Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 393 i Australasian Bus & Coach

TO ‘KEEP QUEENSLAND MOVING’ during Covid-19, the state government has allotted $54.5m to help transport operators support their customers during the coronavirus-induced downturn, it’s been announced. The joint statement – issued by Premier and Minister for Trade The Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk and the Minister for Transport and Main Roads The Hon. Mark Bailey says the state government had approved a $54.5 million package that will allow regional air, bus and ferry services to keep running while social distancing measures remain in place. “This helps people in regional Queensland stay in jobs … as well as helping communities access essential supplies and services,” the Premier said. Minister Bailey says transport was an essential service during the Covid-19 crisis. Operators can’t afford to keep running these services when passenger numbers are down…

AUSTRALIAN bus manufacturer Custom Bus Group has appointed Mick Neskes to a national sales role, with team expansion plans given positive reception to new product developments and the announcement of its Denning Element electric bus concept recently, the company states. With solid bus and commercial vehicle experience from more than 20 years in the local industry – working extensively with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Scania and Hino to name a few – Neskes says the mostly western Sydney-based Custom Bus Group understands that a stronger presence is required for rapid national expansion to “complement our new potential market-leading Element [e-bus], combined with the increase of our portfolio in the Denning product”. Initial expansion plans includes the east coast of Australia, given the massive interest the company has received about its…

VICTORIAN STATE GOVERNMENT backing and union industry-partner support saw Incolink’s Scania ‘health bus’ debut for on-site worker Covid-19 testing, recently. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (aka CFMEU) VIC/TAS says it’s proud to support its industry partner and redundancy fund Incolink in the establishment of mobile testing of construction workers for Covid-19, under a new initiative supported by the state government. On-site testing commenced on April 29, 2020, at Multiplex’s Melbourne Square in Southbank – the site which had the second confirmed case of Covid-19 in the industry, the union explained To welcome the initiative, CFMEU VIC/TAS secretary John Setka was one of the first from the construction industry to receive a test via the new mobile health buses, the union confirmed.…

After one month of below-average figures, the Australian bus and coach market is back up to 131 deliveries in April, a solid 35 per cent increase on March. The result is well above industry expectations owing to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly returning to February’s pre-lockdown tally of 135. For the chassis sector, Volvo had its best month for the year with 55 deliveries, three more than its previous best of 52 in January. Scania (37) was one off its previous high of 38 in both January and February. Yutong and Bustech also reached double figures. The body building sector saw Volgren record 31 deliveries, an increase of 11 on last month. Australian Bus Corporation (aka ABC) - comprising its Bustech/Precision Buses/Elphinstone brands - was involved in…

Today’s test drive of the electric Volgren Optimus on Chinese BYD DR9A 860 (K9) chassis is a first for Victoria’s public transport network – and it’s only fitting that the bus was built and put together in Melbourne. Transdev Australasia is the proud owner of this first Volgren-BYD electric bus (it’s based at Transdev’s North Fitzroy depot where a charging station has been installed) and it has partnered with the Victorian government to conduct these important trials. It began carrying passengers on Route 246 services between Elsternwick and Clifton Hill via St Kilda in December 2019. The trial will continue until January 2021, and will be reviewed to determine the potential to roll out fully electric buses across Victoria, the state government confirms. You can’t get more local than a…

A NSW state government $250 million cleaners’ ‘stimulus package’ has seen more than 550 new and redeployed cleaners boosting the state’s ‘first line of defence’ against Covid-19, it’s been announced. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the fresh wave of cleaners had resulted in enhanced cleaning of vital public infrastructure including schools, TAFE and transport facilities. While these cleaners are improving hygiene across the state, this package will provide a much-needed social and economic boost across the state,” Premier Berejiklian said. “Not only will this package support jobs and businesses, importantly it will also give the public the peace of mind that the government is ensuring our public transport and education facilities remain as clean as possible at all times.” NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says the state government was on track…

