Created by car artist Tom Kennedy, the Topsy-Turvy Bus (Topsy) is a bus made of two school buses welded together, one upside down on top of the other. The bus is currently touring the country to "dramatically depict America's upside down budget priorities.. "
The World's Longest Bus is made in China, costs USD 250,000, and it only works in cities without corners, The other way would be to drive from one block to another without turning.This 83 foot long bus has a capacity of 300 people and is divided into 3 compartments, due to this its speed limit is up to 51mph max, probably to avoid any unwanted incident, but then with that kind of speed this bus would cause traffic jam that might clog up the city.
What do you get when you cross a bus with a train? The Bus Train, a dual-mode vehicle that has the versatility of a bus, the speed of light rail and fuel economy vastly better than either.
The Boat Bus, a british bus capable of surfing the Thames (river)
San Francisco,CA,USA -Zedomax by David Allen -November 4, 2009:-- Making the most of the materials that we have is an important thing these days, so when designer Christopher Fennell came up with his design for a bus shelter nobody should have been surprised to see what it was made from...
This is a cool idea, but you have to think that this sort of work would not go down well in all neighbourhoods... (Video from YouTube, by bicycletornado -18 January 2009: Welding pieces of school buses together to build a bus stop shelter)
TRANSPORT POLICIES * Europe - Balanced and practicable passenger rights rules
For bus and coach transports
Athens,Greece -Travel Daily News -November 6, 2009:-- The European collective passenger transport and travel industry jointly calls upon EU institutions to adopt practicable and balanced passenger rights rules in EU bus and coach transport in the interest of both passengers and businesses alike... Prior to a series of pivotal Council and Parliamentary discussions on the future rules on passenger rights in bus and coach transport in the EU, the four trade associations representing the European collective passenger transport and travel business, ECTAA, ETOA, UITP and IRU, reiterate their call for balanced and practicable rules, adapted to the industry specificity and structure, 85% of which is composed by micro- and small and medium-sized companies... In particular, the industry partners emphasise the need to:
* apply the future regulation to long distance regular services only and exclude urban, suburban and regional services from its scope; * review the definitions of carrier, travel agent and tour operator, to avoid legal uncertainty; * remove the articles on liability in case of accident, since they create conflicts with other existing EU or national rules and regimes and therefore allow Member States to adapt their liability regimes according to their specific needs; * avoid imposing obligations on drivers to assist passengers on board of the vehicle, which would jeopardize the safety of all road users and the respect of social legislation; and * avoid making operators responsible for delays at arrival, since these will severely penalise road safety.
However, the European collective passenger transport and travel industry jointly welcomes the opportunity to develop industry charters and commitments to secure the respect of the rights of passengers in short distance urban and suburban transport...
BUSMAKERS' NEWS * USA - IC Corp. ceasing bus assembly at Conway plant
Conway,Ark,USA -The Cabin Net, by Rachel Parker Dickerson -November 5, 2009: -- IC Corp.’s parent company, Navistar, told employees Thursday it is ceasing bus production operations at its Conway plant... He said the economy makes for a “terrible time” for the industry, with school districts not being able to purchase many buses... Conway Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Brad Lacy, said “It’s horrible news. I think it’s horrible on a variety of levels. That number of people losing their jobs is a horrible thing. I think emotionally, too, this community has been in bus production since the 1930s, and it was something we identified with our community. When you lose that, you lose a piece of your history"... (Photo from cdn-9.psndealer)
Truro,Cornwall,UK -Gas World, by Hill -5 Nov 2009: -- Five hydrogen fuel cell buses are to be brought to England’s capital and are expected to be in operation from next summer... The Olympic Delivery Authority has granted planning permission for a hydrogen refuelling facility to be built in East London...A fleet of five buses will be operated by the First Group, which has been granted the planning permission for the facility to be located at its bus garage on Temple Mills Lane, Leyton...The five hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses are due to join Transport for London's (TfL) bus fleet next year, operating on route RV1, which runs between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway...
