Buses World News: December 2005

Worry - USA - Bus service idea creates concern, interest

Tupelo,MS,USA -Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, by ANDY KANENGISER -23 Dec 2005: -- Some taxi drivers worry about their bottom line if a bus service is launched in Tupelo, but a number of citizens around the city are anxious to get aboard... Bus service is an idea Mayor Ed Neelly and Lee County leaders will study in the new year... The mayor wants to weigh public input, examine costs and seek grants before a new transit system gets rolling, first in Tupelo and later into nearby towns...

Fuel Alternatives - Canada - Vancouver Transit Goes CNG

Vancouver,Canada -After Gutenberg (USA) -24 Dec 2005: -- After a researcher at the University of Connecticut indicated that a standard diesel transit bus did better than a similar transit bus with a parallel hybrid diesel drivetrain, I have been watching for a decision by TransLink, the transit agency for the greater Vancouver, British Columbia area... In September Green Car Congress had reported that the Vancouver transit company was running a set of concurrent tests with hybrid, CNG and B20 biodiesel buses to determine the most suitable and cost-effective technology for the region... Increasingly, vendors of compressed natural gas vehicles are positioning CNG as a gateway to hydrogen… As an aside, the Ottawa city council staff who favored diesel-hybrids disputed — for a number of reasons — the premise that CNG buses smooth the pathway to hydrogen. However, they acknowledged that a competition between a diesel-hybrid and a CNG-hybrid bus would be much closer...

Reorganisation - Italy - Finmeccanica fails to finalise BredaMenarinibus sale

MILAN,Italy -Forbes/AFX(USA) -22 Dec 2005: -- Finmeccanica SpA said it failed to finalise the sale of its Bologna-based autobus unit BredaMenarinibus SpA... "Finmeccanica will continue to manage BredaMenarinibus and will carry out any necessary reorganisation awaiting for a solution that allows a sale under the best possible terms", Finmeccanica added in a statement late yesterday...

Ending Strike - USA - Buses Back First, Then Subways, but Not Right Away

NY,USA -New York Times, by VIKAS BAJAJ & SEWELL CHAN -Dec 22, 2005: -- With the New York City transit strike over, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said this afternoon that buses should return to service far sooner than subway trains, the first of which may not begin service until at least 6 to 10 hours after transit workers return to their jobs...

Purchases - India - BEST gets go-ahead to hire 300 private buses

The vehicles will be acquired through e-tendering process

Mumbai,India -Mumbai Newsline -Dec 21, 2005: -- The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking committee on Wednesday took a historic unanimous decision to float a tender for the hiring of 300 private buses, which it will add to the existing fleet of 3,391... The decision came after the state Home Department granted permission to hire private buses...

''Smoking buses'' - Canada - 'Butt buses' sidestep smoking ban

CANADA -Associated Press, by PAUL BURKHARDT -Dec. 22, 2005: -- The Canadian city of Edmonton has decided to allow bars to employ a novel approach to get around a smoking ban -- ''smoking buses'' parked outside that allow patrons to get their fix without freezing... City officials had initially looked for a way to close the loophole, but then decided that there's no law to stop patrons from smoking in buses parked on bar premises...

Bus 'moving without driver'

- "Look, the bus is moving without a driver!"
Storms River, South Africa -News24, by Cindy Preller and Yolande Hayward -22 Dec 2005: -- This was the exclamation of a shocked Ilene James, a passenger on a Translux bus that ran off the road and overturned while travelling from Cape Town to Durban on Wednesday morning... Police have not been able to determine the cause of the accident, but James alleged that she saw the bus driver get up to fetch a cooldrink from a fridge on the bus... Elizabeth Sieglaar, one of the passengers who were woken up by James's exclamation, allegedly also saw the bus driver rush back to the empty driver's seat... Sieglaar said 'Truck driving in wrong lane', but the driver's efforts to get the bus back on the road were too late... According to Newman the bus driver swerved to avoid an oncoming truck that was driving in the wrong lane... About the allegation that the driver had got up to fetch a cooldrink from a fridge, he said none of the Translux buses are equipped with a fridge in the driver's cabin...

End NYC Strike - USA - Union Says Members Will Return Work

NY,USA -AP/TTNews -22 Dec 2005: -- Leader of the union representing New York City’s transit workers voted Thursday to return their 33,000 members to work without a new contract... The announcement of the vote came outside union headquarters about 3 1/2 hours after state mediators said a deal had been worked out... It puts the nation's largest mass transit system back in operation while negotiations resume on a new three-year contract...

Too Cold - USA - Low Fuel Supply Freezes Buses

Cedar Rapids – KCRG-TV9 News, by Nick Glew -Dec 19, 2005: -- Extremely cold temperatures are making it hard to get kids safely to school. A fuel shortage only makes the problem worse... The Cedar Rapids School District has a fleet of 109 buses. On cold mornings like today, the transportation staff starts the buses around five o'clock. Today diesel engines and frigid temperatures were no mix... It's a busy day at the bus barn. Crews are literally pushing buses to warmer temperatures. On Monday morning, fifteen buses stalled mid-route...

Products - USA - ShiftWatch(R) TVS System Specified for New Buses at Cleveland Transit Authority

LOVELAND, Colo.,USA -PRNewswire-FirstCall -20 Dec 2005: -- A4S Security, Inc., a leading provider of digital video surveillance solutions, today announced that the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) has chosen ShiftWatch(R) Transportation Video Surveillance (TVS) systems for use in eleven new buses to be built for GCRTA by the Optima Bus Corporation. Delivery is expected within the next ninety days... "It's important to us to provide a safe and secureenvironment for our riders"...

Strike - USA - Holiday transit strike hits New York, union fined

NEW YORK,NY,USA -Reuters, by Claudia Parsons & Ellen Wulfhorst -21 Dec 2005: -- New York's subways and buses were brought to a halt on Tuesday by the city's first mass transit strike in 25 years by a union that faces a $1 million-a-day fine for every day of the work stoppage... New Yorkers struggled to get to jobs and school on foot, by bike and in cars shared with strangers once the Transport Workers Union walked off the job at the height of the holiday shopping and tourism season... Drivers desperate to fill their cars picked up strangers to get in, while cyclists streamed over the city's bridges... Many Wall Street firms provided shuttle buses to carry employees and financial markets operated as normal... For Joy Bennett, a Jamaican immigrant living in the Bronx, the strike provided her first opportunity to see Manhattan from above ground as she normally commutes underground on the subway. "This is beautiful," she said, walking through Times Square before dawn. "I like it up here"...

Drink-driving - UK - Bus driver 'four times over limit'

Scotland,UK -News Scotsman -20 Dec 2005: -- A bus driver crashed his double decker into a shelter while he was four times the legal alcohol limit, police said... The 38-year-old First Bus driver failed a breath test following the incident in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on Saturday... Police said the double decker he was driving ploughed into a shelter on Easthouses Road, Easthouses, at around 10pm, showering waiting passengers with glass... During the second week of the force's campaign to combat drink-driving, a total of 25 motorists failed breath tests - compared to 27 for the same period last year...

Strike - USA - New York transit affects travelers at JFK, LaGuardia

NY,USA -SmarterTravel.com, by Jessica Labrencis -20 Dec 2005: -- New York City's public transportation network is not operating due to an early-Tuesday strike by the Transit Workers Union (TWU)... The TWU strike has shut down the buses and subways that serve Manhattan and the outer boroughs, but Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad trains are not affected... Travelers flying into and out of New York have limited transportation options during the strike...

Fears - Australia - Two differ on why petrol was on bus

Sydney,Victoria,Australia -The Age - Dec 20, 2005: -- Two men found with two bottles of petrol on a Sydney bus gave police different excuses — one said he was helping a mate who had run out of fuel and the other said he wanted to sniff it... Amir Ali Osmanagic, 18, from Melbourne's Dandenong, and Parham Esmailpour, 19, of Carlingford, in Sydney's north-west, appeared in court charged with affray and possessing an offensive implement with intent to commit an indictable offence... Both were arrested on Sunday amid a police crackdown to stop a new outbreak of race violence...

