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What was that wedding jingle thingy that goes like: “Something borrowed, something blue, are they your shoes? Are they old or new?” Anyway, the point is, the idea of old things becoming old and being replaced by something new has been around since probably caveman (cave woman / person / cave kids’) days when one hairy chap’s favourite club was superseded by a possibly ‘graphite before graphite was even a thing’-enhanced one he’d tripped over down a gravel path three days prior. It ability to squash, gee … I dunno, pistachio nuts more deftly and precisely was perhaps the greatest innovation to that person at the time – and there would be no going back. Especially when you are really ‘hangry’, which I’d imagine most cave people would have been.…
FIFTY SIX PER CENT of bus fire and thermal incidents originated in the wheel wells, while bus drivers were the first to either “see or smell smoke or see flames” on 74 per cent of all documented cases, according to a 2018 bus safety report released recently. Also of note in the sixth annual NSW Office of Transport Safety Investigations (OTSI) Bus Safety Report is the first documenting of a fire or thermal incident on an electric / battery bus in that state. The reason was determined to be that one of the main three-phase power cables to the traction motors had a high resistance connection and burnt the cable terminal and cable insulation, thus losing power supply to one phase of the traction motors, the report states. KEY HIGHLIGHTS…
SCANIA AND NOBINA – the latter the largest public transport operator in the Nordic countries – will collaborate to commence trials of autonomous buses on regular routes in the Stockholm area. “The technology is now sufficiently mature to initiate trials in actual bus operations on public roads, making the project one of the first of its kind in Europe with buses this size,” said Karin Rådström, head of Buses and Coaches, Scania. “The project will provide a wealth of information in the further development of large autonomous buses before a full-scale introduction.” The trials will be conducted in two stages, initially without passengers before welcoming commuters on-board. Safety being a top priority throughout the trials, the buses will have a safety-driver to monitor operations and assist passengers. “We at Nobina…
THE WORLD’s first 24-metre fully electric ‘bendy bus’ will now go into operation in Nantes, France – the first time such a long bus will run completely on battery energy, it’s reported recently. Swiss company ABB, using Trolleybus Optimisation Système Alimentation (TOSA) flash charging technology, has been in operation in Geneva, Switzerland, for more than a year and will now equip the first 24-metre fully electric bus in Nantes, France. In little more than a year, Geneva has turned greener thanks to the ABB flash-charging eBus solution, the company states. Electric buses equipped with this solution have covered a record 500,000 kilometres, transporting millions of passengers and reducing carbon emissions by about 1,000 tonnes, it claims. A technological breakthrough developed for sustainable mass transportation, TOSA claims it has the world’s…
TRANSDEV AUSTRALASIA has received a 2018-19 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) citation as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality, it’s reported recently. Transdev is one of 141 organisations awarded the citation this year, which is designed to encourage, recognise and promote active commitment to achieving gender equality in Australian workplaces. Group Diversity and Talent manager, People & Culture, Donna Jones said the citation was welcome confirmation Transdev was on the right path to bring change to the traditionally male-dominated transport industry. “We’re in an industry that’s moving faster than ever, and creating an environment that allows everyone to bring their full selves to work is not only the right thing to do, it’s absolutely critical to our bottom line and our long-term success,” said Jones. “We’ve introduced Journey Maker…
THE NUMBER OF fatalities involving buses in Australia during the past 12 months year to date ending in December, 2018, has recorded a 22.2 per cent decrease, according to the latest statistics over-viewing such incidents involving heavy vehicles overall. In the past 12-month period to December 2018, 23 people died in 21 fatal crashes involving buses. This marked a bus-related fatal-crash decrease of 22.2 per cent compared with the corresponding period one year earlier, from 27 to 21 crashes. It, however, marked an increase by an average of 4.7 per cent per year over the three years to December 2018, according to the Fatal Heavy Vehicle Crashes Australia Quarterly Bulletin, October – December, 2018. Complied by The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), for the Federal Department of…
