Buses World News: October 2009

Riders * USA - Packing buses for 'a long haul'

DART's numbers climb as many find $1.15 fare a cheap alternative

(Photo by ROBERT CRAIG/The News Journal - Riders outnumber seats Monday on the trip from Claymont to Wilmington on DART's Route 1 bus. Use of public transportation grew in Del. from 2.7 percent in 2007 to 3.8 percent in 2008)

Wilmington,DEL,USA -Delaware on Line/The News Journal, by MIKE CHALMERS -October 14, 2009: ... More commuters have joined Brooks lately as high gas prices, expanded service and a desire to trim personal expenses prompted a small spike in people taking a bus or train to work in 2008, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau show. It estimated 3.8 percent of Delaware commuters took public transportation last year, compared to 2.7 percent in 2007... Yet Delaware's public-transit commuters continue to trail the rest of the nation where 5 percent of commuters took public transportation to work last year... Fares covered just 13 percent of the $76.3 million it cost Delaware Transit Corp. to operate its statewide bus system. Among similarly sized transit systems nationwide, fares covered 20 percent of costs in 2007, the latest year available from the the National Transit Database, compiled by the Federal Transit Administration... Increasing the number of people using public transportation helps operators boost their fare revenues, said Mantill Williams, spokesperson at the American Public Transportation Association, a trade group. And that means making the service more available to more people, he said...

(Photo by ROBERT CRAIG/The News Journal - Tracy Price, 52, waits for the Route 1 bus Monday at Fifth and Orange streets in Wilmington. The Route 1 bus carries about 800,000 people a year between Wilmington and Claymont, with buses running every half hour weekdays from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.)

DART buses run into Kent and Sussex counties, even though they lack the density of commuters in northern New Castle County, he said...

Labels: Bus riders stories

NEW BUSES FLEET * USA - NFTA revs up fleet with 91 hybrid, clean diesel buses

Vehicles to arrive over 18 months, cut operating expenses

Buffalo,NY,USA -The Buffalo News, by Robert J. McCarthy -October 14, 2009: -- Metro Bus riders will climb aboard 91 new clean diesel and hybrid buses over the next 18 months, paid for by almost $40 million secured by Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo... The new fleet will consist of 35 hybrid buses buses and 56 "clean diesel" buses, which the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority officials say will result in not only cleaner emissions but also a $300,000 annual savings in fuel and maintenance... Higgins pointed to several federal funding sources that helped finance the purchase, including $24.4 million in stimulus money... (Photo by Derek Gee/Buffalo News - Lawrence M. Meckler, left, the NFTA's executive director, briefs Rep. Brian Higgins, who helped to obtain $40 million in funding)

Labels: new buses fleet

BUSMAKERS' NEWS * UK - Smith Electric Vehicles support London bus fleet

Washington, Tyne & Wear,UK -The Green Car Website, by Faye Sunderland -October 13, 2009: -- Bus operator Go-Ahead London has taken delivery of its first Smith Edison vans, following a successful month-long trial of the technology... Produced by Smith Electric Vehicles in Washington, Tyne & Wear, the vans are used as support vehicles to keep London’s bus fleet running and are a key element in Go-Ahead London’s environmental programme, ‘Go Green’... Go-Ahead London, which already operates six hybrid diesel-electric buses, is to be the first bus company in London to operate electric support vehicles. The Smith Edison is a pure electric version of the Ford Transit van. Its lithium-ion batteries deliver top speed of 50mph, a range of up to 100 miles on a single charge and can be recharged from flat to full in 6-8 hours... (Picture from roadtransport: A Smith's van )

* Brazil - Volvo To Sell 100 Bi-Articulated Buses To Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo,Brazil -Automotive Business Review (London,UK) -15 October 2009: -- Volvo Buses has received an order for 100 bi-articulated Volvo B9SALF buses to Sao Paulo in Brazil and an order for a further 84 articulated buses for the BRT system in Bogota, Colombia... The company said that an increasing number of cities are choosing to invest in BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), a bus-based transport system with high passenger capacity that facilitates boarding and disembarking from buses .. Volvo has received its first order for the bus in Latin America. Grupo Ruas, one of Brazil's bus operators, has purchased 100 bi-articulated Volvo B9SALF buses for Sao Paulo... (Photo from volvo.com: Buses Urbanos)

Labels: busmakers' news worldwide

BUSES' RENTAL * Abu Dahbi/UAE - Bus business booming for Fast Rent A Car

Abu Dhabi/United Arab Emirates -AME Info -October 14, 2009: -- Fast Rent A Car announced today it is investing Dhs45m this year to more than double the number of vehicles in its specialised bus leasing division, citing a growth in demand in the UAE for its success... The company has just added 44 buses, worth Dhs15m, to its 120-strong fleet, and has now also confirmed that it is investing a further Dhs30m on around 100 more buses. This latest fleet of vehicles will be based in the workers village in Abu Dhabi, where it will be used for the transportation of industrial and construction workers... (Photo: he first of the new buses being delivered to Fast Rent A Car)

Labels: buses' rental