Dangerous Driver * USA - Several injured in NJ Transit bus crash
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Labels: dangerous drivers
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow:
In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
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Labels: dangerous drivers
Columbus,Oh,USA -Associated Press/The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron,OH), by MATT LEINGANG -Mar. 31, 2007: -- Gov. Ted Strickland will sign a $7.8 billion transportation budget Saturday that creates new regulations for school bus drivers, his office said Friday... The Ohio Education Association, the state's largest school employees' union, and other education groups had opposed the stepped-up regulations, saying they are too narrow and arbitrary and should be open to more debate... One provision in the bill bars school bus owners from allowing anyone to drive a bus or van for seven years after certain traffic violations, including driving under the influence or committing homicide or another felony with a vehicle... A second provision requires owners of a school bus or van to obtain seven-year driving record checks on all their drivers and annual records thereafter. Current policy requires a six-year review...
Labels: regulations
Stevenage,Herts,UK -The Cambridgeshire Times -30 March 2007: -- A Policeman said he was shocked after a revealed one in six of Cambridgeshire's school coaches have defects... Twelve of 73 buses checked during the two-week operation were found to have serious defects, with three not allowed to be driven until repairs were carried out... Spot checks were carried out by officers and staff from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), on behalf of the Eastern region's Traffic Commissioner based in Cambridge... Of the 73 checked, 37 coaches were found to be clear of defects and 24 were issued with advisory defect notices, a recommendation to fix faults such as chipped windscreens... But nine coaches were given delayed prohibition notices, allowing 12 hours to fix the fault and to pass an MoT...
Labels: safety
Pataskala,OH,USA — The Newark Advocate (Newark,OH), by CHAD KLIMACK -30 Mar 2007: -- The district’s bus drivers hailed the news... “I’m just glad to see the district did its research,” bus driver Linnie Milligan said. “I understand the district had to do this for the public to make sure there were no doors left open. It’s good news for us, and good news for the safety of the students.”... The district’s decision to explore privatization irked Milligan and many other bus drivers, who flocked to school board meetings to let it be known they did not support the move. The drivers argued the move would cripple the district’s oversight of the transportation department and cost drivers their jobs... Superintendent Forest Yocum said the district decided to consider privatization because of comments from concerned residents...
Labels: Privatisation Fails
How can Brooklyn children be kept safe on school buses?
Labels: safety
Berkeley,CA,USA -The Berkeley Daily Planet, by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor -30 Mar 2007: -- AC Transit bus riders and drivers seeking to halt the Transit District’s purchase of more Van Hool buses got a distinctly chillier reception this week from the Metropolitan Transit Commission than they did when they first brought the issue to the MTC earlier this month... And Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who had earlier said that he was not in favor of purchasing from the Belgian-based Van Hool when there was an American bus manufacturer—Gillig—headquarterd in Hayward, sharply lectured the AC Transit dissenters that their proper forum was not the MTC, but the AC Transit Board of Directors...
Labels: buses purchasing
Final regulation mandating electronic stability control on all vehicles
Labels: seat belts
Suva,Fiji -The Fiji Times -March 31, 2007: -- About 60 per cent of buses in a Northern town do not meet the Land Transport Authority's standard of vehicle condition... LTA's route safety officer in Labasa Alfred Wiliame said buses inspected as part of Operation Daumaka, held last month, revealed that about 60 per cent were in bad condition and needed maintenance work...
Labels: repairs
* USA - Ken-Ton Schools Buses to get upgrades to reduce emissions
Labels: green news
Provo,Utah,USA -AP/The Daily Herald/KSL-TV (Salt Lake City,UT) -March 29, 2007: -- The Provo School District already has a bus driver shortage, but that shortage is about to become even more pronounced after classes end at Brigham Young University... Nearly 35 percent of the district's bus drivers are students, and many of them want to quit when final exams end, nearly a month before public school lets out for summer... The district is offering $750 bonuses to new drivers and to those who haven't missed a day during the year...
Labels: drivers shortage
A 16-year-old girl has averted disaster for a busload of school children and passengers
Labels: heros
* Ireland - 'Three hundred new buses needed to meet demand'
Labels: purchase prospects
Buses Are Fully Accessible And Environmentally Friendly
Labels: new buses fleet
New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by WILLIAM NEUMAN -March 29, 2007: -- A $5.2 million program to equip city buses with security cameras has been delayed because tests of the digital camera system have turned up gaps in the recorded images, transit officials said yesterday... New York City Transit announced the program last November, saying it had hired Integrian, a North Carolina company, to equip 450 Manhattan buses with cameras that would store images for 90 days...
