Buses World News
In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
VOLVO BUSES * India: Sale 100 vehicles to BMTC
* Karnakata - Volvo to deliver hundred city buses to Bangalore
--- Volvo Buses has received an order for 100 city buses from the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). The buses of the typd 8400 are in compliance with the UBS-II emission level and the BSIV emission rules.
The locally manufactured Volvo D8C engine’s coupled to a 6-speed automatic transmission with integrated retarder and optimised rear axle ratio delivers high performance required in the city’s frequent start-stop traffic.. The engine supplies a peak power of 330hp in order to meet optimal power-to-weight ratio and ensure reserve power, which is critical to meet three areas for good city duty cycle – instant acceleration, air-conditioning performance, and gradeability...
(Photo: A bus by the Division of Volvo India Pvt. Ltd) -- Bengaluru, Karnataka, India - Busworld - 23 MAR 2017Labels: busmakers news India, passengers transport industry India
Government Budget * India: A boost to bus makers in
* Delhi - The Motor Vehicles Act will allow private sector participation in the passenger vehicle segment of road transport
-- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that the Motor Vehicles Act will be amended to allow the participation of private sector in the passenger vehicle segment of road transport... For this the government aims to provide an ecosystem which provide states to adopt a revised legal framework. This is done to boost road transport by empowering entrepreneurs to operate buses on various routes... This might lead to overhauling or scraping of permit system which is required presently to own and operate buses under a particular heading. Every year, bus operators obtain different permits, including single district permit, two districts and all-India permit for operating their buses... Such a move will give a boost to bus sales benefiting bus manufacturers like Tata Motos, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Volvo, Scania to name a few...
(Picture from Reuters - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrives at the parliament to present the budget for the 2016/17 fiscal year, in New Delhi) -- Mumbai, Delhi, India - Business Standard - February 29, 2016Labels: funds for buses, passengers transport industry India, rules and regulations
ILLEGAL PASSENGER TRANSPORT * India
* Maharashtra - RTO, cops to check illegal passenger transport
-- The state has decided to hold officials of the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and traffic police responsible for illegal transport of passengers... The regional transport offices (RTO) and police have been told to confiscate such vehicles, which include buses and jeeps. Officials may face stringent action if they fail to act against erring drivers, said a government notification... The High Court recently directed the state government to act against private transporters involved in stage transport of passengers. The court noted that illegal transport has been adversely affecting MSRTC's revenue. Stage transport by private operators is rampant across the state. Vehicles like buses, jeeps and six-seaters halt near MSRTC bus stands and pick up points, offering services at lower fares. Most vehicle owners do not have permits to carry additional passengers. Transporters are expected to provide point-to-point service, but they pick up passengers midway, which is unlawful. Only MSRTC is allowed to do so...
(Photo: Pune India, Jeepney's passengers transport) -- Pune, Maharashtra, India - TNN, by Sarang Dastane - Jan 20, 2016Labels: illegal operators, illegal services, passengers transport industry India
TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * India: GOVERNMENT BUSES (3)
* Tamil Nadu - Government buses: Driven to violating rules
-- There are no refresher or sensitising courses offered by the TNSTC to their drivers... They halt in the middle of the road, jump signals, drive rashly with blaring horns and think nothing of going the wrong way. Government buses are guilty of all of the above and behave like bullies, completely unmindful and indifferent to the smaller vehicles and pedestrians on the road... The reason is a combination of unskilled drivers, lack of will to enforce road rules by authorities and poor quality of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses. Lives are claimed in accidents every year thanks to bad driving and many have been maimed. The only way to escape them is to give them a wide berth or get out of their way to avoid being hit..... According to him, RTO, police and TNSTC can initiate action against bus drivers for non-compliance to the road safety rules, but they do not as TNSTC is a government agency...
(Photo: Thousands of commuters fined for violating pollution-reducing efforts) -- Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - The Hindu, by M.K. ANANTH - 18 Jan 2016Labels: passengers transport industry India
TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * India: PASSENGERS BUSES (2)
* Haryana - Online booking for ordinary H. Roadways buses
-- Haryana transport department has decided to start online ticket booking service for ordinary Haryana Roadways buses... State transport minister Krishan Lal Panwar said in the first phase of the scheme, 400 routes have been identified after conducting comprehensive study of various routes... “Passengers have to wait in long queues for getting tickets for travelling on these routes and reach the bus stand much before the scheduled timing of the buses,” Panwar said... The officers of the department were working for preparing software of online ticket booking and giving final touches to other necessary resources...
