Buses World News: October 2006

Blighted by MP3 generation - UK - London buses Tinny tunes irk commuters

Harrow,Middlesex,UK -The Inquirer -30 Oct 2006: -- As many UK INQ readers will be all too aware, the behooded yoof of the nation have taken to blaring tinny garage and commerical rap music from their mp3-enabled mobile phones... Sick and tired of hearing 50 Cent's latest slurred snoozefest on their journeys back from work, a group of two has taken to the web in the hope of gaining support for a ban on loud music on London buses...

What you think - UK - About buses, cameras, canals and parking

Worcester,UK -The Worcester News, by Tom Edwards -31 Oct 2006: -- The biggest ever survey of Worcester people has been completed - and it reveals more of you would use buses if the service was more regular... It also shows Worcester people like CCTV cameras and know they are watching, and that the future of the canal really does matter... It also discovered that three quarters of residents disagree with the view that CCTV infringes on their privacy...
WHAT THEY SAID
TRANSPORT
I would use buses more if services were more regular yes 48 no 29 Unsure 23
I would use buses more if they were less expensive yes 47 no 26 unsure 27
Car park prices are reasonable yes 30 no 51 unsure: 19
SAFETY
Are you aware the city is covered by CCTV yes 87 no 13
CCTV cameras infringe upon my privacy yes 9 no 75 unsure 16
Are you more likely to come to Worcester at night?
yes 42 no 58

PASSENGERS' SATISFACTION * UK - Satellite could make sure buses run on time

It's truly frustrating: arriving at the bus stop, only to find the bus has already been and gone...

Glasgow,Scotland,UK -The Herald, by GERRY BRAIDEN -Oct 30 2006: -- But now satellite navigation equipment could ensure buses in the west of Scotland stick to their timetables... First Glasgow, the biggest public transport operator in the city, has begun using its Bus and Information Signalling (BIAS) system to monitor and record journey times against the planned timetable...

Safety - New Zealand - Crash investigator says seatbelts needed in buses

Wellington,New Zealand -Radio New Zealand -31 Oct 2006: -- A serious crash investigator believes seatbelts should be mandatory in buses, after a schoolbus rolled off a West Auckland road on Monday... The bus was taking about 40 students to five schools when it reeled off the Coatsville-Riverhead Highway, falling about 5m down a bank and landing on its roof... Senior Constable Gary Abbott of the North Shore serious crash unit says it is extremely lucky the bus did not roll any further and he believes seatbelts should be installed... Senior Constable Abbott says police are still investigating whether charges will be laid against the driver, who has been suspended on full pay...

Makeover - USA - Authority hopes color change makes mass transit more popular

Coming soon to a street near you: a bus of a different color

ALBANY,NY,USA -Albany Times Union, by CATHY WOODRUFF-Oct 30, 2006: -- Clad in a uniform of basic white for decades, the Capital District Transportation Authority fleet is getting a makeover with a deep-blue hue... It's an updated version of the CDTA logo, and it's part of a larger strategy called "branding," which the authority hopes will project a more distinctive, contemporary image for the 36-year-old regional transit system... (Photo by James Goolsby / Times Union - The blue bus is the new face of mass transit in the region)

PRODUCTION * Iran - Khodro Diesel to produce buses, trucks in Senegal and Sudan

Tehran,Iran -MNA/MehrNews.com -28 Oct 2006: -- Iran’s major heavy vehicle maker Iran Khodro Diesel is planning to soon produce its buses and trucks in a number of African nations... Iran Khodro Diesel is negotiating with related officials from Senegal and Sudan to launch a heavy vehicle production assembly line in these countries in the near future... The company is also preparing to produce Iranian buses and trucks in other African countries in particular, Ethiopia, noted Majid Sheikhani, the managing director of the company...

COMMENTS

* UK - Are we going right way to kick bother off buses
Meanwhile, what hope of persuading drivers to leave their cars at home and travel by public transport?...

Craven,England,UK -Craven Herald, by Jim Greenhalf -27 Oct 2006: -- Attacks on Bradford buses and trains are hardly likely to persuade drivers to swap the safety of their cars for a ride on the wild side on public transport... Police officers riding shotgun on some bus routes and transport police doing the same on trains will be a test. The long-suffering public wants an assurance that the authorities mean what they say about cracking down on trouble-makers - whatever their ethnic background - not by talk but action... (Picture: Police are to travel on certain First Bus routes following attacks on vehicles)

* USA - It Was The Best Of Buses, It Was The Worst Of Buses. It Was The Age Of Idiots…
New York,NY,USA -The Gotham Gazette -Oct 26th, 2006: -- BloggerEast Village Idiot points out that the M14A bus (known to civilians as the 14th Street crosstown bus) was voted best bus in New York in the Village Voice’s Best of New York issue six days before it was voted the slowest bus in New York by NYPIRG’s Straphangers Campaign...

* Australia - Congestion and access inquiries
Canberra,Australia -Australasian Bus & Coach -30 Oct 2006: -- Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile avoided promising federal funding for public transport but highlighted how the bus industry needs to make the most of the inquiries into congestion and disabled access... Vaile said the bus industry had a big role to play especially with congestion issues and fuel prices... He pointed out the states had $67.5 billion in GST money "to fund public transport and all their other responsibilities"... And remark out that the inquiry into urban congestion and ability access gave the bus industry an opportunity to ‘put its case’, as COAG reviews of the causes and trends of urban congestion...