Labels: safety
Stumbled upon the electric vehicle 'Elephants' Graveyard'...
Labels: old buses
Manila,Philippines -Reuters Canada (Toronto,Ont) -Mar 27, 2007: -- Two armed men took over a school bus in the Philippine capital Manila on Wednesday and were holding 32 children and two teachers hostage, police and television reports said... It appeared they wanted to highlight the lack of educational opportunities for children from a local slum community. A local politician, Senator Ramon Revilla, entered the bus to talk to the gunmen and try to persuade them to surrender... One of the hostage-takers told television he would surrender if he was promised that 145 children at a day care center in the Tondo suburb were provided with education...
Labels: shool bus seizeds
... wearing her usual two squirts of Very Irrésistible by Givenchy, a perfume billed as bringing out a woman’s “spontaneity, audacity and sensuality”...
Labels: Bus riders stories
* USA - More buses to serve northern New Mexico
Labels: buses purchase prospects
Albury,New South Wales,Australia -Border Mail, by BRAD WORRALL -27 Mar 2007: -- Police have foreshadowed early morning booze buses for the Border in a bid to catch those still recovering from a bender... In four days from Thursday Wodonga police breath-tested more than 1600 drivers... Only four were over the limit but more telling was all were nabbed in late afternoon and early evening...
Labels: controls
New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by KEN BELSON -March 26, 2007: -- ... For a growing number of commuters who live in the city and work in Hempstead, Hicksville and beyond, the N6 and other routes run by the Long Island Bus system are lifelines. The better known mass transit option, the Long Island Rail Road, is geared toward taking commuters to and from Manhattan during the rush, so service in the opposite direction is often thin. The train is also more expensive and does not serve hubs like Melville... (Photo by Librado Romero/The New York Times -- The Long Island Bus system, whose ridership is at record highs, is a lifeline for a growing number of commuters who live in New York City and work on Long Island)
Labels: service
* Turkmenistan - To purchase 35 buses from Iran Khodro
Labels: buses purchasing
Southern Pines,NC,USA -Southern Pines Pilot -24 Mar 2007: -- About 110 Moore County school system bus drivers and monitors recently participated in the School Bus Watch training on identifying and reporting situations that may present a danger to students... School Bus Watch was developed for the school bus industry by representatives from the National Association for Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), and the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) in cooperation with the Highway Watch program. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the American Trucking Association...
Labels: watch program
Hong Kong,CHI -Automotive World -28 March, 2007: -- Two of Scania's three-axle double-deckers are going on trial in Hong Kong's city centre... The models were jointly developed by Scania and Hong Kong bus operator Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) to meet the local conditions... The three-axle bus is powered...
Labels: production
Berkeley,CA,USA -The Berkeley Daily Planet, by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor -23 Mar 2007: -- Ignoring complaints and controversy over 50 40-foot Belgian-made buses already in the pipeline, AC Transit directors this week quickly approved a staff recommendation to trade in 10 currently-operating buses for 10 more buses manufactured by the Van Hool company, even before the prototype for the original new bus order has been built and approved...
Labels: buses purchasing
Hong Kong,China -The Standard, by Winnie Chong -March 24, 2007: -- The Legislative Council's transport panel has passed a nonbinding motion calling on the government to enact legislation that will make it mandatory for bus passengers to wear safety belts... The motion, which was passed Friday by six votes to nil with three abstentions, was proposed after legislators accused the Transport Department and bus operators of failing to enhance passenger safety despite a series of recent serious bus accidents...
Labels: safety
Montreal,Quebec,Canada -CBC News -March 23, 2007: -- Montreal's transit corporation is switching to biodiesel fuel and buying hybrid buses in an attempt to green its fleet and cut carbon emissions... All Société de transport de Montréal (STM) buses will run on biodiesel fuel by 2008, and the transition should be fairly inexpensive, said president Claude Trudel... Bus engines can run on biodiesel fuel without requiring any modifications, and the cost of a fill-up should be the same...
Labels: green news
Khon Kaen accident echoes Saraburi tragedy that left 30 dead, 23 injured
Labels: dangerous buses
Middle School Students Hailed As
Labels: heros
Thousand Oaks,CA,USA -The Thousand Oaks Acorn, by Nancy Needham -22 Mar 2007: -- The number of people on the bus grows and grows... Thousand Oaks Transit has made improvements that have resulted in an increase in ridership... Among the service improvements that get credit for TOT's new popularity is the availability of Spanish-language posters and brochures promoting the service and providing information on bus route schedules, said Grahame Watts, project manager... Another big plus is the emphasis on making sure buses show up on time...
