Buses World News: June 2006

Competition - New Zealand - Court kills off Mana bus deal

Wellington,New Zealand -Stuff.co.nz, by ROELAND VAN DEN BERGH -30 June 2006: -- Competition for Wellington bus services could be in for a shake-up after the city's biggest operator, New Zealand Bus, was prevented from taking over Mana Coaches... The High Court at Wellington found yesterday that New Zealand Bus, which owns the Stagecoach brand in New Zealand, would control 97 per cent of the bus market by value if it was allowed to buy the remaining 74 per cent of Mana it did not already own... Justice Forrie Miller found the acquisition would substantially lessen competition for subsidised bus services contracts let by the Greater Wellington regional council and the Transport Ministry in the region...

Rules - China - Police intensify efforts to dismantle vehicles

China requires that each vehicle is disposed of after a certain number of years

Shanghai,China -Shanghai Daily, by Dong Zhen -30 June 2006: -- More than 1,000 vehicles were sent to a local automobile dismantling factory yesterday for destruction as traffic police cracked down on vehicles that were beyond their legal disposal date... Police were also intensifying their efforts to remove and destroy illegal cars made from old car parts... China requires that each vehicle is disposed of after a certain number of years. Sedans, for example, need to be destroyed when they become 15 years old. China also bans cobbling cars together using collections of old parts, to build so-called black vehicles, which refers to motorbikes and four-wheelers that were produced with old or disposed car parts such as engines... Traffic police sent more than 9,200 vehicles for destruction since May 20... They said most of these illegal vehicles were brought by locals at low prices from out of the city... Such troubled vehicles were operated more commonly in the city's outskirts, engaging in cargo transport or underground taxi service, police said, and add: these vehicles are involved in deadly road mishaps every year, often because of their poor condition...

Purchase Prognosis - Sri Lanka - W. Province remove private buses with less than 30 seats

Colombo,Sri Lanka -Colombo Page -June 28, 2006: -- Sri Lanka's Western Province Passenger Transport Authority has decided to remove all private buses with less than 30 seats from public transport by the end of this year... There were 982 such mini buses plying on the roads of the Western Province but only 205 of them have yet been removed from passenger transport. Therefore the Authority has decided to extend the deadline until December 31... All private buses need to have more than 32 seats by next year. The removed buses will be utilised to start new bus services on rural roads where services are not currently available...

Gas prices - USA - Have commuters parking cars and boarding buses

Gas prices are so high some commuters in West Michigan are parking their vehicles and taking the bus

Grand Rapids,MI,USA -WZZM13 News Coverage, by Phil Dawson -28 June 2006: -- The RAPID transit system in Grand Rapids is on a pace to add a million riders this year... For $35.00 a month a passenger can buy an unlimited bus pass on the RAPID... $35.00 won't even fill the gas tank on most vehicles. Many commuters have done the math and are letting the bus take them where they want to go... (Photo:RAPID Bus Passengers)

Purchases - Angola - Macon updates fleet with Chinese and Brazilian buses

Luanda, Angola -Angolan news agency Angpop/Macauhub (Macau,China) -28 June 2006: -- Angolan private public transport company Macon will begin renewing its fleet of buses in August using Brazilian and Chinese buses, the company’s operations manager, Willian Aparecido Silva told... The new buses, 15 Volkswagens and 53 Kinglong brand buses from China, are part of an investment by the company of around US$2 million. Aparecido Silva said that the new vehicles would cover a lack of buses felt by the company and the market, as of the 122 vehicles in Macon’s fleet only 94 are currently in use...

Disbeliefing - Ireland - Forde accuses PDs of vetoing Dublin Bus expansion

Dublin,Ireland -SINN FÉIN/noticias.info ( Spain) -27 June 206: -- Dublin City Councillor, Killian Forde, has reacted with disbelief over weekend reports that the provision of desperately needed extra buses for the Dublin Bus Fleet was to be delayed further... He accused the PDs of operating a veto at the cabinet table, preventing the expansion of Dublin Bus, something which is having a detrimental impact on northside commuters...

Safety - UK - Police take to buses to tackle rowdies

Lancashire,UK -The Lancashire Evening Telegraph -27 June 2006: -- TRANSPORT company Burnley and Pendle Travel Ltd has asked undercover cops on to its buses as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour... The scheme is part of the police's Operation Summer Nights initiative...

Emergency - USA - Pace buses to control U.S. 30 traffic lights

Joliet,IL,USA -The Joliet Herald News, By Bob Okon -27 June 2006: -- Pace buses would be able to control traffic signals on U.S. 30 just like fire engines and ambulances do with the help of $480,000 in federal funding... Bus drivers would be able to extend green lights or shorten red lights in order to stay on schedule... Similar technology now is used by fire departments in Joliet and other communities. Motorists see a white light flashing on top of the traffic signal, indicating that an emergency vehicle is on its way to the intersection...

Safety on the buses - At USA style

Florida,USA -The Manchester Evening News (Manchester,England,UK), by Sarah Walters 27, June 2006: -- Florida students in the US are enjoying safer journeys to school, thanks to a Warrington-based company... A hundred yellow school buses in the state capital, Tallahassee, are being installed with mobile digital recording system, TransVu, and 100 more systems are to be installed shortly... The cameras, installed by CCTV specialist AD Group, record images of any incidents and automatically send them back to the central bus depot... (Photo: Charles Pendleton, head of bus maintenance)

Upscale - USA - OCTA buses to debut

Orange County,CA,USA -The Orange County Register, by JIM RACLIFFE -June 27, 2006: -- OC Express, a limited-run bus line meant to serve long-range business commuters, will kick off Monday with high-end coaches offering electrical outlets for commuters, lap trays and reclining chairs... The service, subsidized by the Orange County Transportation Authority, will begin with two routes: Pomona to the Santa Ana Transit Terminal and Chino to Irvine... The new buses are smaller than standard OCTA buses, seating 26 riders instead of 38...

Public Warned - Australia - Major change to bus routes

Adelaide ,Australia -Advertiser Adelaide, by MICHAEL OWEN -30 Jun 2006: -- Sweeping changes to Adelaide bus routes will be made within months... A draft plan of the changes obtained, shows dozens of routes will be discontinued, some replaced and others significantly modified... Torrens Transit runs 75 per cent of Adelaide bus routes... In the draft plan, more than 30 of the company's 150 routes have been targeted to be "discontinued" or "cancelled"... The managing director of Torrens Transit, Neil Smith, predicted some of the changes would be controversial and cause disruption to commuters...

Purchases - India - Government gears up to replace ageing fleet

Tamil Nadu will get 2,000 new buses, says Transport Minister

Tamil Nadu,Chennai,India -The Hindu, by Sandhya Soman -27 June 2006: -- 300 new buses to replace old MTC buses -- Authorities yet to decide the type of buses to buy -- The State Government is going full throttle to replace old buses in transport corporations... The Minister said that Tamil Nadu would get 2,000 new buses, of which 300 would replace Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses that have long outrun their eight-year life span... MTC, which received 90 buses in the financial year 2005-06, has nearly 800 vehicles over eight to 12 years old in its 2,773-strong-fleet... (Photo, by K.V. SRINIVASAN - RISKY BUSINESS: Inadequate and unreliable MTC services force people to resort to such risky travel behaviour to commute to places of work and study)

BUSES' PURCHASE WORLDWIDE

* SINGAPORE - Wheelchair-friendly buses to debut on the roads
SINGAPORE -Channel NewsAsia, by Noor Mohd Aziz -26 June 2006: - The Singapore Bus Service will begin its wheelchair-accessible bus service on Tuesday... Ten wheelchair-friendly buses will be hitting the roads; they will be the first of more than 3,500 the bus company is acquiring over the next 17 years...

