Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 391 i Australasian Bus & Coach

CNH INDUSTRIAL – the European parent company of Iveco Bus – has “intensified measures to address the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak” and, where necessary, will temporarily close Italian production facilities, it’s been announced. According to the company, during this time additional safety measures will be implemented and these protocols will be applied across all CNH Industrial´s manufacturing sites should conditions require, it confirms. This will enable the company to continue to provide all employees with a safe working environment, whilst managing production volumes accordingly, it states. This decision comes at a time when Italy as a whole is now in a quarantine lockdown, with CNH Industrial stating it has “expanded its already extensive measures to ensure a safe working environment for its employees in light of the Covid-19 emergency”. The company…

GLOBAL MANUFACTURER Iveco Buses has signed an agreement with Turkey’s Otokar Otomotiv to locally manufacture its buses at Otokar facilities in Sakarya, it was announced, recently. According to the companies, this contractual partnership covers existing models in the Iveco Bus portfolio for international distribution, as well as the production of a model specifically catering to markets in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The models will be powered by engines from sister brand FPT Industrial, the first of which are expected to be produced within 2021, it’s claimed. Iveco Bus – a brand of CNH Industrial N.V. – through this agreement seeks to expand its manufacturing capabilities, and confirms that it is maintaining all regular activities at its existing (European) manufacturing sites, where its current and future model…

It’s a pretty exciting time in our industry with the changes happening in electric buses. The impetus to go electric has really gone up a gear in the past 12 months. From technology we knew was definitely entering the field to a switch in thinking that has really seen the movement from a future technology into one that’s a reality and hopefully viable for the current market. Globally, the awareness of the effect of all we do environmentally is continuing to grow and be a daily worldwide topic of importance. It makes sense of the fast change in thinking towards electric vehicles. While we all know this change is here, it’s still early days in the development of EVs. However, BCI was one to get on board early of this…

More so now than ever, parts supply will be crucial for many operators who are using any downtime to fix and upgrade their buses and coaches. The coronavirus has, yes, changed a few dynamics for doing business on the planet, but it will pass and/or be adjusted to. And if ever there were a reason after this to ‘seize the day’ and spend days travelling, soaking up and relishing the beauty of life worldwide, this just might be it. Indeed, there are loads of parts and accessories suppliers everywhere, but reliability of supply and technical support is what sets the best of them apart from the rest. Seats, tyres, wiring, switches, doors, flooring, replacement panels and air-con makers all play a role in either supplying product new to OEMS or…

RECENT FINDINGS from a university report is needlessly causing dismay about electric vehicles, their “silent” operation and the potential for pedestrian impacts, according to a specialist in EV impact-prevention technology. Technology has been around for many years that ‘could’ mitigate this risk such as having an external pedestrian alert function activated, says Clive Rogers, managing director of Fleetsafe, which promotes a technology called Mobileye. Using machine vision the technology detects and classifies vulnerable road users – pedestrians and cyclists, he explains. It can, at that point, trigger an external audible device to notify the pedestrian that a vehicle is approaching. Should the pedestrian continue on a path that would result in an imminent collision, the system will issue an audible alert to the driver to take action and prevent the…

CHINESE BUS manufacturing giant King Long has a new local bus and coach distributor for the Australian market. With outlets based at both Rocklea in Brisbane and Epping in Melbourne, Bus Stop Sales and Service has been appointed as distributor for one of the largest bus and coach builders in the world. Bus Stop Sales and Service dealer-principal Pete White says his company’s primary focus is to deliver quality buses to its customers with exceptional after-sales support. “The King Long product range is no stranger to Australian roads with a proven history spanning more than 12 years in a variety of operating environments,” said White. “The decision to replace our existing brand with King Long was not an easy one; however, it was necessary to meet the company’s longer-term strategy…

A VOLVO bus-production plant in Borås, Sweden, is now one of the first facilities relying solely on renewable energy, the company confirms. Garnered purely from renewable sources, such as hydropower and biofuels, the factory’s overall energy consumption has been reduced by 15 per cent in just the past few years, it states. Since the Volvo Buses production plant in Borås now solely relies on renewable energy for its operation, it has been certified by Volvo as a ‘Renewable Energy Facility’, the company explains. The certification was issued following a number of steps designed to minimise the factory’s climate footprint, it says. For the Australian market, this is exciting news, according to the company: “Knowing that the Volvo Group worldwide really do have a commitment to ensuring sustainability starts long before…

THE PEAK BODY of the Australian bus and coach industry has officially released a statement that offers some helpful guidance to its members regarding the Coronavirus’s (Covid-19) psychological impact on staff; highlights the ATO’s instant asset write-off increase to $150,000; and other implications, it reports recently. In announcing its position on dealing with Covid-19, the national Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) outlines that every day in our communities the bus and coach industry moves people to work, to health care facilities, to schools – and that “by the nature of this moving-people task we are, whether we like it or not, not only exposing ourselves and our families but also adding to the potential spread of infection”, before reminding all that “the bus and coach industry provides an essential service to…

