In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
UK -Five FWD -17 July 2009: -- Jason and Tiff embark on a dogfight with a difference – they’re racing buses. Going head to head in two double deckers, they develop three challenges to test their bravery, speed and, of course, ability to pick up passengers...
Labels: CRAZY VIDEOS
posted by Unknown @ 5:53 PM
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Female followers are often forced to sit at the back of buses in their own specially segregated section
Jerusalem,Israel -Russia Today (Moscow,Russia) -21 July, 2009: - Women’s rights are being taken for a ride by a minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel... What would be a straightforward means of transport in other parts of the world is a rather trickier trip in the Israeli capital... Feminist activist Avital Feldman no longer catches buses in Jerusalem, as Orthodox Jewish customs mean she is often ordered to sit at the back with the women – not in the front with the men... “I would get on the bus, sit in front and then some guy would come and just tell me ‘go to the back’, he wouldn’t even ask, he’d just tell me ‘you have to go to the back’. And I would say why should I have to go to the back? I would say your rabbis have no authority on me, I don’t believe in them, I’m staying here, and they’d start yelling at some point,” Feldman says... Tensions between religious and secular Jews have been simmering for years. They are now starting to boil over. One-fifth of Jerusalemites are ultra-religious and now want separate buses with separate entrances for men and women...Labels: segregated buses
posted by Unknown @ 4:58 PM
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The company had stopped providing passengers with safety hammers to break windows as they were always being stolen
Harbin,Heilongjiang,China -Arbroath.blogspot -July 21, 2009: -- A Chinese bus company is equipping its vehicles with bricks for passengers to use to break windows in an emergency. The bricks, painted yellow with "emergency use" written on both sides, are stored under the driver's seat and under a rear seat... Spokeman for the Harbin Public Transport Company said, "We don't think anybody will be interested in stealing bricks"... Bricks have so far been installed on several bus routes in a pilot schem, reports Northeast Network... But the company says it will equip all 700 of its buses with the bricks if feedback from passengers is positive... (Photo from 3.bp.blogspot: brick)Labels: equipment
posted by Unknown @ 4:35 PM
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Planning a trip around town just got easier
Santa Monica,CAL,USA -SMDP, by Melody Hanatani -July 21, 2009: -- The Big Blue Bus recently installed a series of new signs that notify awaiting passengers when their ride is scheduled to arrive, part of an effort aimed at improving technology and communication between the public transportation agency and its growing customer base... Displayed overhead at four stops along Broadway and Santa Monica Boulevard in Downtown, the new electronic signs relay real-time information to riders on which line is due next and the estimated time of arrival... All motor coaches in the system have been outfitted to transmit information of their exact locations via radio channel to the Big Blue Bus, passing that along to select bus shelters... (Photo from bigbluebus fleet: North American Industries (NABI) Bus)Labels: bus stop shelters
posted by Unknown @ 4:24 PM
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5.7 million passengers up by 7.4 per cent
Brisbane,Queensland,Australia -The Brisbane Times, by Tony Moore -July 21, 2009: -- More than 5.7 million Brisbaneites caught a bus last month, showing a 7.4 per cent growth in bus customer numbers and putting bus popularity at the top of Brisbane's public transport list... It's a new June record for bus travel in Brisbane, with 5,715,290 passengers - an extra 394,764 from June 2008 - and an extra 236,754 passengers since the previous June record was set in 2006... The biggest single factor behind the rise was the number of extra buses added to Brisbane roads... There are now more than 1030 "Council" buses in Brisbane, up from the 781 on the streets in June 2006... The buses are funded in a partnership between Brisbane City Council (about 40 per cent) and the State Government (about 60 per cent)... (Photo from busaustralia gallery BTVolvo Volgren)Labels: statistics passengers
posted by Unknown @ 4:15 PM
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In Berlin, from Verint Systems'
Berlin,Germany -Source Security -18 July 2009: -- For transport operators, protecting their passengers, staff and their assets is of paramount importance, and increasingly so. Whether on buses, trains or trams, indeed on any passenger transport, combating crime and dealing with the fall-out of crime is a major concern, fraught with challenges... One network operator that can genuinely claim to be at the forefront of providing a safe environment for staff and passengers alike is Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), one of the largest bus operators in the European local public transport sector. BVG's network comprises nine underground railway lines, 22 tram lines and 201 bus routes as well as six ferries on Berlin's waterways...