* Malaysia - RapidKL plans to buy 400 buses by year-end
RANGKAIAN,Malaysia -Business Times, by Zaidi Isham Ismail -June 27 2007: -- Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RapidKL) plans to spend at least RM200 million to buy about 400 new buses by year-end... RapidKL chief operating officer - bus operations, Mohd Ali Mohd Nor said by then, the bus operator will own a fleet of almost 1,000 old and new buses plying more than 100 routes in the Klang Valley, spanning an area of 400 sq km...

Replace - Australia - Bus plan prompts fears for Australind

Australia -ABC Regional Online -June 26, 2006: -- There are fears a Western Australian Government proposal to replace half of Bunbury's train services to Perth with buses could mean the end of the south-west's passenger train, the Australind... The Planning Minister, Alannah MacTiernan, announced a proposal last week to replace the Australind's morning run to Perth with a bus service to Mandurah... "The plan is open for public comment"...

Enforcing - UK - Transport chiefs call time on bus lane bandits

Greater Manchester,UK -GMPTE -26 June 2006: -- Members of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority today unanimously backed Manchester City Council's move to enforce bus lanes and encouraged other Greater Manchester districts to follow suit... At the Authority's Annual General Meeting, members heard that surveys show that up to 70% of vehicles using Manchester's bus lanes are doing so illegally... In October, Manchester City Council will become the first council outside the capital to start using CCTV to enforce use of bus lanes...

TechnoNews - USA - UTA adopts GPS to help buses run on time

On-time push: The agency hopes using GPS tracking will help cut passengers' waiting time

LAYTON,OH,USA -Salt Lake Tribune/AP -25 June 206: -- The Utah Transit Authority is hoping the Global Positioning System will help reduce wait times on some of the state's busiest bus routes... The GEOTX Bus Stop Relocation Project, consisting of handheld GPS units and infrared passenger-counters, is designed to enable UTA to select where its bus stops are most needed and how to get buses there more quickly... The route from Salt Lake City to Ogden has more than 400 stops and has seen its on-time performance increase dramatically because of the project, said Bruce Hone, manager of performance information for UTA...

Bikes on Buses - USA - Rack N’ Roll

Local transit routes connect to many bike trails

Santa Clarita,CA,USA -KHTS Radio -25 June 2006: -- The City of Santa Clarita is excited to provide additional travel opportunities to its avid bicycle commuters and our recreational cyclists. In keeping with the City’s Healthy City initiative, beginning July 1st, all Santa Clarita Transit local buses will activate their bicycle racks... Passengers need to inform the driver of their intent to board their bike so that the bus will be in park to allow no movement of the bus. Upon boarding, bicycle passengers will receive a “Bicycle Retrieval Card” as a reminder to take their bike when they leave the bus...

Transport System - South Korea - Seoul’s Model for Others

Seoul,South Korea -Korea Times, by Kim Tong-hyung -25 June 2006: -- Newsis Seoul’s transit system is well-accepted by the general public, but administrators must find ways to improve the coordination between transport modes and improve traffic flow, said a senior official of the world’s largest transport industry body... However, Hans Rat, secretary general of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), pointed out that Seoul must improve coordination between public transport modes, mostly between bus and subway networks, and car traffic, while also working to expand services to cover suburban needs... Reducing traffic congestion in the downtown areas is also a challenge for Seoul, said Rat, who believes that the city could follow the model of London, which introduced congestion charges for cars entering the center part of the city, resulting in a significant decrease in car traffic... "With higher oil prices and other economic situations, citizens must be ready to carry a larger financial burden than in the past in supporting their cities’ mass transit systems," he said...

Controls - India - DTC to install tamper-proof speed-control devices in buses

New Delhi,India -Cities Express News Service -24 June 2006: -- In a move to check tampering of speed governors in buses and overspeeding by its drivers, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is planning to fit tamper-proof devices in all its buses... The buses were fitted with speed governors five years ago, but the bus drivers tampered with them easily, say DTC officials... On Friday, Anshu Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, DTC, held a meeting with suppliers of speed governors and asked them to check the devices in all buses and make the non-functional ones functional...

TechnoNews - USA - Buses to get Wi-Fi

Free Internet service

WEST COVINA,CA,USA -Whittier Daily News (Whittier,CA), by Sang Lee -24 June 2006: -- Foothill Transit bus riders will soon be traveling at speeds of up to 600kilobits per second... On Monday, the agency will install Wi-Fi Internet access for customers on six of its Line 699 buses that go from Montclair to Downtown Los Angeles... The officials further evaluate the effectiveness of wireless usage on its buses... If successful, Wi-Fi could be installed on other high traffic routes for an hourly or monthly charge. The exact charges for the service have yet to be determined by the agency and its contractor, Parsons Corp... (Photo courtesy of Foothill Transit - TRAVELING HOTSPOT: Foothill Transit riders will get free Wi-Fi Internet access on six Line 699 buses starting Monday in a 60-day trial run)

Sold - UK - Australians snap up London buses

One of London's biggest bus operators has fallen into the hands of an Australian bank

UK -The Evening Standard, by James Rossiter/This is Money -23 June 2006: -- Stagecoach has sold its London Bus operations for £263.6m in cash to Macquarie Bank, handing it around 1,300 buses and 4,300 staff... The division's current boss Nigel Barrett will become the new managing director under the Australian owners... The sale needs final approval from Transport for London before it can go ahead...

High-capacity buses - India - No special roads, but green signal for

200 buses will be released in next six months, will ply on existing roads in city

New Delhi,India -Delhi Newsline, by Shilpa Venkataraman -23 June 2006: -- Work has not even begun on the dedicated corridors for the ambitious High Capacity Bus System (HCBS), but the specially designed low-floor buses are set to hit Delhi roads soon... In fact, six such buses have been operating in the city since November last year. However, since they can only run on wide and levelled roads, they have been restricted to one route... ‘‘We will not wait for the corridors to be constructed. In the next six months, another 200 buses will be released. They will ply on the existing roads,’’ said Anshu Prakash, chairman and managing director of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)...

Report - Canada - Cameras urged to spot stuck buses

Hi-tech solution will help traffic flow

Ontario, Canada -Ottawa Sun, by DEREK PUDDICOMBE -22 June 2006: -- City staff want council to buy several hi-tech cameras to help avoid the chaos that ensued last year after several buses got stuck in the snow and snarled traffic... At least eight articulated buses became stuck at the intersection of Eddy St. and Tache Blvd. during the Dec. 16 storm... The report recommends the city spend $800,000 on about 20 cameras... It suggests the cameras would "improve operational knowledge" for supervisors in a control centre, allowing them to better manage traffic if buses become stuck...

Alternatives - Malaysia - Nadicorp Plans To Use CNG For Its Town Buses

KUALA LUMPUR,Malaysia -Bernama -June 22, 2006: -- Nadicorp Holdings Sdn Bhd, the company which manages Park May Bhd, plans to replace in stages all its town buses with the compressed natural gas (CNG) engine technology, starting next month... Nadicorp's executive chairman, Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, said for a start, 10 units of its town buses would be equipped with the CNG engine technology...

