Buses World News

Infra .... Structures...? School buses log hundreds of extra miles to avoid low-weight bridges

Franklin County bridges are becoming outdated about four times faster than they can be replaced

(Photo by Jim Hannon/TimesDaily: School bus driver Sandra May turns around at Happy Hollow bridge on Lauderdale 47 in the Kilburn Beach community. May travels between 70 to 75 miles a day because the bus can't cross the low-weight bridge on her route to and from Rogers High School)

Cox Creek Parkway,Florence,AL,USA -The Times Daily, by Tom Smith -February 13, 2011: -- Sandra May said it's not unusual for some of the students who ride her school bus to go to sleep on the way to school... May's bus, which goes to Rogers High School in Greenhill, is one of several forced to make longer trips and travel more miles because of bridges that have weight limits less than 14 tons... School and highway officials throughout northwest Alabama have been battling the problem of older bridges with low weight limits for years... A lot of improvements have been made, but county officials say it comes down to money... In the past five years, the county has been able to replace three of the county's 122 bridges... Franklin County Engineer David Palmer said the average lifespan of a bridge is 60 years, and the county should replace an average of 2.5 bridges a year instead of replacing three bridges in the past five years...

Labels: infra? .... structures... ?

INFRA... STRUCTURES * New Zealand's most dangerous roads revealed

Auckland,NZ -TV NZ/One News -24 July 2010: -- Some sections of New Zealand highways have been revealed as being far from safe after the government declared most stretches of road generally safe... There are also accusations that government officials deliberately ignore unsafe roads because of pressure from the trucking industry... Part of State Highway 2 just south of Dannevirke is officially the most dangerous stretch of road in the country... Motorists need to be aware of a rail crossing on the road that doesn't have any barrier arms and also need to need to spot an intersection nearby. They then need be aware of ditches and trees -roadside hazards many motorists don't notice... The latest revelations have come from new safety ratings for state highways. The KiwiRAP Star Ratings have been developed by the Automobile Association and the New Zealand Transport Agency...(Photo from tvnz.co.nz: This part of State Highway 2 just south of Dannevirke is officially the most dangerous stretch of road in NZ. SEE VIDEO)

Labels: infra? .... structures... ?

New bus stop * UK - Put where no buses stop ! ! !

Northampton,England,UK -The Northampton Chronicle & Echo -20 Dec 2007: -- Red-faced highways officials will have to remove newly-painted markings for a bus stop when it emerged no bus has operated on the road for several years... The blunder came to light when eagle-eyed pedestrians noticed the new bus stop in Mill Lane, Kingsthorpe, an area that is currently not served by any bus... (Picture: The newly-painted bus stop in Mill Lane, Kingsthorpe)

Labels: infra? .... structures... ?

Bad roads Condition * India - KSRTC to stop Volvo buses from Mangalore to Bangalore

Oct 2007: --

Mangalore,India -S.O. News service/SahilOnline (Dubai,United Arab Emirates) -October 01, 2007: - KSRTC Mangalore division is planning to stop Volvo bus services to Bangalore... Speaking to the reporters, Divisional Controller Mr. Karumbaiah said the deplorable condition of Shiradi Ghat stretch has forced KSRTC Mangalore division to take a decision to withdraw the services. We have contacted the authorities concerned, who in turn have assured to undertake repairing of the road within two days. lf they failed to undertake repair work we will stop the services, he said... ( Picture by silkboard.files.wordpress.com: Bangalore roads are crowded)

Labels: infra? .... structures... ?

* Canada - Switch cars for buses

Kill all new super highway projects. Then take all that money and reinvest it in buses and trains.

Parksville,British Columbia,Canada -The Parksville Qualicum News by Robert Mercer -May 04 2007: -- Your correspondent Charles Lacey (The News, April 27) talked about the environmental cost of air versus car travel... Well, here is the guts of it from a United Kingdom test published in a UK daily paper this past year... UK Department of Transport figures for a trip between London and Manchester (about 150 miles) show CO2 emissions per passenger as follows... On a plane that is 70 per cent full, the pollution footprint is 63.9 kilograms each... For an average sized car with the average 1.5 passengers it is 36.6 kilograms... However, if you were concerned and took the train your footprint would have been only 5.2 kilograms at 70 per cent full... But to win the environmental jackpot you would have traveled by bus with 39 other people where the individual carbon dioxide footprint would have been only 4.3 kilograms each... So, in order to make a significant impact on global warming, stop all government funding and handouts to airports and plane manufacturers...

Labels: infra? .... structures... ?