Buses World News
In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
PUBLIC TRANSPORT * WORLDWIDE
* Belgium - EBSF: The future of public local Transport comes a step closer
Brussels,Belgium -Busworld -25 Oct 2012: -- Four years of project work, 48 partners, 7 demonstration projects and a total budget of around 26 million – these are just some of the statistics generated by the European Bus System of the Future, or EBSF for short, which is the biggest road-related transportation project to be funded by the European Commission to date... As a comprehensive, widely networked research project for the design and development of an innovative, high-quality European bus system of the future, four years ago the EBSF project took on the goal of demonstrating the capabilities of a new generation of urban bus networks and creating the basis for an integrated systems approach (vehicle, infrastructure, technology, operation) with takes future passenger requirements into account. Project members in seven European countries have painstakingly assessed and compiled the data from the demonstration projects. EvoBus GmbH participated in two projects... The mixture of infotainment, news reports and transport connection information proved so popular among passengers that the transport operator sees this as a significant measure for increasing the appeal of the bus service...
* Germany - European driver's cockpit proyect as part of EBSF
Dresden,Germany -Busworld (Belgium) -24 Oct 2012: -- As part of the project for an ergonomically optimised European bus driver's cockpit, the EBSF project explored driver issues. The project examined in detail what parameters would have to be established in order to create a standardised European driver's cockpit, similar to what has been achieved with the VDV 234 guidelines in Germany... Apart from the ergonomic aspects, factors such as the driver's personal needs, safety considerations and compliance with European regulations were looked at. The test series was carried out at the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems in Dresden, based on a variety of statistical data (in terms of sex, age, height) and using test subjects (active drivers) from Rome, Dresden and Gothenburg...
* India - No rollback for BRT in Delhi, Court says
New Delhi,India -Busworld (Belgium) -26 Oct 2012: ... The court ended its discussions with an interesting statement: “These ‘wealth creators,’ we are sure would like to live in a developed country,” said the bench. “A developed country is not one where the poor own cars. It is one where the rich use public transport” ... An India court declined to roll the back bus rapid transit corridor projects saying the “bitter medicine” of public transport was necessary for India. It was the response to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by an 84-year-old activist filed a lawsuit in the public interest asking an Indian court to scrap a road project in South Delhi that carved out separate space for buses, pedestrians and cyclists... One of his arguments was that car users are special, therefore deserve to travel faster, and were being hindered by the BRT, as it is known, which includes a dedicated bus lane... Bus commuters, not being as important, could afford to lose a few minutes here or there, was the argument in the petition of B.B. Sharan who wrote, “No consideration is given to the value of the time of the car users who are generally wealth creators such as managers, directors etc. as they waste extra 20 minutes on travelling on BRT Route”...Labels: public transport systems
BUSMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE
* North Caroline / USA - New propane-fueled MINOTOUR® buses in production at Thomas Built Buses
(Photo: A school_Minotour bus)
High Point,N.C.,USA -Thomas Buses (PR) -Oct 23, 2012: -- Thomas Built Buses expanded its alternative-powered product offerings with the addition of a new propane-fueled Minotour® bus... Thomas Built was the first and remains the only school bus manufacturer that is completely Zero-Waste-to-Landfill, building every bus with a high level of environmental standards... The propane-fueled Minotour is California Air Research Board-certified and exceeds EPA 2010 emissions requirements. Less expensive than a gallon of gasoline or diesel on a btu basis, propane is a green, clean-burning alternative fuel, with 20 percent less NOx and 12 percent less CO2 than gasoline. More than 90 percent of the propane used in the U.S. is domestically produced. Setting up propane fueling infrastructure is an easy and relatively low-cost proposition...
* Germany - Mercedes-Benz bus chassis now EURO VI
(Photo: Mercedes-Benz is the sole manufacturer of bus chassis)
Stuttgart,BAV,Germany -Busworld (Belgium) -23 Oct 2012: -- Mercedes-Benz is launching a new generation of bus chassis designed to comply with the future Euro VI emissions standard. The OC 500 LE chassis for regular service buses and OC 500 RF chassis for touring coaches are made in Spain, where the core of the new chassis generation is the newly developed powertrain for the Euro VI emissions standard... The engines already comply with the Euro VI emissions standard in all power ratings. Common features include the basic technical configuration with common rail injection and emission control using SCR technology with AdBlue injection, as well as an oxidation catalytic converter connected in series and a particulate filter. A further notable feature is the long intervals of up to 120,000 km for engine oil changes in touring use...