Futuristic - UK - New buses could be running along Clyde

Through the North bank by the end of this year

Glasgow,Scotland,UK -Glasgow Evening Times -21 June 2006: -- Glasgow City Council has drawn up plans for a multi-million pound scheme which will result in super buses running in special lanes from Central Station to the new Glasgow Harbour development - and even beyond... (Picture) An artist's impression of the new Clyde Fastlink superbuses which will run from Central Station to the SECC along the Broomielaw...

Premiere - USA - 10 new CTA buses take to streets

Chicago,IL, USA -ABC7Chicago.com -June 21, 2006: -- The CTA shows off the newest addition to its fleet. Ten new buses will soon start rolling through Chicago... The buses are shorter than the current ones. They feature wider seats and low- emission engines... A total of 45 new buses will be in service later this summer... The CTA hopes these buses will be more cost effective...

GreenNews - Malaysia - The first fleet of environment-friendly buses is on the road

PUTRAJAYA,Malaysia -New Straits Times (Persekutuan,MAL) -22 June 2006: -- Putrajaya received five new Natural Gas Vehicle buses, in a move aimed to introduce safe and clean public transportation... The five buses from Eco Coach and Tours Sdn Bhd can run up to 450km per day without refuelling... Federal Territories Minister Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique said, by year-end, 55 buses would be plying various routes, as 3,300 passengers use public transport in the administrative capital...

'Unsustainable' - UK - City bus cutbacks

Fifty services will be reduced or cut in Glasgow next month

Glasgow,Scotland,UK -BBC Scotland, by Mona McAlinden -21 June 2006: -- First Buses has come under fire from transport bosses over the company's cuts to services in Glasgow... First announced that 50 bus routes in and around the city would being reduced or cut altogether from 2 July... Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which runs transport services in the area, said the cuts were unsustainable and would mostly hit deprived areas...

Hybrid Technology -USA - Binghamton transit to become "living laboratory" for

BINGHAMTON, N.Y.,USA -WCAX (Burlington,VT) -20 June 2006: -- The Binghamton-area transit system is to be used to develop the next generation of hybrid bus technology.... Congressman Maurice Hinchey says he's now secured a total of three (m) million dollars for the hybrid bus project... The technology for the buses has been developed by B-A-E Systems in Johnson City, just west of Binghamton. The vehicles are manufactured by Orion Bus Industries in the Utica area... Hinchey says Broome County Transit will use the federal funding to provide what he calls a "living laboratory" to refine and improve hybrid bus equipment...

Security - Canada - Cameras on Buses for Safety of Drivers

Guelph,ON,Canada -Guelph Tribune, by Doug Hallett -Jun 20, 2006: -- The city plans to install surveillance cameras in its transit buses by September to deter assaults on bus drivers... As well, global positioning technology to track the location of all Guelph Transit vehicles, which will be accompanied by driver-activated silent alarms, could be up and running by late July... These silent alarms, activated by drivers in emergencies, send a signal to a supervisor on duty. A microphone goes on that allows the supervisor to hear what's going on in the bus and, if necessary, call police or other emergency services...

Economy moving - USA - Midlands must find cash to keep buses

Columbia,SC,USA -The State -June 20, 2006: -- That the Midlands is even considering essentially shutting down its public bus system for lack of funding... When the system was transferred from SCANA into public hands in 2002, we all knew the trust fund the utility set up to help operate it would run out in a few years. And since transportation systems don’t make money (any more than public roads do), we also knew ours would have to be subsidized. Elected officials and leaders should have gone to work immediately to devise a way to pay for it long-term...

GreenNews - China - Hydrogen-powered buses debut in

Beijing,China -Xinhua -June 21, 2006: -- Three hydrogen-powered buses appeared in streets of Beijing on Tuesday, bringing emission-free public transport to China for the first time... The transport sector, which relies almost entirely on oil, is projected to account for most of China's new demand for oil over the next 20 years. It is predicted that by 2010, the amount of emissions from big cities will represent 64 percent of total emissions from all cities in China...

Statistics - Australia - Petrol costs put more on the bus

Adelaide,South Australia,Australia -Advertiser Adelaide, by SCOTT MURDOCH -21 June 2006: -- Australians are catching the bus and leaving their car at home to avoid the punishing petrol pump... Australians last year spent $12.32 billion filling their car... The previously unpublished statistics from the ABS reveal public transport has become increasingly popular since March last year...

Transport-rich or poor ? - Malta - Freeing up the buses

Should public transport be liberalised?

San Gwann,Malta -Malta Today -19 June 2006: -- Public transport is an essential service if we are aiming for a sustainable society... From a social point of view, public transport is a social service which is supposed to increase accessibility so that people can travel from one place to another to meet their various needs... Here one need only think of the various needs of people such as the elderly, physically impaired, non-drivers, workers, youth and people with low income. In a situation of inaccessible public transport, which is the case in various instances in Malta and Gozo, one can speak in terms of people being transport-rich or transport-poor...

Security - USA - Canadian firm has eye on Port Authority buses

Pittsburgh,PA, U.S.A -Pittsburgh Business Times -19 June 2006: -- A Canadian video surveillance firm will put cameras on new Port Authority of Allegheny County buses, the transit agency said... March Networks, of Ottawa, will supply cameras for 90 buses manufactured by the Gillig Corp. of San Francisco, to be delivered next month to the Port Authority, which handles mass transit for the Pittsburgh area...

Arrives - Mozambique - Chinese buses to boost public transport

Maputo, Mozambique -Macauhub (Macau,China) -19 June 2006: -- Thirty-five Chinese-built buses arrived in Maputo port, Mozambique to boost the public transport fleets of seven main Mozambican cities... The buses are of the Yutong brand, produced by the Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co. Ltd located in Henan, and were imported into Mozambique by Técnica Industrial, of Mozambican group João Ferreira dos Santos... The company, Shanghai Comercial, which has already made its third order of Chinese trucks, produced in Hefei by the Anhui Jianghuai Autombile Co., Ltd, has announced it will also import mini-buses and tourist buses from China...

Entrances - USA - Large buses will stop at cul-de-sac

Pittsburgh,PA,USA -Pittsburgh Post Gazette, by Sandy Trozzo -June 18, 2006: -- Mars Area students who live on cul-de-sacs might want to make sure they have a good pair of walking shoes next year... The school board voted to support a request by the bus contractors to not enter small cul-de-sacs. The vote was 8-0 with Gordon Marburger, a driver for one of the bus contractors, absent... The number of developments with cul-de-sacs has grown over the past few years, and the streets are causing problems for full-size buses...

GreeNews - USA - State aims to reduce ozone by making public buses free today

East Providence,RI,USA -Eyewitness News/AP -18 June 2006: -- People can ride the state's bus system for free today... The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is letting people ride free of charge-except on special services routes... That's because the state wants to encourage people to reduce air pollution by limiting their driving and use of lawn mowers and other small engines...