Safety - Australia - Let's all belt up on buses

Melbourne,Australia -Melbourne Herald Sun -20 Dec 2005: -- A road safety lobbyist has called for seat belts to be made compulsory on all buses in Victoria... Leon Haynes, a former member of the Victorian Government's Bus Safety Working Party, has made the plea after a tourist bus crash near Port Campbell on Saturday left 28 injured... He said there could soon be a fatal bus crash in Victoria because seat belts were not compulsory in pre-1995 buses or country school buses...

Prevention - UK - Crackdown to take crime off the buses

UK -Borehanwood Times, by Louisa Barnett -19 Dec 2005: -- More than 4,000 bus passengers were checked by police last week in a crackdown on crime on public transport in Borehamwood... Four arrests were made and 73 penalty fare notices were issued. Nineteen people were also summonsed to appear in court for serious travel infringements. Passengers were questioned for crimes ranging from general nuisance and anti-social behaviour to forged or stolen tickets... This is the third operation of its kind carried out this year, with further checks planned for next year in the hope of reducing low-level crime on the town's buses...

Strikes IV - USA - Clock Stops Midnight On Jamaica, Triboro Coach

Reality Sets In For Both Riders And Drivers
New York - NY,USA -WCBS-TV, by Tony Aiello -19, Dec 2005: -- Police barricades at the bus depot were just one sign a strike was imminent... Jamaica Bus Lines and Triboro Coach lines will be taken over by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a just a few weeks... A contract for the 750 workers is being negotiated separately from the much larger New York City transit deal... Union members have made it clear they simply will not accept their current working terms and conditions...

Strike III - USA - Bus Drivers and their Economic Leverage

New York,NY,USA -New York Post, by TERRY KEENAN -18 Dec 2005: -- DO you wonder why the city's 34,000 transit workers have been able to hold millions of straphangers hostage with their threats of an illegal strike, while workers at Ford and GM have agreed to billions of dollars in healthcare concessions?... In a word: outsourcing... The bus you ride to work could easily (and more economically) be manufactured overseas, but the man or woman who drives it everyday cannot be outsourced to China or India... As Jesse Jackson summed it up simply to transit workers at a rally in Midtown this week: "When you stop rolling, New York walks. Thus..."

Statistics - USA - Virginia Beach Leads State In Fatal Bus Crashes

Norfolk,VA,USA -WTKR Your NewsChannel 3/AP -18 Dec 2005: -- Virginia Beach school officials are on edge after learning public school buses there have been in more fatal crashes than buses from any other school division in Virginia... Between 1994 and 2004 there were 31 fatal school bus crashes in Virginia... Virginia Beach buses move about 60-thousand students twice a day... Pace tells the Virginian-Pilot, of Norfolk, that yellow buses are still the safest way for them to get to school...

Strike? - Australia - Buses strike looms

Australia -The Mercury, by TIM MARTAIN -19 Dec 2005: -- METRO bus drivers are threatening strike action early in the new year because of concerns about pay and dangerous working conditions... They have called for prompt action to resolve the issues after a female driver was terrorised on a Metro school bus as it was vandalised on Friday afternoon... Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Sandro Amicosante said the students, travelling home from Rosetta High School, tore up the seats on an articulated bus and used them to slide up and down the aisle of the moving bus... Mr Amicosante said damage amounted to several hundred dollars and the bus driver was too frightened of the rowdy students to attempt to settle them down...

Travel - USA - Small bus companies give Mexican immigrants a ride home for Christmas

LITTLE ROCK -Associated PressDANIEL CONNOLLYDec. 17, 2005: -- This month, many Mexican immigrants make a traditional journey home in time for Christmas. In the South, some choose to travel with numerous small bus companies that have sprung up as the region's Hispanic population has grown. Customers can expect relatively low prices, service in Spanish and a long ride - in some cases more than 24 hours... Most of the companies are unknown outside the Mexican community. Transportes Eclipse, for example, advertises only in Spanish... "I love you, Grandpa!" she yelled in Spanish in the moments before the van pulled away from the store parking lot... Her grandfather, construction worker Florencio Salazar, 56, was traveling by van and then bus from Little Rock to a small town in central Mexico. His wife was waiting for him there - they hadn't seen each other in the three years that he has been in the United States...

Strike II - USA - Two New York City Bus Lines Shut Down

Bus Lines Grind to a Halt As Possibility of Citywide Strike Looms

NEW YORK,NY,USA -ABC News/Associated Press, by NAHAL TOOSI -Dec19, 2005: -- Commuters who depend on two private bus lines were forced to find their own transportation after drivers walked off the job early Monday, a predicament that could soon paralyze the entire city if the transit strike widens... The walkout at the two Queens bus lines, which together serve as many as 50,000 commuters, came as the Transport Workers Union continued to threaten a large-scale strike beginning Tuesday that could affect as many as 7 million subway and bus riders... (AP Photo/David Karp)

Strike Threat - USA - When is a transit strike really a strike?

New York, NY,USA -Newsday, by ELLIS HENICAN -Dec 18, 2005: -- After all those days of threats, promises, insults and ducks, only three things can be said with confidence now about the acrimonious New York bus and subway negotiations of 2005: There is no deal - yet. There is no genuine strike - yet. And there is no obvious answer to the only question anyone really cares about, "Which way is this going to tip?"...

Free bus service - USA - Citylink adds convenience for commuters

Eases gas bill for shoppers, workers
COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho,USA -CDAPress, by RICK THOMAS -Dec 17, 2005: -- Though riders are slowly warming to the idea of public transportation, North Idaho's record-breaking cold spell is making it the hot ticket for some... For a few, it's a way to leave the second car at home and still get to work with little inconvenience. For others, it's a stopgap measure.And for some, it's made an already difficult life a little easier... Neither had considered the possibility of saving not only on gas, but on insurance if they stop making the eight-mile daily commute, but will check into what discount might be offered... The primary goal now is increasing awareness of the free rides...

Jobs - USA - Pace Divisions Looking for Drivers

Chicago, Ill.,USA -Press Release -16 Dec 2005: -- Are you looking for a great career with excellent starting pay, paid training, promotion from within, and a friendly work environment? If so, Pace is the right place for you... If you are interested in becoming a driver, please visit the employment section and read more about the positions we have available...

Services - USA - MTA Unveils New Buses

LOS ANGELES,Cal.,USA -CBS -Dec 16, 2005: -- The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will unveil two new buses on Friday – a rapid bus line for Western Avenue and an express route that connects Long Beach to El Monte... Service for both lines are expected to start on Sunday, will announce the Metro Rapid Line on Friday morning... According to L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks , "Western Avenue already receives more than 38,000 daily boardings on the local Metro Bus system."...

Joint - USA - Enova Enters into a School Bus Program with Major N.A. Truck and Bus Manufacturer

TORRANCE, Cal.,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -Dec. 16, 2005: -- Enova Systems, a leading developer and manufacturer of electric, hybrid and fuel cell digital power management systems, announced today that it has entered into a joint School Bus program with a major North American Truck Manufacturer... The School Bus project will feature Enova's post transmission 80 kW Hybrid Drive System and has the potential to lead to future production 2006 and beyond...

Bus Strike - USA - NYC Transit Talks May Resume; Union PlansLimited

It was business as usual in New York City today
NY,USA -Bloomberg -Dec. 16, 2005: -- The extension of talks between transit workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority postponed a threatened strike that would have disrupted 7 million commuters in the largest U.S. city and violated a state law... The union said it will halt operations on two private bus lines and threatened to extend the action to other buses and trains, a move that enabled the union to keep negotiating with the state-run MTA without breaking the law. State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones this week granted a preliminary injunction barring a walkout...