Wholly owned by the State of Berlin since 1929, when BVG was established in 1847 it operated five bus routes with 20 horse-drawn vehicles and 120 horses. Today its vehicles carry approximately 900 million passengers - equivalent to over 2.4 million people very day - and its bus routes alone total more than 1,600km. Almost 6,600 unidirectional bus stops (total of day and night services combined) are available... (Picture from sourcesecurity: technical details/cctv/image-capture: dome/verint-s2700)Labels: passengers' safety
posted by Unknown @ 8:13 PM
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It’s a fact of Lagos: when it rains, transportation fares go up
Lagos,Nigeria -234 Next, By Odunayo Abiodun -July 18, 2009: -- ... At least for passengers boarding danfo(commercial) buses... Once it rains, most passengers are stuck at the bus stops. Like a flock of sheep they flock around when they sight an oncoming bus, only to run back into shelter when the drivers do not look their way. However, when the buses eventually stop, some still have to wait a little longer due to the hike in cost of transportation... Passengers, however, complained that most bus drivers are exploiters who looked for any opportunity to increase transport fares... (Photo by ABIODUN OMOTOSHOA -Flooded road in Lagos; down comes the rain, and up go the fares)Labels: dangerous drivers
posted by Unknown @ 7:56 PM
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Aberdeen,Scotland,UK -BBC News -18 July 2009: -- Trade union officials in Aberdeen have claimed Saturday bus services in the city were thrown into chaos as a result of industrial action on Thursday... Drivers took part in a 24-hour strike in a row over pay, which has been followed by a work to rule... The Unite union said up to 70 buses were out of action on Saturday morning because mechanics would not inspect them and drivers would not drive them... First denied the claim and said only a handful of buses did not go out... The firm confirmed a higher number of vehicles than normal did require a service, but said they were doing all they could to keep the impact on passengers to a minimum... Special timetables were being introduced for some services in Aberdeen from Sunday, due to the ongoing industrial action... (Picture: First apologised over the impact of the action on customers)Labels: bus drivers' strikes
posted by Unknown @ 5:47 PM
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Charlotte,NC,USA -The News & Observer, by Cameron Steele -Jul. 17, 2009: -- Inside a 100,000-square-foot plant in southwest Charlotte, the production line rumbles with power tools and clanging steel. More than 50 workers assemble the frames and inside seating for green, blue and black buses that run off battery-powered motors... DesignLine International buses generate less noise and pollution than normal diesel-powered buses. The quiet, environmentally friendly ride has landed the Charlotte company more than two years' worth of contracts, including recent public transit orders from Baltimore and New York... The company's revenue has more than doubled since CEO Brad Glosson and his father brought company headquarters here from New Zealand in 2006... In Charlotte, never considered a vehicle manufacturing center, DesignLine is finding success. It is one of a growing number of local companies looking to make money in the recession by tapping into the public's and politicians' desires for more environmentally friendly practices... (Photo from Wikipedia: Designline's Olymbus model bus)Labels: busmakers' news worldwide
posted by Unknown @ 5:20 PM
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Labels: alternative fuels
posted by Unknown @ 4:58 PM
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International Falls,MINN,USA -The Daily Journal -July 16, 2009: -- Residents in northeast Minnesota who depend on Arrowhead Transit to get around will soon see new buses, due to a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act... Congressman Jim Oberstar this week announced that $7.4 million from the ARRA will be used to replace 51 buses that serve rural Minnesota communities. Arrowhead Transit’s share of that grant comes to just over $1 million, and their share will be used to purchase 15 buses to serve Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis counties...