* Canada - Hydrogen BusesArriving for 2010Vancouver Winter Olympics
Vancouver,BC,CAN -Eco Friendly -Nov 6, 2009: -- B.C. Transit has announced that the first of 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses will arrive in about a week and a half, on November 17 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The first bus will arrive next Monday and will be in service for passengers the following week...Whistler, BC is one of the end points in the British Columbia Hydrogen Highway system. When complete, visitors will be able to travel from Whistler to Squamish to Surrey to Vancouver to Richmond and then to Victoria and back. The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver, BC... The other 19 hydrogen fuel cell buses will arrive in Whistler before the end of December where they will undergo commissioning and servicing. So far, tests of the fuel cell buses have proven that they can be in service for 22 hours straight and hold up under temperatures of -20C, which may come into play when the 2010 Winter Olympics start in February 2010...
* UK -Buses converted to fuel cells
Sunderland, UK -The Engineer Online -6 November 2009: --Sunderland Universityhas joined forces withShanghai’s Shen Li High Technology and local experts ComeSys Europeand AVID vehicles to createECO2Trans, a project to convert two buses to a fuel-cell, battery and capacitor combination...One North East has sponsored the £314,000 project to convert the two Gulliver U500EUK buses using expertise from companies in China, Germany and the UK... The aim of ECO2Trans, said Kok, is to educate people about the possibilities of hydrogen as a fuel, by demonstrating the efficiency of fuel cells.Sunderland University is also looking to develop the next generation of engineers and technicians to work on low-carbon transport platforms...(Photo from bioage.typepad: Sunderland’s Dirk Kok, Mark Armstrong, Maggie Ren and Adrian Morris with one of the buses)
OPINION * Singapore - 7 Good Reasons Why Public Transport Ridership is dropping
Singapore -The Temasek Review, by Ronald Chan -November 5, 2009:... I refer to Tuesday’s (27 October) Straits Times article “More cars, so public transport trips down”... I find it puzzling that the local public transport community cannot comprehend the reasons behind this seemingly ridiculous trend in our “dense but well-orchestrated” public transport system.Let me summarise the available reasons as to why this phenomenon is occurring. It must be noted that this list is certainly not exhaustive.
(1) Erratic bus frequency
(2) Unreliable contactless card technology
(3) Early last buses / trains
(4) Poor decomposing stations
(5) Fluctuating travelling time
(6) Low bus / train frequency
(7) No eating / drinking
The push to get more people onto buses and trains has hit a speed bump, but think about it: why speed in the first place if you can’t even drive properly?... (Video photos from YouTube by zwmcontact -7 Noviembre 2009: SBS Transit is one of the leading bus operators in this part of the world and started rail operations in 2003. It was formed in 1973 through the merger of three private bus companies and listed on the then Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES), now known as SGX, in 1978 as Singapore Bus Service (1978) Limited)
SAFETY * USA - Study: Mass. transit passenger put in peril
"Maintaining the fleet is a Herculean and expensive task, particularly since it is aging and many vehicles are due for overhauls or replacement"
Boston,MASS,USA -AP, by GLEN JOHNSON -5 Nov 2009:-- A sweeping review of MBTA finances found the largest transportation provider in Massachusetts has relied on an overly optimistic and unsustainable financing model that now is compromising safety because it cannot fund critical maintenance and equipment replacements... The scathing 36-page review classified 51 projects as "a danger to life or limb of passengers and/or employees" and suggested prioritizing those subway, bus and commuter rail repairs...On the subject of safety, the report noted that MBTA trains, subway cars and buses provide 1.2 million rider trips each weekday... The T has identified over $3 billion worth of projects that need attention under its "state-of-good-repair" program, but it has funded only 15 of those 201 projects_ worth just $203 million. The other 94 percent of projects went unfunded... "It stands to reason that an aging, complex and underfunded transportation system will have to confront unpleasant surprises that can result in safety hazards and service delays," the report adds...(Photo from policy.rutgers.edu: Boston SL street)
* Missouri - Move faster on bus safety
Kansas,Missouri,USA -The Kansas City -5 Nov 2009:-- It’s not often you find one federal agency criticizing another, but that’s what happened after the investigation of a 2008 motor coach crash in which 17 people from Texas died en route to a southwest Missouri music festival... The National Transportation Safety Board, which looks into crashes and recommends safety improvements, recently admonished the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for doing too little on motor coach safety... The well-placed criticism must lead to changes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, whose job is to issue manufacturing safety standards for highway vehicles, should move quickly to implement improvements...The only response has been a statement from the traffic safety administration that soon it will propose a requirement for motor-coach seatbelt installation, and it will do more to reduce driver fatigue and inattention...Unfortunately, not mentioned was the issue of roof strength standards, which safety officials say should be improved to provide more passenger protection in rollovers. Certainly, new vehicle manufacturers should incorporate safer roofs... (Photo from metrojacksonville: Kansas City MAX Bus Rapid Transit -BRT-)
* Illinois - Unsafe school buses still on road
Chicago,ILL,USA -Chicago Breaking News Center -November 5, 2009:-- As many as 2,000 school buses with potentially serious safety problems are still transporting students even though a bus manufacturer and government safety regulators have known about some of the recalled parts for as many as eight years, the Tribune has found... It has taken that long for officials withthe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to track down the company responsible for the recalls and force it to fix the problems, which are found in smaller buses around the country often used to transport disabled children... The federal recall process can be lengthy, but this delay is especially troubling because the safety problems seem so clear and the recalls took so long, experts in traffic safety said... For example, seat backs on some buses do not meet strength requirements, which could lead to more serious injuries in a crash; seat belt anchors also aren't strong enough and can become detached from the floor or wall; and wheelchair lifts in some of the buses are defective, according to records from NHTSA...