Labels: satisfaction
London,UK -The Endfield Independient -21 Mar 2007: -- It's smart, it saves you money and time, it's worth more than £500 and you can win one. It's Oyster and your number one local paper is offering readers the chance to get one for free... Oyster is Transport for London's smart card which gives you ticket-free access to the capital's bus, Tube and DLR network... But that's not all it does. It can save you time and money. Lots of both, in fact. Research has shown the average bus user would be about £220 better off every year if everyone started using Oyster cards...
Labels: cards
Kent,UK -News Shopper, by Alison White -21 Mar 2007: -- Kent Police officers will travel on Fastrack buses in a bid to cut down crime on public transport... Plain-clothed and uniformed officers and PCSOs will takes action if any offences occur while they are on the bus... They will also patrol Arriva vehicles as part of the new scheme...
Labels: safety
Too many people are driving on the state's roads
Labels: report
San Marcos,TX,USA -The University Star, by Chelsea Juarez -21 Mar 2007: -- The University StarTexas State will receive 23 new buses designed with features to provide security, comfort and a smoother ride for passengers... Robert Garza, general manager of First Transit at Texas State, the company that owns tram provider Cognisa, said he is excited about the innovative features the Texas State Bobcat Trams will provide and hopes drivers and passengers will be too... (Jennifer Williams/Star Photo. UPGRADING: With numerous features to increase ease of use, comfort and Texas State’s modern image, the university’s 23 new buses will be phased into use through May)
Labels: new buses fleet
Manatee,Fl,USA -The DailyTech (Chicago,IL) -20 Mar 2007: -- Hybrid automobile are slowly starting to gain acceptance and traction in the U.S. auto market and it now looks as though the Manatee County School District in Florida is going hybrid-crazy as well -- on a much larger scale. The school system is welcoming two plug-in hybrid school buses, Wouk and Limpio, into the 250-vehicle fleet...
Labels: hybrids
Santiago,Chile -The Santiago Times (subscription) -March 20, 2007: -- More than 120 protests have taken place since the new Transantiago public transport system came into place over 40 days ago, with riots occurring this weekend in Villa Francia and Cerro Navia... Transport Minister Sergio Bitar sought to pacify Santiago’s citizens by extending 73 bus routes and introducing 300 more buses, but Santiaguinians are still unhappy... On Monday, Metro executive Jorge Cornejo was attacked by angry passengers at La Cisterna, after the station was temporarily shut due to overcrowding... Protests against the Transantiago have not generally been violent – but residents of Chile’s capital are certainly making their views heard. Most of the complaints are directed at the infrequency and in some cases the total absence of buses in the new system...
Labels: passengers complains
* Thailand - At least 28 Killed in Thai Bus Fire
Labels: dangerous buses
Washington,DC,USA -WTOL (Toledo,OH)/Associated Press -21 Mar 2007: -- Congressional Democrats called for better inspections and tougher standards for bus operators today because of the recent crash in Atlanta that killed five college baseball players from Ohio... Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio asked why the government hasn't implemented long-standing recommendations for restraints such as seat belts or stronger windows that could prevent passengers from being ejected. Many victims in the Atlanta crash were ejected... But the top Republican on the subcommittee cautioned against over-regulation and praised the bus industry's safety...
Labels: safety
* USA - Crestwood board approves purchase of two new buses
Labels: purchase prospects
Hartford,CT,USA -The Hartford Courant, by GARY LIBOW -March 19, 2007: -- Mass transit advocates on Monday unveiled a five-year, $309 million plan for enhancing commuter bus service statewide that they say would boost the number of riders significantly... Transit for Connecticut -- a New Haven-based coalition of 20-plus business, social service, environmental and transportation organizations across Connecticut -- recommends the state expand express bus services to major employment centers, and increase operating hours and frequency of service on heavily traveled routes. It's also urging increased weekend and evening bus service, expanded Dial-A-Ride options, more commuter connections with rail stations, and increased interregional service to improve access to jobs... Curt Johnson, of Connecticut Fund for the Environment, said investing in clean diesel bus systems could reduce dangerous emissions 80 to 90 percent by 2010...
Labels: green news
Four school buses and coaches have been taken off the road following a police sting
Labels: off roads
No... It's Toby, publisher's grandson ...!!!