Jacob's Law - USA - Children must ride in buses, not 15-passenger vans

Spartanburg,SC,USA -Spartanburg Herald Journal (subscription), by AMANDA RIDLEY -June 18, 2006: -- Kim Duncan has less than two weeks to buy two new school buses for her Inman child care center... South Carolina's Jacob's Law -- named for a 6-year-old boy who was killed in Columbia while riding in a 15-passenger van -- says beginning July 1 school-age children must ride to or from school, school-related events or child care in a federally regulated school bus... The law went into effect in 2000, but groups were given six years to replace their 15-passenger vans. Sales of 15-passenger vans to those carrying children were prohibited, but the vans already on the road are allowed to remain until July... (Photo: by ALEX C. HICKS JR - Kim Duncan of Wee Care Child Care in Inman double-checks a list after loading her van. A new South Carolina statute, named Jacob's Law, will require anyone transporting school-age children to use buses instead of 15-passenger vans)

Brakes' noise - India - Is stop ko shift kara de

Bombay,India -Mid-Day Mumbai, by Mrugaya Davane -June 16, 2006: -- Residents of Shankar Niketan, near Diamond Garden, want Acharya Udyan bus stop right outside their society shifted. They complain that buses that halt at the stop make too much of noise, especially when drivers apply the brakes... Shrikrishna Bhide, a resident of Shankar Niketan, says, “The buses always screech to a halt. We keep our windows shut to keep the noise out”... Bhide has a bedroom that faces the road, but he does not use the room... (Photo: Shankar Niketan building residents say buses got noisier after BEST switched to CNG)

'Bursting point' - Australia - Puts buses in slow lane

Adelaide,South Australia -Australia Advertiser Adelaide, by Renato Castello -18 June 2006: -- Adelaide's bus system is "ready to burst" with surging passenger numbers and traffic congestion, as pressure grows for a long-term plan to deal with the problem.The Transport Workers Union, bus operators and transport experts want the State Government to increase public transport investment, because traffic pressure on key routes has seen travel times increase by up to 20 per cent in five years... University of SA Transport Policy and Planning Professor Derek Scrafton said the Government had no long-term public transport plan... "In peak-hour, buses are too often trapped in traffic and that is never going to encourage people to ride public transport," he said...

New for teenagers - UK - Service on the buses

England,UK -Dorset Echo, by Bridget Manley -16 June 2006: -- Youngsters in Blandford are being given a transport boost with the launch of a new community bus club for the over 14s... Starting in July, there will be monthly services from the Sturminster Newton/Blandford area to Tower Park and a monthly service from the villages into Blandford town centre on a Wednesday evening... The service is being launched following a survey of the area's teenagers, which showed a need for a dedicated youth transport service to places like Tower Park...

R&D facility - India - Volvo ramps up

Mumbai,India -Daily News & Analysis, by Rabin Ghosh -June 16, 2006: -- Volvo India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Swedish heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer, plans to increase exports of auto component to 70 million euros this year from 50 million euros last year, managing director Eric Leblanc said on Friday... Volvo India supplies components like forgings to Volvo’s plants around the world...

Controls - USA - School buses get failing grades

Victorville,CA,USABy -Victorville Daily Press, by GRETCHEN LOSI -June 16, 2006: -- The California Highway Patrol has slapped the Victor Valley Union High School District with failing grades to some school buses... With only five mechanics to service more than 50 buses that are at least 20 years old, district officials said they weren't surprised... The annual inspection is random. The list of mechanical and safety problems ranged from inadequate brake line pressure and frayed hoses to peeling paint... The failure report was a wake-up call to administrators, who have now formed an action plan. The old buses are to be replaced, although the cost will be extreme, making the process slow. Because of new seat belt laws, three buses at $100,000 apiece will be needed for every two that are replaced... (Photo: By James Quigg/Staff Photographer: Jim Blackburn, a mechanic for the Victor Valley Unified School District, conducts a 45-day maintenance check on a school bus Wednesday)

BUSES' PURCHASES WORLDWIDE

* India - Luxurious buses may not include Volvos
Pune,India -Pune Newsline -June 15, 2006: -- Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer sought to clarify that the Pune Municipal Corporation had passed the proposal for luxurious buses and not ‘Volvo per se’... Kareer’s clarification came after corporators had demanded scrapping of the proposal for purchasing 25 Volvos... But Kareer was quick to add that the decision for the purchase of luxurious buses which would also include low-floor or no-step buses would be taken by the PMT. The PMT would soon call for tenders for purchasing the same. The transport body would take a loan of Rs 30 crore for the buses...

* India - Mini buses in more unserved areas
Tamil Nadu,Chennai,India -The Hindu -16 June 2006: -- Transport Minister K.N. Nehru said that mini bus scheme would be extended to more areas unserved by existing bus routes... Right now, there were about 4,000 mini buses operating in the State. There was a proposal to increase this by another 3,000...

* USA - City gets $250,000 grant for bus fleet
Columbia,MO,USA -Columbia Daily Tribune -June 17, 2006: -- A $250,000 grant is on its way to Columbia to help expand the city’s bus fleet. The grant from the Federal Transit Administration was announced... The Columbia City Council will determine how the money will be used... New vans cost about $52,000, and the 40-foot buses cost about $345,000...

* Germany - DaimlerChrysler gets order from Dubai for 80 buses
FRANKFURT,Germany -MarketWatch -Jun 19, 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler AG, said it received an order from the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, or RTA, for a total of 80 buses... Out of the 80 buses, 68 will be low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro models, to be produced at Mercedes-Benz' Mannheim plant with deliveries scheduled for April 2007. The remaining 12 express buses will be manufactured at its Brazilian plant...

* USA - State orders 630 new school buses
COLUMBIA, S.C.,USA -AP/Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington,NC) -20 June 2006: -- State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum signed an order for 630 new school buses Tuesday... The $36 million dollar order is the state's largest school bus purchase since 1995... The order will allow the state to replace buses that are 22 and 23 years old. The new buses will be delivered in November, Tenenbaum said...

Security - UK - Feeling safer on the buses

Solihull,UK -ic Solihull.co.uk -Jun 16 2006: -- Police are aiming to ensure the public feel safer through increased high profile patrols on local buses... As part of an operation to crack down on bus crime teams of uniformed and non-uniformed officers will be keeping a watchful eye on buses, particularly in the town centre, Shirley, Olton, Elmdon, and Monkspath... The operation, which is being carried out in part-nership with Travel West Midlands, aims to detect and deter offenders and to increase public confidence...

Hybrids - USA - DC diesel-electric hybrid buses with BAE Systems’ HybriDrive

San Francisco,CAL,USA -The Auto Industry -22 June 2006: -- The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently accepted the first of 56 diesel electric hybrid Orion VII low floor buses from DaimlerChrysler... The Orion VII hybrid bus, powered by BAE Systems’ HybriDrive series propulsion technology, has been demonstrated in an independent study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to achieve up to 45% better fuel economy compared to conventional diesel buses, and to emit 90% less particulate matter, 40% less NOx, and 30% fewer greenhouse gases...

Overhauling - USA - Chicago sets major bus route

Chicago,ILL,USA -The Chicago Tribune, by Virginia Groark -June 15, 2006: -- An overhaul of bus service on the West Side is scheduled for Sunday, when the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), revamps some routes and adds three express routes, trimming travel times by 14 minutes on some routes... The changes and additions are part of an effort to improve transit on the West Side and in western suburbs. They also include the creation of the Pink Line, which starts June 25... Approved in February, the modified service will operate for 180 days on an experimental basis... While most of the attention has centered on the Pink Line, the bus improvements represent the biggest revamp of bus service since the CTA overhauled its express routes on North and South Lake Shore Drive in 2003... (Photo)

City Bus Project - Uganda - Promises Less Traffic

Kampala,Uganda -The Monitor, by Nigel M. Nassar -June 15, 2006: -- In what comprised a blend of curiosity, anxiety and excitement, Pioneer Easy Bus the long-awaited urban bus project whose buses will soon do the city commuter service, was finally launched May 30, at Sheraton Gardens. Its entire budget was estimated at $35m about (Shs65.179 billion)... Basically, the city gets purged of all the existing taxi vans and replaced with 350 double and single-decker public transport buses... The buses run a scheduled commuter service to all parts of the city, modelled on the one currently operating in the United Kingdom... The double-decker bus carries 140 passengers, which is ten times the number carried by our 14-passenger taxi. This means there's more free space in the city, unlike today, where we have taxis climbing over pavements to find way. The promised buses are deemed to replace over 3,000 taxi minibuses, operating from over 900 bus stops in the city...

