Buses World News

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

21.1.08

POLICY * India - Tax our cars, not our buses

CSE writes a pre-budget letter to FM and set out a charter of demands for mobility and clean air for all

Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh,India -MyNews.in, by Ch. Narendra -20/1/2008: -- Personal vehicle ownership is rising in India; it will grow manifold in coming years. There will be a few millions more cars -- small as well as big, and many of them driven on toxic diesel -- jostling for that limited space on our limited roads. Air quality will only get worse; energy use will go up, and instead of moving ahead, people will actually grind to a stop due to congestion... But this is government-made disaster because our policies are weak, says CSE, and it needs to be corrected. In a pre-budget letter to the Union finance minister P Chidambaram, CSE has set out a charter of demands for mobility and clean air for all...

* Maybe now, buses will be preferred

New Delhi,India -IndiaPost -21 Jan 2008: -- If you think the "people's car", the electric bikes, the hybrid cars were the answer to your prayer to get off of that bus and get into your own vehicle then rethink. 9th Auto Expo 2008 showcased a range of buses, which are intelligent, innovative, comfortable, economic and safe. Ashok Leyland, Swaraj Mazda, Tata Motors, Volvo, Force Motors aim to revolutionize buses so people can re-evaluate their options on public mode of transportation... A team of 25 young engineers, 10 months from now started working on an Indian intelligent innovative bus and the end result is Ashok Leyland's iBUS exhibited in Pragati Maidan. For the first time in India, one can choose between traveling 'executive' or 'economy' class in the same bus. And if that is not enough, ibus has wireless Internet on the move for the first time in a bus... Its other features are electronics-enabled 'workplace', complete with digital display of all 'diagnostic' information, rear camera video display, executive class passengers get a state-of-the-art hat rack complete with LCD wide screens (for infotainment), individual AC controls, Electrically Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS) kneels down for effortless boarding and alighting, 220v adapters and laptop holders, electronic leveling system to accommodate with the inconsistent Indian infrastructure, smart card based ticket wending machine...

Labels: tax policies

8.11.07

* Finland - Bus companies fear car tax changes could hurt business

Environmental groups take differing views on changes

Helsinki,Uusimaa,Finland -The Helsingin Sanomat -7 Nov 2007: -- The Finnish Bus and Coach Association fears that the government's plans to cut the automobile tax could lead to a sharp decline in the use of bus transport... Heikki Kääriäinen, Managing Director of the Bus and Coach Association, feels that buses and private cars are the biggest competitors in daily commuter transport, and that in that respect, the proposed tax reform is a bad idea... Kääriäinen notes that after the previous cut in the car tax, in 2003, numbers of bus passengers declined immediately... Passenger numbers have since recovered, but Kääriäinen believes that the consequences of the new change in car taxation will be more severe than those of the previous one... (Photo from www.helsinki-vantaa.fi: Buses from Helsinki metropolitan area)

Labels: tax policies

Bus Operators Tax Relief * Ireland - €29m to be axed due to EC directive

The government is to remove a tax relief worth €29 million to public and private bus operators in order to comply with a European Commission directive

Dublin,Ireland - The Sunday Business Post, by Niamh Connolly -4 November 2007: -- ... Public and private bus companies in Ireland have been benefiting from the very low rate of excise duty of 2.3 cents per litre of fuel, compared to the EU’s minimum rate of 30.2 cents... The tax relief is valued at €19 million to CIE and €10 million to the private bus industry, according to transport briefing documents seen by The Sunday Business Post... The removal of the tax relief scheme which is operated by the Revenue Commissioners, in January will hike the cost of a litre of diesel by 34.5 cents... (Picture from www.preservedirishtransport.com: A side view od a Dubln Buses)

Labels: tax policies