Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 355 i Australasian Bus & Coach

A potential route for the new light rail line across Greater Parramatta has been established and released. The preferred 12km route from Westmead to Carlingford has 14 stops along the way. Stage one of the new network connects the major health precinct at Westmead to three campuses of Western Sydney University, Parramatta CBD, and the new Western Sydney Stadium. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian joined Transport and infrastructure minister Andrew Constance to unveil the preferred route for the first stage of Parramatta Light Rail to join Westmead to Parramatta and Carlingford via Camellia. “We’ve done the important planning work and are pleased we can unveil the preferred route and proposed stops, which we will now refine in consultation with the community,” she says. Constance says the proposed 16 accessible…

A large section of the Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) National Technical and Suppliers Summit in Canberra was dedicated to informing attendees of the latest developments in this space. The conference got off to an intriguing start with representatives from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development informing delegates about the evolution of current vehicle safety standards. Bus industry suppliers and operators are interested in what’s happening at a regulatory level in the context of compliance and how Australian Design Rules (ADRs) apply, and a large section of the conference. First speaker Mark Hester is a quali›ed mechanical engineer and helps to oversee vehicle certi›cation, allowing new bus and coach products to be introduced to the Australian market. Hester’s job is largely based around creating a uniform set of design standards…

“The introduction of battery electric buses here is really exciting” Three Scania Citywide LF buses will be in operation in Sweden from the end of 2017, with an additional three buses added in early 2019. Two new charging stations will be built in Östersund to supply the six buses at both ends of the 14km major bus line. With 10-minute charging, buses will run every 15 minutes for a total of 100 journeys each day. Scania Bus and Coach project manager Anne Sörensson says electric bus technology is the way of the future. “The introduction of battery electric buses here is really exciting, they will contribute to our aim of achieving fossil-free transport by 2030,” she says. Scania Bus and Coach head Anna Carmo e Silva says the manufacturer currently…

Contracts that run Melbourne’s bus network will be altered this year and the current terms will be renegotiated, the Victorian Government announced. Bus Association Victoria executive director Chris Lowe says that the state government has written to operators confirming they will negotiate the renewal of their service contracts, so no tendering. “We welcome this, as this has been the custom for decades. Negotiation is a much more effective method of procurement than tendering,” he says. He says that historical declining bus patronage is a result of a myki ticketing system that still doesn’t work properly; poor service planning by state government and the price of oil. “We reject any implication or assertion by anyone that declining patronage is because of the Melbourne’s 12 private bus operators. The reason why we…

“I wanted to show the drivers that we understand the graffiti is ugly and demoralising” Transdev Melbourne is on a mission to find a solution to its significant graffiti problem in 2017, starting with a clean-up of its buses at Sunshine West. Teams of two were allocated graffiti wipes, solvent spray and rags or paint rollers. Moving methodically through the buses, a triage process was developed and once a bus was judged beyond cleaning it was tagged to be painted. Transdev Melbourne managing director Harry Wijers says he wouldn’t be happy working in an environment that has been targeted by vandals, so he can understand that it has a big impact on the morale of drivers. “I wanted to show the drivers that we understand the graffiti is ugly and…

“Kangaroo coaches will provide disability access on each express shuttle service” Kangaroo Bus Lines has won a tender to provide bus services to the University of the Sunshine Coast. The commencement of this new partnership will see daily services double. From the beginning of the new semester in February, timetable changes were implemented to enhance connectivity across the Moreton Bay region and to incorporate new stops at Narangba, Burpengary, Morayfield and Petrie. The Express Shuttle Service operates from Monday to Friday and provides two morning services and two afternoon services. Kangaroo coaches will provide disability access on each express shuttle service to support a diverse student population, ensuring all staff and students with disabilities are able to fully participate in the university community. These modern coaches will also feature free…

“Operators are becoming more discerning when it comes to door and wheelchair ramp design” Ventura Systems is a manufacturer of electric and pneumatic door systems for buses, trams and metro. Its products are designed for use in public transport systems and specialised vehicles including wheelchair access. Managing director Jeroen de Nooijer started Ventura Systems in the Netherlands in 1994. Its customer base soon spread to Belgium and Germany and, after the many international conferences and trade shows, business started to grow. The company employs about 100 people globally at of›ces in London, New York, Japan, and Hong Kong. It opened an of›ce here in Australia in January last year – Ventura Systems Australia on the Gold Coast. “In Australia, we have been supplying Custom Bus for many years,” he says.…

