Buses World News

In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry

1.11.16

SELF DRIVING BUSES * Singapore / China: To ferry passengers in 2017

* Singapore - Buses will be next stop for self-driving trials

(Video from TomoNews US - Oct 21, 2016 - Singapore announced on Wednesday that the country will begin testing autonomous buses on the road in 2018. But these buses are expected to ferry passengers within a university in early 2017)

--- Singapore is planning to roll out self-driving buses on its roads in a few months' time, even as the world's first-ever self-driving taxi trial launched on its shores just weeks ago has been suspended... First to try out these driverless buses are the staff and students of Nanyang Technological University (NTU). In the first half of 2017, up to 15 of them will be able to ride in one of these two 12-metre long hybrid self-driving buses, which are expected to pick up passengers within the NTU campus. The trial will then expand to about 40 passengers...
Singapore, China - The Business Times, by Soon Weilun - OCT 20, 2016

Labels: automated buses, passengers' transport industry

10.11.14

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT SERVICE * Australia

* Sydney 'ghost buses' taking less than one passenger per day

(Video by Media and Transport Channel: Buses running around empty with no passengers)
Sydney,NSW,Australia -9NEWS -November 4, 2014: -- They are Sydney's ghost buses, the services that can pick up on average less than one passenger a day... On the 341 service at Kingsford it's eerily quiet. It runs twice a day but is rarely flagged down... The 341 picked up only 233 people last year. On average that's less than one person a day... The situation was even more dire on the number 31, the Camden to Cobbitty service, with only 69 passengers flagging it down during 2013... You're guaranteed a seat if you're in the Blue Mountains - the 694 at Springwood carried only 131 passengers last year... It's in stark contrast to the busiest service in the state, route 400 which stops at Sydney Airport. It transported more than 4.6 million passengers in 2013... But these other services continue to operate, with rows and rows of empty seats... These buses are driving around Sydney without a passenger in sight and they are being funded by the taxpayer...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT SERVICE * USA

* Washington - With transit money approved, Seattle pledges to spend new dollars well

(Photo by Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times - A passenger heads to a Metro bus on Third Avenue in Seattle. A total of 49 routes are supposed to gain service, not just the all-day routes, but full peak-only routes that need a couple more daily runs)
Seattle,WASH,USA -The Seattle Times, by Mike Lindblom -November 5, 2014: -- What’s next for Seattle transit, now that voters have agreed to tax themselves for a 15 percent bus-service increase by late next year... Elected leaders promised Wednesday to make good use of the $45 million per year that Seattle voters approved to put more buses on the city’s busy streets... The Seattle City Council will enjoy wide discretion to satisfy public demand for more King County Metro Transit service — far beyond just rescuing those routes that are so crowded drivers pass up waiting customers... If the council chooses, Seattle could even pay Metro enough to ensure a bus every 15 minutes on several crosstown routes...

* Massachusetts - New hybrid MBTA buses promise fuel efficiency, live surveillance

(Photo: MBTA officials aid the new hybrid diesel-electric buses will also include a "Live Look In" surveillance system)
Boston,MASS,USA -Metro -November 5, 2014: -- Transit officials yesterday rolled out the first in a line of 60 new hybrid diesel-electric buses that MBTA officials say line up with its environmental focus and need to replace the outdated fleet, but the vehicles also come with some other extra features - like a few more sets of eyes... The forty-foot buses will feature on-board video recording and surveillance systems including “Live Look In,” which will allow Transit Police to remotely access and monitor bus activity... MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott said the fully-accessible buses will have improved customer information systems, better lighting and greater reliability... The remaining 59 buses are expected to be delivered by the end of March... Passenger Amenities include a seating capacity of 37, with two wheelchair locations, an easy to operate exterior bicycle rack capable of storing two bikes, high visibility LED destination signs, automated “next stop” voice announcements, and an automatic passenger counter system...

