Buses World News

RULES * USA - Mayor Extendeds Operating Authority For Bus Service

New York City - Mayor Bloomberg has signed legislation requiring the Department of Transportation to extend the operating authority of two unsubsidized bus services

New York,NY,USA -Vos Iz Neias (Yiddish: What's News?) -2 July 2008: -- The Mayor said, the final bill allows the Department of Transportation, with the approval of the Franchise Concession Review Committee, to extend the operating authority of two unsubsidized bus services who are scheduled to expire... The services are Private Transportation Corp. which transports approximately 600,000 passengers annually between Williamsburg and Borough Park in Brooklyn, and Private One of New York, LLC, operating as New York Airport Service, which transports approximately 900,000 passengers annually from Grand Central Station to LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports, and between the two airports...

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NEW RULES * UK - Boris bans booze on buses, trams and Tube

In first attack on ASBO culture

London,England,UK -This is London -8 May 2008: -- Alcohol will be banned on London's buses and Tubes from next month in the first move by new mayor Boris Johnson to purge the capital's transport network of drunken louts... Anyone caught drinking - or even carrying open cans or bottles - will face having them confiscated or being ejected from the system... The ban will be enforced by transport staff and police. Mr Johnson plans to have 440 extra police community officers on board rowdier buses and another 50 transport officers patrolling stations... (Picture: Good 'Old Boris': The new London Mayor celebrates the Sikh New Year festival over the bank holiday weekend)

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RULES ? * Europe - EU forces passengers on and off the buses

The law has been described as a "farce"

London,UK -The Telegraph, by Lucy Cockcroft -25 Mar 2008: -- Bus passengers who travel along a route of more than 30 miles must get off the vehicle midway through their journey to comply with new EU laws... The Brussels ruling dictates that drivers must pull over and let everyone off their bus after 30 miles, to ensure they do not spend too long behind the wheel... By example, from Newquay to Plymouth route has been split in three, even though a single driver is used for the entire distance... The driver is obliged to pull over and ask everyone to get off before the route number on the front of the vehicle is changed, and all the passengers are invited back on board... Passengers have been told they must buy three tickets to complete the route, and they must also break their journey twice... (EN: What it's this?...)

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RULES * Australia - Prams put squeeze on buses

Prams are getting bigger, but buses are not

Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -The Sydney Morning Herald, Jacob Saulwick -January 21, 2008: -- ... The two came into conflict when drivers last week told Julie Mackenzie she could not bring her double pram through the back door of a bus... Drivers used to let the Marrickville mother of twins enter through the back door, but clamped down after State Transit reissued an order prohibiting it... Ms Mackenzie, 44, is angry. "Basically, I can't catch the bus any more, so I think it is discriminating," she said... In some buses, prams have to be parked opposite the back door, where seats fold up to create space, but larger prams cannot fit through the aisle to get to the space. Ms Mackenzie said the only way she could take her 11-month-old daughterson the bus was if she handed them to passengers through the front door, folded the pram and carried it to allocated space, and then retrieved her babies from the front... State Transit said the problem was limited to 75 buses in the 2000-strong fleet, which were fitted for wheelchair entry through the rear doors... (Photo: Kate Geraghty - Grounded … Julie Mackenzie buckles in twins Stella and Lily. She has had to give up on bus travel)

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Bus group * UK - Calls for rural routes to get EU exemption

Passenger group Bus Users UK has called on MEPs, UK government and the EU Transport Commissioner to revise drivers’ hours and tachograph legislation which it claims is having a devastating effect on some rural bus services

London,UK -Transport Briefing -14 Jan 08: -- The group says European Regulation has brought local bus services of more than 50km in length into the scope of EU drivers’ hours and tachograph legislation, which is increasing costs and making rostering of drivers more difficult on longer rural bus services... According to Bus Users UK a number of long-established inter-urban services, which create important rural links, have been divided up into smaller sections, and some communities have lost bus links because of attempts to make services shorter... The group says over-zealous implementation of the EU rules has also resulted in the loss of through ticketing... (Video from YouTube, by CIADEONIBUS - November 15, 2007 -"LONDON BUSES - OXFORD STREET II" - Filmando pela janela frontal, a viagem em um Double Deck Urbano inglês, pela Oxford Street, em Londres, em 06/Out/2006. Sydney Junior.)

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Cities' Rules * USA - Bus line's plan runs awry of

Boston,MASS,USA -The Boston Globe, by Nicole C. Wong -October 31, 2007: -- City regulations and the threat of fines are posing problems once again for a discount bus company shuttling passengers between Boston and New York - and this one hasn't even hit the road yet... Vamoose, a New York-based family business, plans to launch a daily New England route on Nov. 8 that will take riders from the Hub to Manhattan for $22 one-way on motor coaches featuring free wireless Internet and guaranteed seating - perks similarly priced competitors don't offer. But Vamoose plans to load and unload passengers in front of Harvard University's Widener Gate and in front of a Dunkin' Donuts one block from Copley Square - illegal curbside activity Cambridge and Boston city officials say will rack up parking and pollution tickets ranging from $20 to $1,000 a piece for Vamoose... Transportation officials are disconcerted by Vamoose's plans to stop on the street... (Photo by John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times - Vamoose owner Zamvel Bluzenstein checks tickets on a bus before it departs Manhattan)

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Jurisprudence * India - No insurance liability for overloaded passengers