“When the chips are down you help each other out” ABC attended the 50th anniversary celebration of Victorian operator, Crown Coaches, and found that even after half a century its core values have not changed. Past and present employees, industry partners and suppliers gathered to mark the occasion with a black tie dinner on a balmy night in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. Even Mayor of the City of Whitehorse Denise Massoud was present, along with husband Mark and at least 100 other guests. All attendees at the celebratory dinner were supplied with a copy of the second edition of the Crown Coaches story, Driven by Passion, which was filled with some superb photos and recollections from the past 50 years in business. Company director Julie Haoust was ›rst to speak at…

“February 2017 saw 80 buses delivered, an encouraging rise fromJanuary’s total of 68” Deliveries increased encouragingly in February 2017 with 80 brand-new buses delivered throughout Australia. This compares well with January 2017, during which 68 new bus deliveries were reported by chassis manufacturers, representing an increase of about 15 per cent. The February deliveries number stacks up positively compared to the 74 new buses delivered in February last year. Scania had a massive month, increasing its deliveries from 11 in January to 23 in February, slightly trailing Volvo’s 27 which was also up on last month’s 24. Hino was also a big surprise, reporting ›ve deliveries for the month of February. The majority of other manufacturers delivered less than four vehicles respectively, with MAN dropping month-on-month from 12 to three.…

Early work on the new custom-built bus station at Spit Junction started recently, with workers demolishing the old cinema building on the corner of Spit Junction and Clifford Street to make way for the complex in Sydney. New B-Line double decker buses will hit the road later this year, delivering more reliable and frequent services to bus passengers travelling between the Northern Beaches and the CBD. “This new turn-up-and-go service will mean a bus every five minutes during the peak periods in the peak direction, and every 10 minutes during other times of the day,” a Transport for NSW spokesperson says. Once complete, bus users on the Lower North Shore will be able to catch a new B-Line service from stops at Spit Junction and Neutral Bay. “We’re building a…

“We have two professional football teams in the city and we support both of them” Scania and Irizar have delivered a new i6 coach to NSW operator Sid Fogg’s Coaches that will transport the Newcastle Jets Hyundai A-League soccer team in 2017. The Newcastle Jets’ new coach is one of three Scania-powered IRIZAR i6s to be delivered to Sid Fogg’s in the first few months of 2017. Already delivered is a K310 school, charter and corporate 13.5m coach, while a 14.5m steerable tag-axle 64-seater will follow next month. Sid Fogg’s Coaches has been providing transport services to the Hunter Valley, Newcastle and the Central Coast, for more than 60 years. Graham Habgood, who has owned Sid Fogg’s Coaches in partnership with his wife Kathy for almost 30 years, says he…

The two–day 2017 BusNSW Member Conference kicks off on April 20 at the Crowne Plaza in Terrigal in regional New South Wales. BusNSW executive director Darryl Mellish says he is expecting more than 200 delegates to attend the conference which will focus on a theme of ‘staying ahead of the game’ and the need for the industry to achieve progress despite potential disruption from emerging technology and the rise of the sharing economy. “The conference provides operators, government representatives and industry suppliers the opportunity to expand their knowledge on current issues and industry reforms in the pipeline,” he says. The conference will commence with a Bus Operator Accreditation Scheme (BOAS) audit and incident management refresher workshop on day one. “This workshop is a must for accredited operators involved with regular…

“Maintenance costs are about 80 per cent less than a ... Euro 6 diesel” The development and introduction of electric buses has the capacity to reduce the transportation industry’s environmental footprint and revolutionise the ‘green’ footprint of the vehicles we drive. There have been few signi›cant changes in bus development over the past 20 years. Yes, emissions have been reduced in diesel vehicles with the introduction of the Euro rating system. The Euro 6 diesel engines have reduced emission levels but are signi›cantly heavier and require more complex componentry to achieve these lower levels. To reduce the emissions they produce, the negative side effects include dif›cult servicing for workshops, more complicated systems for the operator to navigate, and added expenses – operators are required to add AdBlue to all vehicles…