Labels: internal affairs
Goldfish, Bicycles, Envelopes of Cash? Just Another Day at City Transit Lost-And-Founds
Labels: forgot items
New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by DEBRA NUSSBAUM -March 18, 2007: -- School buses remain the safest form of transportation to and from school, according to various federal statistics, but regulation of the buses is uneven. No federal laws govern whether safety belts are required on school buses, how often the buses must be inspected or how many years they can be on the road. On a state level, there are significant differences in such laws — New York and New Jersey require seat belts on buses, for example, but Connecticut does not. Districts can have their own rules, too... But whenever there are accidents involving a bus, like the one in Bucks County, Pa., in January in which 17 students were injured, parents and educators alike take another look at bus safety... (Photo by Laura Pedrick for The New York Times - Students who ride school buses in New Jersey, like these children in Cherry Hill, must wear seat belts)
Labels: rules
Lima,Peru -El Comercio Peru -16 March, 2007: -- New passenger buses that run on natural gas will be tested on Lima's busy and congested streets with the hope of successfully passing all of the required elements that are needed to officially circulate in the Peruvian capital... Authorities from the municipalities of Lima and Callao are confident that this alternative can prove to be beneficial to government authorities, transportation companies, passengers, and above all else, the environment... (Photo: Municipality of Lima - Natural gas buses are currently being evaluated by municipal authorities from Lima and Callao)
Labels: green news
London,UK -MayorWatch -16 March 2007: -- Bus users in London will be able to view a new 30-second film about sign language produced by Deaf people in support of British Sign Language Recognition Day... The film will air on over 350 buses across London between on March 18 – 19...
Labels: Sign Language Buses
AC Transit latest bus line in SF Bay Area to add or test Wi-Fi
Labels: technonews
Washington,DC,USA -The Massillon Independent (Massillon,OH)/AP -17 Mar 2007: -- Suspected members of extremist groups have signed up as school bus drivers in the United States, counterterror officials said Friday, in a cautionary bulletin to police. An FBI spokesman said, “Parents and children have nothing to fear.”... Asked about the alert notice, the FBI’s Rich Kolko said, “There are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern,” although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids’ safety...
Labels: terrorist drivers
* Uganda - Scandinavia to import more buses
Labels: purchase prospects
Istanbul,Turkey -Today's Zaman, by İbrahim Balta -16 Mar 2007: -- Initiatives of Chinese firms to access the Turkish auto market have been blocked. Chinese Jinling double-decker buses, which are produced by Zhong Da, carried passengers for only two weeks in İstanbul’s streets before they were outlawed... The Turkish Patent Agency (TSE) cancelled the buses’ certificate of conformity and the İstanbul Electric Trolley and Tunnels Administration (İETT) banned the usage of these buses for public transportation... The price of domestically manufactured double-deckers, which are already used for public transportation, is 165,000 euros and the price of a Hungarian bus is 190,000-200,000 euros... “If I would sell the buses for 140,000 euros rather than 121,000 euros they would not be banned. The decision was made because of those who lost their benefits wanted to pressure [the government],” Ali Rıza Üstün, owner of the İstanbul Motor Company, brought the buses to Turkey claimed... He said that he had faced many bureaucratic obstacles when he wanted to import buses from China since the beginning. Üstün added automobile dealers in Turkey were negotiating with Chinese firms and he claimed the bans would be revoked after they dealt with those firms...
Labels: bureaucratic obstacles
* China - Bus plunges into reservoir, 22 dead
Labels: dangerous drivers
USA -Today's Trucking, by Rolf Lockwood -March 14, 2007: -- Not surprisingly, hybrid diesel/electric trucks dominated the Work Truck Show and 43rd annual convention of the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) in Indianapolis last week. It was no surprise because the hybrid truck is getting great traction these days. As the technology improves, and as every truck maker under the sun rolls out a variation on the theme, it’s attracting eyeballs left, right, and center... And calculators are beginning to buzz, given the promise of fuel savings from 30% on up to 60% and more for vocational trucks. There’s even a promise of 5-8% for over-the-road machines...
Labels: comments
Canada -Truck News, by Lou Smyrlis -15 Mar 2007: -- Costs for Canada’s largest carriers are continuing to rise faster than revenues and that should be cause for concern on two fronts... First, obviously, because cost containment is proving particularly difficult and will remain so because fuel prices remain volatile, equipment costs are on the rise due to the new emission standards for heavy duty truck engines and labor costs are expected to retain their upward momentum... A major concern for the long term has to be the change in trade patterns we’ve experienced since 2002... But this performance was almost completely offset by the slowdown in trade with our major trade partner and the engine of growth for many fleets over the past decade: the US... While serving the US market will obviously continue to be key to carrier revenues – it would be foolish to ignore our largest trade partner and the world’s largest economy – it may also be wise to start re-investing in the infrastructure necessary to serve our national economy. In fact domestic – and actually intra-provincial – traffic has been the fastest growing traffic the last few years...