(HT Photo - Haryana transport department has decided to start online ticket booking service for ordinary buses) -- Chandigarh, Haryana - The Hindustan Times - Jan 15, 2016Labels: passengers transport industry India
TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * India: PASSENGERS BUSES (1)
* Delhi - Why DTC needs to mind its BUSiness
-- First, the good news. The Delhi Transport Corporation is capable of running an efficient bus system... This was demonstrated this past fortnight during the odd-even experiment when the state-run bus company was able to respond to the increased ridership.. . Now, the not-so-good news. The fortnight-long exercise also proved that DTC cannot do without a boost for its fleet in the coming months... DTC bumped up its usual 86% operational efficiency to 95% in the fortnight since road rationing began on January 1. What this means is that more buses left the depots and completed more trips than earlier. The frequency of buses also went up because each bus made more trips. The number of daily trips increased from 37,237 to 44,597 during the fortnight, though this figure includes the trips made by 1,250 private buses inducted into service... Unfortunately, these achievements paradoxically validated the need for more buses on the ground. Currently, DTC runs the show with 4,461 buses, aided by 1,490 cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS). On any given day, however, at least 10% of them are unavailable due to maintenance and other issues...
(Photo: DTC buses on depot) -- New Delhi, India - The Times fo India, by Rumu Banerjee - Jan 15, 2016
* Delhi government: To run 1,000 AC buses on PPP model. The government decided to opt for this model as DTC could not buy buses
-- The AAP government is aiming to augment public transport facilities before introducing the second phase of odd-even scheme... order to boost the city's public transport system, the Delhi government has decided to run 1,000 new air-conditioned low-foor buses on public-private partnership (PPP) model in the national capital... A proposal has been prepared by the transport department in this regard and it will be tabled in the Cabinet meeting later this month... The AAP government is aiming to augment public transport facilities before introducing the second phase of odd-even scheme which chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said will be back in an "improved form"... The government decided to opt for the PPP model as DTC could not buy buses despite floating tenders two-three times as bus manufacturers did not show interest due to some conditions in the tenders...
(TOI photo, by Yogesh Kumar: The AAP government is aiming to augment public transport facilities) -- New Delhi, India - The Times of India - Jan 17, 2016
* Delhi - Breaking down the upkeep dilemma
-- With no manufacturer coming forward to sign a contract that stipulated it would also have to maintain the buses it sold to the Delhi Transport Corporation, the capital's bus agency decided last year to scrap the clause. Ironically, this was done at a time when maintenance of its buses has been one of the biggest concerns for DTC... Till two months ago, the rate of breakdowns was a scandalous 600 per day for a fleet of 4,500 buses. In the past month, the state bus agency has brought down the figure to around 300 per day... Clearly, the emphasis is now on regular maintenance and stricter supervision of the maintenance teams. The repair team, which is outsourced, has been a bone of contention for the DTC for several years. The annual maintenance contract, which was made a part of the tender in 2007 when a set of 650 buses was procured, was re-introduced in 2010 when DTC bought the bulk of its low-floor fleet. At the time, 3,775 buses had been procured in a contract that put the onus of maintaining the buses on the manufacturer for the life of the vehicle, which is around 12 years as per norm. As part of the AMC fee, DTC pays the bus companies Rs 3.5-12 per km, depending on the age of the bus... However, frequent breakdowns and penalties imposed by DTC had prompted manufacturers, especially major sellers Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, to express reluctance at similar upkeep clauses in any new contracts. This forced DTC to jettison the contractual condition last year...
(Photo: A DTC bus) -- New Delhi, India -
The Times of India, by Rumu Banerjee - Jan 15, 2016
* Maharashtra - Home Department disallows private inter-city buses
-- The state move was in response to the Bombay High Court's directive, wherein the division bench of justices had asked the government to either come out with a policy in favour of privatisation or act against illegal private transport operators... Henceforth, travelling in a private inter-city bus might become next to impossible. The state home department on Thursday issued a government resolution (GR), disallowing private bus operators to provide inter-city bus services. These buses, reportedly, poach the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) passengers...
(Representational Image) -- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India - DNA, by ATEEQ SHAIKH - 18 Jan 2016Labels: passengers transport industry India