* California - Muni wants to speed 19th Avenue buses

(Photo by Dustin Allen)
San Francisco,CAL,USA -SF Bay, by Jerold Chinn -November 5, 2014: -- The 28-19th Avenue bus and its limited service are two busy Muni routes in San Francisco... Both routes carry a total of about 15,000 riders daily, which include San Francisco State University students, tourists heading to the Golden Gate Bridge, residents making a connections... Thousands of riders depend on the 28-19th Avenue bus, which is why the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is looking to make service improvements along the 19th Avenue... The bus can often been seen packed to the brim with riders or passing up riders because it just cannot fit anymore riders as it did to Muni rider Dustin Allen last month: "Still no 28, but now 4 right after another coming... A completely packed 28 came and didn't even stop at the bus stop" ... Eight bus stops will be relocated to the far side so that the buses can make use of the planned transit signal priority that will program traffic lights to hold green lights for approaching buses... The proposed changes would reduce travel time on the 28 local service by 20 percent (four minutes of travel time in each direction)...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

4.11.14

PASSENGERS' PUBLIC SERVICE * UK - The Silver Economy

* England - Technology used to help older people navigate

(Picture: The Community Mini-bus service in New Alresford, Hampshire, UK, exists to take the elderly and the disabled shopping...)
London,EN,UK -The Financial Times, by Jane Wild -November 3, 2014: -- “There is a steep slope to the pavement ahead, it would be easier to cross here,” said the bollard. Talking bollards that can detect your presence by sensing a signal from your phone are being developed to help older people get around... As with the bollards, much of the work done by the transport industry to serve the growing numbers of older people aims to help them get around comfortably. Bus passengers are offered a variety of cards that can be shown to a driver when boarding, keeping their request private. ‘Please speak slowly – I am hard of hearing’ one reads. Users can write in their destination so drivers can alert them to their stop... The scheme was brought in by FirstGroup in a partnership with the charity Age UK but proved so popular it was introduced across the industry... Bus and train manufacturers are also adapting. “We look at access issues in a very serious way, and it’s what has helped us triple the size of our business,” said Bill Simpson, group corporate affairs director at Alexander Dennis. The company, one of Britain’s biggest bus and coach manufacturers, designs the low floors on its buses with the elderly in mind. Two doors allow faster entry, while for those who are unsteady on their feet it has fixed extra handles to seats. Hooks on seat backs are designed for carrier bags full of shopping... Jonathan Bray, director of the Passenger Transport Executive, which represents transport authorities around the country, says this is an issue for the whole transport industry. “Often [older people] want to be seen just like everybody else and just want a decent service” ...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

30.8.14

PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICE * USA: DC's Metro lines

* DC - Metro adds longer buses to busy corridor

(Video by timosha21 - Metrobus' fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of 1,500 square miles -3,900 km²- in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia)
Washington,DC,USA -WUSA9, by Martin Di Caro -August 25, 2014: -- When Metro adds buses to its S line on 16th Street Northwest, the commuters come... Since 2009 the transit authority has augmented service six times to one of its busiest routes, yet rush hour buses are still bursting with riders. On their way to downtown Washington in the morning, the S buses often pass by waiting commuters because they simply cannot fit anymore aboard... The S9 "express" service was introduced five years ago, ridership has increased 25 percent and now tops more than 20,000 daily passengers... Metro's latest move took effect Monday: the addition of 60-foot articulated coaches to the S line, replacing five standard 40-foot buses per hour, each capable of carrying 55 percent more passengers...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

29.8.14

PUBLIC TRANSPORT * UK: Desregulation failure

* England - Bus deregulation outside London has been a failure – thinktank report

(Photograph: Simmisimons/Getty Images/Vetta: The IPPR thinktank argues bus deregulation has failed because outside London bus passenger journeys have fallen and fares are rising faster than inflation)
London,EN,UK -The Guardian, by Rebecca Smithers -26 August 2014: -- Millions of bus passengers who rely on services outside London have been let down by a lack of competition and the failure of deregulation, a report warns. They include the poorest fifth of all households, who cannot afford cars and yet who end up taking more taxi journeys each year than any other income group because of the unreliability and high fares of their local buses... Bus passenger journeys outside London have fallen by 32.5% since 1986, but within the capital they have risen by 99%... It is nearly 30 years since local bus services in Britain were deregulated by the Conservatives under the Transport Act 1985 to revive the flagging fortunes of an industry in decline. It was believed that by encouraging and opening up competition, services would improve, fares would fall and cross-subsidies would be removed... But the IPPR says the policy has largely failed because outside London bus passenger journeys have fallen and fares are rising faster than inflation. One in eight people working in Britain rely on a bus to get to work, the report points out, with passengers making more than three times as many bus journeys as rail journeys – more than 5bn each year...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