Labels: opinion
Columbus,OH,USA -Associated Press/Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati,OH) -14 Mar 2007: -- Employers would review complete driving histories of school bus driver applicants and candidates couldn't have a drunken driving conviction in the past six years under a proposal approved Tuesday by the state school board... School districts and private busing companies currently have access to three years of driving history, and state law excludes candidates with too many moving violations or a drunken driving conviction within the past two years... The state school board on Tuesday unanimously approved some of the tougher standards proposed by Pete Japikse, director of student transportation for the Ohio Department of Education...
Labels: rules
Yellowstone National Park,Wyoming,USA -The Billings Gazette (Billings,MT), by MIKE STARK -14 Mar 2007: -- After a decades-long absence, vintage yellow tour buses return to Yellowstone National Park this summer... Eight buses, built in the 1930s and refurbished over the past year, will provide tours for Yellowstone visitors starting June 4... Though many of the parts have been restored, the buses include modern additions such as heaters, lights and other modifications to meet today's federal safety standards... (Photo courtesy Xanterra Parks and Resorts - Eight refurbished buses from Yellowstone National Park's past, including this one, will return to the park for tours this summer)
Labels: iconic buses
641 Blueline buses challaned in 2006
Labels: impoundeds
"Anything that can be done now to prevent future accidents is significant": Bluffton University President James Harder
Labels: safety
GPS system will track students entering and leaving the buses
Labels: technonews
Kingston,Jamaica -JIS/Government of Jamaica, Jamaica Information Service - March 12, 2007: -- Some 24 new buses, to be used to transport persons to and from Sabina Park and the Trelawny Multi-purpose stadium, during the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC), were handed over to the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), today (March 9), by Minister of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Robert Pickersgill... The buses, which were acquired from the Government of Belgium, will go into regular service after Cricket World Cup, to boost the service to regular commuters...
Labels: new buses fleet
Lahore,Pakistan -The Daily Times, by Rana Kashif -13 Mar 2007: -- The Punjab Transport Department (PTD) planned to run a 12-CNG buses service on The Mall on March 23... He said a private company, a franchised bus company, has prepared these buses, launching this pilot project... He said the PTD had decided to replace the public transport buses with the CNG buses. The buses would be run as a test service and if it received positive results, more buses would be launched...
Labels: green news
* USA - Dozens wounded in bus collision in
Labels: dangerous drivers
Peoria-Bloomington,IL,USA -Central Illinois Proud/WMBD/WYZZ TV, by Rachel Stein -12 Mar 2007: -- More commuters are choosing to take a bus than pony up the cash for gas. Mass transit nationwide is seeing its highest level of riders in fifty years says the American Public Transportation Association in a report released today... Local Transit Authorities say the trend to leave the car for a bus is "catching on" in the heartland as well... Ridership in Central Illinois has exceeded the three million mark year after year. Transit Authorities say they've seen a sharp increase in the last four years which goes hand-in-hand with the rising price at the pumps... On the other hand, Peoria area commuters took 200-thousand bus rides and Twin Cities passengers took nearly 100-thousand in the month of January... Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System says that's a seven percent jump from last year. Transit authorities say the increase in riders will have them adding stops and even new routes...
Labels: report
NSW,Australia -Australasian Bus & Coach -14 March 2007: -- In the final run-up to the NSW election Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, has played down the importance of transport, putting water and health at the top of the priority list, above education, transport, and law and order. He is not going to announce an integrated transport plan before the election...
Labels: comments
Penang,Malaysia -Inter Press Service (subscription -Rome,Italy), by Anil Netto -Mar 12, 2007: -- A state-owned bus company is set to take over public transport in this traffic-clogged northern state after a concerted civil society campaign highlighted the failure of the existing privatised, deregulated bus service. But public transport campaigners are not about to celebrate... They are wary of a federal-level firm, albeit government-owned, coming in to manage what is essentially a state-level metropolitan bus service. Earlier with the lack of enforcement by a federal-level regulatory board has not inspired confidence that an ‘imported' solution is best. In a way, the failure of the privatised, deregulated model in Penang mirrors what happened in the national capital of Kuala Lumpur, where the public transport system, privatised in piecemeal fashion to well connected firms, flopped spectacularly... These private firms, which ran the bus services and light rail transit systems in the Kuala Lumpur area, chalked up huge losses largely as a result of a lack of integration among the different services and poor coordination and enforcement...
Labels: Privatisation Fails
"People are moving to the suburbs but still working in the city," ...
Labels: purchase prospects
* USA - Legislation would breathe new life into S.C.'s aging school bus fleet
Labels: purchase prospects