Bureaucracy - India - Govt knows buses plying illegally

Transport Secretary: but can’t do 24-hr checks
Chandigarh ,Punjab,Ondia -The Chandigarh Newsline -Oct 26, 2006: -- The Punjab government is in the know of the fact that private bus operators ply buses illegally in the state, thus evading the special road tax... This was stated by Secretary Transport, Punjab, R S Sandhu who was taking part in a seminar, ‘Road Passenger Transport — The Way Ahead’, organised by the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation here today. He said, “If we do 24-hour checking we can catch about 300 private buses plying illegally as they do not have a carriage permit but a contract permit which is for tourist buses. They have to pay tax to the government to ply them as carriage buses which they do not. From 300 buses the government gets Rs 12 lakh as tax”...

SECURITY * France - Boosts security on buses after arson attacks

Paris,France -Stuff.co.nz (Wellington,New Zealand) -27 Oct 2006: -- Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered increased security on bus routes in tough French suburbs late after a spate of arson attacks linked to the anniversary of riots in its multi-ethnic suburbs... Sarkozy said he was drafting in extra police to cope with the unrest which hit a fresh peak overnight Wednesday when three buses were torched... (AP Photo, by Jacques Brinon: A view of the charred remains of a city bus is seen Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006, at the bus station of Nanterre, west of Paris. The bus was set on fire on Wednesday night in Nanterre by a gang of youths, after they forced passengers out. The attack as France prepares to mark on Friday the one-year anniversary of riots last year by suburban youth, and raised the specter of a repeat of the three weeks of violence)

PURCHASE BUSES' PROSPECT

* USA - Purchase of new buses is OK'd - Board discusses Parent Involvement Committee
Belleville,MI,USA -The Belleville View, by Austen Smith -Oct 26, 2006: -- Van Buren School Board members approved the purchase of 30 new school buses for the district at a total cost of $2,097,210 at their Oct. 23 meeting... Presented by Sharon Boike, transportation supervisor, and Nick Armelagos, finance director, the bus purchase coincides with the district's 10-year-plan for replacing buses. The outgoing buses were bought in 1996...

* USA - $25 extra a year for more buses?
Seattle,WASH,USA -The Seattle Post Intelligencer, by LARRY LANGE -Oct 27, 2006: -- For the second time in six years, King County officials are asking taxpayers to pay more sales tax to support another planned bus service expansion... Backers say there's strong support for the measure, which would cost a typical county household another $25 a year in sales tax... The ballot measure, if passed, would pay for 175 new buses, as much as 700,000 new hours of service annually and buses every 10 minutes on five highly traveled corridors... It's also designed to expand service on 35 of the other most heavily used existing routes...

* New Zealand - Loans for more buses and trains - "It's incredibly hard to get people on public transport and incredibly easy to lose them"
Wellington,NZ -Australasian Bus and Coach (Australia) -30 Oct 2006: -- Regional councils could be allowed to apply for loans to buy more buses and trains to cope with the increasing demand for public transport. A report prepared by the Bus and Coach Association of NZ (BCANZ) says transport operators are struggling to cope with rising demand because of high fuel prices and urgent action was needed to increase capacity... Demand for peak-time bus, train and ferry services in Wellington has increased 11 percent over the past year, while rail passenger journeys in Auckland jumped 32 percent... Further delays in increasing capacity would see commuters who had switched to public transport return to their cars because of overcrowding, BCANZ Executive Director John Collyns says...

* India - 347 new buses for city
Andhra Pradesh,Hyderabad,India -The Hindu (Chennai,India) -27 Oct 2006: -- The city region of APSRTC will soon add 347 new buses to its fleet. The corporation has sanctioned the buses for the financial year 2006-07, according to Regional Manager C. Panduranga Murthy...

* India - All for public transport: 50 low-floor buses to hit roads soon
Chandigarh,India -The Chandigarh Newsline/Express News Service -Oct 29, 2006: -- The UT Administration is all set to introduce 50 new low-floor buses on the city roads soon. These would be in addition to the 120 such buses already on the roads... Taking the number of the low-floor buses to 170, the senior officials in the administration feel that it would a step in improving and popularising the public transport system in the city, which finds few takers...

Comment on Deregulation - UK

* Still waiting for bus progress
UK -Times Online -25 Oct 2006: -- Sir, Today is the 20th anniversary of one of the key Thatcherite policies of the 1980s, bus deregulation... The proponents of deregulation said it would halt the decline in passenger numbers and result in lower fares and a reduction in public subsidy. However, the unstated agenda of the privatisation and deregulation was also to drive down the earnings of those employed in the bus industry... This, unfortunately, has been the only real success of the privatisation and deregulation process. In the past 20 years, the average wages in the industry have declined in real terms. Bus drivers now earn 57 per cent of the male average wage, and the lowering of real wages has resulted in an estimated shortage of 33,000 drivers... Unregulated bus services outside London are still declining...

* Push for UK bus service reform gathers pace ahead of MPs report
LONDON,UK -AFX News Limited/Forbes -25 Oct 2006: -- The push for reform of regional bus services is gathering pace with the government indicating that local authorities may be given more powers similar to those of the Greater London Authority... Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the Transport Act coming into force which removed all restrictions on competition in the bus industry. To coincide with the date parliament's Transport select committee is releasing a report on services across the UK... Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander is said to be 'actively' working on a strategy to reform how bus services are organised, subsidised and regulated... Sources said the Transport committee's findings will stop short of calling for re-regulation, something which may please operators... Some operators and the Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman believe more subsidy would be needed to make such a move work...