24.7.14

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * India

* India - CTU buses to be modernised

(Photo: A Chandigarh bus)
Chandigarh,Haryana,India -The Hindustan Times, by Vinod Kumar -July 24, 2014: -- Commuters of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) buses will soon have the facility to know the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of buses to their destination at the bus queue shelters... Chandigarh, along with three other cities of Bhopal, Jaipur and Mira-Bhayandar, has been selected for a pilot project by the World Bank where the city bus services will be modernised. For the execution of the project, the World Bank has sanctioned around Rs. 15 crore... Transport director TPS Phoolka told HT that electronic displays with intelligent transport system (ITS) would be installed at a total of around 250 bus queue shelters spread across the city, which would run the ETAs of all buses touching the bus shelters...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * USA

* New Jersey - LBI shuttle buses are free ride growing in appeal. 2013 Pilot Program expanded this summer

(Photo by Ryan Morrill)
Long Beach Island,Ocean County,NJ,USA -The Sand Paper, by Juliet Kaszas-Hoch -Jul 23, 2014: -- As the summer moves on, word of Long Beach Island’s free shuttle bus service continues to spread. “The numbers are strong, and getting stronger,” Long Beach Township Commissioner, Joseph Lattanzi said, of those filling seats on the colorful buses, which travel the entire length of the Island from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day... Last summer, the township ran a pilot shuttle program using three donated school buses. Six new shuttles comprise the current transportation program, for which potential passengers need only wait along the road and signal one of the buses to stop. Depending on the day and time, the wait could be anywhere from five to 20 minutes... Lattanzi said, feedback has been positive. He believes the service will continue to enhance the summer experience on LBI, begetting fewer cars on the roads and helping make local businesses more accessible...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

21.7.14

PASSENGERS' PUBLIC SERVICE * USA: Google's

* California - Google placates the public with their own luxury buses

Mountain View,CAL,USA -Valley Wag, by Kevin Montgomery -18 July 2014: -- Google's glistening fleet of employee coaches will soon be tainted by the presence of Everyman. In an effort to get ahead of concerns that the search giant is growing too quickly for Mountain View, Google is funding a free shuttle network to appease their detractors... The network, which will operate around Mountain View and be available for anyone to use, aims to assuage fears that Google's corporate expansions will create traffic gridlock. According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, the program hopes to reduce the number of crosstown trips residents make in private vehicles...

* North Caroline - Gastonia buses: Lifeline or sinking ship?

Gastonia,NC,USA -Gaston Gazette, by Michael Barrett -July 19, 2014: -- Allen Petty makes a mental note every time he drives past a Gastonia bus stop where no one is waiting... The local resident does the same thing when he spots a city bus that appears to have few or no passengers. Petty maintains he see both scenarios quite often... He believes Gastonia Transit is inflating its figures on ridership and ticket revenue, possibly to get more money from the state and federal government... Like many critics of the transit system, he doesn’t think the buses should be scrapped. He simply believes Gastonia could do it more efficiently than relying on 35-foot buses that run six citywide routes on five to six days of the week...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

17.7.14

PASSENGERS' TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * USA: California - Indiana - New York

* California - San Francisco boldly stands up to tech buses with $3.55 fee

San Francisco,CAL,USA -The Valley Wag, by Kevin Montgomery -15 July 2014: -- San Francisco's plan to legalize the armada of tech buses has sailed past its last regulatory hurdle. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency voted today to approve increased fees charged to tech companies for using city bus stops, as part of its controversial shuttle pilot program... According to KQED News, SFMTA raised the per-stop fee charged to shuttle operators from $1 up to $3.55. The fee was increased for two reasons. Residents demanded fewer city stops be included in the pilot program, which means there would be less revenue coming in, and the projected administrative costs were higher than anticipated... Those critics are proceeding with a lawsuit, challenging the luxury shuttle program on environmental grounds. But it's unlikely that the suit will prevent the pilot from going forward: Google buses are slated to begin rolling legally through San Francisco on August 1st...

* Indiana - New buses provide transportation to suburban jobs

Indianapolis,IND,USA -The Indianapolis Recorder -July 15, 2014: -- Building on the success of the Plainfield Connector, which started in 2013 and provides more than 1,400 one-way trips a month connecting people to jobs in industrial parks, the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA) will launch two new commuter bus services later this year... Plainfield, Whitestown job growth spurs two new commuter bus services... Service to start before distribution facilities' busy holiday season...

