they want more than 6%... They have also complained about planned changes to terms and conditions attached to the rise...

JOBS - USA - Plenty of school buses, but not enough drivers

District struggles to fill jobs before year starts
Reno,NV,USA -Reno Gazette Journal, by Ray Hagar - 7/17/2005: -- After pouring $6 million into upgrading its bus fleet over the past few years, the Washoe County School District vehicles outnumber the drivers... The district needs to hire 40 to 50 drivers before the start of the traditional school year...

PRIVATISATION - IRELAND - New plans for buses

Dublin,Ireland -Sunday Business Post, by Niamh Connolly -17 July 2005: -- Up to 15 per cent of Dublin's new and expanding bus market could be privatised if trade unions accept new proposals from transport minister Martin Cullen, The Sunday Business Post has learned...

TESTS - USA - T issues bus alert, will test steering

US agency sent out March recall notice on defect in axle rod
Boston,MA,USA -Boston Globe, by Lucas Wall - July 17 2005: -- The MBTA announced yesterday that it will conduct daily inspections of more than 150 of its newest buses, and it warned drivers to be careful after an investigation into two crashes Friday found a steering problem. It is the second significant defect this year with the handling of the $300,000 buses; another faulty part was fixed after a federal safety recall...

PURCHASES - BANGLADESH - Govt to procure 200 AC-CNG buses from ROK

Bangladesh -Financial Express.bd -7/18/2005: -- The government will procure 200 AC CNG-run buses from South Korea for various city routes to make the city service more effective and smooth... Communications Minister Nazmul Huda disclosed this Saturday while presiding over a meeting on the overall development and activities of the state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) held in the city.

SECURITY - USA - Chertoff promises to make trains, buses safer from terror

WASHINGTON,DF,USA -NorthJersey.com/Hackensack,NJ/ASSOCIATED PRESS, by LARA JAKES JORDAN -July 14 2005: -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday announced sweeping changes at his two-year-old department, pledging to make mass transit safer from terrorists as part of a new focus on the nation's greatest vulnerabilities... Chertoff opened the speech with condolences to the British after the London bombings. He said the department would look to use technology to detect explosives and biological, chemical or radioactive material on rail, subway and bus systems...

IDLING - USA - New rules limit idling by buses, trucks

Pittsburgh,PA,USA -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by Jacqueline Shoyeb -July 16, 2005: -- A regulation to limit diesel emissions took effect in Allegheny County this week, and health department officials and local environmental leaders urged residents to help enforce it... operators can't idle their diesel-powered road vehicles, like trucks and buses, for longer than five minutes, or they will face fines of up to $500...

SAFETY - UK - Child-safety fears bar pupils from public buses

Edinburgh,Scotland,UK -The Scotsman, by KEVIN SCHOFIELD -16 Jul 2005: -- PARENTS' fears that their children could be at risk from adults have prompted a local authority to rule that pupils should not travel on the same buses as the general public...

OFF ROAD - USA - 150 MBTA buses pulled after 2 crashes

Both drivers cite difficulty steering
Boston,MA,USA -Boston Globe, by Lucas Wall and Mac Daniel -July 16 2005: -- The MBTA yanked 150 buses -- 15 percent of its fleet -- off the road yesterday for emergency inspections after two crashes involving steering problems with the same model vehicle... Buses of this model, are ''low floor" models , parked in Charlestown yesterday, will be inspected before resuming service...

WOMEN - AUSTRALIA - BUS line sues women for car-pooling

New South Wales,Australia -Sydney Morning Herald (subscription) -12 July 2005: -- ... "Using our cars is quicker and at least twice as cheap. And on the bus we didn't have the right to eat or even to speak," said Martine Bourguignon...

ALARM - ISRAEL - Pullout foes plant fake bomb at J'lem central bus station

Tel Aviv,Israel -Ha'aretz, by Jonathan Lis - July 12, 2005: -- The fake bomb left by pullout foes in Jerusalem last night... Police evacuated the central bus station in Jerusalem yesterday evening after finding a gas canister that turned out to be a fake bomb... A note hidden in a bag alongside the canister read, "The disengagement will explode in our faces," which led police to suspect that right-wing activists had planted the package to protest the pullout from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank...