Safety - USA - Everyone urged to work together to ensure student

Brampton,CA,USA - The Brampton Guardian, by ROGER BELGRAVE -16 Dec 2005: -- A review of protocols implemented to safeguard young school bus riders has reiterated the need for drivers, parents and teachers to work together... A report presented to the board's Administration and Finance Committee concluded the protocols do enhance safety for primary students. However, all those charged with the care of these students must adhere to the procedures... Local school boards operate a joint school bus service and transport an estimated 68,000 students, using 11 different bus companies. Approximately 8,000, to 10,000 of those students are kindergarten to Grade 1 pupils riding more than 600 buses daily...

Comfort - USA - Does this bus seat make me look fat?

Chicago,ILL,USA -Chicago Tribune, by Virginia Groark -Dec 16, 2005: -- Here's some good news for Chicagoland commuters who have been packing away too many holiday treats or who never followed through with that New Year's resolution... Starting next year, city and suburban buses will offer more space in the seat... The Chicago Transit Authority and Pace have ordered wider seats for the hundreds of buses that'll begin hitting the streets next year... Typically, bus seats are about 17 1/2-inches wide, according to industry officials. But the City of Big Shoulders can soon settle into some of the nation's biggest transit seats--18 inches wide...

Plan - USA - Transit agencies may join forces

Vote today could lead to metro plan
Atlanta,USA -The Atlanta Journal, by PAUL DONSKY-15 Dec 05: -- The region's mass transit systems, from mammoth MARTA to modest suburban bus systems, may soon join forces to push for better coordination and — most critically — more funding... The first step, if approved today, would create a regional Transit Planning Board that would spend the next two years evaluating metro Atlanta's transit needs... The planning board then would give way to a new transit super agency that ultimately could govern all the area's buses and trains — from Gwinnett County's local bus system to MARTA's 48-mile rail network and 556-bus fleet... The regional agency could orchestrate expansion and funding for metro Atlanta's transit network, perhaps even levying a regional tax to pay for projects...

Purchases - USA - New school buses to Desert Willow

Casa Grande,AZ,USA -Casa Grande Valley Newspapers -15 Dec 2005: -- The Casa Grande Elementary School District Governing Board approved the sale of $13 million in bonds Tuesday... They are the first of the $25 million in bonds approved by voters in November... Administrative Services Manager Kevin Kelty said:... -- $3.5 million will be used to buy 21 new buses with air-conditioning. Fourteen new buses will replace those in the fleet that are more than 15 years old or have more than 250,000 miles on them. Seven will increase the size of the fleet...

Alternative Fuel - USA - Manatee schools switching to biodiesel in buses

BRADENTON,FL,USA - Herald Today, by MIKE BARBER -Dec. 15, 2005: -- School officials announced today that the Manatee County School District has taken the lead in Florida in using alternative fuel to power its bus fleet and other district vehicles... The school district's fleet of 254 buses has already been converted to use of a BioDiesel fuel that consists of 80 percent diesel fuel and 20 percent soy bean oil...

Fuel Alternatives - USA - Leftover Grease To Power School Buses

Greenville, SC,USA -ABC Nws4 -Dec 13, 2005: -- State education officials could turn to leftover grease from deep fryers to run schools buses as they search for ways to offset future fuel shortages... If officials decide it is feasible, the state would mix biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil and mix it with petroleum-based diesel to create an alternative fuel called B20...

Hybrid -USA - New York's New Buses

Cleaner air and 1 mpg better . The bus that's as clean as 18 Priuses.

New York,NY,USA -ABC News/PC Magazine, by Bill Howard -15 Dec 2005: -- Imagine a transit bus that's as good for the environment as 15,000 Toyota Priuses. One bus can't do this on its own, but a fleet of 825 hybrid buses headed for use on New York City streets provide the same clear-air benefits as the same amount of hybrid passenger cars... Another reason for enthusiasm is that the buses improve fuel economy by 1 mile per gallon, which is a big deal when traditional transit buses get 2.5 mpg... The technology doesn't come cheap. The Orion VII hybrid bus (DaimlerChrysler's) costs about 30 percent more than a diesel-powered transit bus, but much of the cost differential will be recaptured over the decade or more the bus is in service: less fuel consumed, no transmissions to overhaul, and fewer brake pads to replace...

Introducing - Malaysia - More buses and 35 new routes from Rapid KL

KUALA LUMPUR,Malaysia -The Malay On Line -Dec 14, 2005: -- Rapid KL introduced 35 new bus routes, effective yesterday. This was accompanied by a revamped bus schedule... There will be 35 new feeder bus routes, 13 of which will operate between Kelana Jaya and Bangsar stations, another 13 between Terminal Putra and Dato Keramat stations and nine others along Ampang and Sri Petaling...

Replace - USA - Broome to get energy-efficient hybrid buses

Hinchey touts plan, reform bill on foreign oil options
WESTOVER,Broome County, NY,USA -Press Connects -Dec 14, 2005: -- Broome County plans to replace nearly half of its diesel bus fleet with 20 hybrid buses being developed by BAE Systems Platform Solutions... The hybrid bus looks, sounds and operates much like a traditional bus, but the difference is in the propulsion system... The engine is smaller than those used in a conventional bus. It uses a "regenerative braking" system that allows the engine to capture heat generated from the brakes and turn it into electricity to power the bus... A lead-battery storage system is on the bus roof...

Rules - Canada - Bars use buses to get around smoking bylaw

Calgary,EDM,Canada -CBC News -Dec 14 2005: -- Edmonton city council is looking at whether it should stop two bars from providing buses for its smoking customers, saying it may violate the city's no-smoking bylaw... Beginning Jan. 1, smoking is banned in all workplaces in the province, with the exception of bars, casinos and bingo halls. As well, ventilated smoking rooms are allowed anywhere minors aren't... Calgary will ban smoking in public places in 2008...

Purchase - Sweden - Volvo wins order for 100 buses in India

STOCKHOLM,Sweden -Reuters -Dec 14, 2005: -- The world's number two truck maker, Sweden's Volvo, said on Wednesday it had won an order for 100 buses from India's largest travel agent... Volvo, which did not disclose the value of the deal, said in a statement it would deliver around half of the buses to Raj Travels & Tours by January next year, with the remainder being supplied during the following months...

Survey - UK - One in four passengers brands Edinburgh buses unreliable

Edinburgh,Scotland,UK -Scotsman, by ALAN RODEN -14 Dec 2005: -- The number of Edinburgh residents who think bus services are unreliable has risen to one in four... A survey on behalf of Lothian Buses revealed that 24 per cent of users feel the time-keeping of buses is poor - up from one fifth last year... This comes despite a massive shake-up of traffic rules in the Capital, which was partly designed to improve public transport and reduce congestion...

Solidarity - USA - Youth group helps clear way for buses

Anchorage, Alaska,USA -ktuuTV Alaska News, by Yvonne Ramsay -Dec 2005: -- A group of Anchorage youth is teaming up to help the city of Anchorage clear the way for bus passengers... Youth Advocates for Community organized an ice attack to shovel snow, chip ice and scatter ice melt around bus stops today... YAC leaders say they’re doing it to support the municipality’s efforts to improve accessibility and safety for public transportation...

Purchase - USA - City buying smaller buses

Thunder Bay,Ontario,Canada -Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, by JONATHAN WILSON -Dec 10, 2005: Some Thunder Bay transit users will find themselves boarding smaller buses at this time next year... City council has given preliminary approval to the purchase of two 30-foot buses in 2006 as part of a “greening the fleet” pilot project... The vehicles have room for about 26 seats and two wheelchair spaces compared to 32-36 seats on a standard 40-foot bus... The market price for smaller buses is about $340,000, compared to $460,000 for the larger ones...