Study - USA - Civic group shows most MTA buses arrive late

BALTIMORE,MD,USA -Examiner.com/The Examiner, by Ron Cassie -Jun 15, 2006: -- A four-month survey of nine bus lines, released Wednesday by a Baltimore civic organization, found that only 41 percent of the Maryland Transit Authority buses studied arrived within five minutes of their scheduled time... The Citizens Planning and Housing Association, a 65-year-old nonprofit, urged the MTA at a press conference to make whatever changes necessary — including seeking additional money from the state legislature — to improve on-time performance... The CHPA is asking the MTA to take four steps: closely supervise route performance; closely monitor on-time performance; review bus route running and layover times; and re-evaluate the new, longer routes... The study was a sample of experiences from 20 riders on 348 trips... (Photo: Arianne Starne, for The Examiner: The Citizens Housing and Planning Association held a press conference on West Baltimore Street to release the results of the MTA Bus on Time Survey for 2006 on Wednesday in Baltimore)

Security II - USA - Increased Funding To Monitor Buses Crossing Tracks

Investigation Finds School Buses Crossing Dangerous Tracks Unreported

CLEVELAND,OH,USA -NewsNet5.com - June 14, 2006: -- A 5 On Your Side investigation on dangerous railroad crossing and school buses is getting results on the national level... In February, chief investigator Duane Pohlman revealed scores of dangerous railroad crossings in Ohio that school buses cross every day, and now that report is getting the attention of Congress... The report found repeated examples of buses loaded with children crossing tracks with no gates, no lights and no warning bells... (Photo: Railroad Crossing Investigation)

BUSES' PURCHASES WORLDWIDE

* Mozambique - New Buses Arrive
Maputo,Mozambique -Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique/Maputo daily "Noticias" -June 15, 2006: -- 35 new buses, out of the 55 ordered by the Mozambican government from China, to lessen the public transport crisis in the major cities, have now arrived and are being unloaded at Maputo port... Transport Minister Antonio Mungwambe, said that 13 of the buses will strengthen the fleet of the Maputo public transport company, TPM...

* Canada - Extra buses, smaller class sizes listed as items to spend money on
Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada -ChronicleHerald.ca, by JENNIFER STEWART -15 June 2006: -- More school buses, smaller class sizes and improvements to the math and literacy programs are some of the things the Halifax regional school board plans to spend its money on in the next school year... (Photo: ChronicleHerald, File - The Halifax regional school board plans to spend more money next year on buses. The board has approved its 2006-07 general fund and supplementary fund budget)

* Nigeria - Nasarawa govt denies rumours on mass transit buses
Ibadan,Nigeria -Nigerian Tribune, by Remi Adegoke, Lafia -15 June 2006: -- Nasarawa State government has debunked rumours that the buses it purchased for mass transportation called “Palliative buses” would be used for the state governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu’s presidential campaign... The rumour was based on the declaration of Governor Adamu for presidency in 2007 and the delay in the commissioning of the buses...

* USA - Northern Nevada Transit System Deploys TVS on Buses
Oyster Bay,NY,USA -Telematics Journal -June 15, 2006: -- A4S Security, Inc., a leading provider of mobile digital video surveillance solutions, today announced it has been awarded an initial order for installation of its ShiftWatch Transportation Video Surveillance (TVS) system in buses for the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Washoe County located in Reno, Nevada. The TVS systems will be installed in buses manufactured by the Gillig Corporation for use on RTC RIDE, the regional public transit system...

Security - UK - Inspect taxis and buses too

London Docklands,England,UK -ic theWarf.co.uk, by Tom Connor -Jun 15 2006: -- I have a concern about Wharf security: (almost) every night coming to work, the chauffeured car I am travelling in is stopped, swabbed, and the driver is asked our destination... The fact I am stopped is not my complaint' far from it, as I actually feel safe and secure working on the Wharf knowing these measures are in place... The worry comes when I glance over to the other lane and watch all the London 'black cab' taxis being waved through without being glanced at. In fact, I can honestly say I have never witnessed one being stopped. Have they forgotten what vehicle was used in the bombing at the BBC in 2001?... If they are going to randomly stop and search vehicles coming on the Wharf, then please stop every other vehicle, or every third vehicle or whatever, not just every silver Mercedes... If I had my way that would include buses too...

Markets - China - Deutsche Bank Buys 5.21% of Yutong Bus, MAN's China Partner

China -Bloomberg (USA) -June 14, 2006: -- Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest lender, bought 5.21 percent of Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., the China-based partner of MAN AG, Europe's third-largest truck maker, Yutong said... Yutong, China's second-biggest bus maker, didn't say how much Deutsche Bank paid for the 20.8 million yuan-denominated shares it bought, according to its statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today. The shares are worth 158 million yuan ($19.8 million) based on Yutong's closing share price yesterday...

Jobs - USA - MISD using banners on buses to attract drivers

Midland,TX,USA -MyWestTexas.com/Midland Reporter-Telegram, by Ruth Campbell -14 June 2006: -- With an eye toward attracting more bus drivers and auxiliary personnel, Midland Independent School District (MISD), has placed the big yellow vehicles in high-traffic areas -- the two Wal-Mart stores and West Texas Medical Center at Andrews Highway and Wall Street... Those who want to start the application process should bring their driver's license and Social Security card. Informal interviews will be offered... Director of School Plant Services James Riggen said he is looking for bus drivers, bus monitors, grounds workers and custodial personnel...

Solutions - USA - Faster Buses?

There is no question about buses being too slow. Buses spend only 54 percent of their time actually moving; the other half of their time is split between waiting at traffic signals and boarding passengers at bus stops...
New York,NY,USA -Gotham Gazette, by Bruce Schaller -14 June, 2006: -- What will be required to make buses move faster, reduce the waits at bus stops and make the entire experience more comfortable and reliable?... That’s the question now being considered for 15 bus routes scattered throughout the city that are being looked at for “bus rapid transit” (BRT) service by the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)... SOME SOLUTIONS:
-- 1) Creating A Bus New Lane, Away From The Curbbus lanes would be set up in the second lane from the curb instead of the curb lane, as is currently the case. That would allow space for truck loading, vehicles making turns and parking...
-- 2) Paying In Advance ... riders pay their fares before boarding the bus at selected highly used bus stops. That would also allow passenger to board in the rear door, further reducing time spent at bus stops...
-- 3) Greater Central Control: Another step being discussed is installing automated vehicle locator (AVL) systems on buses...
-- 4) Keeping The Traffic Light Green: Buses might also be coordinated with traffic signals...
-- 5)And one major BRT element: exclusive lanes from which other vehicles are physically barred from entering...

Red Routes - UK - London buses are faster, report shows

London,UK -This is Local London, by Martina Smit -14 June 2006: -- Bus passengers on London's red routes are waiting a minute less for their rides due to strict traffic enforcement, Transport for London has said... About 300,000 tickets a year are issued on the 580km red route network, which carries more than a third of the capital's traffic... More than 3,000 cameras monitor traffic offences on the red routes, including CCTV cameras at 2,272 restricted parking zones. Almost 500 cameras mounted on buses can film cars in bus lanes as far as 400 metres ahead... Journey times in bus lanes are 13% faster compared to non-bus lanes, a new report shows. Average passenger waiting times have been cut from 6min 45sec to 5min 45sec, worth a saving of £25 million a year...