* New York - How Chinatown Buses survived competition, regulation, and the occasional gang war

(Photo: A discount bus on August 20, 2013 in New York City)
NY,USA -Business Week/Bloomberg, by Patrick Clark -July 17, 2014: -- Next month, New York City will start fining the intercity carriers known colloquially as Chinatown buses for operating without permits or making stops outside of sanctioned areas... The Chinatown bus phenomenon began in the late 1990s, to serve either immigrant restaurant workers holding down jobs in multiple cities or immigrant New Yorkers with children at elite schools in Boston. In any case the bus lines quickly expanded their reach, catering to students and other frugal travelers who didn’t mind obscure pickup spots or drivers who didn’t speak much English if it meant a cheaper fare... At first the competition came from other Chinatown companies... Then there was corporate competition. By 2008, BoltBus, owned by Greyhound and operated in partnership with Peter Pan, and Megabus, owned by the British company Stagecoach... Last year, Greyhound and Peter Pan teamed up to launch another bus service—called Yo!— between New York and Boston... Last came the regulators. New York City’s recent law is the latest attempt at a crackdown. It may hit some operators, but if history is any guide, the Chinatown buses will persevere...

Labels: electric buses services, passengers' transport industry

7.7.14

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT SERVICES * UK

* England - London buses to stop taking cash

(Photo: PA: From 6th July London buses will no longer accept cash)
London,EN,UK -ITV -6 Jul 2014: -- As of tomorrow bus users in the capital will no longer be able to pay their fares with cash. Passengers will need an Oyster Card, travel card or a contactless bank card to pay. All single adult fares will be £1.45... If a bus user doesn't have enough credit on their Oyster Card, or if their travel card or pass has just expired, they are allowed one extra journey before topping up or renewing and clearing the negative balance...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

30.6.14

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * UK

* UK - Bus campaign to counter extremism

Gwent,EN,UK -South Wales Argus -29th June 2014: -- A British Muslim community is sponsoring 125 buses to run in the South-West of England and Wales – including Gwent – to mark 125 years since its foundation in 1889... It is part of a wider awareness campaign that has spanned the UK from Glasgow to Bournemouth and also sponsored buses across the UK during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee... Its message is simple – that it stands for loyalty, freedom, equality, respect and peace, values common to Islam and Britain...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

29.5.12

PASSENGERS' TRANSPORT INDUSTRY NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Belgium - European bus registrations growth

(Photo: MAN Lion's City range)

Brussels,Belgium -Busworld (Belgium) -4 May 2012: -- The European registrations of new buses and coaches over 3.5 ton gross vehicle weight grew in the first three months of 2012. During March, buses and coaches were the only segment to post growth (+17.9%), sustained by the strong demand in the UK (+86.7%) and Germany (+22.6%)...

* Germany - OECD: We need better connected transport

(Photo: Lane Departure Warning)
Leipzig, Germany -Busworld (Belgium) -20 May 2012 : -- Better connected transport will drive economic growth and better protect the environment, according to the Transport Outlook 2012 report on mobility trends produced by the International Transport Forum at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). The new influential report was launched by OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, during the Annual Summit of Transport Ministers held in Leipzig, Germany...

* Germany - TÜV Rheinland to provide European perspectives to USA: Connected Vehicle Research Programme

(Photo: BRT Istanbul)

Cologne, Germany -Busworld (Belgium) -1 April 2012: -- TÜV Rheinland’s ITS group, together with Booz Allen Hamilton, will support the US Department of Transportation (US DoT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office’s (ITS JPO) work to harmonise international ITS standards for connected vehicle technology...

* Chile - New global Bus Rapid Transit Database launched

(Photo: Phileas Istanbul)
Santiago,Chile -Busworld (Belgium) - 10 April 2012: -- Three global organizations — EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute’s center for sustainable transport, and the Across Latitudes and Cultures- Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence (ALC-BRT CoE) — in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA) teamed up to launch the most comprehensive, public database of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems around the world, http://BRTdata.org...

* Brazil - C40 cities releases interim results from Latin America hybrid electric bus test

(Photo: Eletra C40 bus 2012)

Rio Janeiro,RJ,Brazil -Busworld (Belgium) -10 May 2012: -- The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) has released interim results from its Hybrid and Electric Bus Test Program, developed in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative, and supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The results come from test segments run in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; additional segments will take place there in Q2 and Q3 2012. In Bogotá and Curitiba, new segments will take place in Q2 and Q3 2012. Participating bus companies include Eletra, Volvo Bus Corporation, TATSA, and BYD...