Vandals - USA - Flat bus tires mean no school for day

MCHENRY,Chicago,Ill,USA -Chicago Tribune -Dec 10, 2005: -- School was canceled Friday for some 7,000 students in northwest suburban McHenry because vandals flattened tires on 35 school buses, officials said... Most of the tires were deflated, but two were slashed, and two bus windows were broken, said McHenry Deputy Police Chief William Brogan. There were no suspects, he said...

Grants - USA - Boost county's public transportation

PALM COAST,FL,USA -The Daytona Beach News, by MICHAEL REED -Dec 14, 2005: -- Large federal grants will help prepare Flagler County to expand its public transportation services to serve a growing population... Congress recently earmarked $300,000 for Flagler County to replace aging buses used primarily by elderly Palm Coast residents... And $500,000 announced in July will help build a new public transportation headquarters that could one day house a fixed-route bus service...

Study - USA - Lynx has chance to fulfill wish list

A study offers ways for the system to get more money, such as a dedicated tax
Orlando,FL,USA -Orlando Sentinel, by Scott Powers -Dec 13, 2005: -- Lynx bus riders dream of buses that arrive frequently, run late into the night and take them where they need to go -- even on weekends... So do the people who run Lynx. But their recurring dream dissolves each year because there's no money to pull it off. Local politicians are reluctant to raise the annual allowance they give the transit agency to operate, and that's barely enough to maintain the current level of bus service... But now there's a push for Lynx to break its dependency on grants handed out by federal, state and local governments and instead finance its dreams through its own piece of the sales tax, a cut of rental-car fees or some other dedicated source of funding...

Fines - USA - Trails get protection

MCT property, schools benefit
Edwardsville, Ill, USA -Edwardsville Intelligencer, by Hilary Davidson -12 Dec 2005: -- If you have an all-terrain vehicle, a horse, a switchblade or a beer (or all of the above), and you take them on Madison County Transit property, bike trails or buses, or to public education institutions such as SIUE or School District 7, you could be fined up to $750, according to an ordinance passed by the Edwardsville City Council last week... Edwardsville City Attorney David Gerber said that the ordinance was requested by Madison County Transit in connection with the Franklin Avenue project, which has a bike trail tunneling under it...

Sales - India - Volvo buses eye 30% growth in its sales

Bangalore,India -business-standard -Dec 14, 2005: -- Volvo, buoyed by increasing orders on Tuesday said the company expects an increase of 30 per cent in bus sales. The company sold 300 units in 2004 in a market of about 600 units. It has a market share of almost 50 per cent in the air-conditioned luxury bus segment... He added that the expansion of the AC luxury bus market, building corporate brands for state transport services, increased passenger expectations and a range of conceptual changes in the product have fuelled the demand for Volvo buses...

Differences - New Zealand - Upgrade postpones trolley bus deal

Wellington,New Zealand -Newstalk ZB -13 Dec 2005: -- The Transport Minister is staying out of a row over Wellington's trolley bus fleet... The Greens want David Parker to step in and help progress negotiations for 60 new trolley buses... A deal to buy the buses has been postponed because of a dispute over a $15 million upgrade of the buses' sub-stations... Transport Minister David Parker says it is a contractual matter that needs to be sorted out between Vector, Stagecoach and the regional council...

Purchases - USA - Elk Grove Buys 10 Diesel Buses

ELK GROVE, Cal,USA -The Associated Press -Dec 12, 2005: -- The Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove used to brag that its “e-tran” mass transit was the first in the nation to use only hybrid gasoline-electric buses, making it one of the country’s cleanest systems... But the city recently bought 10 diesel buses to keep up with ridership that has nearly doubled since service began a year ago... The city paid $17.4 million for the 21 buses in its hybrid fleet. It spent $12,000 total for the 10 diesel buses, which are 14 years old...

Purchases - India - Volvo may sell 400 buses this year

Bangalore,Taramani,Chennai,India -Sify/Business Line -12 Dec , 2005: -- Volvo expects to close the year with sales of over 400 buses in India... Volvo's bus division Vice-President, Akash Passey, told Business Line that the company has bagged its first order for intra-city buses from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) for 25 buses... These buses will be launched in Bangalore to carry city commuters next month. Each of these buses cost around Rs 62 lakh...

Purchases - USA - Hybrid bus fleet on list for San Joaquin

Units could pay for themselves in 12 years through savings in diesel fuel costs
Pleasanton,CA,USA -Tri-Valley Herald, by Aaron Swarts -11 Dec 2005: -- To combat soaring fuel prices, the San Joaquin Regional Transit District is entering into a consortium with 10 other transit agencies to build 157 diesel-electric hybrid buses... At $77.9 million, the contract is one of the largest diesel-electric hybrid bus orders to date, with the partnership allowing the agencies to maximize purchasing power and reduce per-vehicle costs through volume purchasing... Transit agencies joining San Joaquin in the consortium include Benicia Transit, Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, San Mateo County Transit and the Humboldt Transit Authority, among others...

Technology - USA - Days Gone By

Duluth, MN,USA -Duluth News Tribune -Dec. 9, 2005: -- Work is being speeded on an electric battery system that would replace gasoline engines in powering some buses, trucks and cars. Battery-powered vehicles would ease the nation's air pollution problems, General Dynamics and Edison Electric Institute said in a joint statement announcing the project...

Technologies - USA - Have Hybrid Buses Turned the Corner?

Torrance, CA,usa -Metro Magazine Exchange, by Joey Campbell -12 Dec 2005: -- In the early 1990s, Toyota Motor Corp. decided that the then unappreciated concept of powering a vehicle with both a conventionally fueled mechanical engine and a battery-powered electric drive system had a role to play in passenger transportation... As the idea of hybrid-electric engines gained attention in the automotive market, the technology also slowly caught on with the transit industry. Today, an estimated 700 hybrid-electric buses are operating revenue service in the U.S. and Canada, with 400 more scheduled for delivery. Countless more agencies are giving serious consideration to these promising vehicles... Obstacles to implementation: There are some significant questions about hybrid technology. Probably the biggest concern, as indicated by the NVAC-FTA report, is the life and stability of energy storage systems... One answer to this dilemma is the emerging technology of ultracapacitors... As for training and infrastructure, hybrid vehicles require very few changes to existing practices. According to Collet, the actual new equipment training for drivers typically lasts all of five minutes. He also says the increased usage of hybrid technologies in passenger cars is helping push forward this technology in the transit industry...

Trial - India/Pakistan - Run for Amritsar-Lahore bus service

New Delhi,India -ADNKI - 9 Dec. 2005: -- The trial run for the bus service between Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan will be held on Sunday... The Indian bus will be the first to make the journey across to Pakistan, followed by a Pakistani bus which will travel to the Indian city on Tuesday... The trial was originally scheduled for October, but was postponed because of the South Asian earthquake, according to an Indian government press release...

Subsidy - Malaysia - Plan for public buses

BUTTERWORTH,Penang,Malaysia -Malaysia Star, by DERRICK VINESH -Dec 9, 2005: -- The state government has applied for a special RM120mil fund from the Federal Government to partially subsidise public bus services on Penang island... He admitted that Penang's public transport services was now in a deplorable condition and that commuters were very angry with the state government... On the Citizens for Public Transport movement that was recently set up by 21 non-governmental organisations to campaign for better public transport in Penang...

Protesters - UK - "How can we use buses if they're full?"

UK -ic Croydon -Dec 9 2005: -- PROTESTERS have taken to the streets to prove a point about a packed bus service which is not stopping to pick them up... More than 50 commuters, pupils and parents congregated at the Woodcote Grove Road bus stop in Coulsdon on Monday morning to register their wrath with Transport for London (TfL)... A spokesman for TfL said London Buses was looking into the problem to see if changes could be made to make the bus route run more efficiently for passengers...