Solidarity - Liberia - Canadian Gov't. Donates 25 Buses & 2 Fire Trucks to

Monrovia,Liberia - The Analyst, by Ebenezer Daygbor -Oct 24, 2006: -- The Minister of Transport, Mr. Jeremiah Sulunteh, has disclosed in Monrovia that the Canadian Government has donated 25 buses and two fire trucks to the Government of Liberia...

Busted on the bus - China - Big Brother on board in Beijing

Beijing,China -Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney,New South Wales,Australia)/Agence France-Presse/Xinhua -Oct 25, 2006: -- Thousands of extra video cameras are being installed on Beijing's buses in an effort to improve public politeness ahead of the 2008 Olympics... The campaign is aimed at raising the standards of courtesy in the capital, such as giving up bus seats to the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with disabilities, the official Xinhua news agency reported yesterday... Bus riders caught on video giving up their seats will be recognised as "star passengers". But the cameras will also be on the lookout for bad behaviour... "As China develops, some young people have become more self-centred and simply ignore people who need seats when they get on a bus, or subway train," Xinhua lamented... So far, Beijing Public Transport Holdings has installed video cameras in about 4000 buses...

Drivers' shortage - USA - Military veterans wanted in MTA push to hire bus drivers

New York,NY,USA -The New York Daily News, by Pete Donohue -24 Oct 2006: -- The MTA wants a few good men - and women - to go from driving tanks to driving buses... Thomas Savage, the president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bus Co., said he's interested in recruiting former members of the military to fill bus operator and mechanic positions... They also understand what it's like to work for an operation that never stops and has a fixed chain of command, Savage said...

PASSENGERS' SATISFACTION * Singapore/China - Commuters call for further improvements to bus services

Singapore,China -Channel NewsAsia, by Wong Siew Ying -24 October 2006: -- Taking a bus ride in Singapore is still a relatively pleasant experience for most commuters. But it left some seeing red... Mr and Mrs Teo missed the bus on a few occasions when they were trying to get a ride out of their hometown Ang Mo Kio. The bus just didn't stop for them... Betty Yee, another commuter agreed: "They pretended they didn't see us. We were very angry"... The Land Transport Authority will look at ways to improve the public transport system in a comprehensive review due in 2007...

* USA - $1 million allocated to keep All Nighter buses running
CA,USA -Contra Costa Times -Oct. 28, 2006: -- AC Transit's All Nighter bus service has survived for another year... The Metropolitan Transportation Commission on Wednesday allocated $1 million in toll money from the Bay Area's bridges to keep two late-night bus lines running... MTC has allocated more than $2.5 million since 2004 to AC Transit and other transit agencies to operate late-night bus service...

"GREEN NEWS"

* USA - GE to Develop Hybrid Fuel Cell Bus
Niskayuna,N.Y.,USA - The Associated Press -Oct. 23, 2006: -- General Electric Co. on Monday said it formed a $13 million research partnership with the Federal Transit Administration, Ballard Power Systems and A123 Systems to develop a lightweight, battery dominant zero emissions hybrid fuel cell bus... The research will be led by GE's Global Research Center in Niskayuna... Since launching its "ecoimagination" initiative in May 2005, GE has pledged to more than double its level of investment in the development of cleaner energy technologies, from $700 million to $1.5 billion during the next five years...

* Brazil - Bus Firm Powers Fleet on Biofuels
SAO PAULO,Brazil -The Associated Press, by HELLEN BERGER- Oct 25, 2006: -- South America's largest city might be getting a bit greener. A bus company in Sao Paulo is now powering part of its fleet with a new mix of biofuels and diesel in an effort to curb emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels... The mix -a blend of 30 percent biodiesel, 8 percent alcohol and 62 percent petroleum diesel- will eventually be used by 1,900 buses, about a quarter of Sao Paulo's entire bus fleet, said Paulo Mendes, director of B100, which was created by the Itaim Paulista bus company to research alternative fuels...

* USA - Portland's Tri-Met to use biodiesal in its buses
Portland,ORE.,USA -AP/KXLY (Spokane,WA,USA) -Oct 28, 2006: -- The transit agency is the state's largest consumer of diesel fuel. But the 611 buses in its fleet are going to soon start using a five-percent biodiesel blend for fuel. That makes TriMet the state's largest consumer of biodiesel... Biodiesel comes from plant oils, used cooking oils and waste animal fats. The fuel helps reduce harmful emissions and the nation's reliance on petroleum sources...

* Australia - Bus depot gears up for gas
Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -The Sydney Morning Herald, by Jordan Baker & Mark Metherell -Oct 30, 2006: -- LEICHHARDT'S transport depot will become clean and green under a $34 million plan to make it home to Australia's first environmentally friendly, mostly gas-powered bus fleet... State Transit wants to expand and convert the historic depot - which began life as a tram storage depot - into a base for 200 gas buses, which are quieter and less polluting than diesel... The chief executive of State Transit, John Lee, said the change would save just under 3 million kilograms of carbon dioxide a year...