FOR THE SECOND consecutive year, Sydney’s State Transit has decked out one of its buses in a colourful rainbow theme to help celebrate the city’s 42nd Annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras this year, it was announced recently. The Custom-bodied CB80 on Scania city bus chassis hit the road on Sunday, 16 February, to help celebrate the two-week iconic LGBTIQ-inspired (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) Mardi Gras festival. Highlighted by the City of Sydney council, around 617,000 people attended the festival last year, with an international media reach of 3.6 billion people and a contribution of more than AUD$131 million to the NSW economy. According to State Transit, the ‘rainbow bus’ is operating out of Randwick Depot and is in service for its customers until March. Customers can…

COVID-19 (more commonly referred to by its generic term ‘coronavirus’) was discussed by the Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) at an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) teleconference on March 6. Industry insiders confirm to ABC magazine (www.busnews.com.au) that the ACCI called the tele-conference with its members to consider what responses each entity could make to minimise any possible impact of the virus. BIC has long argued that public transport is an essential service and this might now be tested as the country heads into unchartered waters regarding the impacts of the virus, sources state. The topic will also be discussed at the BIC’s upcoming Industrial Working Group in Canberra on Wednesday, March 25, to consider the terms and conditions of a new Passenger Vehicle Transportation Award 2020, affecting up…

DAIMLER’s MB eCitaro has become the first fully electric city bus to win the German Government’s coveted ‘Blue Angel’ award for environmental friendliness, the company reports, recently. Awarded by independent institutions for more than 40 years, the Blue Angel (Blauer Engel) label proves the eCitaro’s environmental friendliness and the “exemplary path it is taking towards locally emission-free local public transport” according to Mercedes-Benz. It confirms the eCitaro is the first fully electric city bus entitled to bear this environmental label, with the first three bearing this prized sticker now in service with operator Jenaer Nahverkehr GmbH, in the Germany university city of Jena. The company operates local public transport in the Free State of Thuringian, with a fleet including 43 city buses on 13 routes. The three eCitaros form the…

FOR THE SECOND consecutive year, both Transdev Australasia and Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific Pty Ltd have received the Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation. As Employer of Choice Gender Equality (EOCGE) 2020 citation holders, they are only two local bus industry-related organisations out of 119 to have received the strong endorsement of ongoing commitment to gender equality and promoting diversity across the transport industry. Transdev Australasia’s head of talent, diversity and inclusion and learning and engagement, Donna Jones, says the citation was a welcome endorsement of a commitment to diversity across all levels of the organisation. “We have introduced a range of initiatives in the last two years including Journey Maker Academies that aim to address barriers women faced in participating…

OPERATOR Busways was just one of many organisations participating in Bus Safety Week 2020 that ran from Monday, February 24 to Sunday, March 1 – reminding all road users to ‘be bus aware’. Busways was urging everyone to stay safe and be alert on and around buses as Bus Safety Week kicked off for a fifth year running. With more than 4,000 buses operating in the Sydney metropolitan area and around 3,000 buses on regional and country roads, Bus Safety Week aims to improve the safety of pedestrians, riders, passengers and drivers; helping to reduce injuries and lives lost on NSW roads. Executive director of the Centre for Road Safety Bernard Carlon says in the five years to June 2019, 35 people were killed and 394 seriously injured in bus…

FOLLOWING acclaimed success in Melbourne and London, a unique theatre production that takes place live on a moving city bus had its Sydney run from February 26 to March 8, 2020. With support of local operator Busways – and as part of the City of Sydney’s Art & About programme – the latter’s promise of ‘art in unusual places’ is exactly what attendees got when they boarded a suburban bus to experience live theatre. ‘Passenger’ is an acclaimed production that departed from an ordinary stop in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, where audiences took the role of commuters ‘overhearing’ a conversation between two fellow passengers via on-board speakers, organisers explain. The story explores the ethics of our contemporary world and the impact of holding others accountable for their actions, Art…

TRANSIT SYSTEMS won the majority of these contracts, with Busways, Keolis Downer, John Holland Group Pty Ltd and UGL Pty Ltd (the latter two via a Transit System’s Torrens Connect joint venture) snaring the others on offer. Contracts have been awarded for eight years, with an option to extend a further two years, and provide an exciting opportunity to enhance and optimise bus and tram services, says the government, for its newly awarded operators in the following: Outer North East – Torrens Transit; East West – Torrens Transit; Outer North – Torrens Transit; North South including Tram – Torrens Connect*; Hills – Keolis Downer; and Outer South – Busways South Australia. Sources cite estimated contract revenue in total over the eight-year term is about $1.45 billion. With many South Australian…

It was always going to be unlikely that last month’s record high of 172 would be matched, but February still turned out to be a strong month in any circumstance, with 136 bus and coach deliveries recorded. That, sandwiched between the aftermath of the bushfire season and the early stages of Covid-19, makes the result even more impressive – an increase of more than 20 on last year’s already solid 112 in February. Volvo and Scania went neck and neck, with the former pipping the latter by just two deliveries (40 to 38). BCI had another month in the 20s, while Mercedes-Benz and Bustech also surpassed 10. Volgren led the body builders again, but its 26 falls short of its February tally of 40 in 2019. Instead, BCI’s 21 bodies…