GreenNews - USA - GM delivers hybrid power for buses added to RFTA transit fleet

Aspen Celebrates Delivery of Hybrid Buses
ASPEN, Colo,USA -The Auto Channel -9 Dec 2005: -- A fleet of seven New Flyer transit buses powered by General Motors hybrid technology will be helping to preserve the natural beauty and environment in Aspen and Roaring Fork Valley... The clean hybrid technology is manufactured by GM Allison Transmission, headquartered in Indianapolis. The buses are manufactured by New Flyer Industries, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and has two facilities in the U.S...

Sales - China - Volvo receives order for 2,000 city buses in China

Its biggest Buses ever ordered in China

Shanghai,China -Volvo WebReport -9 Dec 2005: -- Shanghai’s largest transport company, SHANGHAI BA-SHI (GROUP) INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD, has ordered 2,000 Volvo B6R buses, for delivery by summer 2007. SBICL, is Volvo’s biggest customer in China and has a fleet of 8,800 city buses in Shanghai, of which 1,450 Volvo buses... The major order is for 2,000 of the new 10.5 metre Volvo B6R citybus, all with air-conditioning. This city bus segment are currently a best-seller in China and contribute greatly to the 25,000 buses over 10 metres sold in the country...

Technology - Argentine - "Ecological" bus wich engine works with water and diesel oil

First "green" bus, with Argentine's R & D
Rosario, Santa Fé, Argentine - argcamionews.blogspot -9 Dic 2005: -- Rosario city put into operation yesterday, the first argentinean"ecological" bus... Named "Eco Colectivo - Ecological Bus" works from three unpublished innovations: a hybrid motor, that works with water and diesel oil; an extreme-ozonized cabin, allowing permanent disinfection of the same one; and "green- ecological" batteries, recoverables before to change them... The unit was made in the city of San Pedro, to about 200 kilometers at the north of Buenos Aires City, from manufacturers' owned research and development...

Riders - Greece - Buses and metro win fans

Athens,Greece -Kathimerini -8 Dec 2005: -- Four in 10 people use Athens’s public transport on a daily basis, according to a survey released yesterday, as the city’s expanding train and bus network seem to be gaining more fans... The government has said it is aiming to get one in two Athens residents using public transport for their daily commute by 2008... Transport Minister Michalis Liapis said, that from next year 25 extra ticket inspectors will be employed to catch fare dodgers and fines will rise to 100 times the price of the fare from 40 times currently...

History - UK - London Retiring Its Red Routemaster Buses

Londoners Bid Farewell to Famous Red Routemaster Buses; Last Full Day of Service After 50 Years
LONDON,UK -Associated Press, by JILL LAWLESS -Dec 8, 2005: -- After half a century, London's red Routemaster buses are rattling into retirement. Thousands of fans said farewell to the hop-on, hop-off buses Thursday, the last full day of regular service for the icon... The final Routemaster was leaving central London just after noon, bound south of the river to a bus garage in Brixton...

New: Home on the buses
Channel 4 News -8 Dec 2005: -- A London company called Double Decker Living is making good use of redundant buses: it is fitting them out as luxury camper vans to provide short-term housing for homeless people and for overnight accommodation for key workers on call, such as NHS staff... The buses, can house up to five people; they have been fitted with kitchen areas, bathrooms, solar panels to generate power and recycling bins...

Safety - USA - City To Install Satellite Tracking System In City School Buses

NY,USA -NY1 News/New York Post -8 Dec 2005: -- The Department of Education wants to keep a high-tech eye on how city school children are getting to and from school... According to the New York Post, the department wants to install a satellite tracking system on its fleet of yellow buses... For now, school buses are monitored by phone, but education officials say the new system will reduce delays and calm parents’ concerns...

Tests - India - IIT readies test for high capacity buses

New Delhi,India -Express News Service -Dec 7, 2005: -- A MONTH after five high capacity buses were introduced by the Transport Department in the Capital on two select routes, IIT Delhi’s Traffic Research & Injury Prevention Programme, will be assessing the operational feasibility of the buses... Five modern low-floor buses manufactured by TELCO were flagged off last month on two routes... This report was later submitted to the Transport Department. DTC Chairman A. Majumdar had also admitted then that there were ‘minor’ problems in the buses...

TechnoNews - USA - Google takes the bus

San Francisco, CA,USA - CNET News, by Dawn Kawamoto -Dec 8, 2005: -- Google has debuted a test version of a service that tries to map out the most direct route for public-transportation users... Google's transit trip planner, launched Wednesday, is currently limited to Portland, Ore., but may eventually launch on a global scale, according to its Web site... Although Google's transit trip planner is not integrated into its local-search feature, it provides people with information that could dovetail into its local-search efforts...

Unsafe buses -Philippine - MMDA target Public Transport

Manila, Philippines -Philippine Daily Inquirer, by By Tarra V. Quismundo -Nov, 2005: -- THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday gave bus companies a one-week ultimatum to comply with the agency’s regulations on public transport cleanliness as it vowed to crack down on poorly maintained buses... Some 2,600 tagged buses had been certified legal, and only these were allowed to ply Edsa when the scheme was implemented, hampering operations of colorum or illegal buses. “Buses will also be checked to see if tags had been removed and attached to other units,” said Santiago...

TechnoNews - USA - Buses on information superhighway

URBANA,Ind,USA -The News-Gazette, by TIM MITCHELL -Nov, 2005: -- Persons wondering when the next MTD bus is coming by their location can find real-time estimates on their personal computers and cellphones by the end of the year... It's all part of CAD/AVL (an acronym for computer aided dispatch/ automated vehicle locator), a new system using satellite technology that is being tested by bus systems in Champaign-Urbana, Rock Island and Lafayette, Ind... If the system proves to be successful here, mass transit systems in Portland, Ore.; Houston; Albany, N.Y.; St. Louis and Akron plan to adopt the technology later in 2006...

GreenNews - USA - RTD to buy hybrid buses

Tracy,CAL,USA -Tracy Press, by Nick Juliano -Nov 2005: -- By next summer, regional transportation officials will start replacing exhaust-spewing diesel buses with more environmentally friendly hybrids to ferry residents around the county... San Joaquin Regional Transit District announced Wednesday it would purchase 50 diesel-electric hybrid buses that get nearly twice the gas mileage of older models. RTD is spending $24.5 million for the buses — about $500,000 each... RTD is paying for the buses with an $18 million federal transportation grant with the rest of the cost coming from the state... Ten other transit agencies from California, Nevada and New Mexico joined with RTD to purchase a total of 157 buses at a cost of $78 million from Gillig Corp., based in Hayward. Joining with the other agencies allowed RTD to save $2.5 million, the agency said.

Safety - USA - Officers Assess Busway

LAPD officials ride the Orange Line to find ways to prevent more accidents. They suggest fewer confusing signals and more citations may be just the ticket

Los Angeles,Cal.,USA -Los Angeles Times, by Amanda Covarrubias -Dec 7, 2005: -- Two veteran LAPD traffic officers rode the Orange Line on Tuesday trying to figure out ways to make the busway safer in the wake of five accidents... They came away with seemingly contradictory conclusions... On the one hand, they were struck by how wantonly some motorists ignored the rules when driving around the San Fernando Valley busway, notably running red lights... On the other hand, they also believe the Metropolitan Transportation Authority might have gone too far with some of the warning signs and lighting at bus crossings... Valley traffic officers have found that four intersections appear to be prone to violations... The discussion of safety comes as the Orange Line continues to draw more riders. About 16,300 people ride the Orange Line each weekday, MTA officials said...

