Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 377 i Australasian Bus & Coach

THREE OF THE USA’S EAST COAST’S major airports will collectively have 18 new Proterra Catalyst E2 electric buses in service, as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey targets its goal of a fully electric airport shuttle fleet. American bus maker Proterra – a leading innovator in heavy-duty electric transportation – announced recently that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has agreed to procure 18 Proterra Catalyst E2 vehicles for shuttle service at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA), representing one of the largest electric bus fleet commitments of any airport authority in the United States, it states. Six of the battery-electric buses are already in service at JFK, with LGA and EWR to each deploy…

THE NATION’S CAPITAL has had its iconic bus shelters immortalised thanks to a local artist’s passion to photograph and draw them, becoming the star of a leading exhibition which ran recently at the Canberra Museum and Gallery. Artist Trevor Dickinson highlights the beauty and personality of Canberra’s ‘concrete bunker’ bus shelters and celebrates one of the most defining features of the city. Designed by architect Clem Cummings in 1974, there still are nearly 500 dotted around almost every Canberran suburb from Amaroo to Conder, Dickinson states. For the past four years he’s been on a quest to find and photograph them all, selecting more than 50 of the most striking examples to draw and develop into digital prints. “One intention was to create a portrait of Canberra unlike any other,…

A GOLD COAST tour bus business that engaged in sham contracting and underpaid two drivers more than $43,000 has been fined in excess of $165,000 thanks to the Federal Government’s Fair Work Ombudsman, it’s reported recently. The Federal Circuit Court has ordered AVA Travel Pty Ltd to pay penalties of $164,475 and its sole director Chin Kuen Yung to pay penalties of $3,825. AVA Travel admitted to sham contracting after sending three drivers a text message in September 2014 requiring them to provide an ABN. This message had the effect of converting the employees to independent contractors from 1 October 2014, and also advised that they would no longer receive superannuation. Following an investigation by Fair Work inspectors, AVA Travel admitted that these three workers remained in an employee relationship…

THE SMART TRANSIT HUB known as ‘Matilda’ made its Australian debut at world’s first integrated driverless technology trial, it’s reported recently. South Australia company Sage Automation’s Matilda partners with the Olli driverless electric shuttle developed by the US-based Local Motors for the milestone six-month trial at Glenelg. One of the Matilda smart transit hubs is located outside the Stamford Grand and another is adjacent to the Broadway Kiosk, with the Olli shuttle taking passenger between the two stops along the beachside route. WORLD FIRST “Passengers can ‘talk’ to our Matilda transit hub, receive directions, book a ride using touchscreen technology, receive congestion alerts and even ask questions about local tourist attractions, or where to get a cold drink,” says Sage chief executive officer, Adrian Fahey. “To grow smart, accessible cities…

ARGUABLY TAPPING INTO AN emerging trend for travellers to take mini trips in home nations without driving themselves, Daimler Buses recently teamed up with US-based on-demand organisation Rally specifically for event-based mobility, it states. Rally is a start-up organisation in shared mobility in North America that unites and connects people travelling to concerts, sports, events and the like, maximising the convenience of commuters not having to worry about driving there and simply leaving theirs cars at home. As part of this strategic partnership with Rally in North America, both organisations will be cooperating in the on-demand bus market across a range of disciplines, specifically related to event-based mobility. Daimler Buses and Rally both envision high occupancy vehicles as a solution to the mobility challenges of the future – especially with…

Whether it’s a big fish from a small pond needing to ‘upscale’, or chips off the old blocks needing to follow in a parent’s footsteps yet all the while trying to make a name for themselves, it is no easy task if the solid reputation before them is as good as they may have heard growing up. It’s been a similar rite of passage for Volvo’s latest B8R chassis, not just in this country but also from a global acceptance point of view. Why so? Put simply, its forebear B7R was a stalwart of sorts on the international bus market for the Swedish brand, so right from the get go big things were expected. If this were a 1m ‘tap-in’ golf putt in a billion-dollar golf skins game - in…