* Hong Kong / China - To tighten vehicle emission standards

(Photo: Volvo KMB)

H.K.,China -Busworld (Belgium) -2 April 2012: -- The 2012 Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards) amendment regulation was released in Hong Kong to tighten emission standards for newly registered vehicles to European levels, according to the Hong Kong government website...

* USA - Requires ESC on large commercial buses

(Photo: Prevost Greyhound) Washington,DC,USA -Busworld (Belgium) -22 May 2012: -- The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a new federal motor vehicle safety standard to require electronic stability control (ESC) systems on large commercial trucks, motorcoaches, and other large buses, with a GVW of greater than 11,793 kg...

* UK - Low carbon bus funding: Third round

(Photo: Wrightbus Enova)

London,EN,UK -Busworld (Belgium) -4 April 2012: -- The British Government recently announced the winning bids under the third round of the Green Bus Fund for hybrid, electric and gas buses. The £31 million Green Bus Fund will see 439 new low carbon buses come to UK roads, the majority of which are expected to be manufactured in the UK...

* UK - Aries takes its safety solutions

Aylesbury,Buckinghamshire,EN,UK -Transport Engineer -29 May 2012: -- Aylesbury-based operator Motts Travel has taken delivery of a Volvo B9R coach with VDL Jonckheere bodywork and liveried specifically for the company's Crusader Holidays contract... The new vehicle joins Motts fleet of 55, which includes over 30 vehicles built on the Volvo chassis. The renewed investment reflects a strong faith and trust in the Volvo brand, products and services by the Buckinghamshire operator...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

27.10.10

PASSENGERS' TRANSPORT SERVICE * UK - Main operators facing stress in the city

London,UK - The Financial Times, by Gill Plimmer -October 26 2010: -- The capital’s bus market may have escaped the worst of the government’s austerity measures, but the 7 per cent fall in revenues at Go-Ahead’s London bus business highlights the pressure facing operators in Britain’s biggest city... Transport for London, the mayor’s transport authority, has been faced with an unprecedented budget squeeze that has seen it try to cut costs on the £800m-a-year service, and it is the knock-on effect of this that has dented profits at Go-Ahead’s London bus arm, analysts said... The London bus market remains unique – the last service in the country to be regulated, where the mayor sets fare levels and pays companies for every mile operated... But while these payments remain unchanged, TFL has cut its quality incentive scheme – the bonuses used to reward bus operators for cleanliness, punctuality and quality of service... The reduction has hit an industry already under pressure from a fall in passenger revenues during the recession... Last week the East London Bus Group, the city’s third-biggest operator, was rescued from bankruptcy by Stagecoach, its former owner, in a £52.8m deal... In August Deutsche Bahn, the German state group, took over a fifth of the London market after its purchase of Arriva, while last year National Express jumped off London buses altogether, to be replaced by the Dutch state railway company, which operates as Abellio... In spite of this, London remains a good place to do business for the country’s big five bus and train operators. While the market outside the capital has been hit by the government’s decision in the comprehensive review to cut the bus operator’s fuel duty allowance by 20 per cent from 2012, London remains largely unaffected because of its franchising model... (Images icnetwork.co.uk: Birmingham's city centre bus)

Labels: passengers' transport industry

23.10.10

PASSENGERS' TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * Canada & USA - Time-Based Versus Distance-Based Fares

What are the options with payment schemes for public transportation? ...

(An image of Paris',France, transit map)