DISCUSSIONS * New Zealand - Auckland bus drivers reject 11.5 percent pay offer
Auckland bus drivers rejected the pay-rise offer today
Auckland,NZ, -3 NEWS TV, by Jerram Watts -4 Nov 2009: --Auckland bus drivers have rejected the pay rise offer from their employer, NZ Bus, meaning negotiations for a new Combined Employment Agreement will continue... Drivers currently earn between $14.05 and $16.75 an hour depending on how long they have been working for...The 11.5 percent offer amounted to a $2 an hour increase over three years... Bus services were disrupted today between 10am and 1:30pm when the drivers and cleaners met with their employers... The negotiations which have lasted for months now look set to continue with no end in sight...
STRIKES * USA - CTA bus drivers union weighs strike to protest layoffs
CTA bus drivers unionweighs strike to protest layoffs
Chicago,ILL,USA -Chicago Now, by Kevin O'Neil -4 Nov 2009: -- The CTA bus drivers union is considering a strike to protest planned layoffs of about 1,800 members of the Local 241 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, according to a CBS2 Chicago report... The union president, Darrell Jefferson, goes on to insist the CTA's budget deficit is actually $500 million, not the $300 million cited by the CTA. But the union will continue to resist any givebacks, including furlough days... Furthermore, Jefferson says: "Metropolitan Transit Act says, in section 28, that management and exempt people should make up only 3 percent of the total number of employees. We estimate CTA being somewhere like 15 to 18 percent. Laying off people and you're still gonna be heavy in management, I think you're asking for a war more than a layoff"...So, we'll have to see how this war plays out...(Photo from photobucket: scattered frog Chicago Marshall Field Protest BusDriver)
* Pennsilvania - Fire worsens 2nd day of Phillytransit strike
Philadelphia,PENN,USA -AP, by PATRICK WALTERS & Martha Raffaele& & Ron Todt -5 Nov 2009:-- Commuters biked, walked, juggled carpool schedules and hitched rides as the city's transit system ground to a near halt for a second day Wednesday, a rush worsened when a regional rail train caught fire... The strike also affects buses that serve the suburbs in Bucks, Montgomery and Chester counties... The strike forced some employers to scramble, too... Cisco Navarro, 41, a part-time night clerk at the UPS distribution facility in South Philadelphia, got to work via a patchwork bus system that UPS set up by hiring bus companies... His biggest challenge, he said, was getting the buses to stop. Employees have to show company IDs to get on the bus, but drivers can't tell who is a UPS employee from a distance — and sometimes, he said, they don't stop..."You're waving your arms," he said, adding that he has now borrowed a UPS hat. "I need to bring cheerleaders"... (Photo by Matt Rourke/AP : Stranded commuters are loaded on buses near the scene of a train fire in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009)
SURVEY * USA - 92 Percent of Megabus.com Travelers Turn to Intercity Bus Service to Save Money
Reinvention of bus travel in a down economy leads to 4 millionth customer
New York,NY,USA -Reuters -Nov 4, 2009: -- A survey by megabus.com found that 92 percent of trheirs customers chose bus travel over other forms of transportation to save money.An ongoing increase in the popularity of bus travel has helped megabus.com to recently serve its four millionth customer...After launching the first intercity bus service with fares as low as $1 in April 2006, it took two years for megabus.com to reach one million customers. However, with the decline of the economy, megabus.com's introduction of double-decker buses and service expanded to 28 cities, the company sold its most recent one million tickets in only five months... Not only are travelers switching to low-cost, express bus services such as megabus.com to save money, 83 percent say the low fares have allowed for them to travel more frequently, according to the survey... (Photo from boston.com: new Megabus)
Terminal's Normal Operation * Philippines - Zambo's bus one, even after gutted by fire
Zamboanga City,Philippines -Balita.dot.ph -November 4, 2009: -- Mayor, Celso Lobregat, has managed to convince bus operators and the owner of a bus terminal that was destroyed by fire on Monday evening to continue serving the public at the burned out terminal in barangay Guiwan, some five kilometers from the city proper... Fire destroyed the terminal building and left the city with no other bus terminal to serve hundreds of buses and passenger vans that ply routes to and from cities, towns and provinces in the Zamboanga Peninsula and other parts of Mindanao... The mayor conferred with bus operators displaced by the fire incident at the Guiwan bus terminal Monday night to ensure that operations are back to normal following the tragedy...
