Buses World News

BUSES 11m. length * India: Instead to the existing 12 m

* Maharashtra - BEST mantra for buses: Keep it short and sweet

-- From electric trams to air-conditioned buses, BEST has come a long way since its inception in 1905. But eroding patronage, crawling traffic on Mumbai's roads and increasing number of buses getting rear-ended has resulted in the transport undertaking deciding to shorten the length of buses... BEST buses purchased henceforth will be 11 m in length compared to the existing 12 m. BEST buses have been involved in 26 fatal accidents in the past eight months alone... Traffic experts have welcomed the move. Ashok Datar, a traffic expert, said that reducing the length of buses will increase their manoeuvrability. "It may reduce some seats and might lead to a negligible revenue loss. On the other hand, shorter buses may lead to lesser accidents and quicker turnaround times leading to better frequency which is more important for the department," Datar added...
(Photo: Best Supply Euro 2 Luxury tourist bus 11m 50 seats new bus) -- Mumbai, MAH, India - Mumbai Mirror, by Sanjeev Shivadekar - Feb 15, 2016

Labels: busmakers news India, smaller buses

SMALLER BUSES * New Zealand

* Otago / New Zealand: Smaller buses may be used future

(Photo: Otago's small bus, 22 in the fleet, is seen in the wet city centre on route to Pine Hill)
Dunedin,Otago,NZ -ODT, by David Loughrey -27 Jun 2014: -- Smaller buses may be a part of Dunedin's revamped public transport system, as the Otago Regional Council looks for flexibility in the network... ORC support services manager Gerard Collings said yesterday as new contracts were awarded, the council would try to ''optimise'' bus sizes... The plan has been developed this year by the regional council, along with the Dunedin City Council, New Zealand Transport Agency, Queenstown Lakes District Council and bus companies... Use of smaller buses has been suggested as a way of providing a cheaper service on routes with lower patronage...

Labels: smaller buses

* Malta - Buses: A solution

Zejtun,Malta -The Times of Malta (Valletta,Malta), by Peter Montebello -14 April 2007: -- It was good to read that the Public Transport Association is against the idea of extended buses. At long last common sense is being shown by some entity... This means that the present buses, seating about 53 plus standing passengers, are only fully utilised for short peak times. During slower times, and as told by the Malta Transport Authority, these buses travel with empty seats. My solution, which I had already published some time back when we had Censu Galea as transport minister, is to get smaller buses than the present ones, say 28 seaters or thereabouts. One side would have fixed seats the other retractable seats so that, during peak times, more people can be accommodated standing up... Furthermore, these smaller buses can cover more areas, while having a better frequency than at present... A shuttle service can be used during peak times. This also solves another problem since I envisage that rarely will they have empty seats during slower times...

Labels: smaller buses