Buses World News
In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
FUTURE BUSES * Germany - AutoTram combines a bus and a tram to get the best of both worlds
The AutoTram research platform for testing new components and systems for use in the electromobile vehicles of tomorrow
Sankt Augustin,Germany -Gizmag,
by Darren Quick -August 13, 2010: -- As part of its research into the public transport of tomorrow, researchers at Fraunhofer have developed the AutoTram – a vehicle as long as a streetcar and as agile as a bus... Combining the best of both vehicles it has no need for rails or overhead contact lines, instead the “bustrolley” rolls on rubber tires and follows a simple white line on the road surface. It was constructed to serve as a research platform in the institute’s “Fraunhofer System Research on Electric-Powered Mobility” project – a large-scale research cooperative involving 33 Fraunhofer institutes that focuses on developing mobility solutions for the future... The project is broken down into four areas of focus: Vehicle concepts; energy generation, distribution and conversion; energy storage technology; and technical system integration and social issues. The AutoTram was first mooted several years ago and was built to provide a platform for the researchers to test new developments in these areas, not only in simulations but in the real world. New modules for energy storage, double-layer capacitors and coupling coming directly from the Fraunhofer research laboratories are installed in the vehicle to allow them to prove their capabilities in the field. They have now presented their first results... Unlike cars, which remain parked for an average of 23 hours a day, buses and trams are in motion all day long. Which doesn’t leave much time to recharge the batteries. One solution approach the AutoTram takes involves fast-charge docking stations positioned at the stops along the route. Current can then be drawn at every third or fourth stop. The requisite amount of energy must be recharged in just 30 to 60 seconds at more than 1000 amperes and 700 volts... Accomplishing this in such a short period of time requires super-capacitors. Researchers are working to develop the modules required: for instance on energy storage units based on double-layer capacitors, on high-performance converters and on contact systems for the transmission of current. Unlike batteries, double-layer capacitors – also known as ‘supercaps’ – have a high power density. Those capacitors ensure that the charge can be quickly stored... (Image: Fraunhofer IVI)Labels: future buses
INFRASTRUCTURES * USA - ‘Smart’ transportation and the Smart Grid
Minneapolis debuts the nation's largest remote control and monitoring system for electrical infrastructure
Minneapolis,MINN,USA -Public Works Online -July 2010: -- Five years, based on using less energy and deploying maintenance resources more effectively. Selling carbon offsets cuts payback time an additional 50%... After years of delayed maintenance that left many streets in poor condition, Mayor, R.T. Rybak, launched “Access Minneapolis,” a 10-year plan that systematically reinvests in transportation to significantly reduce the city's carbon footprint... Most plan projects are being funded with a $133 million grant from the U.S. DOT's Urban Partnership Agreement program. One involved completely redesigning and rebuilding 2.5 miles of downtown streets to move buses more efficiently, reducing emissions and enhancing safety by adding two bus-only lanes... Once buses are equipped with automatic vehicle locators, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority riders can visit www.metrotransit.org to see how early or late their bus is running. Every 60 seconds the wireless tracking system sends the bus location to a central database, where it's compared to the route schedule and predicted travel time to determine actual arrival time... (Images: Strategic Telemetry Inc.)
* USA - Subway on the StreetThe MTA has a simple, not very expensive ticket for improving how the city gets around: Revolutionize the bus. But can even the most sensible ideas get implemented these days?
New York,NY,USA -The New York, News & Features, by Robert Sullivan -Jul 4, 2010: -- You would never guess it from the dispiriting news coming out of the MTA, but if you want to see the future of New York, then head up to the Bronx and take a bus... This is the future as seen in a new bus line: the Bx12 Select Bus Service, or SBS, for short... The future highlighted by the Bx12 SBS takes as a very depressing starting point the fact that the New York City subway system, once the envy of the world, is stalled. Not literally but still, our subways are strained under a ridership that has grown 60 percent since 1990 and a permanent budgetary crisis that has, over the past two years, only gotten worse. Last month, faced with an $800 million budget gap, the MTA canceled two subway lines and 37 bus lines and dramatically reduced late-night and weekend service. No one is expecting Albany’s fiscal situation to improve anytime soon... (Illustration by Bob Scott)Labels: future buses, infrastructures
FUTURE BUSES TODAY * Holland - Buses are changing into something radical
Holland -folines.blogspot.com, by Avi Abrams -Oct 2007: -- The Phileas BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) vehicle, developed by the Dutch company Advanced Public Transport Systems (APTS) can drive itself automatically on a dedicated track as well as being manually driven on normal roads... 
The Phileas system is already in use since 2004. A hybrid-electric drive makes the vehicle up to 30 per cent more fuel efficient than other buses of comparable size... In semi-automatic mode the driver accelerates and brakes manually, while the vehicle steers itself... 
In automatic mode all three functions are performed by the vehicle with speeds up to 70 kilometres per hour (44 mph). An electronic guidance system is following the magnetic markers mounted every 4 to 5 metres in the road surface for reference. If deviations of more than half a metre (1.6 ft) occur, either in automatic or semi-automatic mode, the vehicle is automatically stopped... (Photocredit: Advanced Public Transport Systems - APTS)Labels: future buses
School buses of the future * Canada - ... Are here today
New technology has recently been incorporated into school buses to help increase overall safety and performance.Ontario, Canada -The Sarnia Observer -August 14, 2007: -- For example, to combat the issue of leaving children on school buses, a school bus manufacturer has developed a solution: When a school bus driver parks the bus at the end of a route, an audible alarm will sound... Many school buses also include a GPS device that helps school officials track the location of the vehicles at all times. With a product called AWARE Vehicle Intelligence by Navistar Electronics, not only can school officials track the location of a bus, they can also monitor its performance, including how fast the bus is traveling, which stops have been made and even how much fuel is left in the tank... School bus drivers also have a more comfortable, safer approach to driving, since many automotive characteristics have been integrated into today's newer-model buses...Labels: future buses
Sankt Augustin,Germany -Gizmag,