ALARMS - USA - Two false alarms for Honolulu bus system

HONOLULU,HI,USA -KPUA, by Associated Press -July 10th, 2005: -- Two city buses were evacuated on Friday, the first full day of a heightened alert level for public transportation in Hawaii... Both incidents turned out to be false alarms... says passengers left a city bus on Pali Highway near Castle Junction after an unattended backpack was found... Police were called but they determined that the backpack contained dirty underwear...

VULNERABILITY - USA - Bus transit systems vulnerable to attack

ALBANY, N.Y.,USA -News Day, by MARK JOHNSON/Associated Press -July 10, 2005: -- Security on buses that carry nine times as many passengers as airlines has largely been ignored by authorities since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, leaving millions of people across the country vulnerable, transit officials said... That may all change after last week's terrorist attack in a London subway and a public bus... Public transportation systems in the United States have received $250 million in federal security funding since Sept. 11, compared to $18.1 billion the government has given to the airline industry, according to the American Public Transportation Association...

ALERT - USA - Level orange to transit systems, following London terrorist attack

Increased for police, drivers, and riders, on public transports
USA -Associated Press -10/7/05: -- About 29 million people in the United States take commuter trains or subways on an average workday, and millions more take buses, according to an article on the increased alert... Following Thursday's attacks on London's mass transit system, the federal Department of Homeland Security increased the terror alert level to orange for mass transit systems across this nation... Though metropolis like Washington or New York City, police officers began patrolling trains and buses... "to check the buses in the morning and to make sure no articles are left on board"...

SUGGESTIONS - USA - London bombings bring suggestion for drivers, riders to keep their eyes open

No major problems on buses in past
Petersburg,VA,USA -Petersburg Progress Index, by F.M. WIGGINS -10/07/05: -- Following Thursday's attacks on London's mass transit system, the federal Department of Homeland Security increased the terror alert level to orange for mass transit systems across this nation... Petersburg has stepped up efforts to be observant of its area transportation in the face of the attacks... About 40 percent of Petersburg's population is without a car.

FIRE - NEW ZEALAND - Second Stagecoach bus catches fire

Auckland,New Zealand- New Zealand Herald, by Elizabeth Binning -09.07.05: -- Stagecoach has moved to reassure passengers its vehicles are safe after two of its buses caught fire in separate incidents this week... the fire appeared to have started in the electrical switchboard at the front of the bus...

STATISTICS - UK - Britain's truckers waste 2.2 Billion Kms Every Year

UK -Transport News Network -July 2005: -- Britain's 426,000 trucks clock up an amazing 28.5 billion kms every year, but 2.2 billion kms (8%) are totally unproductive, a logistics efficiency consultant has claimed... Key3 Partners say that an 8% efficiency saving across the whole freight transport industry could be made if companies involved in logistics were to examine their operating procedures and use technology to remove wasted kilometres...

DROWSINESS - AUSTRALIA - Aussie truckers test new anti fatigue technology

Australia -Transport News Network/UK -Jun 2005: -- Long haul truck drivers from Australia have volunteered to take part in the testing of new anti-fatigue technology, which could have a huge impact on road safety... The truck drivers who work for Australian transport and logistics operator, Linfox, have volunteered to participate in the testing of new drowsiness detection technology, which alerts both the driver and the depot, when the driver is experiencing drowsiness... The technology know as Optalert, has been developed over the last decade and comprises a pair of glasses fitted with tiny infra-red sensors, which monitor all eye and eyelid movements...