Efficiency - USA - Port Authority's poses budget dilemma

Allegheny,Pittsburgh,PEN,USA -Pittsburgh Live/Tribune Review, by Jim Ritchie -Dec 7, 2005: -- The Port Authority of Allegheny County generates more money per passenger on its buses than other transit agencies of its size, but despite efficient operations appears poised for financial trouble in late 2006 when it will face a $45 million deficit... The Port Authority has successfully cut costs and generated fares... Now, there's little the agency can do to resolve the financial crunch coming next year. The state gave $45 million to help the authority balance its current $319 million budget... Roddey said the agency might one day have to consider seeking competitive private contracts to lower costs, as other agencies have done... The concept was rejected by labor leaders during recent negotiations for bus drivers and mechanics. The three-year agreement brokered with the help of Rendell and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato did not include privatizing routes...

Story - USA - Bus driver wins award for aiding ill rider

Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA -Sun Sentinel, by David Volz -Dec 7, 2005: -- Jorge Prats was simply doing his job, driving a Broward County Transit bus, when a passenger asked for water... Pearl Berger, the ailing passenger, asked to be let off but Prats feared she would not make it home, which she said was two blocks from the stop... Prats said. "I asked her if there was anyone I could call to pick her up. I stopped the bus for a time and we finally reached her [granddaughter]. Finally the [granddaughter] arrived in her car. We waited and then I helped her cross the street"... When he returned to the bus, Prats said he apologized to the passengers for the delay... Berger, 78, was taken to the emergency room of Westside Regional Medical Center, where she stayed for several days for treatment of colitis, she said... Prats, who has been with Broward County Transit for about six months, has many years' experience as a driver. He is a veteran of New Jersey Transit, where he drove buses for many years. He also drove for Gray Line in Fort Lauderdale. And he has been a truck driver...

Test - Pakistan - 60 percent franchise bus drivers fail

LAHORE, Pakistan -Daily Times -Dec 07, 2005: -- Almost 60 percent drivers of franchised bus services including Daewoo Transport company have failed in driving tests administrator by the city’s traffic police and the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) held in Qaddafi Stadium on Tuesday... Most of the drivers were unaware of the traffic signs they were shown before the driving tests... Almost 100 drivers of various transport companies were called on the first day of the driving test campaign but only 24 participated. Of the 24 drivers, only nine passed the test. The remaining drivers have been asked to take the test again...

Dead - USA - School bus driver suffers fatal heart attack on route

BURKE, Vt.,USA -Boston.com News/AP -Dec 6, 2005: -- A school bus driver suffered a heart attack Tuesday while driving a school bus and later died... Paul Hilliard of Lyndonville was travelling on a road in Burke before 8 a.m. when he started to have chest pains and pulled over. One of the 12 elementary and middle school students on the bus used a cell phone to call 911... After help arrived, the students later evacuated from the back of the bus as they had been trained by Hilliard...

Survey - UK - School bus service 'late, dirty and plagued by yobs'

Scotland,UK -Scotsman, by KEVIN SCHOFIELD -6 Dec 2005: -- PUPILS and parents have voiced serious concerns about the standard of Scotland's school bus services... A survey by the Scottish Consumer Council (SCC) revealed that 40 per cent of pupils were concerned about unruly behaviour on buses... Two-thirds of pupils said their bus had broken down in the past year and more than half said they never wore a seatbelt... Many pupils voiced concern at the conduct of school drivers, while only a minority of buses had adult attendants to monitor the children's behaviour... Graeme Millar, the chairman of the SCC, said "One of the most depressing findings is that young people in particular expect buses that are old, sometimes dirty, frequently late and not always reliable"...

Catching - Australia - Drink-driving trap is sprung

Melbourne,Australia -Melbourne Herald Sun, by Shelley Hodgson -7 Dec 2005: -- BOOZE bus trap at city exits nabbed three times more drink-drivers than average... Operation Corral, used for the first time on Friday night, caught 53 drink-drivers.
Seven booze buses were stationed within 4km of the Melbourne CBD to catch drivers heading home to the suburbs.
In total, 3832 drivers were breath-tested, with one in every 72 nabbed... That is more than three times the year's average of one in every 217 drivers caught over .05... Police detected 85 other offences on Friday night, including eight disqualified and unlicensed drivers, and 19 unregistered vehicles... Operation Corral was supported by the Transport Accident Commission...

Restrain - India - HC stays MTC from acquiring new buses

Chennai, Madras,India -Chennai Online News -Dec 6, 2005: -- The Madras High Court has restrained the Tamil Nadu government from acquiring new buses for its city fleet without obtaining permission of the court, on a petition from a person affected by cerebral palsy... The interim order was granted by a Division Bench, on a petition from Rajiv Rajan, coordinator of a disability unit of M/s Vidyasagar, previously called Spastics Society of India... The petitioner had sought the injunction to restrain the Metropolitan Transport Corporation from acquiring new buses without first inducting into its fleet user friendly buses, till disposal of the petition...

GreenNews - USA - Cleaner diesel is in the air with Waco buses

Waco,TX,USA -Waco Tribune Herald, by J.B. Smith -Dec 05, 2005: -- Here's welcome news for anyone who has ever choked on a black cloud of bus exhaust... Bus and diesel truck emissions will get a lot cleaner next year because of new government-mandated improvements in fuel- and diesel-engine technology... Faced with new state and federal regulations, refiners are reformulating diesel to reduce pollutants such as sulfur and smog-forming nitrogen oxides... Waco Transit already is starting the switch to clean diesel, even before the blends are widely available...

Modern - India - Delhi finally gets high capacity buses

New Delhi, India -Indiacar.net -Dec 05, 2005: -- After manoeuvring through several roadblocks in the last three years, high capacity buses have finally found their place in Delhi roads. A long pending demand to ease out transportation woes in the city, the low-floor buses however, wouldn’t function on the dedicated corridors that the State Government planned to build, but on two busy routes within the existing alignment of city bus routes... The government has introduced five such buses that would ply on Route No. 620 and Route No. 42... These two routes do not require any major changes for these low-floor buses to run, owing to their width and absence of difficult turns. Moreover, the Transport Department has planned these routes as feeder services to the Delhi metro... The buses, bought from Tata Motors, would run under the State-run Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). The DTC further plans to introduce 60 such buses in the future based on commuter feedback. The fare structure for the buses has been kept similar to the ones on the regular city buses...

Products - Vietnam - Double-deck buses appear in HCM City

HCM City, Vietnam -VietNamNet -5 Dec 2005: -- First double-deck buses put into service in HCM City on December 3, attracting attention of local residents. The two buses run on the Cho Lon – HCM City Agriculture and Forestry University 28km-route... According to Phung Dang Hai, Director of HCM City Transport Cooperatives Union, investment in the buses is up to VND3.6bil ($225,000), raised from cooperative members... The new buses are 12m long, 2.5m wide, 4.18m high and have 89 seats, allowing the carriage of up to 120 passengers. They are manufactured by Transport Construction Mechanics Joint Stock Company, a member of Vietnam Automobile Industry Corporation...

Risks - New Zealand - Don't allow trolley buses to die, say Greens

New Zealand -Scoop.co.nz /Press release: Green Party -5 Dec 2005: -- It is horrifying that bickering over repairs to Wellington's ageing trolley bus infrastructure could put the whole fleet at risk, Green Party Wellington Transport Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says... An argument between lines company Vector and Stagecoach over the cost of upgrading power substations has postponed and possibly scuttled the buying of new trolley buses... "The Green Party's petition earlier this year demonstrated that Wellingtonians are right behind our trolley buses and want to see the fleet upgraded and expanded..."

Future II - USA - Magic bus rigged to control stop lights

Dade,Miami,FL,USA - The Miami Herald, by Larry Lebowitz -Dec. 05, 2005: -- Imagine a bus designed to operate like an express train, running from Aventura to downtown Miami, or from downtown to Florida's Turnpike on Flagler Street... The buses would travel in the same lanes as everyone else, but equipped with a bit of technological magic to speed the journey: the ability to extend a green light a tad longer, or even trigger a red light to turn green faster... A recent study conducted for the Metropolitan Planning Organization makes a compelling argument for Miami-Dade to consider developing a pilot program for rapid buses on Biscayne Boulevard and Flagler Street...