Columbus,MISS,USA -The Dispatch, by Neal Wagner -July 17, 2009: -- Newer, more fuel efficient yellow buses soon could be rolling through the streets of Columbus, officials with the Columbus Municipal School District announced Thursday... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week awarded a nearly $1.5 million grant to the CMSD to replace and upgrade the district’s school bus fleet... Although the EPA distributed nearly $156 million to schools and agencies across the nation, Columbus was the only Mississippi school system selected to receive the grant...
Phoenix,AZ,USA -The Phoenix Business Journal -July 17, 2009: -- Nearly $30 million in federal stimulus money has been earmarked for road improvements in Arizona... The Arizona Department of Transportation is getting $12 million to purchase 30 replacement buses, four additional buses and two support vehicles. Funds also will be used to build new transit facilities and expand and remodel existing ones... The Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority will get $1.2 million to purchase one 35-foot hybrid electric bus and four passenger shelters for key locations along the fixed transit route in Flagstaff... (Photo from blogcdn/autobloggreen)Labels: buses purchase prospects
posted by Unknown @ 4:48 PM
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Johannesburg,Gauteng,South Africa -Engineering News, by Irma Venter -16 July 2009: -- Bombela, the company building the Gautrain rapid-rail link, and the company which will operate it for 15 years, has signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) for the supply of 125 buses which will service the project’s feeder and distribution routes... The luxury buses, all with Euro III engines, will be used to ferry commuters to and from the Gautrain stations, up to a radius of 15 km, says Bombela Concession Company CEO Jerome Govender... Of the 125 buses, 118 will be 35-seater to 42-seater buses, of which 59 will be 35-seater buses with wheelchair access, and the remaining 59, standard 42-seater buses. All these buses will offer room for 17 standing passengers, explains Govender. The last seven buses rounding off the 125-strong fleet will be articulated buses, offering standing room, 46 seats and wheelchair access...Labels: buses sales
posted by Unknown @ 4:34 PM
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* China - BYD to close purchase of Sanxiang bus firm by Oct
Labels: mergers and acquisitions
posted by Unknown @ 12:45 AM
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Lima,Peru -Datamonitor via COMTEX (USA) -July 15, 2009: -- (ACS) Affiliated Computer Services has won a 14-year $200m contract from Protransporte to provide Peru's capital Lima with a contactless ticketing system for the city's buses... The company will supply and operate a fully integrated fleet management and ticketing application for the Bus Rapid Transit system in one of the busiest areas of Lima. The line is intended to carry over 700,000 passengers a day, and 10 similar ticketing systems are expected to be installed over the next few years... (Photo from farm1.static.flickr)Labels: electronic ticketing system
posted by Unknown @ 12:34 AM
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San Antonio,TX,USA -The San Antonio Business Journal, by W. Scott Bailey -July 15, 2009: -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded more than $1 million in stimulus funding to San Antonio’s VIA Metropolitan Transit to help upgrade its bus fleet... Federal agency officials say the clean diesel project will create jobs, boost local economies, reduce diesel emissions and protect human health and the environment for people in and around San Antonio... The funds are being provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 via the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program... (Photo from wikipedia: Coach USA sampler Standard Sightseeing UK Bus livery Megabus)
Seattle,WASH,USA -KING5 -July 14, 2009: -- Thanks to a $46 million federal stimulus grant awarded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, King County Metro will be able to buy 93 hybrid-electric buses... King County said Tuesday that an agreement with Daimler Buses North America will also include options to buy more than 400 additional coaches over the next five years... The initial purchase of 93 buses will cost $45.7 million, slightly less than Metro had originally anticipated. The new coaches will replace Metro’s fleet of Gillig buses, which will be 14 years old by the time they are replaced - two years beyond the typical useful life of a transit bus... (Photo: An example of the Orion hybrid buses that will be delivered to Metro in 2010)Labels: buses purchase prospects