ENERGY BILL - USA - Too Little Too Late

ALEXANDRIA, Va.,USA -U.S. Newswire, by Bill Graves * -July 7 2005: -- Even if Congress manages to pass the Energy bill this year, when it comes to rising fuel costs and their impact on the nation's economy, H.R.6 will be, in some respects, too little too late... Few industries feel the impact of rising fuel costs more directly than trucking... In recent months, motor carriers have, like many businesses, reported that rising fuel costs hit their bottom line, impacting quarterly profits. The trucking industry will spend at least $72 billion on fuel in 2005 – a $10 billion increase over 2004 figures. That follows a $10 billion increase over 2003. But if prices continue skyward, the impact will be far more reaching than just how much it costs to fill up at the pump... * Bill Graves: President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and former two-term Governor of Kansas

OIL - UK - Profits and Petrol Price

UK -Transport News Network, by Gerald Woodgate - 22/06/2005: -- With the fuel protests still going on up and down the country, Shell has published its first quarter figures... The company makes a staggering £1.6 million profit every hour and its income has risen by 42% to £3.5bn in the period... The company were quick to point out that they had made a loss on petrol sales in the first quarter due to the higher cost of buying crude oil on the open market. However they refused to give figures...

TECHNOLOGY - UK - Snow free roads to heat houses

UK -Transport News Network -09/05/2005: -- A revolutionary new British invention that uses the surfaces of major roads and motorways to collect and store energy begins a Highways Agency trial on the M1 in June... The new technology called Inter-seasonal Heat Transfer (IHTTM) is a low-cost, low-maintenance process that uses roads to collect and store solar energy...

SECURITY - CANADA - Trucking Experts Urge Security Review

USA -Fleet Owner -07/08/2005: -- The deadly terrorist attack on London's mass transit system yesterday should serve as a wake-up call for U.S. trucking companies to review and update their security plans, contend industry experts... Highway Watch ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center), a Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS)-funded program run by the American Trucking Assns. that deputizes highway transportation workers to report potential terrorist activity, has responded to the attacks in England by intensely communicating with its members, especially those in public transit...

SECURITY - WORLDWIDE - Boosted on transport after London attacks

USA -FORBES/AFX News Limited -07.08.2005: -- Following the bombings in London, all over the world and, specially, on capital and main cities, the highest level of alert, with extra police and security guards, have been deployed... And "extraordinary" steps to increase security on the public transport system, took...

BOMBS - UK - London police say nothing to suggest London bombings were suicide attacks

LONDON, UK -FORBES/AFX News Limited/USA -07.08.2005: -- Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said there is nothing to suggest that suicide bombers were involved in yesterday's attacks but that this cannot be ruled out... More than 50 people died in the bombings, while 700 were injured, of which 22 are in critical condition, he said at a news conference this morning...

COMMENTS - UK - What We Know And What We Don't

LONDON,UK - FORBES/USA,by Steve McGookin -07.08.05: -- The most priceless commodity in times of crisis is trustworthy information. And so it proved on Thursday in London, as the city lurched from Wednesday's euphoria over winning the Olympics to the chaos and confusion wrought by deadly, coordinated terrorist attacks... This was the most serious terrorist attack in Europe since the bombing of the Madrid rail network last March, and--just as in Madrid--alongside the actual, terrible death toll comes an inevitable fear among the wider population as we realize the sheer vulnerability of something as fundamental as our transportation system... The media's treatment of the latest terrorist event reflected the general state of confusion which covered the city like a blanket...

CONDOLENCES for the British people.

UK -uk.transport/ google groups/transport truck & bus -8 jul 2005: -- We repudiate all violence, specially to impose ideas: politicals, religious, way of life, or any thing... But, it's stranger that always these attacks be carried out: - When greater repercussion can have? Yesterday, the meeting of the G-8. Because it is then, when greater meaning take implicit the revenges! ... - Against massive transports: airplanes, ships, trains, buses, underground metros...? Where the defenselessness is almost total. And the controls are almost unpossible to apply? .... - What we can do, to travel in armored transport ones?... When one man die, all of us, the human race, begining to die too!!! - Santiago

BIODIESEL - BRAZIL - Hopes to add 3 billion litres to the alcohol exports

Brazil -ANBA -Jun 2005: -- With the increase in demand for alternative fuels, the sector is adding up the figures and believes that the country may consolidate itself as the main world supplier. Last year, foreign sales reached 2.4 billion litres, against 1.1 billion in 2003. For the first time the main product in the trade basket was fuel alcohol...