TRANSPORT FOR NSW (TfNSW) is calling for expressions of interest from leaders in the energy, transport, manufacturing and financing sectors to participate in trials of zero-emission buses and associated technologies, it’s been announced. These trials will be undertaken in partnership with transport operators in the Sydney and outer metropolitan areas and are part of the NSW government’s strategy to transition the entire public bus fleet to zero emissions, it explains. The release of the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI) builds on a ‘market sounding process’ conducted early 2019, which demonstrated a high level of interest in developing and running trials of environmentally friendly zero-emission buses and infrastructure. The collaborative development of trials confirms NSW as a nationwide leader in exploring solutions to challenging problems, with the transport sector the…

COWRA SCHOOL STUDENTS and the general public will now benefit from a new TfNSW-funded DDA-compliant bus after Volvo Bus Australia delivered its first low-floor unit to a local operator recently, the company reports. Featuring fully accessible wheelchair-friendly spaces – crucially allowing wheelchair-reliant students to travel with their friends to feel more ‘socially included’ – the B8RLE school bus is now an additional mode of transport for the area, and was handed over to new owner Cowra Bus Services. According to Volvo, the bus is scheduled to provide morning and afternoon transport to and from school for Cowra Students and will also offer a town transport service to the public throughout the day. These services are being fully funded by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and will provide additional transport freedoms to…

A MERCEDES-BENZ Citaro bus has been converted in just three weeks as an essential-service, high-capacity, critical-care ambulance to transport Covid-19-affected patients – with the driver’s area fully protected from infection – Daimler Europe confirms. A joint project between Daimler Buses and the German Red Cross Emergency Medical Services Heidenheim-Ulm, with the Ulm University Hospital and bus operator Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm also involved, the former MB Citaro inter-city bus is equipped with four intensive care beds and was converted at Daimler’s manufacturing plant in Neu-Ulm, Germany. The Citaro conversion makes now makes the bus the largest intensive care ambulance in Germany, which is to be used by German Red Cross Emergency Medical Services Heidenheim-Ulm (DRK-Rettungsdienst Heidenheim-Ulm gGmbH). As a loan vehicle, initially it will be available to the DRK for six months.…

BOOKING FLEXIBILITY and newly introduced social distancing measures on its coaches is allowing a longstanding Western Australian bus operator to keep running as an essential service for regional commuters, it confirms. Integrity Coach Lines – a fully West Australian owned company – says it “didn’t abandon the regions when the going got tough”, and thus sought ways to assist regional West Australians and those in need of essential travel under state and federal guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company still currently supplies coach services for essential travel between Perth and Broome and everywhere between, it states. As it explains, when airlines cancelled flights and abandoned some communities altogether, integrity kept up support for the regions with six services per week – three heading north and three heading south –…

What if? It’s a fair enough question that many of us have needed to apply to many aspects of our lives recently once our private, work and business worlds starting turning upside down. Or unexpectedly sideways, at least. Never more so have so many felt so separated yet needing to draw closer together for sanity’s sake than through the current global Covid-19 pandemic, it must be said. In terms of bus travel – with its greatest commodity being moving bulk loads of people usually safely and efficiently each day – there are definitely challenges ahead. Many companies, though, are rising to them – as best they can. The prognosis? With experts predicting that air travel won’t recover fully for at least the next three years – regardless of how any…

A NEW SCANNING and sensor tech solution called RollCall Services aims for transparency in bus and business cleaning practices. A transport industry IT solution to the coronavirus pandemic’s hygiene challenge has been launched, which sees cleaners ‘scan in’ to record when and where buses, vehicles and locations have been cleaned. Melbourne-based software company RollCall Safety Solutions unveiled RollCall Services recently to transport and bus companies with the aim of helping reduce the risk of a Covid-19 outbreak. And if one should occur on the premises or in a vehicle, RollCall Services will seek to minimise interruption to the company operations, work cover claims and downtime duration, it says. Transport and logistics industry identities Dean Langenberg, Andrew Thornberry and Peter Ferrari operate RollCall Safety Solutions, which has been servicing the education…