VOLVO B7R COACH, 1999 MODEL Volvo B7R Chassis Autobus Bodied 13m 61 seat belted recliners Airconditioned Automatic transmission Alloy Wheels Large Under Floor Bins QLD 07 3171 1766 $65,000 inc GST 2000 VOLVO B7 50 Seatbelts, Toilet, TV, DVD, Manual, 830,000km. VIC 03 8373 7196 $101,200 inc GST 2006 VOLVO B7 REDUCED PRICE as new fleet has arrived. 345,000 k.m., 57 McConnell seats with seat belts, DVD/TV, PA system, Rego till August 2019, In perfect condition. VIC 03 8750 0323 $150,000 inc GST 2004 VOLVO B7R Kms 850100, Fuel Type Diesel VIC 03 8373 7196 $129,800 inc GST >> Quick Search To find these products online, go to busnews.com.au and enter the TA code shown below in the Keyword search panel.…

Bus and coach deliveries fell just short of a century in December, finishing on 97, but positively the numbers have not dropped under 90 for nearly a year and more than half of 2018 was in 100+ territory. Volvo regained its position atop the chassis manufacturers’ pile, pipping Scania to the post by three deliveries – 37 to 34. BCI and Yutong followed but eased back into single figures. Volgren ended the year as it started, maintaining its dominance in the bodies category, recorded in 43 deliveries this month. A surprise runner up was Marcopolo on 10, a name seldom mentioned in this column. The usual pack followed in a congested market. It was another emphatic December for Thermo King, breaking the 50 mark for another month. Spheros was the…

FAMILY-OWNED New South Wales regional bus operator Sapphire Coast Buslines will become the first operator in the country to bring Volgren’s new low-floor Urban bus with seatbelts into its fleet. Currently under build at Volgren’s Dandenong manufacturing facility, the new combination, built on a Volvo B8RLE-E5 chassis, is expected to be in service early this year. Jamie Klemm, managing director of Sapphire Coast Buslines, said the new vehicle is a replacement bus under their current contract. “Our Rural and Regional Government contract stipulates that all school buses by 2020 must have seatbelts, and for this reason one of our low floor buses selected for replacement will be fitted with seatbelts. “We wanted to continue with our current suppliers being Volgren and Volvo, and we’re really looking forward to the new…

VICTORIA’S GREENSBOROUGH Highway Patrol officers are currently investigating after a car and a bus collided in Templestowe on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 at 16:01. As reported by VicPol’s media department, police officers have been told an SUV was travelling along Fitzsimons Lane at the bridge over the Yarra just before 2pm. It is believed the SUV veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with a bus. The bus driver, a Berwick man aged in his 40s, received minor injuries and was taken to hospital. Five passengers were not injured. WITNESSES SOUGHT The driver of the SUV, a Montmorency man, was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Fitzsimons Lane is currently blocked to traffic in both directions. Any witnesses or anyone who saw the SUV prior to…

A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND regulation in the United States that sets a state-wide target for public transit agencies to gradually transition to 100 per cent zero-emission bus fleets by 2040, has been approved by the California Air Resources Board. “A zero-emission public bus fleet means cleaner air for all of us. It dramatically reduces tailpipe pollution from buses in low-income communities and provides multiple benefits especially for transit-dependent riders,” CARB chair Mary D. Nichols said. “Putting more zero-emission buses on our roads will also reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases, and provides cost savings for transit agencies in the long run.” The Innovative Clean Transit regulation is part of a state-wide effort to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for 40 per cent of climate-changing gas emissions and 80–90 per…

BUS OE AND AFTERMARKET parts supplier Whites Diesels now has a more “efficient and streamlined centralised warehouse model” that focuses on overnight and same-day delivery Australia-wide as priority, the company announced recently. Whites Diesels can now deliver OE quality and aftermarket parts overnight to most of its customers nationwide, with the change promising to bring some significant benefits to its customers, it states. These include: better consistency in parts supply, higher stock holding, next-day delivery and, in some cases, same-day delivery of parts, and lower freight costs, it claims. With reduced operating costs Whites Diesels says it will now be able to offer a very competitive pricing structure across its full range of OE and after-market parts. This change also means a change from local branches warehouses (except for Townsville,…

