Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 350 i Australasian Bus & Coach

The National Transport Commission (NTC) and Austroads have released updated medical guidelines for doctors and other health professionals to assess commercial and private vehicle drivers’ fitness to drive. The new edition of Assessing Fitness to Drive for commercial and private vehicle drivers includes standards for private and commercial drivers of heavy vehicles, light vehicles and motorbikes. Doctors and other health professionals use the standards to advise driver licensing authorities about how their patients’ health and medical conditions might affect their ability to drive. Effective October 1, the new standards include a clear warning to doctors that they should not rely solely on subjective questionnaires to rule out sleep apnoea. Instead, they need to make a clinical judgement. Importantly, they also include changes to hearing guidelines that help determine when a…

A new public transport initiative encouraging people to catch a bus, train, or tram one day a week is now being rolled out across Victoria. ‘One Day in Five’ was trialled by the Bendigo council and Bendigo Bank and, after its success, has been altered for state-wide uptake by the Bus Association of Victoria (BusVic), Public Transport Victoria, and various government branches. The initiative works via company registration on a dedicated website, which allows employees to sign up to the company’s program. Employees are then able to track their transport usage for each week they participate. BusVic executive director Dr Chris Lowe explains: “At the end of any period, an employer can run a report that summarises the participation of their workforce. “This information can also be used to offer…

There were some eye-catching new double-deckers on show in Sydney, including the MAN-Gemilang double decker we featured on the front cover of the September issue of ABC; the BCI Citirider we’ll be test driving soon; and one of the big Bustech CDIs that runs between Melbourne’s CBD and airport. There were also some eye-grabbing vintage double-deckers, a couple of which took visitors for rides around the Olympic Park precinct. Here are some snaps of not only the tall old trundlers but the other memory-evoking conveyances as well, with all the veteran buses supplied by the Sydney Bus Museum.…

Veteran Sydney bus operator Graham Hopkinson sadly passed away in September 2011, but thanks to a helping hand from one of his peers, his company has remained sturdy. Gerard King, managing director of Kiama Coaches – and one half of the King brothers who run Premier Transport Group – is now also managing director of Hopkinsons Transport. For a couple of years, a second generation of the Hopkinsons family was in charge of the business, but they decided it wasn’t for them and wanted to pass it along. Hopkinsons is now part of Premier and is linked with Kiama, though the operation still retains its name, brand, and the majority of the workforce which had been around for much of Hopkinsons previous success. The office building has memorials to Graham,…

How often do you see a full-length urban route bus running around with virtually no one on it? The bus burns a similar amount of fuel with eight or 80 passengers on board. And, as our crowded cities try and cram more people into new housing estates, it’s getting more difficult for cars – let alone buses – to corner the narrow streets without sideswiping something. Enter the new Wrightbus ‘Streetlite’ midi route bus at a tad under 9m long with a ‘micro-hybrid’ system the company says will save about a further 10 per cent in fuel. Wrightbus is a familiar brand in Britain and employs about 2000 people after kicking off in Northern Ireland in the 1940s. Now the family company wants to increase its global presence. It’s already…

“There is no steering wheel and no pedals” A new service headed by tech-and-transport leaders Navya and Keolis called Navly is running the first fully electric and fully autonomous public transport route in the world – using the same driverless buses as a trial in Western Australia. The service covers a 1.3km route in Lyon’s central Confuence district, a route which the Navya Arma travels in 13 minutes – averaging about 15km/h. In a joint press release, Keolis and Navya say the aim of the project is to make Lyon a “more intelligent” city. “This symbolic location is recognised as an ‘eco-district’ by the French government, a ‘sustainable district’ by the WWF and has also been awarded the European Concerto label for its energy efficient buildings,” the release states. “This…

Transdev Melbourne has opened a new $10.6 million bus depot at Heatherton as the operator works with the Victorian Government and Public Transport Victoria (PTV) to expand services. Transdev Melbourne managing director Harry Wijers, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport Ros Spence, and PTV acting executive director of performance and contract management Warwick Horsley officially opened the depot on September 7, though operations had commenced a couple of weeks earlier. With a 44-bus capacity and enough space for 110 staff, the depot seems future-proof compared to Transdev’s previous Sandringham depot in Doncaster. Features of the Heatherton depot include an automatic bus wash, a fuel refilling station, rainwater tanks and recycling, and a bodywork spray booth. The depot is a government-owned asset, which means another operator would be able to use the…

Volvo has announced the imminent rollout of a new system for its city buses that will alert drivers and pedestrians of an imminent crash. The new system comes during Volvo’s safety crusade which aims to reduce the number of Volvo vehicle-related deaths to zero per year. The ‘Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System’ constantly monitors the area around the bus – especially in front. Volvo Buses director of vehicle features and safety Peter Danielsson says it’s important for the driver and pedestrians alike to be aware of their surroundings. “Accidents involving buses and unprotected road users seldom occur, but when they do, the consequences may be very serious,” Danielsson says. “In order to minimise the risks, it is important that drivers and anyone moving around near buses – such as at…