“WORLD-CLASS transport operators” are now invited to register their interest for the last remaining NSW government-controlled bus regions, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) has announced. The tenders are for operating bus services on behalf of the NSW Government on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, North Shore, northern and eastern suburbs, it confirms. “We are looking for world-class operators with significant experience delivering transport services,” said a TfNSW spokesperson. “From today, operators interested in delivering these vital services for customers can register on the Government’s eTenders website to receive background information that will help them prepare for when the tender process kicks off,” they explained. “Already, private operators run services for the NSW government in 11 of our 14 bus regions in the Sydney Metropolitan area. Franchising the three remaining bus regions currently operated…

NSW REGIONAL communities will benefit from an extra 150 new school buses fitted with seatbelts, following recommendations of an independently chaired taskforce to improve the rural and regional seatbelt programme, the state government has announced, recently. Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole says the new air-conditioned buses would replace any dedicated school bus in regional NSW more than 20 years old with new buses fitted with seatbelts. All dedicated regional school buses will be fitted with seatbelts by the end of 2021 – two years ahead of the government’s initial commitment in response to the 2012 School Bus Safety Community Advisory Committee Report. This is great news for school children and families right across regional NSW,” Minister Toole said. “To date, 861 new school buses with seatbelts have…

VOLVO GROUP and Daimler Truck AG are to lead the development of sustainable transportation by forming a joint venture for large-scale production of fuel cells, the companies have announced. Sharing the Green Deal vision of sustainable transport and a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050, the two leading companies in the commercial vehicle industry – Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group - have signed a preliminary non-binding agreement to establish a new joint venture, they’ve declared. According to the joint press statement, the intention is to develop, produce and commercialise fuel cell systems for heavy-duty vehicle applications and other use cases. Daimler will consolidate all its current fuel cell activities in the joint venture, it confirms. The Volvo Group will acquire 50 per cent in the joint venture for the sum…

A BRAND NEW Custom Endeavour completed the company’s largest order into Queensland – 31 city buses in total – delivered to The Pulitano Group recently, the company has announced. As the successful final bus delivery of its “largest single order to date for a private customer since the new [Scott Dunn] management takeover”, the 31 buses to long-established and family owned bus operator The Pulitano Group was also that operator’s “most significant order placed … in the last decade”, Custom confirms. The 31 units were all Custom two-door, ‘low-floor’ city bus models built using a split of either Volvo or Scania chassis. Of that amount, 26 of the bus bodies were built using the proven Custom CB80 model and five buses were built with the all-new Endeavour series body. As…

EARLY INTERVENTION and rapid deployment of an anti-coronavirus bus-cleaning strategy has helped one Melbourne-based coach operator maintain key school-run contracts since the Covid-19 pandemic broke, the company reports. Alston Coaches says its quick decisions to employ a professional cleaning team to disinfect its fleet rigorously and clear and honest communication with clients enabled it to keep much of its school bus business running – about 80 per cent of all business – which once seemed impossible when news of the outbreak in Australia earlier reached fever-pitch. Local schools such as St Margaret’s Junior and Senior Schools, and Berwick Grammar School, Haileybury Private School, Brighton Grammar School and Mentone Girls’ Grammar implemented Alston Coaches’ rapidly formalised Covid-19 policy and appreciated its pro-activeness to ensure student safety while using its services, it…

For more then 25 years LTD Bus & Truck Rentals has been operating a truck and bus hire business at the same premises on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Current owner and managing director Glenn Mitchell started working in the company in 2003. Seven years later he became a partner in the business with then-owner Laurie Doyle, who retired in 2013. Speaking fondly of his old partner, Mitchell says he was lucky to have had the chance to co-partner with Doyle. “I am very grateful to have started this business journey with Laurie. I owe exactly where I am today to having such a good partner. He still helps me to this day,” Mitchell said. “We are still a very small family owned business. We have five staff members, with another…