BUSMAKERS' NEWS

* Sweden - Gov't Wants Volvo Buses' Hybrid Development

Stockholm,Sweden -barnardinefxxxgab.blogspot -August 25, 2007: -- Volvo has developed a parallel hybrid. This therefore implies that a smaller diesel engine and an electric engine will act in parallel or independently to drive the bus. This invention optimizes both diesel and electric power for the best possible performance and least possible environmental return... For instance, the diesel engine can be completely turned off at bus stops and traffic signals. The bus is started solely because of the help of the electric engine, which is the result in an emission-free and very silent operation. And until some distance from the bus stop, the diesel engine is not started again... Volvo Buses expects to be able to largely trim down the weight of the bus as compared with todays buses. That would be made possible because of the lightweight body. As an aftermath, this would also result in a further reduction in fuel consumption... (Photo: Volvo Group premieres hybrid technology for heavy vehicles)

* USA - Millennium Transit is back again, has a contract for 16 buses

Albuquerque,NM,USA - The Albuquerque Journal, by GOLD_12th -Aug 25, 2007: -- Despite major setbacks, including the loss in April of a $94 million contract with the state of New Jersey, officials at Roswell's Millennium Transit say the bus factory should restart production soon... The company has a contract to provide 16 buses to the city of Beaumont, Texas, and is currently evaluating its inventory and making plans to begin their construction, plant manager Ted Smith told this week... (Photo: RTS Express Buses from Millenium Transit)