Washington,DC,USA -The CityFix, by Jonna McKone -October 22, 2010: ... There are two tiers of strategies that a Los Angeles Metro study recently outlined... Time-based systems allow passengers to ride a transit system and make free transfers for a set amount of time. This scheme can be anything from an unlimited weekly pass to an unlimited monthly pass, to even shorter periods of time, such as a free transfer within a one- to two-hour time period. This pricing system requires some sort of card (paper, magnetic or smart card) to issue the transfer... Distance-based systems charge higher fares for rides that cover greater distances. The fares could either be on a route-by-route basis, as we have in Washington, D.C., where the price between two points varies (here’s a nice run-down of the District’s pricing options), or a set of fare zones that could establish incremental fares based on certain regions of the city. For example, Paris has concentric circles that ring the city and form zone boundaries. Travel to the outer zones is more expensive than inner areas. Los Angeles’ Metrolink is much different—the system offers a daily pass for $6 and a preboard flat fare. The thought behind the distance-based scheme is that riders who use more service should pay for the service... There are drawbacks to both systems. Distance-based fares often end up being more complicated to develop and enforce, as they require a card to be re- swiped, tapped or punched for bus or rail, or they require a barrier that reinforces additional payment... The Los Angeles Metro system reviewed the pricing strategies of 244 North American transit services from data collected by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). According to the findings, “some form of time-based pricing is offered on 32 of 244 systems with the most common form allowing unlimited transfers within the available time window (19 properties allow transfers within a 1 to 2 hour window)” ... For distance-based pricing, the report finds that this practice is uncommon for non-express routes and rail and more common for express routes and systems that radiate from a central area. LA Metro further analyzed distance-based systems and made a few interesting points. Time-based services incentivize the use of the fastest possible transit service, which often “are the most efficient for the transit provider to operate,” says the report. This means the rider can use as many services as possible within the window of time that the fare card allots. However, this type of fare scheme often leads to a higher base fare than the lowest pay-per-distance option (i.e. the shortest distance) ... And distance-based fares, as we said above, generally don’t occur for services like local buses and could encourage the use of cheaper, slower parallel services, which means a service provider is operating duplicate services. But in the case where distance-based fare is used for buses (examples include BRT systems in Ahmedabad and Bangkok), it can slow down service, as customers swipe in and out. Plus, this fare scheme can be particularly cumbersome for low-income users... What do you think? Which system works in your city?...

* BC / Canada - Greyhound cut routes without licence approval - Bus line is in a squabble with B.C. Ferries over terminal access

(Image from wikimedia.org/wikipedia: BC Ferries Zone Two)

Vancouver,BC,Canada -Canada.com/Daily News, by Walter Cordery -October 15, 2010: -- Greyhound Canada may have jumped the gun when it cut back service, to just two buses daily, on the B.C. Ferries route from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay... The company actually reduced the number of sailings its buses would travel on effective Oct. 5... Jan Broocke, a director and secretary to B.C.'s Passenger Transportation Board, said the licence the bus carrier is currently operating under "requires Greyhound to make six trips daily from Nanaimo to Vancouver"... Tobin Robbins, a lawyer with Heenan Blaikie, told the Daily News that because of a financial dispute, B.C. Ferries erected a barricade to keep Greyhound buses out of Departure Bay... Greyhound, he said, was trying to minimize costs by offering a dropoff and pickup service that would have seen passengers dropped off at the terminal and then picked up by another bus in Horseshoe Bay six times a day...

The ferry corporation was reluctant to accommodate this service and told Greyhound that it could bring passengers to the terminal but would have to unload them at "some distance" from the actual building...

* USA / NYC’s Lowest-Paid Workers Have Longest Commutes

(Map via Pratt Center)

New York,NY,USA -The CityFix, by: Jonna McKone -October 22, 2010: -- The Pratt Center published a series of maps that show commuting patterns of some 289,000 residents of 13 predominantly low- and moderate-income communities in New York City... The combined cost of housing and transportation burden is significant depending on where you live. Many Americans and people all over the world struggle with an enduring trade off: spending a greater share of income on housing for a shorter commute, or spending less of their income on housing in exchange for longer commutes and increased transportation costs. In 2007, The Center for Housing released a report called, “A Heavy Load: The Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens of Working Families” ... (You can download the full report here) ... The study of 28 metropolitan areas in the U.S. found that working families spend 57 percent of their income on the combined costs of housing and transportation. On average, transportation accounts for 29 percent of their income. The findings were similar across major cities from Denver to Baltimore to Honolulu...