PERCENTAGE BY REGION PERCENTAGE BY APPLICATION SALES BY CHASSIS Despite previous months indicating an upward trend, only 88 buses were delivered in September with the vast majority of those being Volvos (31) and Scanias (30). Yutong and MAN, however, both increased their numbers by about a third from six deliveries in August to nine in September. SALES BY BODY Volgren remained very busy during September, producing 40 – almost half – of the bodies built for deliveries. Custom Bus also had a good month, topping their previous month of eight builds with 14 in September. Yutong, as usual, built all nine of its own buses. SALES BY AIR-CONDITIONER While Thermo King’s units delivered dropped by one in September, its market share actually grew by almost 10 per cent as other…

MAN has been selected to deliver 38 double-decker buses for use on a new ‘B-Line’ service north of Sydney, ABC has confirmed. Although Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has not officially announced the successful bidder, various industry sources confirm MAN double-deckers will soon be a common sight on Sydney’s northern beaches. MAN’s newly designed A95 – with a body built by Gemilang – will service the route, as the only other eligible double-decker, the Bustech CDI, has since been confirmed as unsuccessful in its bid. To pave the way for the new services, a TfNSW spokesperson says there will also be improvements to roads and infrastructure. “The NSW Government is taking action to deliver transport improvements for the northern beaches, including an integrated program of service and infrastructure improvements…

Transit Systems has opened a new ‘futureproof’ depot at Hoxton Park in Sydney. The depot will initially house 105 buses and is the second one built by the company since it began contracting to Transport for New South Wales in 2013. As Australia’s largest privately-owned public transport contractor, Transit Systems has seen rapid growth over the years, employing 5000 people, operating more than 2200 vehicles, and moving 265 million people annually. Around 350 of those employees work in the region the Hoxton Park depot services, as well as 220 buses in service. Transit Systems CEO Clint Feuerherdt says the new depot will facilitate significant improvements in the future, as well as being an efficient way to supply better service to passengers. “Transit Systems is proud to have invested more than…

After a strong couple of months for bus and coach deliveries, supply has returned to double digits. September saw an excited industry as everyone prepared for the Bus and Coach Show, but deliveries suffered after a couple of months of above-average numbers. Coming from 102 deliveries in August, September saw only 88 buses delivered, a drop of almost 14 per cent. While this number is still above average for the year (January to May saw no delivery totals above 86), it leaves the rest of the year an uncertainty. At the Australian Bus and Coach Show, various suppliers told ABC that companies are looking to save money, but could find a false economy in doing so. Rodd Hood, director of Bonluck importer Bus and Coach Sales Australia, says a government…

“There’s a lot of goodwill between suppliers and operators of all different backgrounds” The 2016 Australian Bus + Coach Show had a special twist to it this year, as it coincided with the Bus Association of New South Wales’ (BusNSW) 75th anniversary. The Dome at Sydney Olympic Park became a transport industry hub as it was filled with dozens of buses from manufacturers from across the globe. A few newcomers to the Australian market, such as the MAN-Gemilang A95 and the already popular-in-Japan Hino Poncho, made good impressions on industry professionals and interested visitors alike. Also in the realm of the new and shiny was (almost) the entire Volvo display stand, spruiking the latest Swedish inventions. Modernity was not the only attraction at the show, however, as the Sydney Bus…

“We had a shared vision... about what communications should be like in the public transport space” ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (CDC) has looked to the Orion Network to improve its radio communications systems, resulting in the implementation of Motorola hardware. The network is powered by digital radio technology developed by Motorola, and is being used to improve safety and efficiency through an advanced two-way radio system. The infrastructure is able to reach rural areas which might be out of range for a regular citizens band (CB) radio. Orion business development manager Glen Norris says Sydney-based Mastercom is at the forefront of CDC’s upgrades, as well as being able to assist any other operators in Sydney that wish to improve radio communications. “Orion was initiated by founder Hamish Duff back in 2010, and…

Renault Australia has converted eight of its new 12-seat Master Buses to comfortably carry two wheelchairs each. The modifications, which were carried out by Melbourne-based Norden Conversion, mean schools and community groups are able to more easily transport people who previously would have found travelling difficult. Renault Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) model line manager Lyndon Healey says Renault saw the need for more accessibility and used the Master Bus to fill it. “The Master Bus is a very versatile vehicle, which ordinarily seats 11 passengers and the driver,” he says. “We could see a demand for a bus that offers accommodation for two wheelchairs from community groups and schools that maximises the regular number of seats retained. “Working in conjunction with Norden, we have created a product that meets a…