DANGEROUS ROADS

* Bolivia - Twenty-nine killed in bus crash
La Paz,Bolivia -The Australian (Sydney,Aus)/AFP -Oct 23, 2006: -- TWENTY-NINE people were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in central Bolivia, officials said today. Fifteen people were injured in the accident, authorities said, after rescue and recovery workers ended their operations today... The bus plunged more than 250 metres from the road on Saturday in the remote village of Cachilaguna, near the town of Aiquile about 500km from La Paz, they said...

Transportation Sector - Cuba - Government named a new mi

Cuba government makes 2nd Cabinet change since Fidel Castro handed power to brother
Havana,Cuba -The International Herald Tribune (France)/AP -Oct 21, 2006: -- The Cuban government named a new transportation minister this week in the second Cabinet change since Raul Castro took temporary control of the nation while his brother Fidel recovers from surgery... Cuba's transportation sector is still struggling to recover from the severe economic crisis triggered when the Soviet Union collapsed. Cuba has recently purchased scores of Chinese buses, but most have been assigned to the tourism industry while average Cubans can wait hours for a crowded ride home on the city's older buses...

BUSINESS AFFAIRS

* UK - Rotala buys Zak's Bus & Coach Service for 30,000 stg
LONDON,UK -AFX/Life Style Extra -20 Oct 2006: -- Rotala PLC says it is buying Zak's Bus & Coach Services Ltd for 30,000 stg cash... Zak's operates bus and coach services in the West Midlands and made a net loss of 4,000 stg in the financial year to February 2006. Its current turnover is 2.1 mln stg and its assets include a long leasehold depot in Birmingham...

SECURITY * USA - Cameras on school buses make sense

North Andover,MA,USA -The Eagle Tribune -20 Oct 2006: -- School districts across Southern New Hampshire are installing or considering installing cameras on school buses thanks to a new law that permits the recording of students' voices as well as their images. It's a good decision that protects bus drivers from dangerous distractions and students from those who would bully them...

* USA - Trooper's bus ride emphasizes safety for students, motorists
South Point,OH,USA -The Ironton Tribune (Ironton,OH), by Kirsten Stanley -October 21, 2006: -- South Point students getting on Jackie Young's bus route were greeted by a new fellow passenger Friday... Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Chris Smith rode along on Bus 17 as part of National School Bus Safety Week, which wrapped up Saturday...

"GREEN" NEWS

* Finland - Neste Oil to power Helsinki buses, waste trucks with biodiesel
Helsinki,Finland -AFX/Forbes (USA) -20 Oct 2006: -- Neste Oil said it has signed a letter of understanding with Helsinki City local authorities to power buses and waste disposal trucks across Greater Helsinki with biodiesel, to reduce urban emissions and promote the use of biofuels on the road... 700 buses and 75 waste trucks will use the biodiesel... (Photo: Helsinki's Aerial view)

* USA - School buses go green in District 196 - Equipment to reduce pollution from diesel engines is added
Burnsville,MN,USA -The Minnesota This Week Newspapers, by Erin Johnson -20 Oct 2006: -- Children who take the bus in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District should breathe a little easier, thanks to a project that reduces the pollution emitted by the buses’ diesel engines... District 196 was one of the first school districts to sign on with the project, which retrofits older school buses with equipment that can reduce bus pollutants by 40 percent...

* USA - 'Yes' on Prop. 87
Vallejo,CA,USA -The Vallejo Times-Herald -21 Oct 2006: -- California has the worst air quality in the nation, with six counties topping the most polluted air list... Cars, trucks and buses produce 190 millions tons of pollution per year, causing asthma, bronchitis, lung disease, heart disease and cancer in hundreds of thousands of Californians each year... Proposition 87 will make low-emission vehicles affordable with cash rebates and accelerate the development of less expensive clean fuel. It will also promote the development of other alternative energy sources and replace pre-1987 diesel school buses....

BUSES' PROSPECTS PURCHASES

* USA - County Express eyes dual fuel buses, vans
Fort Morgan,CO,USA -The Fort Morgan Times, by JOHN LA PORTE -Oct 20, 2006: -- County Express could be looking at dual fuels for some fleet units in the upcoming year... Two buses and four vans are in the 2007 budget that was up for a public hearing at Wednesday’s Northeastern Colorado Association of Local Governments meeting in Yuma... NECALG officials will try to get some vehicles with dual engine systems capable of using either unleaded gasoline or ethanol, said Larry Worth, NECALG executive director... (Picture: Scenes of Cedarburg)

* USA - South Brunswickplans for buses
South Brunswick,NJ,USA -The New Brunswick Home News Tribune, by DAVID STEGON -21 Oct 2006: -- A federally funded shuttle bus system aimed at commuters is being planned by township officials who hope to alleviate traffic congestion throughout the township, especially along Route 1... The township will purchase four additional shuttle buses to add to the five they already use to transport senior citizens...

* USA - JATRAN to get 8 new buses
Jackson,MS,USA -The Jackson Clarion Ledger, by Kathleen Baydala -21 Oct 2006: -- JATRAN on Friday announced the addition of eight new buses to immediately replace older models. The 35-foot, green, white and yellow buses can seat 32 passengers and two wheelchairs... The buses cost about $272,000 each... Since February, JATRAN has brought 12 new models into its fleet of 45 regular-route buses - the largest number since 2001....