Labels: passengers' transport industry

PASSENGERS' TRANSPORT * India - 1.64 crore people ferried in a year in Ahmedabad

The Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS)

Ahmedabad,Gujarati,India -DNA -Oct 15, 2010: -- A city suffering on account of inadequate public transport has found itself a new lifeline - the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS)... A year back, when chief minister, Narendra Modi, flagged off the new bus service, there were several doubts in people's minds on whether the BRTS would succeed after all - especially considering the fate it met with in cities like Pune and Delhi... However, a year after it was launched, and after having ferried 1,63,877,46 passengers so far across a city-wide network of 34 km, there remain few doubts today about what the BRTS means to Amdavad... At the time of its launch, the BRTS provided services only on a 12.5-km stretch from RTO to Pirana, with an average passenger count of 15,759 a day. This was in October 2009. Exactly a year later, the average number of passengers has increased to 82,944 a day (in October 2010)... The BRTS started with a fleet of around 12 buses and now has 44, with five reserved for emergencies. This means that in last October, there were around 865 passengers per bus, which has now increased to 1,865 passengers per bus... (Imagen from wikimedia.org/wikipedia: Ahmedabad BRTS)

Labels: bus rapid transit - BRT, passengers' transport industry

18.9.10

PASSENGERS' TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * WORLDWIDE

* Singapore - Transport Minister observes bus frequency situation

Singapore -FTP/Fit To Post, by Ion Danker -September 14, 2010: -- Transport Minister, Raymond Lim, made an unannounced trip on bus service 960 on Monday morning to get a better feel of the current rush hour bus frequency situation... Mr Lim was on hand to observe the loading situation in Bukit Panjang since the operator increased the number of bus trips during the morning peak period since July... He also visited the bus stop in front of Block 270 at Bukit Panjang, which was recently extended to accommodate more buses and an arrival information panel installed to provide real-time bus arrival information for commuters... According to a Channel NewsAsia report, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said the situation in the area has improved since the changes were implemented... MOT added that the unannounced visit will help officials see first-hand the impact of measures implemented to improve the public transport system. Mr Lim last visited the same area in June... Some commuters spoke to were impressed by Mr Lim’s surprise visit...

Dubai - RTA Survey: 77% Of Public Bus Users Favour More Dedicated Lanes

Dubai -Dubai City Guide -13 September 2010: -- A recent survey carried out by the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) revealed that 77 per cent of public transport users in Dubai favoured widening the scope of Dedicated Lanes for Buses and Taxis scheme to cover more streets, over and above Al Mankhool, Al Khaleej, Khalid bin Al Waleed and Al Ghubaiba streets; which saw the debut of the scheme in mid May last... Elaborating on the results of the survey, Maitha said: “The questionnaire covered 5 categories related to the scheme spanning 516 public transport users, 119 private vehicle motorists, 221 cab drivers, 151 public bus drivers, and 56 RTA inspectors... Among public transport users 77 per cent wished the scheme to cover other streets in Dubai, 75% stated that the scheme helped shorten the journey time, 76 per cent believed that the scheme would be an attractive element for using mass transport, and 74 per cent expressed their satisfaction with the awareness campaigns of the scheme" ... (Photo from tinypic: Dubai is now building a mass transit system)

* Ghana’s Work on Bus Rapid Transit to start next month

Accra,Ghana -GBN -September 14, 2010: -- The first phase of construction works under the country’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system would take off next month... The BRT will serve a radial arterial route running from Kasoa in the Central Region through Malam and Kaneshie and terminate at the central business district in Accra... Mr Kwadwo Antwi, Head, Project Communication of the Urban Transportation Project said the physical design work would also include the building of new overhead pedestrian crossings fitted with elevator to help commuters, especially the physically challenged, access to the bus terminal in the inner lane... He said the whole project had been divided into phases and would last for about 18 months and the new system would be operational in 2012... Some transport operators, especially members of the GPRTU, initially resisted the introduction of BRT because of fears that once it became operational, its members would lose their jobs.,, (Photo from ghanabusinessnews)

* UK - Find a Bus Top Shelter with Google Maps

London,UK -Google Maps Mania -September 13, 2010: -- Bus-Tops is a fascinating public art project in London. Bus-Tops will be installing screens on the roofs of bus shelters across London, creating a medium for artists to show their work... In order to enable the public to make bus stop suggestions Bus-Tops have created an excellent database of London bus stop shelters. If you click on any of the mapped bus stops you can click through to a dedicated page about that bus stop. As well as viewing the bus stop's position on a Google Map you can view it in Street View, you can get a unique URL for that stop and you can also view all nearby stops... This is a great resource to find London bus shelters. Very occasionally it is known to rain in London. So, if you are a regular user of London buses, this could be a handy resource to find a shelter whilst waiting for your bus... (Image: London's Bus-Tops)

Labels: passengers' transport industry