posted by Unknown @ 12:10 AM
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Silver Spring,MD,USA -The NewsChannel 8 -13 July 2009: -- Pictures taken by a Ride On bus passenger in Montgomery County, appear to show the driver reading a book while behind the wheel. ABC 7's Richard Reeve spoke exclusively with the woman who took the photos... The woman, who does not want to be identified, says she took the photos because she feared for her life. She said she got on the bus only to see the driver reading while operating the bus... The woman, described as a 34-year-old resident of Silver Spring, took the photos while riding Montgomery County Ride On bus no. 38 Friday night... (See Video)
Labels: dangerous drivers
posted by Unknown @ 6:07 PM
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Bus operators of private schools in the city continued their strike for the fourth day Monday against a government order making it mandatory for all such buses to install speed governors
Chandigarh,India -Breaking News 24/7 -July 13, 2009: ... Over 500 privately owned school buses were off the roads for the fourth day, posing problems to parents and school children... Around 50,000 students, studying in nearly 60 private schools here have been affected by this strike... The administration, which had set July 10 as the deadline for all buses to install speed governors, extended the last date to Sep 30... But the operators are also demanding a reduction in the permit fees and a permission to run buses older than 15 years... (Picture from indiajuice: Kerala bus strike)Labels: Bus' owners strike
posted by Unknown @ 5:53 PM
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Transport Scotland has called in police to pursue rogue bus operators who have attempted to defraud millions of pounds through the government's concessionary travel scheme
Scotland,UK -The Herald, by DAMIEN HENDERSON -July 13 2009: -- ... The government agency has appealed for public help to identify suspect practices by bus operators and overhauled its procedures after evidence emerged of abuse under the flagship policy, which offered nationwide free bus travel to elderly and disabled passengers following its introduction in 2006... Bus operators have welcomed the initiative, warning that widespread abuse of the scheme could pile further pressure on an already overstretched budget and ultimately threaten its survival... Documents seen by The Herald show that the Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, was briefed in December 2007 that it was pursuing claims from four bus companies worth £2.2m that it believed to be suspect, warning that this could escalate to £3.3m in 2007/8 if not addressed... A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said that suspect claims would not be paid until properly verified and that funding would be reduced from the following year's budget if paid in advance... The action was welcomed by the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK, which represents bus and coach organisations... (Picture from farm3.static.flickr: 27-2-08 - Scottish Citylink Bova Futura, bound for Stirling from Edinburgh)Labels: frauds
posted by Unknown @ 5:42 PM
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Perthshire,Scotland,UK -The Perthshire Advertiser -Jul 12 2009: -- Councils should be given £15 million to help develop a fleet of pollution-free vehicles, Labour leader, Iain Gray, has said... Of the 20,000-plus vehicles operated by Scotland's local authorities, just 23 are either electric or hybrid, Mr Gray said... But he said this £15 million from Government - which would be matched with money from councils - will allow local authorities to buy 2,000 new electric vehicles... (Photo from zoomilife: Proterra)Labels: electric buses
posted by Unknown @ 4:58 PM
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St. Paul,MINN,USA -The Minnesota Public Radio, by Elizabeth Baier -July 10, 2009: -- Federal stimulus funds will soon help replace more than four dozen transit buses in northeast Minnesota, DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar announced this week... The $7.4 million grant, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be used to replace a total of 51 buses that serve rural Minnesota communities, Oberstar said...