* UK - British bus and coach market bounces bach in September
London,EN,UK -Busworld (Belgium) -18 Oct 2012: -- The total British bus and coach market grew 58.5% to 913 units in September and rose 55% over the year-to-date. The purpose-built bus and coach sector fell 9.5% in the month, but increased 23.6% during Q1-Q3 2012. Converted bus registrations were up 155% in September and 98.4% during January-September...
* Germany - Deutsche Bahn buys more than 300 buses
Frankfurt am Main,Hessen,Germany -Busworld (Belgium) -15 Oct 2012: -- The DB FuhrparkService GmbH has concluded a deal with EvoBus and Iveco Irisbus about the delivery of more than 300 buses. The value of the order is about 80 million Euro. Based on this basic agreement, DB Regio Bus, which is Germany’s biggest bus operator, will acquire more than 300 city and intercity buses in 2013, with an option for more buses in 2014. The DB Regio Bus is transporting more than two million passengers daily... Labels: busmakers news worldwide
BUSMAKERS NEWS * China
* China - US giant looks to China to make up for woes at home
(Photo: Buses made by Navistar are widely used as school buses in the United States)
Hefei,Anhui,China -China Daily, by Wang Chao -19 Oct 2012: ... Navistar International Corp has formed an engine joint venture with Jianghuai Automobile Co of Anhui province and is again clocking up miles on a roadtrip in China that began more than 60 years ago. Navistar, with roots that go back to Chicago in 1902, has its headquarters in Lisle, Illinois, and had revenue of $14 billion (11 billion euros) last year. It also sells chassis and engines... JAC is a commercial vehicle manufacturer whose products include buses, heavy-duty trucks and light trucks, and its turnover was 30.47 billion yuan last year... Navistar is now giving much more attention to China, whose government approved the engine joint venture with JAC in July... A total of 3 billion yuan is being poured into the engine joint venture, and a factory is now being built. It is due to open next year and is expected to produce 150,000 vehicles a year, says Leo Lu, general manager of Navistar China...
* China - Yuchai Engines Used in Nanning and Hangzhou's New Municipal Buses
(Photo: Guangxi Yuchai Co.'s Tourism Bus)
Singapore -PRNewswire/FirstCall -12 Oct 2012: -- China Yuchai International Limited, announced today that the Nanning Public Transport Corporation has accepted the YC6G270 diesel engines supplied by Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Company Limited for use in 100 of its new buses. These double-decker buses manufactured by Xiamen Golden Dragon Co., Ltd. were put into operation prior to the China-ASEAN Expo 2012 and the Nanning International Folk Song Arts Festival in September and October 2012 respectively...Labels: busmakers news worldwide
BUSMAKERS NEWS * Sweden
* Sweden - Volvo Buses to shut down Swedish factory
Säffle,Värmland,Sweden -The Local -3 Oct 2012: -- Volvo Buses is closing down its facility in Säffle in central Sweden and concentrate on production in Poland, the company announced on Wednesday, putting 400 jobs at risk... The company is planning to concentrate their manufacturing of complete buses to their Polish facility, which means that the Säffle production line will fall silent in 2013... The company only sold 2,498 buses during the second quarter of 2012 compared to 3,127 during the same period last year...Labels: busmakers news worldwide
BUS SALES * Europe
* Europe - Commercial Vehicle Registrations: -10.3%. Over eight months: -12.4% in August
Brussels,Belgium -ACEA (PR) -28 Sept 2012: -- In July, demand for new commercial vehicles was down 5.1% in the EU, following the downward trend commenced in January. While the French (+0.7%) and British (+8.5%) markets expanded, Germany (-2.9%), Spain (-21.4%) and Italy (-28.4%) all recorded negative results... From January to August, the EU recorded 1,131,238 new vehicles, or 10.3% less than in the same period a year earlier. Germany (-2.5%), the UK (-4.0%), France (-7.0%), Spain (-24.9%) and Italy (-35.3%) all saw their markets contract...
* New Buses and Coaches over 3.5t: The segment of buses and coaches was the only one to expand, both in July (+3.7%) and August (+5.6%). Demand was sustained in July by mainly France (+8.3%) and the UK (+82.5%), and in August by France (+10.9%) and Germany (+11.9%). Results from January to August show a 56.8% growth in the UK and a 6.7% increase in Germany, while France declined by 3.6%. Italy (-32.5%) and Spain (-42.4%) faced a sharper downturn...Labels: buses sales