Sales - India - Tata Motors gets Rs 55 cr order for buses from Congo

Mumbai,India -Business Standard -June 14, 2006: -- Tata Motors has received an Rs 55 crore order from the Congo for revamping the urban transport system of Kinshasa, the capital city... The company has delivered 228 buses to the country... In 2005-06, Tata Motors exported over 6,000 buses, up 45 per cent over the previous year... It has exported buses to Africa, West Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Malaysia and the Saarc countries... Tata buses have a strong presence in many African countries such as South Africa, Senegal, Algeria and the West Asian countries such as the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar...

To Fight Crime - USA - MAD DADS Board Buses

Minneapolis,MN,USA -CBS Broadcasting Inc/WCCO, by Karla Hult -Jun 12, 2006: -- A new FBI report said violent crimes in Minneapolis increased 35 percent in 2005. That is one of the highest increases in the United States and it is the largest increase of any other city in the Midwest... One local group, MAD DADS, is trying to stop the trend, which some call nothing short of alarming... The group is taking to the buses to try to make a difference... For the next 14 months, members of the Minneapolis MAD DADS organization will ride Metro Transit's Route 5 buses... The group plans to try to stop threatening behavior, while teaching the instigators a thing or two about how to treat others... The group will start riding the buses Monday night... Most cities the size of Minneapolis had their crime grown only about five percent...

Limit Flow Tourists - Italy - Overrun Tuscan town may do'it

Residents unhappy about overcrowding caused by 3 million visitors a year

San Gimignano,Tuscan,Italy -The Guardian Unlimited (UK) , by Barbara McMahon -June 12, 2006: -- The medieval hilltop town of San Gimignano, acclaimed as one of the jewels of Tuscany, is under such attack from tourism that local authorities are considering restricting the numbers of people allowed into the city at any one time... Three million tourists descend on the town, famed for its art-filled churches and picturesque skyline of towers, every year, surging through a cramped historical centre that measures only 900 metres by 500 metres... San Gimignano's mayor, Marco Lisi, attempted to quell the controversy yesterday. "When you see 100 tour buses a day, it's not nice," he said. "We want to welcome everyone but like many other tourists towns, we suffer from the fact that people come here for a short time and then leave"... (Photograph: Alamy - San Gimignano... famed for its art-filled churches and picturesque skyline of towers)

City Bus Jams - Australia - Double deckers may ease problem

Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -Sydney Morning Herald, by Jordan Baker -June 13, 2006: -- The return of double-decker buses is being promoted as one solution to Sydney's bus congestion problems... The Harbour Bridge priority lane is a traffic jam every morning as buses queue on the approach to Wynyard, where there is not enough space to cope with them... The lane carries 50 per cent more people than the other five southbound lanes combined. The number is rising rapidly as petrol prices and toll roads force commuters from cars onto buses...

Free rides on buses - Singapore - Parents want height limit raised for

With the average height of children going up, parents are asking for the height limit for free rides on public transport to be raised

SINGAPORE -Channel NewsAsia, by Pearl Forss -12 June 2006: -- But public transport companies here say this is not possible as huge costs would be incurred... Statistics from the KK Women's and Children's Hospital show that children in Singapore are getting taller. The height of a three-year-old girl may range from 87 centimetres to 101cm, and the height of a four-year-old girl may range from 94cm to 109cm. Overall, the height of girls under seven in the 50th percentile has also increased, from 157cm in 1988 to 159cm in 1993... But public transport operators do not allow free travel for children taller than 90cm, or 0.9 metres, and parents hope this can change... The Land Transport Authority says it will work with the public transport operators to see if there is a case for adjusting the concession policy for children... But it adds that concession schemes are decided by the public transport operators, which operate on a commercial basis, and any decision to improve on or grant more concessions is a matter for transport operators to decide...

TechnoNews - India - Public telephones in Mumbai buses

Mumbai,India -The Hindu (Chennai) -12 June 2006: -- With the memories of last year's floods still fresh in the minds of Mumbai residents, the authorities are initiating several steps this year, including installing public telephones and FM radios in BEST buses... "With the help of the FM radios, passengers will remain in touch with the outside world and get constant updates on the weather and traffic situation ," BEST spokesman A. S. Tamboli said here...

Prevention - USA - Most schools don't check bus driver histories

Survey says area districts rely on transit companies

Boston,USA -The Boston Globe, by Brenda J. Buote & Richard Thompson -June 11, 2006: -- Local educators say they do all they can to ensure student safety. They lock school doors. They require visitors to show identification. Some even have installed surveillance cameras on school grounds... But a survey by Globe North has found that most local school systems rely on outside transportation companies to conduct criminal history checks on the drivers they employ -- and several acknowledge that they do not review the results... In Lynnfield, officials said last week that they would require their contractor to provide the town copies of every driver's criminal record report, and vowed to follow up on those reports...

Fuel price hike stir - India - Buses stay idle

Imphal,Manipur,India -E-Pao.net/The Sangai Express -Jun 11, 206: -- Responding to the call given by the Indo-Burma Road Bus Owners' Welfare Assn against the hike in the prices of fuel, all buses stayed off the Imphal-Moreh road today... Following the suspension of bus services, especially on the ImphalThoubal stretch, Khwairamband bazar wore a deserted look as most of the vegetable vendors could not come to Imphal to sell their products... As part of the protest, the transporters will stage a sit-in-protest at Keishampat bus parking from 11 am till 5 pm tomorrow...

BUSES' CONTROLS WORLDWIDE

* USA - CHP Pulls Over Tour Buses For Inspections
San Francisco,CA,USA -abc7news.com/ABC7/KGO-TV/DT -June 11, 2006: -- The California Highway Patrol is pulling over tour buses traveling through the Bay Area this weekend to carry out safety checks... The CHP facility at Cordelia on eastbound I-80 in Solano County is one of the places where buses are being inspected. The drivers are also checked to make sure they are properly licensed and within their drive time limits... During the last inspection at the Cordelia checkpoint, the CHP took ten buses out of service. Five bus drivers were found to be unlicensed or unsafe to drive, and five buses had mechanical problems...

* India - 100 school buses inspected
Andhra Pradesh,Hyderabad,India -Hindu (Chennai) -11 June 206: -- Focus on fitness of both buses and their drivers - Inspection due to a series of school bus accidents in city... With the re-opening of schools just a day away, the Transport Department has summoned school managements for inspection of school buses to check their fitness. About 100 school buses were inspected at its Nagole testing track on Saturday, of which 20 were found to be not having proper mirrors, first-aid boxes, stairs and so on...

Buses let me down - UK - ...So badly, I've bought a car

Coventry,UK -ic Coventry -by Barbara Goulden -Jun 9 2006: -- Great-Grandad Derrick Coss never minded his three-minute bus journey down the road to reach the butcher, grocer, doctor and dentist... But ever since Travel Coventry altered the route of the number 15 service, Derrick and his neighbours living in and around Fenside Avenue, Styvechale, are forced to get two buses... with anything up to 15-minute waits between journeys... This week, the retired toolmaker filled a flask and packed a garden chair to demonstrate just how much life has changed for him and hundreds of neighbours, most of whom are totally reliant on the buses...

