ABC is the leading bus and coach publication in Australia, providing operators with vital information and market intelligence to help them keep their BUSiness moving. ABC is the major source of vehicle and equipment classifieds for the industry.
Two hundred metres, easy. I saw this chap pottering towards me at night while I was out jogging, recently. Well, that’s a lie – it was more a slow walkie-shuffle thing from me, but I was out of breath and near heart-attack stage I think, so that’s got to count for some kind of health kick, I reckon, right? Anyway, as we shuffled closer towards each other from respective uphills to ‘down the hills’, I noticed something unusual about this ‘medium collar’ office-type fellow as he approached in the distance: he was wearing a white mask. To be clear, when I say unusual I mean pre-virus-topsy-turvy times. Now, of course, without a mask in some places it’s considered a crime against humanity, so with many of us ‘following the bouncing…
A BUSNSW project to improve road safety has been selected as one of 26 initiatives aimed at saving lives and reducing road trauma to share in AUD$5.9 million under Round 5 of the Australian government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), it’s been announced. BusNSW executive director Matt Threlkeld says it was very pleasing to have a project selected as part of this important programme aimed at delivering safety benefits to the heavy vehicle industry, other road users and the community. “The funding and support administered by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator provides a great opportunity for the bus and coach industry to promote road safety, particularly in regard to heavy vehicles,” Threlkeld said. “One of the most common hazards in the bus and coach industry arises from on-road safety risks…
UNDER THE AUSPICES of a Queensland State Government Covid ‘travel plan’, more peak-hour buses and trains will be rolled out next month to support social distancing on south-east Queensland public transport, it’s been announced The latest phase of the Palaszczuk government’s Covid-19 Safe Public Transport Plan has put an extra 960 buses and 105 trains into service between Monday and Friday, from August 10, 2020. Hand sanitiser is also being provided to commuters at busy train and bus stations under the plan, the government confirms. Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey says public transport patronage was down about 50 per cent compared to the same time last year, but numbers were expected to climb as university classes resumed and CBD offices re-opened. “Public transport is safe in Queensland,” Bailey…
FOLLOWING Japanese technology giant Hitachi’s acquisition of European vehicle-charging specialist ABB on July 1, a newly formed company called Hitachi ABB Power Grids looks set to have Brisbane feature its latest “game-changing” Grid-eMotion Fleet EV charging system for first mass use anywhere, the company confirms. Designed for large scale e-Mobility, Grid-eMotion Fleet is a full ‘grid-to-plug’ solution for large-scale public transport and commercial fleets, enabling operators to ‘charge more with less’, Hitachi ABB states. As first reported by www.busnews.com.au two years ago, Brisbane City Council’s Registration of Interest announcement for the new Brisbane Metro bus project was always intended to attract some of the most advanced technology and designs to form its envisaged next-gen bus transport system. With confirmation in late November 2019, it was spearheaded by a Hess-Volgren-ABB winning…
FOLLOWING customary consents and regulatory approvals, the transaction of New Zealand’s “largest and most dynamic bus operator” Go Bus into the Kinetic mass-transit fold has completed, the company has announced. In a move that is said to make Kinetic the “region’s largest e-bus operator”, the Australasian public transport entity is signalling an exciting year ahead for bus transit in the region as proactive governments and transport authorities alike embrace innovative new ways to move people, it states. The Melbourne-headquartered company recently welcomed Go Bus to its growing mass transit platform, which includes world-leading airport transit business SkyBus, urban and regional bus operations Surfside and Sunbus, and Sydney-based bus and coach company Telfords. With key government contracts to operate urban bus services in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch, and as the largest…
A RECENT LIFTING of a driving ban for German bus companies during the coronavirus pandemic has emboldened Daimler’s push for enhanced driver and passenger safety – with a “high level of fresh air” and “space-enhancing seating variants” - more so now firmly in focus, the company has announced. According to Daimler Buses, with the market for bus travel reviving again in some segments, it is ‘guaranteeing’ travel on a Mercedes-Benz or Setra bus will afford “the highest possible level of safety with excellent comfort”. Head of Daimler Buses Till Oberwörder says he strives to keep things that way. “The safety of passengers and drivers in our touring coaches is top priority for us. That is why we are offering our customers numerous retrofit solutions to protect against infection for our…