Bellyache - USA - Bean-based biodiesel gives it to buses

Aspen,CO,USA -Aspen Times, by Chad Abraham -Dec 4, 2005: -- As nutritional as they are, beans can also be the source of occasional discomfort... While beans in humans can lead to gas, beans in the gas of local buses has led to engine indigestion. Like someone who has had one pinto too many, some buses in Aspen that run on soybean-based biodiesel started having trouble about three weeks ago... After a bus repeatedly failed to start, mechanics unveiled the problem: a green, algae-like substance clogging up the fuel tank. The tank, like the rest of the other buses in the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority fleet, holds diesel fuel and a 5 percent mixture of biodiesel fuel... No passengers were inconvenienced, and the problem has already been remedied by the fuel supplier, Agland, a farmer-owned cooperative based near Greeley. The work cost Agland $6,000...

Changes - USA - Successful cities adapt

Changes ahead for streets and buses - Downtown Minneapolis is moving toward 24-hour model
Minneapolis, St. Paul, MINN, USA - Star Tribune: Editorial - Dec 2, 2005: -- When automobiles gave rise to suburban living and shopping, Minneapolis responded by pulling up streetcar tracks, building skyways, clearing huge expanses for parking lots and turning downtown streets into wide, one-way commuter funnels for rush-hour traffic... Now, 50 years later, that model is obsolete... Central Minneapolis is becoming a 24-hour city -- not just a zone for commuters to "borrow" on workdays but a multilayered community for jobs, housing, shopping and entertaining... A new urbanized transportation scheme is required... Despite those difficulties, the city would be unwise to ignore the market trends that are reshaping its central districts. We offer three initial suggestions. Major destinations (museums, stadiums, theaters, etc.) should be factored in. The beauty and quality of public spaces should be emphasized. And, the advantages of walking and street-greening should be taken into account.

Promotion - USA - PSTA will adapt to attract more bicycle riders to buses

St. Petersburg, FL,USA -St. Petersburg Times, by By JON WILSON -Dec 4, 2005: -- Starting next spring, the county bus agency will do away with the $2 permit required to let riders load their bicycles on bus fronts... The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority board also voted Wednesday to install bicycle racks at 12 bus stops in St. Petersburg, matching the city government's plan to put in the same number... The moves represent a further step toward encouraging use of alternate forms of transportation, officials said...

Underpasses - Philipines - Service roads off limits to provincial buses

Manila,Philippines -The Philippine Daily Inquirer, by Tarra V. Quismundo -Dec 03, 2005: -- PROVINCIAL buses will soon be required to use underpasses and flyovers along Edsa to ease traffic on the major thoroughfare by bypassing its crammed service roads... Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Traffic Operations Center Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios said yesterday provincial bus companies would soon be told to refrain from using both southbound and northbound service roads on Edsa...

Prospects - USA - CityBus to buy 5 new buses in '06

Lafayette, IN, USA -Journal and Courier, by Dan Shaw -3 Dec 2005: -- Revenue for CityBus will increase next year and representatives of the local service plan to use the money to bid on from five to seven full-sized buses, among other things... CityBus plans to spend its increased revenue for 2006 on a variety of capital expenditures. They include: Purchasing two full-sized buses for $610,823. Using federal money from other sources, the service plans to replace at least another three of its older buses... Officials of CityBus announced in February that the number of riders on its buses was 4.26 million in 2004, more than double the 1.7 million who rode in 1998...

Hi-tech signs - UK - No more waiting in vain for the bus

Cambridge,England,UK -Cambridge Evening News -3 Dec 2005: -- NOT knowing when your next bus is coming can be frustrating but it could soon be a thing of the past... A new initiative to bring up-to-the-minute "real time" bus information is due to be launched in Cambridges hire in the new year... Signs will display the length of time passengers will have to wait before the next bus and enable them to plan their journeys... The equipment will be tested in Cambridge in December and start for real in January 2006... London Transport already uses the system and Cambridgeshire County Council, which is implementing the scheme, hopes it will improve public transport choices in our region...

Free condoms - UK - New plans to issue on night buses

Glasgow,Scotland,UK -Glasgow Evening Times, by Caroline Wilson -2 Dec 2005: -- FREE condoms could be handed out on night buses in Glasgow to help drive home the safe-sex message... The plan comes just days after the Evening Times revealed how cabbies in the city have given their backing to a free contraception scheme... American firm Trojan Condoms is in talks with Glasgow Taxis to introduce the project before Christmas following a successful pilot in Brighton where 60,000 condoms were given out to passengers... Now the company is hoping to extend the service to weekend night bus services in the city...

Non Tribute - USA - Houston METRO buses don't join in national tribute to Rosa Parks

Buses in many cities leave empty seat

Houston,TX,USA -abc13/KTRK, by Tom Abrahams -Dec 1, 2005: -- Fifty years ago a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. It was an action that many consider to be the launching point for the civil rights movement... Transit authorities all over the country honored Parks on Thursday in various ways. In Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and Corpus Christi, they left an open seat on their buses... But Houston METRO did nothing on Thursday...

Emergency - USA - Buses to Use Special Lane

SAN DIEGO, CA,USA - San Diego Headline News -Dec 1, 2005: -- City buses will begin driving on the shoulder to avoid traffic... A one year test program will look into the benefits of utilizing the shoulder in this manor... MTS route 960 will be the test. The test area will be between I-805 and Nobel Drive to the area of SR-52 and Kearny Villa Road during rush hour traffic...

Safety - Usa - School buses safer than regular vehicles

Hawaii, USA - KHON 2, by Linda Coble -Dec 1, 2005: -- Police have wrapped up their investigation into a crash involving a school bus and a truck in Kaimuki, but aren't releasing their findings... There are different accounts of what happened.
Students said their bus driver was on a call when she ran a red light... But the president of the school bus company says dispatch and phone logs show his driver was not using a two-way or cell phone around the time of the accident... Federal statistics show school buses are seven times safer than regular passenger vehicles. Accidents happen, and the government makes sure school bus drivers are thoroughly screened and trained... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has determined there's no safer form of public transportation than school buses. Last year, nationwide, eight school bus fatalities were recorded, none here...

State Owning - USA - City Inks Takeover Of Four Remaining Private Lines

Brand-New Buses Will Roll
NY,USA -Queens Chronicle, by Ron Brownlow -Dec 01, 2005: -- Commuters using the borough’s remaining private bus lines will soon be riding brand-new MTA buses... After two years of negotiations, the city and the Transit Alliance announced an agreement Wednesday for the MTA to absorb the Command, Green, Jamaica and Triboro bus companies... The city’s absorption of Queens’ remaining private bus lines should free more than 100 new buses the MTA has sitting in College Point and the Bronx... The move is expected to free 125 new buses that were purchased by the city a year ago but have been locked up in depots in College Point and the Bronx while the two sides negotiated, leaving more than 100,000 local commuters to ride buses that are on average twice as old as MTA buses...

Tribute - USA - Buses across the U.S. reserve a seat for history

Miami,FL,USA -The Miami Herald, by TODD WRIGHT & THERESA BRADLEY -Dec. 02, 2005: -- People across the nation on Thursday celebrated the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, which gave birth to the civil-rights movement...

Expansion - USA - MTA to Expand Rapid-Bus Service

A mediator approves the agency's plan to more than double the number of routes to 29 by 2008
Los Angeles,Cal, USA -Los Angeles Times, by Caitlin Liu -Dec 1, 2005: -- The number of rapid-bus lines in Los Angeles County will more than double over the next three years, making it easier for commuters to rely on public transportation to move quickly around the region... On Wednesday, a court-appointed mediator endorsed a Metropolitan Transportation Authority plan to meet demands for better bus service by expanding its rapid-bus program from 14 to 29 routes by 2008... He also ordered the MTA to boost some Metro Rapid service, so that buses run at least every 10 minutes during rush hours and 20 minutes during other times, for a year... Most of the buses already do, the MTA said...