Labels: buses purchase prospects
posted by Unknown @ 4:43 PM
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Karlsruhe,Germany -Inderscience Publishers -26 June 2009: -- Researchers in Germany believe organic computing has the potential to solve the problems of urban traffic systems, which rely on sensors and controllers. Using an organic approach, Holger Prothmann of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and colleagues have developed a decentralized traffic control system... The researchers developed an observer/controller architecture, which enables the traffic light to respond to traffic flow and to forward information to traffic lights on nearby roads. Current systems use fixed timers that are unable to respond directly to traffic, and centralized systems are unable to respond optimally to changes in traffic on the roads... Working with colleagues at Karlsruhe and at Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Prothmann tested the decentralized traffic control system on roads in Hamburg, and found that it can reduce vehicle stops, delays, and the time needed to reach destinations. "The environmental and economic importance of traffic control systems combined with the distributed nature of traffic nodes and their constantly changing traffic demands make traffic light control an ideal test case for organic computing approaches," Prothmann says... (Photo from betweenyellowandblue: Traffic lights)Labels: technonews
posted by Unknown @ 10:58 AM
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Bogota,Colombia -The New York Times (New York,NY,USA), by Elisabeth Rosenthal -10 July 2009: -- Dozens of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems are being planned or installed in poor cities in developing nations in an effort to ease traffic flow and cut smog, but they also could go a long way toward reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases that are connected to global warning... Bogota, Colombia's TransMilenio BRT system is currently used for an average of 1.6 million daily trips, and the system has enabled the removal of 7,000 small private buses from roads, cutting emissions associated from the use of bus fuel by over 59 percent in the past eight years... The implementation of TransMilenio involved Bogota taking over two to four traffic lanes in the middle of major boulevards, separating them with low walls to build "tracks"... The city constructed numerous metal and glass stations where people can board or exit the buses. The system functions like an above-ground subway while costing a fraction of an actual subway's construction cost. In addition, BRTs can be built much faster than subways. Bogota offers a template for how international programs to fight climate change can help growing cities by underwriting otherwise unaffordable transit systems. Cities where BRTs may be less practical are exploring alternate strategies. In India, for example, researchers are developing a new type of motorized cab that is cheap and runs on alternative fuels... (Photo by Scott Dalton/The New York Times - Bogotá, Colombia, has implemented a bus rapid transit system, which improves traffic flow and reduces smog at a fraction of the cost of building a subway)Labels: bus rapid transit - BRT
posted by Unknown @ 10:44 AM
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Some cash-starved U.S. cities are planning to outsource the operations of their mass transit systems to private companies so that such systems can be run more efficiently
New York,NY,USA -The Wall Street Journal, by Christopher Conkey -13 July 2009: ... The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (Norta) has entered into a deal to pay France's Veolia Environnement about $56.3 million annually and potentially $600 million over the next 10 years to finance, manage, and run the city's bus and streetcar lines, which Norta Chairman, Cesar Burgos, says could save the authority as much as 30 percent... Savannah, Ga., officials are engaged in negotiations with Veolia for a similar arrangement, while Alternate Concepts is operating Valley Metro of Phoenix, Ariz.'s new 20-mile light-rail line. Transit agencies across the United States are experiencing a decline in their traditional revenue channels, while interest in bus and rail service is expanding. Outsourcing is not appropriate for all transit agencies. Rick Jager, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Los Angeles says his agency contracts out service on 21 of its 200 bus lines at savings of about $45 per hour of operation, but labor agreements with its unionized workforce proscribe any further outsourcing plans... (Photo from swta.org: Valley Metro 2009 bus large wrap event)Labels: Privatization Services
posted by Unknown @ 10:25 AM
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A beautiful view, with an UFO ?
The Shelter
The comfort
The Route
Labels: buses without drivers
posted by Unknown @ 7:24 PM
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Albany,NY,USA -The Times Union, by CATHY WOODRUFF -July 8, 2009: -- Commuters on CDTAs Northway Xpress buses now can use their laptop computers to work or entertain themselves during the ride... The Capital District Transportation Authority announced today that free wireless Internet service is available on all 15 buses in the NX fleet... CDTA assumed sponsorship of the Northway commuter service, which travels between Saratoga County and Albany via I-87, in April 2003... (Photo from wikipedia: CDTA Gillig Hybrid)Labels: techno buses
posted by Unknown @ 6:55 PM
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In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