PASSENGERS' SATISFACTION * UK - Rural buses boosted by £7.4m from Executive

Scotland,UK -The Scotsman, by RHIANNON EDWARD -20 Oct 2006: -- Buses to remote areas should be arriving more frequently - and punctually - after ministers yesterday pledged £7.4 million for public transport in rural communities... Comment by Miss H: Good, affordable transport services are vital to the quality of life of everyone in urban as well as rural Scotland. Car ownership levels are much lower in urban Scotland than rural Scotland so don't forget the cities...

SECURITY * Canada - Officers on buses make a difference, cops say

Ottawa,Ontario,Canada -The Ottawa Sun -Oct 18, 2006: -- Plainclothes and uniformed police officers plan to keep riding city buses to assist OC Transpo security... This past weekend was the second in a row where efforts involving officers from East, West and Central divisions were co-ordinated across the city...

SAFETY * Canada - Time for school bus seat belts?

Liberals want to study pros, cons of lap belts - Premier acknowledges debate still wide open
Toronto,Ontario, Canada -The Toronto Star, by ROB FERGUSON -Oct. 18, 2006: -- Ontario is taking a closer look at requiring seat belts on school buses after a tragic weekend crash that left four dead in a minivan that had only seven safety belts for 10 passengers... The move comes a day after Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield introduced legal changes that would require one seat belt for every person in passenger vehicles such as cars and minivans...

DANGEROUS DRIVERS

* India - 2 dead, 25 hurt in B'lore bus mishap
Bangalore,India -CNN/IBN (New Delhi,India) -Oct 17, 2006: -- Two people were killed and 25 injured in a bus accident in Bangalore on Tuesday... The incident occurred when a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Volvo bus mowed down people waiting at a bus stand... Police said the mishap occurred when the driver lost control of the vehicle... (Photo: BANGALORE MISHAP: Soon after the accident, an enraged mob torched the bus)

* China - Three killed, 29 injured in bus accident in
Beijing,China -The Hindu (Chennai,India) -Oct. 17, 2006: -- At least three persons were killed and 29 were injured when a bus plunged into a river in northwest China's Shaanxi province... The accident occurred yesterday when the bus carrying 31 ran off the expressway from Tongchuan City to Huangling County, ploughed through railings for 60 meters, and plunged into the five-meter-deep Qishui river... Twenty-five road traffic accidents involving tour buses with 79 deaths had been reported in China by the end of August this year, raising concerns over the safety standards of tourist operations...

* Mexico - Bus Crash Kills 14 in Western
Guadalajara,Mexico -Forbes (USA) -17 Oct 2006: -- Fourteen people were killed Tuesday when a passenger bus crashed into the back of a tractor trailer in western Mexico, officials said. The bus was heading from the Nayarit state capital of Tepic to Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, when it smashed into the trailer and exploded into flames, said Nayarit fire chief Jose Lopez, who said that investigation would be launched to determine the cause of the crash but it appeared likely that the bus was speeding. The area is often foggy, he added...

Rolls In * USA - National School Bus Safety Week

Ghent,WV,USA -WVNS/TV, by Rontina McCann -17 Oct 2006: -- It's estimated that 23 million kids acorss the United States start their day with a trip on a school bus... That's why the National Transportation and Safety Administration hosts National School Bus Safety Week... The theme this year is "I see the driver and the driver sees me". Every year, transportation officicals and educators spend the week reminding kids and adults about school bus safety...

PASSENGERS' SATISFACTION

* UK - Late-night buses to meet rise in demand
Leeds,Yorkshire,UK -Yorkshire Post Today -17 Oct 2006: -- A bus route serving Hallamshire Hospital is being run later into the night in response to soaring passenger numbers... Bus operator Stagecoach has seen numbers using the 120 service, on the route between Halfway, Sheffield city centre and Fulwood, grow by 62 per cent in the space of a year... That means passengers will be able to board the service as late as 20 past midnight at the hospital to travel to Halfway...

* UK - 'Bus-friendly' north east praised
Aberdeen,Scotland,UK -BBC News -18 Oct 206: -- Aberdeen is one of the most bus-friendly cities in Scotland, according to a report... A survey commended Aberdeen for promoting bus services and encouraging more passengers to climb aboard... On The Move 2006, by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), praised the city for its forward-thinking attempts to develop bus travel... (Picture: Aberdeen was found to be one of the UK's most bus-friendly cities)

BUSES' PROSPECTS PURCHASES

* Philippines - Cebu bus plan
Cebu,Philippines -The Sun.Star, by Nini B. Cabaero -17 Oct 2006: -- The Mandaue City Government is resurrecting the plan to use buses for a mass transport system in the city. The system is called the bus rapid transit (BRT), a term Mayor Thadeo Ouano first pushed in a business meeting last August... The plan is intended to address road congestion and the need for commuters to have alternative means of transportation. Except that buses are meant for long-distance travel and so the BRT, if it pushes through, must run beyond Mandaue City; and commuters familiar with the mostly narrow roads of Metro Cebu can easily picture the traffic once buses hog the lanes...

DANGEROUS DRIVERS

* USA - One student in serious condition after Mississippi bus wreck
Summit,MISS,USA -WREG (Memphis,TN) -16 Oct 2006: -- Authorities say 23 children and a school bus driver were hospitalized on Monday after the bus collided with a truck carrying live chickens... One of the children was transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson in serious condition... The sheriff's office says the bus was taking students to North Pike Middle School when it struck a Sanderson Farms chicken truck at about 7:40 a.m. today...