New pledge - UK - To make buses run on time

Portsmouth,England,UK -Portsmouth News -10 June 2006: -- City leaders and transport chiefs are to sign a pledge to tackle the problem of buses being late... Portsmouth City Council and company bosses at bus firm First have signed up to the deal... It will see them working together to try to work out where the worst parts of the city are for congestion, and promise to sort out the Portal system – the live timetable technology which is supposed to relay up-to-date information to digital displays on bus stops... City council public transport expert Roger Banks said: "The idea is that we try to improve punctuality with these local agreements"...

Afraid - USA - Passengers worry over bus services

As CMRTA faces funding cuts, many say they rely on city transportation

Bradenton,FL, United States -Bradenton Herald -Jun. 10, 2006: -- Life in a wheelchair hasn’t slowed Vicki Powell much. But an interruption in the area’s bus services could. “I wouldn’t be going anywhere, except maybe to church, to work and back home,” she said... The Columbia woman is part of a local culture that relies on the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority bus system to reach work, run errands, make doctors’ appointments and otherwise navigate the community... The 37-year-old Powell, who has spina bifida, is a regular passenger on DART, an umbrella program of the transit system especially equipped for handicapped riders... For her and the 10,000 others who take the buses each day, the transit system serves as the primary connector to major points around the metropolitan area — courtesy of 1,365 stops along 383 round-trip miles... She can’t imagine her life without viable public transportation... She hopes she never has to...

FUEL ALTERNATIVES - USA

*

School buses will be among the first vehicles required to use a different mix of diesel fuel

LaFayette,GA,USA -Walker County Messenger -9 June 2006: -- Carolyn Dawson, transportation director for Walker County Schools, said she is preparing to head off problems with the new fuel. Some school systems already using the new fuel have experienced leaking seals, especially on older buses... “There’s two different types of (acceptable) fuels, biodiesel and ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD),” Dawson said. "We can choose either one of those, but once we choose we won’t be able to switch back and forth, nor can we go back to regular diesel”... That presents the potential for problems on extended trips, she said... The federal Environmental Protection Agency is requiring the fuel change to reduce air pollution. Changes began taking place on June 1, and all buses will be required to make the change to ultra-low-sulfur diesel by Sept. 1. By Oct. 15, all diesel for sale will be ULSD... Walker schools maintenance director Chris Jones said there will probably be a few kinks to work out, but the change will benefit the environment... The fuel will be about 6 to 8 cents cheaper, but the mileage will not be as good, Dawson said...

* City buses will soon run on biodiesel
Fargo,ND,USA -The Forum -June 9, 2006: -- Fargo’s fleet of buses will start burning biodiesel in about two weeks on a trial basis, City Commissioner Mike Williams said after a meeting of the city’s Energy and Conservation Committee... City buses will run on a blend of 20 percent soybean oil and 80 percent diesel fuel for at least two months as the city analyzes mileage and soot output. The average city bus gets about 4½ miles per gallon, and officials hope the additional lubricity of biodiesel will improve mileage, he said... Some people may notice an exhaust smell similar to French fries while the buses are burning biodiesel, he said...

BUSES' PURCHASES WORLDWIDE

* Vietnam - City to get 8 double-decker buses
HCM City,Hanoi,VietNam -VietNam Net Bridge -9 June 2006: -- HCM City Department of Transport and Public Works plans to put into operation eight more double-decker buses... This will add to the two existing ones and reduce passengers' waiting time during rush-hour traffic... After five months' operation, the two double-deckers shuttling have already begun to emit loud noises and crack along the body... These new two-door double-deckers, measuring 4.18m high, 2.5m wide and 12m long, can carry 86 passengers and will be manufactured in Vietnam from spare parts imported from China, based on a modern Chinese double-decker model... (Picture: HongKong airport with many double decker buses)

* USA - United board OKs of 2 new buses
HANOVERTON,Ohio,USA -Salem News, by MATTHEW SCHOMER -June 09, 2006: -- Officials are expecting busing of United Local students to run a little more smoothly next year after Thursday night's board of education meeting. At the meeting, the board approved purchasing two brand new school buses from Myers Equipment in Canfield for $64,965 each. The company also agreed to deduct a total of $2,800 for the trade-in of two of the school district's older buses, setting the total price tag at $127,130... Midvale Truck Sales also made a higher bid of selling buses for $69,985 each and offering $1,000 for the combined trade-in of the two older buses...

* USA - Grant will fund Metro buses
Belleville,IL,USA -Belleville News-Democrat -Jun. 09, 2006: -- Metro, the region's public transit system, has been awarded a $2.6 million grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation... The money will be used to purchase eight buses for the area, assuming each bus costs about $300,000, said Dianne Williams, spokesman for Metro... She said Metro relies primarily on capital program grants to upgrade its stock of vehicles and to continue their reliability...

* USA - Livonia plans to buy 11 buses
LIVONIA,MI,USA --The Detroit News (Detroit,MI,), by Christine Ferretti -June 12, 2006: -- Council expects to vote June 28 on proposal to give commuters, seniors transit option to SMART... The plan includes the purchase of 11 buses, which depending on size and style, will cost $50,000 to $60,000 apiece... Eight of the buses will be used for the Community Transit program and the remaining three for the Senior Citizen Achievement Needs service, which is operated by the Livonia Senior Center...

* Major US deal for Ballymena bus firm
Dublin,Ireland -Ireland Online -12 June 2006: -- A bus builder from the North today won an international order for its mould-breaking new Rapid Transit Vehicle... The £30m (€43.9m) order was placed with Wrightbus of Ballymena, Co Antrim by a US transport company... Wrightbus will supply 50 of its StreetCars to the Regional Transportation Commission in Southern Nevada... The American company has taken two further options for an additional 50 vehicles each... The 62-foot long StreetCar has been designed to encourage greater use of public transport. It is something like an ultra-modern tram but does not need rails... The vehicles, which can seat more than 100 passengers, will run on hybrid diesel-electric power...

* Malaysia - Penang seeks allocation to buy public transport buses
George Town,Penang,Malaysia -New Straits Times (Persekutuan,Malaysia), by Audrey Dermawan -11 Jun 2006: -- The Penang Government is seeking a RM50 million allocation from the Public Transportation Trust Fund for the purchase of new public-transport buses... Finance Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said the Federal Government would give favourable consideration to Penang’s request. “We are discussing the details and will make an announcement soon,” Hilmi told reporters...

* Qatar - 100 buses ‘to join fleet’ by early next year
Doha,Qatar -Gulf Times -12 June, 2006: -- Mowasalat will add another 100 buses to its service early next year, the company’s mass transit director Antony Tallant disclosed yesterday... The response to the buses has been encouraging and is one of the reasons the company has been able to service almost all routes promised at the time of the launch last year, he said...

* India - BMTC plans to double its fleet of Volvo buses
Karnataka,Bangalore,India -The Hindu (Chennai) -12 June 2006: -- The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is planning to double its fleet of 25 Volvo buses before year-end. But finding parking space for them is not easy... Each of these hi-tech buses need about 20 per cent more space than other buses operating on city routes. They also need specially trained mechanics for maintenance work...

Calls - UK - For an end to 'hazardous' school bus runs

Belfast,UK - Belfast Telegraph, by Michael McHugh -9 June 2006: -- The Government is facing fresh calls for an end to hazardous school bus journeys after the publication of a report by the Children's Commissioner... Urgent steps to provide seatbelts and the abolition of three-for-two seating were among the recommendations on school transport contained in the research paper. The study, carried out in partnership with the Consumer Council and part-funded by the DRD, gauged the views of children and parents and was produced by the University of Ulster... Eleanor Gill, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council said: "We need the creation of a safe, secure and enjoyable environment for children to travel to and from school"...