BIODIESEL - BRAZIL - Castor beans for biodiesel will receive US$ 41.6 million in financing

Recife,Brazil -Agencia Brasil (ANBA) -06/07/2005: -- The National Program to Strengthen Family Farming (Pronaf) will offer a line of credit worth US$ 41.6 million (R$ 100 million) to encourage the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of castor beans. This oil seed crop is one of the chief raw materials for use in the production of biodiesel, a non-polluting fuel that will be added to diesel oil...

TECHNOLOGY - JAMAICA - JUTC installs automatic vehicle locator on buses

Kingston,Jamaica -Jamaica Observer -July 02, 2005: -- The state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has introduced an automatic vehicle locator (AVL) system to ensure greater efficiency in the dispatch of buses and to ascertain the precise location of vehicles at any point in time... Nimal Amitirigala, manager of the information technology department at the JUTC, said that the bus company recently introduced the AVL system on three of its bus routes...

BOOM - UK - Business booming as more hop on buses

Leeds,Yorkshire,UK -Yorkshire Post Today, by William Green -01 July 2005: -- BUSES are proving to be just the ticket in York with passenger numbers booming by nearly a fifth, according to an industry report... The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), which represents the bus industry, said passengers rose by 18 per cent last year and made the city's bus network the fifth fastest growing in the country...

SALES - BRAZIL - Comil to ship 165 buses to Qatar on Monday

Sao Paulo,Brazil -ANBA, by Marina Sarruf -07/01/2005: -- This is the first shipping of a total of 514 units to be sent to the Arab country by Comil, the bus body maker from the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The buses are urban models and are going to be used for school and athlete transport. This is the company's first sale to Qatar...

ECOLOGY - Philippines - Arroyo launches first CNG bus

Manila, Philippines -ABS CBN News -Jul 1 2005: -- The first commercial bus using indigenous compressed natural gas (CNG) was launched Friday at Malacañan with President Arroyo as its first passenger... Officials of HM Transport Inc., one of the six accredited importers and operators of the 200 pilot CNG buses, made the presentation to the President who, along with stakeholders and media members, took the inaugural ride to Rizal Park and back to Malacañan... The initial operation of the 200 CNG buses is expected to result in savings of 8.9 million liters of diesel equivalent to P31.6 million...

DEMILITARISATION - PAKISTAN - ‘Frequency of Srinagar bus to be increased’

ISLAMABAD,Pakistan -Indian Express/New Delhi,India, by KJM VARMA -Jul 02 2005 : -- Pakistan has said that the frequency of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would be increased and that a truck service would be permitted along the same route to promote trade in the region... President Musharraf "has put forward the idea of the demilitarisation of Kashmir in a phased manner... "

CONSULTS - UK - Bus users get to have their say on services

UK -Waltham Forest Guardian -1st July 2005: -- BUS travellers have been given a chance to have their say on whether routes or positions of stops need to be changed as part of a London Assembly consultation... Residents are being urged to take part in the study which will look into whether communities across the capital are getting the right services...

SACKS - UK - Bus firms face the sack for badly-run services

Leeds,Yorkshire,UK -Yorkshire Post Today, by William Green -01 July 2005: -- FAILING bus companies could be sacked under plans being drawn up by Yorkshire transport chiefs to take greater control of privatised services to drive up standards... Complaints about rising fares, cuts and poor quality of some services have led public transport chiefs to consider radical action amid concerns that passenger numbers have been falling...

SAFETY - UK - Police remove ten speed cameras over safety fears

London, UK -Times On Line, by Ben Webster - Jun 23 2005: -- A POLICE force is dismantling ten speed cameras and removing film from another 50 after the first official admission that badly positioned devices could undermine road safety... West Midlands Police has found after a review of all its cameras that many fail to comply with strict government rules on where they can be located. The force is expected to be the first of many to remove devices after the Government ordered a national audit of Britain’s 6,000 speed cameras...

Buses World News

29.7.05