* Tanzania - 11 killed in a bus crash
Dar es Salaam,Tanzania -News24 (South Africa) -16 Oct 2006: -- At least 11 people were killed and 25 injured after a crowded bus in which they were travelling from Zambia to Kenya overturned in southwest Tanzania, said police on Monday... They said the accident took place late on Sunday near the Tanzanian town of Mbeya, some 800km south of the country's commercial capital of Dar es Salaam... Road accidents were common in the east African nation and police usually blamed them on violations of the traffic regulations, poor road or vehicle conditions and exhaustion among long-distance drivers... In June, two horrific accidents, one involving an overloaded bus and one involving a cargo truck, killed at least 84 people in northern Tanzania...

"GREEN" NEWS

* USA - Bio-diesel buses to help prevent pollution, provide student rides from clubs to home
Nacogdoches,TX,USA -SFA The Pine Log Online, by Wesley Crider -Oct 16, 2006: -- Paul Daniel, the president of the East Texas Philosophical Society and Bellaire junior, is heading the effort to switch the shuttle buses that currently serve Nacogdoches to the new fuel. He will be speaking about bio-diesel to the SGA and answering questions at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Birdwell Building... The new bio-fueled shuttles will be utilized in a program providing transportation between several residential locations and various local bars and clubs during evening hours. The vehicles will be called "Bacchus Buses," after the Roman God of wine and intoxication...

* USA - Nuvera to launch hydrogen-fueled bus at Logan
Boston,MAS,USA -The Boston Globe -Oct 16, 2006: -- A local company is getting a $4.9 million federal grant to build and test a bus that runs on hydrogen fuel cells at Logan International Airport... Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc. was awarded the Federal Transit Authority grant, which it will use to outfit an existing Massport shuttle bus with a fuel cell, and to build a refueling station for the bus at Logan, the first such station in the state and only the second in New England, the company said...

"I am the commissioner" - USA - Faster Buses And Other Plans For The Future

New York,NY,USA -Gotham Gazette, by Iris Weinshall -Oct 16, 2006: -- The New York City Department of Transportation, of which I am the commissioner, is responsible for, among other things, a transportation network that, for the most part, was put in place decades and even centuries ago... Our infrastructure requires an enormous investment just to maintain a state of good repair... While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides bus service, the ability of those buses to serve New Yorkers depends on their ability to move through our crowded streets. In the last two years, along with the state transportation department, the city and MTA have been working hand in hand on a bus rapid transit initiative... We will introduce measures to allow buses to move more quickly, including colored bus lanes, improved bus lane enforcement, signal prioritization, wider bus stop spacing, next-bus information, and quicker fare collection. Very shortly, we will announce five corridors for pilot bus rapid transit. We expect to implement plans for two of the corridors by fall of 2007...

Security - Australia - Guards for Darwin’s buses

Darwin,NT,Australia -Australasian Bus & Coach -16 Oct 2006: -- In April this year the NT Government announced it would employ four dedicated security officers for the Darwin bus network. It was expected the security guards would be trained and working by September... However the union representing bus drivers in the Northern Territory says it is dismayed at how long it is taking to introduce the security guards. TWU spokesman Alex Gallagher says the delay is compromising the security of both drivers and the commuters and the situation needs to be resolved quickly...

HERO

* USA - Bus driver to receive award for fiery rescue
CRANFILLS GAP,TX,USA -The Waco Tribune Herald (Waco,TX), by Mike Anderson -Oct 15, 2006: -- People in this Bosque County community call Abraham Martinez a hero for saving a student from a burning school bus. He says he just was doing his job... The incident happened in late September as Martinez was driving ninth-grade student Leslie Sims, secured in a wheelchair, home at the end of the school day... When Martinez stopped the bus at the city’s main intersection, its engine stalled and burst into flames... As smoke filled the small bus’s cabin, Martinez rushed to the back and pulled the 14-year-old student from her wheelchair, Cranfills Gap Independent School District Superintendent Carla Sigler said...

Honking Horns - USA - Neighbor makes noise, so do buses

San Jose, CA,USA -The San Jose Mercury News, by Scott Herhold -Oct. 15, 2006: -- Tessa Woodmansee and her husband, Cat, knew there was a bus yard across the street when they moved into their Stockton Avenue home in central San Jose early in 2005. They just didn't know how loud it could be... What started as a tiff between the Woodmansees and the Royal Coach Tours over idling buses at night has become a full-fledged neighborhood brawl that may demand intervention from the San Jose City Council, or maybe just an intervention, period... It's literally a honking mess. The Woodmansees and more than 40 of their neighbors say they're being harassed because Royal asks its bus drivers and employees to honk when leaving the yard -- allegedly for pedestrian safety and testing horns...

BUSES' PROSPECTS PURCHASES

* Canada - 100 more buses in 2007
Toronto,ONT,Canada -The Toronto Sun, by ROB GRANATSTEIN -15 Oct 2006: -- The TTC will get 100 more buses to add to its fleet, but not until November 2007. In the meantime, any new buses go right into service to replace old buses being pulled off the road...