Purchase - USA - Agency short on money to purchase buses for Head Start

TUPELO, Miss,USA -Associated Press -Jun. 08, 2006: -- A Tupelo-based community action agency is nearly $200,000 short of the funding needed to purchase buses for its Head Start programs... A Health and Human Services grant was awarded to the agency, Lift Inc., for the purchase, but the buses were not ordered... When the grant proposal was written in the fall of 2004, it was to replace all of the agency's buses with new ones with child restraints...

"Dump the Pump" - USA - KAT buses offer free services on this day

Knoxville,TN,USA -WBIR/TV -8 June 2006: -- Americans are taking part in national "Dump the Pump" day Thursday and are being encouraged to use public transportation instead of driving cars... Several nationwide agencies that support public transportation are sponsoring the event, including the Knoxville Area Transit (KAT)... Statistics show a person can save up to $3,000 in fuel costs per year just by using public transportation...

Opinions - Peru - "Death's buses"

Panaji,Goa,India -Herald Publications, by Giles Bertin -8 Jun 2006: -- The notorious “death buses” taking Peruvians and tourists up the Andean nation’s snaky mountain roads have killed 68 people in road accidents so far this year... Travelling in Peru, whose Inca ruins attract tourists from around the world, has become the road version of Russian roulette as many buses are built out of old truck chassis... Under then-president Alberto Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000, the bus service was liberalised and vehicle controls were abolished. This led to a drop in ticket prices, but to the detriment of quality and security... A normal bus costs up to $300 000, but a “death bus”, made out of a used-truck frame, is worth $30 000 in a country where 95% of transportation is road-based... The mountain country’s tight roads are not suitable for normal buses, a problem that led two bus makers to create an “Andean chassis” that they believe is more stable, according to an auto-industry expert... (See the full story...)

Protesting - UK - Fury over faith school buses

Herts,UK -Advertiser 24 -8 June 2006: -- Hunderds of people protesting against plans to end free transport to faith schools gave county council officers a rough ride on Tuesday night... Furious campaigners complained bitterly that not one single decision-maker attended the consultative meeting at Nicholas Breakspear School in St Albans... The county council is proposing to end free school transport for new pupils starting at faith state schools from September 2007... If the plan goes ahead, the phasing out would save up to £3.4 million from the county's school transport budget... This policy would apply to 98 of the faith schools in Hertfordshire - nine secondary and 89 primary schools...

Sdales - USA - Blue Bird to supply buses to Laidlaw

Macon,GA,USA -Macon Telegraph -Jun. 08, 2006: -- Blue Bird Corp. said Wednesday it will supply school buses through 2009 to the largest private contractor of student transportation services in North America... In addition, Blue Bird will supply Laidlaw Education Services with smaller buses, according to a news release... Terms of the deal were not released...

Free Bus Rides - USA - CDTA offers, to battle high gas prices

Albany,NY,USA -The Albany Business Review -8 June 2006: -- The Capital District Transportation Authority kicked off a week-long promotion Thursday in which it is giving people in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties in New York a free pass to ride the bus to work... CDTA officials said they hoped to turn people who are unhappy with high gasoline prices into regular bus commuters to work... The authority's promotion will run through June 15. Motorists can visit the authority's Web site to find out more about the free day pass promotion...

Buses World News

30.6.06

Competition - New Zealand - Court kills off Mana bus deal

Rules - China - Police intensify efforts to dismantle vehicles

29.6.06

Purchase Prognosis - Sri Lanka - W. Province remove private buses with less than 30 seats

Gas prices - USA - Have commuters parking cars and boarding buses

Purchases - Angola - Macon updates fleet with Chinese and Brazilian buses

Disbeliefing - Ireland - Forde accuses PDs of vetoing Dublin Bus expansion

Safety - UK - Police take to buses to tackle rowdies

Emergency - USA - Pace buses to control U.S. 30 traffic lights

Safety on the buses - At USA style

Upscale - USA - OCTA buses to debut

Public Warned - Australia - Major change to bus routes

Purchases - India - Government gears up to replace ageing fleet

27.6.06

BUSES' PURCHASE WORLDWIDE

Replace - Australia - Bus plan prompts fears for Australind

Enforcing - UK - Transport chiefs call time on bus lane bandits

26.6.06

TechnoNews - USA - UTA adopts GPS to help buses run on time

Bikes on Buses - USA - Rack N’ Roll

Transport System - South Korea - Seoul’s Model for Others

Controls - India - DTC to install tamper-proof speed-control devices in buses

TechnoNews - USA - Buses to get Wi-Fi

24.6.06

Sold - UK - Australians snap up London buses

High-capacity buses - India - No special roads, but green signal for

Report - Canada - Cameras urged to spot stuck buses

Alternatives - Malaysia - Nadicorp Plans To Use CNG For Its Town Buses

23.6.06

Futuristic - UK - New buses could be running along Clyde

Premiere - USA - 10 new CTA buses take to streets

GreenNews - Malaysia - The first fleet of environment-friendly buses is on the road

'Unsustainable' - UK - City bus cutbacks

Hybrid Technology -USA - Binghamton transit to become "living laboratory" for

Security - Canada - Cameras on Buses for Safety of Drivers

Economy moving - USA - Midlands must find cash to keep buses

GreenNews - China - Hydrogen-powered buses debut in

Statistics - Australia - Petrol costs put more on the bus

Transport-rich or poor ? - Malta - Freeing up the buses

Security - USA - Canadian firm has eye on Port Authority buses

Arrives - Mozambique - Chinese buses to boost public transport

Entrances - USA - Large buses will stop at cul-de-sac

GreeNews - USA - State aims to reduce ozone by making public buses free today

Jacob's Law - USA - Children must ride in buses, not 15-passenger vans

Brakes' noise - India - Is stop ko shift kara de

'Bursting point' - Australia - Puts buses in slow lane

New for teenagers - UK - Service on the buses

R&D facility - India - Volvo ramps up

Controls - USA - School buses get failing grades

BUSES' PURCHASES WORLDWIDE

Security - UK - Feeling safer on the buses

22.6.06

Hybrids - USA - DC diesel-electric hybrid buses with BAE Systems’ HybriDrive

16.6.06

Overhauling - USA - Chicago sets major bus route

City Bus Project - Uganda - Promises Less Traffic

Study - USA - Civic group shows most MTA buses arrive late

Security II - USA - Increased Funding To Monitor Buses Crossing Tracks

BUSES' PURCHASES WORLDWIDE

Security - UK - Inspect taxis and buses too

Markets - China - Deutsche Bank Buys 5.21% of Yutong Bus, MAN's China Partner

Jobs - USA - MISD using banners on buses to attract drivers

Solutions - USA - Faster Buses?

Red Routes - UK - London buses are faster, report shows

14.6.06

Sales - India - Tata Motors gets Rs 55 cr order for buses from Congo

13.6.06

To Fight Crime - USA - MAD DADS Board Buses

Limit Flow Tourists - Italy - Overrun Tuscan town may do'it

City Bus Jams - Australia - Double deckers may ease problem

Free rides on buses - Singapore - Parents want height limit raised for

TechnoNews - India - Public telephones in Mumbai buses

Prevention - USA - Most schools don't check bus driver histories

Fuel price hike stir - India - Buses stay idle

BUSES' CONTROLS WORLDWIDE

Buses let me down - UK - ...So badly, I've bought a car

New pledge - UK - To make buses run on time

Afraid - USA - Passengers worry over bus services