BUSES PURCHASE * USA - School Board OKs six new buses
The Cheatham County School Board approved the purchase Monday of six new school buses scheduled to be replaced by May 2010
Cheatham,TENN,USA -The Tennessean -4 Nov 2009:--Transportation director, Tom Wilson,requested approval to purchase five, 84-passenger buses from Mid-South Bus Center at a cost of $86,270 per bus...An additional $385 per bus will also be included to purchase an extra security camera for each bus. There will already be one camera on each new bus... The purchase of a sixth bus was also approved, but will be put on hold in case a special-needs bus is required, board members said...(Photo from transportationsouth)
Statistics * Dubai/UAE - Public Transport Agency Lifts 83m Passengers In 9 Months
Dubai,UAE -Dubai City Guide -4 November 2009: --Traffic & Roads Agency at Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai revealed that RTA public buses have lifted about 83 million passengers by the end of the third quarter of this year through more than 2 million journeys made by internal bus and inter-city bus services...Public Transport Agencyis progressing ahead with a plan to broaden the reach of public bus routes network in the emirate of Dubai in keeping with the requirements of integrated transport with other modes such as the metro and marine transport modes.“Through beefing up its fleet of modern buses, the Agency is seeking to cover 95% of urban Dubai area with one and a half year from now” saidEssa Abdul Rahman Al Dossari, CEO of RTA Public Transport Agency...(Photo from hotels-of-dubai: Tours, Dubai City bus)
New Bill * Ireland - New law to 'transform' national licensing regime for bus services
“We are introducing a completely new consumer-centred system for bus operators”
Dublin,Ireland -The Irish Times, by MARIE O'HALLORAN -November 4, 2009:-- Bus passengers will be at the centre of a “new transformed national bus licensing regime”, Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey,promised as he introduced a Bill to create a new licensing system for all public bus services... The Public Transport Regulation Bill will replace the current antiquated and inadequate regime that has applied for the past 77 years and brings the legislation governing the licensing of commercial bus services into the modern era, Mr Dempsey said... He said the legislation “establishes a uniform licensing framework for service providers, both private and State bus operators, thus eliminating any differences under the current regime which may have been perceived as conferring a market advantage"...(Photos.igougo: Dublin Buses in Dublin)
Delhi's public transport buses began charging their new steeply hiked fares, affecting millions of mostly poor and lower income group commuters
New Delhi,India -ProKerala -Nov 4, 2009:... After announcing earlier that the revised fares would come into effect from Nov 1, both the state-run Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) and the privately run Blueline buses implemented the decision three days later Wednesday morning...The minimum ticket in buses will now cost Rs.5 (compared to the earlier Rs.3), the Rs.7 ticket has been upped to Rs.10 and the Rs.10 ticket to Rs.15...On DTC's air-conditioned buses, commuters will pay Rs.10 as the minimum fare and Rs.25 for travel beyond 12 km...Predictably, most commuters were resentful that their expenditure on bus travel -- which despite the sleek Metro rail remains the chief mode of public transport in the city -- had shot up by 50 to 100 percent... East Delhi resident, Kamlesh Kumar, complained that the new fare structure would eat into her limited earnings... (Photo credit, controvento: Delhi's buses on the street)