TECHNO NEWS

* India - Global positioning system for MTC buses soon
Tamil Nadu,Chennai,India -The Hindu, by P. Oppili -15 Oct 2006: -- The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) plans to fit 50 of its buses with global positioning system (GPS) equipment soon... The GPS equipment will serve many purposes including information about the operations, and tracking of the vehicle movement... International Institute of Information Technology, a Bangalore-based company would be providing the software for the project, MTC authorities said. The specialised hardware can be improvised to meet the needs of the metropolitan operations, they added... (Photo, by K.Pichumani - FUTURE IS HERE: MTC officials checking the functioning of the GPS system installed in one of the buses at Anna Nagar depot)

Drug buses on the way - Australia - Preventing dangerous driving

Perth,WA,Australia -The Sunday Times.au, by Joe Spagnolo -Oct 14, 2006: -- WA motorists who drive under the influence of drugs face fines of up to $5000 and jail - part of radical new laws that will allow police to conduct random roadside tests for illicit drugs... The new laws would allow police to stop drivers and take samples of their saliva to test for tetrahydrocannabinol, the active component in cannabis, as well as speed and ecstasy... Offenders would not be permitted to drive for 24 hours after being booked by police and anyone refusing a test would be charged... Drug-driving is prevalent in WA, with a survey estimating that 17 per cent of drivers aged 20-29 had driven a vehicle while under the influence of drugs. Monash University researchers found drugs other than alcohol were present in 26.7 per cent of 3398 drivers killed in WA, NSW and Victoria... Random testing of drivers for alcohol over the decades had saved lives and he hoped the new drug laws would do the same...

"GREEN" NEWS

* USA - Davis District to make school buses greener
Salt Lake City,UT,USA -Deseret News, by Tiffany Erickson & Joseph Dougherty -15 Oct 2006: -- Grant to pay for installing emissions cleaning equipment... Davis School District will be the only school district in Utah and one of only a few districts nationwide to retrofit school buses to be more environmentally friendly... Thanks to a $200,000 grant from Chevron, the district plans to purchase and install emissions cleaning equipment on some of the district's 230 school buses... Brian Larsen, Davis' transportation director said the newer buses are already equipped with the filters, but older buses aren't...

RIDERS' WELLNESS WORLDWIDE

* Canada - Program eyed to boost bus ridership
Nanaimo,BC, Canada -The Nanaimo News, by Jenn Marshall -Oct 14 2006: -- Increased ridership and extended Nanaimo Regional Transit bus services could be offered in the region if a new employer bus pass initiative gains popularity... Dennis Trudeau, general manager of transportation services for the Regional District of Nanaimo, said ProPass is a system where large employers can deduct off their employees' paycheques a small amount for monthly bus passes... It is an entirely voluntary service, and the passes would be offered to the employees at a reduced rate - just under $50 per month when the regular amount is $58 per month for an adult...

* UK - Buses are getting better — report
Blackburn,England,UK -This Is Lancashire, by Staff Reporter -15 Oct 2006: -- Passenegers on Bolton's bus network are enjoying an improved service, according to a Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) report... At Bolton Local Transport Public Forum, transport bosses revealed there had been improvements in reliability and punctuality... Reliability - the percentage of bus servuices that ran - reached 99 per cent on buses between April and June this year. The figure is a seven per cent improvement on the same period in 2005... Punctuality has increased by two per cent since December 2005, reaching 84 per cent between January and March, but dipping to 83 per cent in June this year...

* Canada - Extra gas tax cash fuels LTC
London,Canada -The London Free Press, by JOHN MINER -Oct 14, 2006: -- With Ontario pumping $9.1 million to London, transit officials can expand routes and add buses... London's share of the provincial gasoline tax is jumping to $9.1 million, up from $6.8 million last year... The money is being funneled to the city's transit system, allowing the London Transit Commission to add buses and expand routes... LTC chairperson Gary Williams said the money helped increase ridership in London by four per cent last year and the trend is expected to continue this year...

* Canada - T.O. gridlock above and below ground - The better way: Shoe-horning you in
Toronto,ONT,Canada -The Toronto Sun, by ROB GRANATSTEIN -15 Oct 2006: -- It's crunch time on the TTC... Across Toronto, riders are pouring onto subways, buses and streetcars, far surpassing the TTC's expectations, pouring extra money into the fare box... It should be good news, right? "It's a good news, bad news disaster," said TTC chairman Howard Moscoe. The TTC budgeted for 435 million riders, but will likely see 450 million this year. The result is that in the peak periods it's a squish sandwich on the vehicles. And people are getting left behind...

DANGEROUS MOTORISTS

* USA - School Bus Accident Sends 25 to Hospital
STEUBENVILLE,WV,USA —Wheeling News Register (Wheeling,WV), by JONATHAN FREI -14 Oct 2006: -- A head-on collision between an Edison Local School District school bus and a private vehicle Friday sent 25 victims to Trinity Medical Center West... Edison Superintendent Lisa Carmicheal said there were 29 pupils on the bus, about half from Stanton Middle School and half from Edison High School... she said. “It’s my understanding that the driver of the car was cited for left-of-center,” said...

* USA - 7 Taken To Hospitals After Peter Pan Bus Crash
NEW YORK,NY,USA -WNBC -Oct 15, 2006: -- A Peter Pan tour bus collided with a car early Sunday morning in Manhattan, and seven people were taken to area hospitals... According to NewsChannel 4, the seven suffered minor injuries, and they were among 24 people aboard the bus at the time of the accident... (See photo)

DANGEROUS TRIPS

* India - Eight school children die, 20 hurt as bus plunges into gorge
Dehradun,India -">Press Trust of India/The Hindustan Times -Oct 14, 2006: -- Eight school children were killed and 20 injured, five of them seriously, when their bus fell into a gorge in Chamoli district of Uttaranchal on Saturday... Eight children died instantly, he said adding the bus was carrying mostly school children... The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known, he said...