It’s dusty and rugged and usually searingly hot … basically kind of like Mad Max in hell in some alternate universe. But whatever it is, it’s no place for buses that can’t handle the pressures of such hard environments. Western Australia operator Go West has been in business for more than 20 years and was started by Stan Haoust, father of David. Its split of mining/ industrial-related work would be 60 per cent, explained Haoust Jnr. “I say it like that due to the complexities in the description. From gas projects to mining projects to construction projects – they are all industrial in one way, shape or form, with a common theme, which is moving workers to and from their work site in the safest and most comfortable way to…

FOLLOWING DELIVERIES TO Hamburg and Berlin, Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (rnv) has started running three fully electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro city buses, it’s reported recently. At the bus depot in Mannheim, Till Oberwörder, head of Daimler Buses, and Martin in der Beek, technical managing director at rnv, presented the new eCitaros in a ceremony officiated at by Dr. Peter Kurz, Mayor of Mannheim, as well as Christian Specht, first Mayor of Mannheim, and then in the presence of Professor Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg. “The eCitaro is redefining conventionally driven bus transportation and is for us the symbol for future-oriented local public transport,” said Oberwörder. “A holistic approach is very important to us. That is why we have put together a comprehensive package comprising the vehicle, charging management and consultation with which we…

THE TRANSMILENIO BRT bus network in the Columbian capital city Bogotá – encompassing 12 lines totalling 112 kilometres for 1.7 million passenger journeys every day – is to upgrade and expand using 1,441 new buses supplied by Scania and Volvo following a public tender, it’s reported recently. The 741 Scania Euro 6 gas-powered chassis, increased from a previous agreed total of 481 units, and the 700 Euro 5 diesel-powered Volvo chassis are to be bodied by local body builder Superpolo SA in Colombia. Superpolo is a result of an alliance with Superior bodies of the Fanalca Group and Brazilian manufacturer Marcopolo since 2001. SCANIA MAJORITY In November, 2018, TransMilenio selected Scania to deliver 481 Scania Euro 6 gas buses – the cleanest and quietest buses on the market, the company…

VOLVO BUSES, Göteborg Energi, Riksbyggen and Johanneberg Science Park are working together to examine electricity storage in apartment blocks that have their own electricity production via solar panels – using used bus batteries, it’s reported recently. The inauguration of what is probably Europe’s first ever energy warehouse using electric bus batteries is currently under way. Batteries from electric bus route 55 in Gothenburg, Sweden, are getting a second lease of life for solar energy storage. The reuse and recycling of batteries is a key issue as increasing numbers of cities plan transition to electrically powered transport. Volvo Buses is taking part in a research project whereby used electric bus batteries get a second lease of life as solar energy storage units, it states. THE IDEA In Viva housing cooperative, Riksbyggen,…

The AATS Group of companies, majority owned by Optrust (trading as SkyBus) has announced the appointment of Andrew McEvoy as its new chairman, as it embarks on its next phase of growth, the company reports. A tourism and travel sector leader for 25 years, McEvoy is also chair of listed travel and tourism company The Sealink Travel Group, and a director of several other listed and privately held companies including Ingenia Communities (INA) and Lux Group, owner of Luxury Escapes. He was formerly CEO and managing director of Tourism Australia, it states. “SkyBus could not be happier to announce the appointment of our new chair Andrew McEvoy, a business leader with a strong reputation on the national stage and immense experience in our sector,” AATS director Stan Kolenc said. FINAL…

“They are all what they say, no sugar coating,” explained Jeff Chalker, of the Volvo B11R brochure features. Living in the Blue Mountains of NSW he was very passionate to do his part in preserving the World Heritage area. For him the Volvo B11R’s Euro 6 capability was the obvious choice, stating: “Compass Tours wants to be part of that change, we want to make a difference.” This is where his new Volvo-Irizar combination comes in. As he recalled, “Here’s a great bit of information – the morning after the Irizar i6S gala launch at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre last year, I can’t remember for what reason but the coach was left running and I came back to it and you couldn’t even smell its exhaust emissions.” At…