Buses World News

SIGHTSEEING BUSES * South Africa

* South Africa’s City Sightseeing buses win top international awards

(Photo: All ready to go at Gold Reef City, Johannesburg)
Johannesburg,SA -South Africa net, by Kate Turkington -27 June 2014: -- You’ve seen them all over the world – those iconic open-top red buses trundling their way round cities from Perth to Paris, from Sao Paulo to San Francisco. But have you tried the Johannesburg and Cape Town award-winning buses yet? ... Johannesburg boasts some of the best weather in the world, so a trip on one of our City Sightseeing buses is not only loads of fun, informative and eye opening, but it also gives you the opportunity to enjoy wonderful sunshine... City Sightseeing Joburg and Soweto has just won a prestigious award for the Best New City Sightseeing Operator of the Year...

Labels: special buses

SPECIAL BUSES * USA: Shower Buses

* California - San Francisco Shower Bus gives homeless a place yo get clean

(Photo: ALava Mae shower bus)
San Francisco,CAL,USA -CBS -June 21, 2014: -- San Francisco has 3500 homeless people living on the streets and just seven facilities for them to wash up. Relief is on the way... From a distance, it looks like a food truck, but step inside and it’s clear, there’s no food here. It’s called a Lava Mae... Doniece Sandoval is the founder. She came up with the idea of converting old Muni buses into showers two years ago... The shower buses will run off city fire hydrants. Lava Mae worked out a deal with the city to use and pay for the water... The great recession drained the number of city shower facilities from ten to seven, forcing the homeless to put their names on waiting lists just to clean up. Sandoval hopes to fill the gap the city left behind while helping the homeless get back on their feet... The shower bus is one such resource. But it’s a pricey solution... It costs $75,000 to convert a Lava Mae bus. Still, this Bay Area idea is quickly gaining traction worldwide. There are now programs in Singapore and Brazil...

Labels: special buses

SPECIAL BUSES * USA

* New York - A Taste of Italian, Served Up in a Big Bus

(Photos, by Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times: A 40-foot bus from Delverde, the Italian producer of premium pasta, will be showcasing its own products as well as other Italian foods, like cheeses, spices and wine) New York,NY,USA -The NYT, by GREGORY SCHMIDT -May 7, 2012: -- The food truck is gaining a reputation in the United States as a destination for those craving fine cuisine. Delverde, an Italian maker of premium pasta, is borrowing that idea and extending it to a food bus, which will tour the East Coast as part of the company’s efforts to win over America’s taste buds. Delverde products are typically found in high-end markets, so the bus tour is an unconventional way for the company to broaden its consumer reach in the United States, said Delverde’s chief executive, Luca Ruffini...

(Photo: The bus equipped with a state-of-the-art kitchen ...) The tour bus, 40 feet long and painted green and yellow to match the packaging of Delverde’s products, was customized to include a professional kitchen made by Olis, an Italian maker of kitchen equipment, and a lounge area. It is making stops in several cities to serve up 15,000 sample dishes and pass out $50,000 worth of coupons...

(Photo: ... Also has a lounge for diners)

In 2010, Delverde was acquired by Molinos Río de la Plata, an Argentine food company, which wanted to expand Delverde’s presence in the United States.

Labels: special buses

CIVICS-BUS * USA - C-SPAN Bus Rolls Into Town

Brooksville,FL,USA -The Hernando Today, by TONY MARRERO -January 27, 2009: -- Vanessa Bailey knew the answers she'd get even before she put the questions to the group of eighth-graders from West Hernando Middle School... "Do you watch C-SPAN," asked Bailey, a marketing rep for the nonprofit network known for its unflashy coverage of U.S. government... Silence from the nine students, and a couple of guilty smiles... "Why don't you?" Bailey asked. "You can be honest." ... "It's boring," replied 14-year-old Alex Sprinkle... Bailey smiled. Those words have been uttered more than a few times on the C-SPAN Civics Bus that rolled onto the middle school's campus Tuesday morning, she said... (C-SPAN marketing representative Vanessa Bailey explains the cable network's mission to students in Don Kern’s American history class on the C-SPAN Civics Bus when as it visits West Hernando Middle School on Tuesday)

Labels: special buses

Door-to-door Bus Service * UK - To operate until October 2008

Bolton,England,UK -TheBolton News, by Rob Devey -3 Nov 2007: -- A door-to-door bus service has been granted a further year's funding by transport chiefs... The Eagley Local Link, which is half-way through a six month trial, will operate until at least October 2008 following the decision by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA)... The dial-a-ride service, which replaced the little-used 529 bus, will pick up anyone living in Eagley from their homes... Passenger numbers have increased by more than 50 per cent during the trial... (Picture from wikipedia.org: A Blue Bus pulling into Bolton Bus Station having completed the long trip from Manchester via Eccles and Walkden)

Labels: special buses

Special Buses * USA - CATS to help train guide dogs on buses

Charlotte,NC,USA -The Charlotte Observer, by KAREN CIMINO -20 April 2007: -- The Charlotte Area Transit System and the Southeastern Guide Dog School will work together Saturday to familiarize 15 future guide dogs with the CATS' Special Transportation Services buses... As part of the training, CATS' Special Transportation buses will take the dogs and their handlers on a trip around the city to learn how to work with disabled people... STS carries more than 850 riders a day and provided 224,131 rides in fiscal year 2006...

Labels: special buses