SECURITY

* UK - Dispersal order aims to clean up bus station
Swindon,Wiltshire,UK -This is Swindon, by Gareth Bethell -14 Oct 2006: -- Drunks and drug addicts who gather at the bus station are giving people a bad first impression of the town.... That is the view of people who work in the area who say it is becoming a no-go zone. As of Monday police will be able to move any troublemakers along thanks to a new dispersal order... Those who have watched the rise of antisocial behaviour at the station are hoping the order will help improve their lives...

* USA - Traffic, construction pose hazards for school buses
Naples,FL,USA -The Naples Daily News, by Jamie Henline -Oct. 16, 2006: -- School buses used to be called “cookie cutter” buses in the 1960s and 1970s because they were so poorly made, Jack Shelton, executive director of transportation for the Lee County School District, told School Board members last week... That’s not the case anymore. The federal government mandated in 1978 stringent construction standards for the buses, and mechanics now use laptops and boxes filled with at least $10,000 worth of tools to make any repairs, Shelton said... Lee school bus drivers also go through rigorous training before they get behind the wheel of the yellow behemoths, including 40 hours of training to obtain a commercial driver’s license and 40 hours of training on the school buses...

* Australia - Union says Govt slow to implement Darwin bus police
Darwin,NT,Australia -ABC Online -Oct 16, 2006: -- The union representing bus drivers in the Northern Territory says it is dismayed at how long it is taking to introduce security guards on Darwin's buses... The NT Government announced in April it would spend $330,000 on four dedicated security officers for the bus network... The Transport Workers Union (TWU) says it expected the security guards would be trained and working by September... TWU spokesman Alex Gallagher says the delay is compromising the security of both drivers and the commuters...

Strike - UK - Hits the buses

Sunderland,UK -The Sunderland Echo -13 Oct 2006: -- Bus passengers are facing delayed journeys after staff at Sunderland's Stagecoach depot voted to strike over a pay dispute... About 250 GMB union members at the company's city depot voted in favour of two one-day strikes, due to be held on Monday and Friday, October 23 and 27... (Picture: Passengers face problems with the Stagecoach pay dispute)

Recall - Japan - Truck maker Hino Motors was recalling mid-sized buses

Tokyio,Japan -The Houston Chronicle (Houston,TX,USA)/AP -Oct. 12, 2006: -- Japanese truck maker Hino Motors was recalling mid-sized buses due to seat problems... The automaker, based in Tokyo, reported to the Transport Ministry on Thursday that it will recall 131 buses of two models -"Rainbow" and "Liesse"- produced between September 2004 and May 2006, the ministry said on its Web site.. Folding chairs on Hino's buses were not appropriately attached and in some cases passengers trying to lean on them may get injured as the back of the chairs fall, the ministry said...

Fight - UK - Service Vs. Community

Residents fight buses axe with community service
Leeds,Yorkshire,UK -The Yorkshire Post Today, by Paul Whitehouse -11 Oct 2006: -- A community is fighting back against the decision to axe their bus service – by setting up their own alternative... It argued the buses were little used and frequently failed to cover operating costs and also said there was potential to use the vehicles and drivers more effectively elsewhere... But the decision left many elderly residents struggling to cope with walking the hilly terrain in the area previously served by the bus and residents decided to launch their own service...

New Buses - Syria - Receives New Buses from China and Iran

Lattakia,Syria -SANA -Oct 11, 2006: -- Syrian Ministry of Transport signed a contract with a Chinese company to import 600 passenger buses to Lattakia, Damascus, Homs and Aleppo cities... He indicated that Lattakia's share of buses will be increased, particularly after carrying out another contract signed last month between the Ministry of Transport and Iranian Company of Amiran to import 2,000 buses to Damascus and Aleppo...

Infraestructure - India - Vehicle segregation scheme launched for high-capacity buses

New Delhi,India -The Hindu -10 Oct 2006: -- To enable high-capacity buses to ply comfortably on the high-capacity bus system road here between Delhi Gate and Ambedkar Nagar, remodelling of the road is being undertaken to segregate vehicles like rickshaws, bicycles, two-wheelers and cars... C & C Constructions Limited, which has been engaged by the Delhi Government to construct this 15-km stretch, said the uniqueness of this project would be the remodelling of the road to segregate vehicles...

TechnoNews - USA - Internet Available On Some UTA Buses

Salt Lake City,UT,USA -KUTV -Oct 10, 2006: -- The next time you get on a UTA bus you may also be able to get online. That's because four Utah Transit Authority buses now have wireless Internet access... UTA officials say the service is part of an experiment to attract more people to take the bus... Officials say equipment for each bus cost about five-thousand dollars...

Reduce Buses - Philippines - On EDSA or lose budget, LTFRB warned

Philippines -ABS CBN News/The Philippine Star, by By MARVIN SY -9 Oct 2006: -- The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) must make good on its word to reduce the number of buses along EDSA by the end of the year if it wants to see a centavo of its P185.76 million budget for 2007... During the hearing on the budget of the Department of Transportation and Communications at the Senate Monday, the LTFRB was called upon to provide an update on its commitment to reduce the buses along EDSA...