In India, overcrowded means of transport are the norm

New Delhi,India -ashisha.com -22 Aug 2007: -- You look at buses / trucks / jeeps / taxis, all of them seem to be over-crowded and full of passengers. In the case of an accident, the insurance company is inundated with cases filed by the passengers. So now there is a clarification about the limits to how much the insurance claims can be filed: "Insurance companies cannot be compelled to pay compensation to all passengers in road accidents involving overloaded vehicles of public transport as the liability is restricted only to authorised number of passengers, the Supreme Court has ruled. In other words, if a 42-seater bus overloaded with 90 passengers meets with an accident, the insurance company is liable to pay compensation only to the extent of the authorised 42 passengers"... (Picturer by rontravel: Indian double-decker buses - Hampi, India)

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RULES * India - What STA rules say

New Delhi,India -Express News Service -July 2, 2007: -- The Delhi government is set to crack the whip by enforcing existing State Transport Authority rules for public buses and forming some new policies... Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf today said the department will hold “our first meeting tomorrow and form a policy for Bluelines. ... Yusuf said transporters have been asked to be part of the meeting. Here’s what some, STA rules say:
* No driver should steer a bus for more than eight hours.
* Buses plying for more than eight hours require at least two drivers.
* Buses are not allowed any staff other than the driver and conductor.
* Minimum educational qualification of a driver is Class XII; a bus conductor should clear at least Class X.

* Killer Buses: Who's responsible?
Delhi, India -India eNews.com (Gurgaon,Haryana,India), by Rudroneel Ghosh -3 July 2007: -- It seems that last Sunday’s huge bus accident at the Rajouri Garden intersection has finally stung the authorities out of their deep slumber... Whether anything substantial will be done to ensure the safety of the passengers on such public buses run by private transporters is something that yet remains to be seen... Sunday’s accident had led to the horrific death of a 13 yr. old boy named Maurick Sharma who was at the time riding with his father and brother on their two wheeler when a blue line bus came from behind and rammed into them. Maurick was killed on the spot whereas his father and brother survived with minor injuries...

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Rule Changes * Canada - Bus riders face on

Vancouver,BC,Canada -GVRD/CKNW(AM980) -Jun, 25 2007: -- Today is the day all Translink buses, Coast Mountain, West Vancouver and all community shuttles become fare paid zones... Anyone entering beyond the fare box or the red line just behind the operator's compartment must have a valid proof of payment, a transfer or pre-paid pass, and show it when asked... This is also the official first day of the three door boarding pilot project on the 99B-Line. Customers with valid proof of payment will be able to board via the centre and rear doors on all articulated buses at all stops along the route. Customers paying cash or with a ticket that requires validation will only be able to board via the front doors... Passengers should also note that where a conventional bus is in service, they must board via the front doors only...

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Give way to buses * New Zealand - Proposal supported by RLTC

The Regional Land Transport Committee (RLTC) has agreed to support, in principle, a change to the road rules that would require motorists to give way to buses, especially when leaving bus stops.

Canterbury,NZ -Scoop.co.nz -22 June 2007: -- The passenger transport industry representative on the committee, Paul McNoe says in a number of other countries in the world, including Australia and the United Kingdom, buses are given priority after indicating when leaving a bus stop or changing lanes... Mr McNoe, who put the proposal forward at this week’s RLTC meeting, says that introducing a road rule to give priority to buses would support the wider Metro passenger transport strategy for improving bus travel times and encouraging the use of public transport. "An efficient bus system that is well patronised can reduce on-road congestion and improve the environment..."

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No Smoking Rule * USA - Trolleys, Buses To Enforce it

If you ride the San Diego trolley or bus, the air around you will soon be cleaner. On Friday, the transit system will begin enforcing its crackdown on smokers

San Diego,CAL,USA -NBC San Diego -May 31, 2007: -- In January, the transit system declared secondhand smoke a toxic contaminant. It passed a law outlawing smoking within 25 feet of bus stops and trolley stations... From June 1 to June 15, violators will get a verbal warning. For the rest of the month, violators will get a written warning... But starting July 1, anyone breaking the rules will be fined $75 plus court fees and expenses...

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New Rules * India - Seats for senior citizens, challenged

Pune,India -The Pune Newsline -May 29, 2007: -- Senior citizens and the challenged can hope to get seats in buses now that the State government has amended section 102 of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules (MMVR), 1989, which empowers the driver or conductor of a public transport body to ask an individual to get of the bus if he is occupying a ladies seat... They can then offer it to the challenged or senior citizens. The amended section has ‘women, physically handicapped and senior citizens’ instead of the word ‘female’...

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Bus Safety Standards * USA - Little Consistency in

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by DEBRA NUSSBAUM -March 18, 2007: -- School buses remain the safest form of transportation to and from school, according to various federal statistics, but regulation of the buses is uneven. No federal laws govern whether safety belts are required on school buses, how often the buses must be inspected or how many years they can be on the road. On a state level, there are significant differences in such laws — New York and New Jersey require seat belts on buses, for example, but Connecticut does not. Districts can have their own rules, too... But whenever there are accidents involving a bus, like the one in Bucks County, Pa., in January in which 17 students were injured, parents and educators alike take another look at bus safety... (Photo by Laura Pedrick for The New York Times - Students who ride school buses in New Jersey, like these children in Cherry Hill, must wear seat belts)

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Rules * USA - Sought for bus drivers

Columbus,OH,USA -Associated Press/Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati,OH) -14 Mar 2007: -- Employers would review complete driving histories of school bus driver applicants and candidates couldn't have a drunken driving conviction in the past six years under a proposal approved Tuesday by the state school board... School districts and private busing companies currently have access to three years of driving history, and state law excludes candidates with too many moving violations or a drunken driving conviction within the past two years... The state school board on Tuesday unanimously approved some of the tougher standards proposed by Pete Japikse, director of student transportation for the Ohio Department of Education...

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