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The latest ‘fake news’ is in and much research has gone on behind the scenes, but the stark reality is: we’ve all got to die at some time. I know this may come as a shock to many – and God forbid someone chokes on their breakfast cereal at the moment from digesting such information – but, unfortunately, it’s all been confirmed. Death? Yep, it happens. Okay, maybe not for the Black Knight in the epic cinematic masterpiece that is Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who gave Arthur ‘King of the Britons’ a proper run for his money. Yet even he by now could and should have karked it! Maybe… At the time of print, again much has happened to change the thinking of the world in which we…
AWARD-WINNING European bus manufacturer Ebusco is to ultimately produce zero-emission buses here in Australia, for Australia and New Zealand, by partnering with Bustech and Precision Buses – now part of the Australian Bus Corporation (ABC) – the companies have jointly announced. Ebusco, a Dutch pioneer in electric vehicle technology and smart mobility solutions, is launching this regional partnership with the ABC – the largest Australian-owned bus group in Australasia, it states, for the “future of zero-emission buses in Australasia”. Simon Pearce, newly appointed strategic director of Asia Pacific for Ebusco, explained: “The Australian Bus Corporation and Ebusco initially met at the [2019] BIC conference in Canberra, Australia. After an initial discussion between Dan Marks (director/owner of Precision Buses and Bustech), Peter Bijvelds (CEO Ebusco) and Michel Maanen (CCO and COO…
PRIVATISATION of Sydney’s remaining bus contracts – Regions, 7, 8 and 9 – have been delayed due to the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus and will have a staggered ‘handover’ from May, 2021, until April, 2022, reports the Sydney Morning Herald, recently. The SMH article states the media outlet has cited ‘documents’ that essentially outlines a re-envisaged rollout by the NSW state government of the winning tender announcements for the affected regions, due to the current pandemic. “The coronavirus pandemic is delaying the controversial privatisation of bus services in Sydney’s northern and eastern suburbs by up to a year,” the article states. “The contracts for bus regions 7, 8 and 9 – covering Sydney’s north-western suburbs, northern beaches and eastern suburbs – were all slated for handing over to private…
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between key multi-national strategic partners to explore delivery of innovative and sustainable transport solutions, according to Australian signatory Transit Systems. The company – now part of the SeaLink Travel Group – has joined the alliance to establish the ‘H2OzBus Project’, leveraging its global network to further continue evaluating and demonstrating the concept of hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses for use in public bus transport in Australia. Transit Systems has joined forces with strategic partners Ballard Power Systems, BOC Limited, Palisade Investment Partners and ITM Power (‘Consortium’) by signing the MOU. The Consortium will collaborate on a project to further investigate deploying an initial 100 hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses in cities across Australia in Phase 1, with the intention to use this as a…
A FOCUS on ‘lean manufacturing’ and eliminating disturbances from the bus production line will allow Volgren to “double capacity” at its Dandenong, Victoria, manufacturing headquarters, the company confirms. Part of a company-wide transformation aimed at improving competitiveness and delivering more value for customers, the re-design has included a radical rethink of its production line, leading to development of a single, ‘continuous flow’ line. Volgren CEO Thiago Deiro says the new arrangement can work for both diesel and electric vehicles and was designed according to lean concepts. “The previous assembly line was limited to one vehicle per day and was set up with stationary bays. The new chassis area is a continuous line on rails with pre-assembled parts just beside each work station. As soon as this new chassis layout is…
Public transport operator Busways is now mostly using renewable energy to power its Gosford, NSW, bus depot, the company announced recently. Busways says it’s powering its Kincumber bus depot on the NSW Central Coast with renewable energy to further reduce its carbon footprint and deliver a clean, sustainable future. The new 99.6kW solar system installed across the depot’s workshop roof means, on average, 90 per cent of the depot’s power comes from the sun, the company confirms. “On sunny days we are running the depot 100 per cent emissions-free for over 10 hours!” Busways sustainable projects lead Tim Reid said. “We’ve also replaced all old lighting at the depot with LED, reducing use of electricity by 20 per cent.” The $160,000 solar system is expected to produce more than 150…