Marketing - USA - Bringing Hispanics On Board

New Design and Coupon Aim to Encourage Use of Fairfax Connector

Fairfax County,Washington DC,USA - Washington Post, by Maria Glod -Dec 1, 2005: -- Fairfax County's public bus service has launched an advertising campaign geared to Hispanic riders, sending coupons written in Spanish for a free ride to 25,000 households and distributing written information at churches, stores and community centers... The promotional campaign, along with a new yellow and reddish-orange logo and bus design, comes as the Fairfax Connector, which will carry about 8.5 million riders this year, is celebrating its 20th anniversary...

Hybrid - USA - New buses with modern engine powers

MONROE,Toledo,OH,USA -Toledo Blade, by LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE -Dec 1, 2005: -- From the curb, riders in Monroe probably won't be able to tell the difference when Lake Erie Transit rolls out its newest mode of transportation next year... To the naked eye, the bus will look no different from any other in their fleet. But the engine compartment will be a different story altogether... Hybrid busses use diesel engines in combination with electric motors to capture and use energy that would otherwise be wasted by braking. Using the hybrid engines can result in diesel fuel savings of up to 40 percent per bus, no small sum when the cost of diesel fuel remains at near record levels, even for public agencies that are exempted from paying fuel taxes... Right now, however, the hybrid versions of LET's 30-foot Opus busses cost about $100,000 more to buy than their traditional diesel counterparts' $270,000 pricetag, according to the manufacturer's Web site...

Prospects - India - 200 more high capacity buses to ply on Delhi roads

NEW DELHI,India -Financial Express, by RAJAT GUHA -NOV 2005: -- The Delhi government is all set to augment the existing fleet of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses by inviting bids for 200 more high capacity buses in the first week of January, 2006... Unlike the existing 6 HCBs running on the Delhi roads, these buses will have more power and will sport attractive colours... This time round the government is expecting good competition in the bidding process. Tata Motors, Volvo, and Ashok Leyland have evinced interest in securing tenders... Ten new routes and six new corridors have been identified for introduction of high capacity buses in the capital and some of the new buses will be introduced on Ring Road...

Want less traffic? - USA - Take the bus

Hampton Roads,Virg,USA -Daily Press, by Wil LaVeist -Nov 30 2005: -- Based on e-mails and phone calls, many of you agree that the Hampton Roads car culture is a big roadblock to solving our transportation problems. Mass transit, starting with better bus service, would be the quickest route, but - you know - buses are for poor people... Bus riders who know better have it tough because Hampton Roads Transit is, well, poor. It's poor because the financial commitment to make it better is lacking. The commitment is lacking because the perception is - you know - buses are for poor people... Susan Harris of Williamsburg supports mass transit and challenged me to promote its benefits instead of criticizing the snobs. Harris fled Atlanta because of the traffic and sprawl...

Instead - USA - More riders use CATA in '05

East Lansing, MI,USA -The State News, by FREDRICKA PAUL -Nov 2005: -- With winter well on its way, more people have been turning to Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, buses instead of their cars, bikes and feet... Officials recently reported that record numbers of people are using the system, which includes numerous buses on and off campus, as well as other special services. More than 9 million rides were taken on buses last year, which is the highest in CATA history... CATA did not do anything new to increase ridership, Sandy Draggoo, CATA executive director, said... As far as the weather is concerned, CATA does what it can to keep people from having to stand out in the cold...

Story: Paratransit - USA - His driving force

As a driver for Columbia Paratransit, Robert Hamilton has become a friend to his passengers and touches their lives with each stop he makes
Miss,USA - The Missourian News, by Erika Kelsey -Nov, 2005: -- Robert Hamilton focuses on the road as he talks. In the rearview mirror, his eyes peer back, soft and brown; his hair is now considerably more salt than pepper... The fresh interior of Columbia Paratransit bus No. 1938 smells like new shoes: clean, untrodden rubber flooring and leather-like seats. Hamilton’s strong, tan arm maneuvers the giant steering wheel five days a week... Lynn says the paratransit service is “not a profit deal at all.” The federal government subsidizes the program, he says. "No way could we make money. We’d have to charge a whole lot more than a dollar a ride"... Columbia ParatransitServices: Curb-to-curb service within three-quarters of a mile of regular Columbia bus routes.Who can ride? Those whose disability prevents them from using regular bus services as well as personal care attendants and companions when space is available...

Hybrids - USA - S.J. County contracts for 50 diesel-electric hybrid buses

San Joaquin County, Stockton, CA,USA -The Record Newspaper, by ERIN SHERBERT -Nov 2005: -- San Joaquin County will have cleaner and more environmentally friendly buses when the San Joaquin Regional Transit District rolls out new diesel-electric hybrid buses next year... The district board recently awarded a contract to buy 50 new hybrids to replace the oldest and dirtiest buses in the fleet... Paul Rapp, a spokesman for the district, said the district already has three hybrid buses and plans to eventually replace all 131 of its buses with hybrids... Diesel-electric buses are designed to save fuel and lower emissions by as much as 90 percent... Though the hybrids are more expensive than diesel buses, the fuel savings make up that difference, he added...

Deadly crash - USA - Bus crash probers say fatigue a major factor

Investigators find no evidence of mechanical trouble

Santa Barbara County, S.Francisco,CAL,USA -San Francisco Chronicle, by Michael Cabanatuan -Nov 2005: -- Investigators probing the deadly crash of a San Francisco-bound Greyhound bus in Santa Barbara County said that they are focusing on the theory that the driver fell asleep at the wheel and veered off the road... A preliminary investigation of the wreckage found no obvious mechanical troubles with the bus, according to the California Highway Patrol, and weather, road and traffic conditions were good when the bus crashed about 7 a.m. The driver, Samuel Henry Bishop, 63, did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol... Federal regulations intended to prevent fatigue limit drivers to 10-hour shifts behind the wheel, Greyhound spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee said Greyhound's rules cut that to 9 1/2 hours...

New Units? - Thailand - Orders improvement of city's buses

BANGKOK, Thailand -Bangkok Post/TNA -Nov 2005: -- Prime Minister ordered authorities concerned to improve conditions, safety and services of Bangkok's public buses... Mr. Suriya, who is also Industry Minister, oversees the Ministry of Transport: "The prime minister suggested that conditions and safety of many BMTA buses need improvement, while their engines should be converted to be national gas for vehicles (NGV)-based, rather than diesel-based,"... Mr. Thaksin also reportedly suggested procurements of new buses, particularly the air-conditioned ones... According to official figures, about 70 per cent of the city's public buses have passed an overall engine check-up provided by the Ministry of Transport recently...

GreenNews II - China - DaimlerChrysler Delivers Fuel-Cell Buses to Beijing

Peking,China -DaimlerChrysler WebReport (Stuttgart,Germ) -Nov, 2005: -- DaimlerChrysler delivered three hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell buses to the City of Beijing today, at the opening of the 4th International Clean Vehicle Technology Conference and Exhibition... These buses are part of a fleet of 36 buses DaimlerChrysler now has in operation in Europe, Australia and Asia in order to gain real world experience in day-to-day operation in its pursuit of viable emission-free mobility solutions. In October 2005, the fuel-cell buses passed the one million kilometer mark, a performance that, by far surpasses all previous trials of fuel-cell buses, having clocked up a total of 70,000 operating hours... Fuel cells are currently the only technology that can achieve real zero emission in vehicles. Fuel cells release energy from the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen. The hydrogen-powered fuel cells emit only pure water vapor...

Buses World News

24.12.05