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Fallen asleep searching for one video online only to wake up to something like random cat bottoms on your screen? Eeek! Hey, we’ve all been there. But, this time, it was aliens. Holographic aliens, in fact. Not alien bottoms, I hasten to add – thank God! I mean full holographic Klingon-type aliens, or such. Do a search; you can’t make this stuff up. Under the umbrella title of ‘realistic holograms’, there’s not only aliens – which apparently will be shown to us en masse as some sort of invasion and we get scared and then comes all this unjustified spending on military stuff – but there’s all sorts of – awesomely disturbing and realistic – holographic examples online. Check it out… Whether it’s whales jumping out of the water and…
NO FEWER than 136 brand new zero-emissions buses proved key to the NSW state government awarding a Transdev-John Holland Buses (NSW) joint venture (JV) to operate Greater Sydney Bus Contract 9 (Region 9) until 2030, it’s been announced. The Region 9 win – which includes some of the city’s busiest bus routes, with a patronage of 67 million customer journeys in a typical year – means commuters in Sydney’s CBD and Eastern Suburbs can look forward to a greener, more reliable commute from next year, Transdev explains. Routes connect Sydney’s CBD to the Eastern Beaches, La Perouse to the south, the suburban centres of Darlinghurst, Kings Cross, Randwick, Redfern, Waverley, Bondi, Coogee and Mascot, and the harbourside suburbs of Elizabeth Bay, Double Bay and Vaucluse. Transdev Australasia CEO Luke Agati…
THE VICTORIAN state government Department of Transport’s decision to award Melbourne’s bus fleet franchise to operator Kinetic allows Volgren to create 50 new jobs, Australia’s largest bus body builder confirms. State Minister for Transport, Ben Carroll, announced recently that Kinetic – which already operates airport service Skybus in Melbourne – would take control of the city’s 537-strong fleet. Kinetic, in turn, will introduce five Volgren battery electric buses (BEBs) into the city’s network by June next year – and by mid-2025 will have introduced 36 BEBs, plus more than 100 Volgren-bodied hybrid buses. Volgren CEO Thiago Deiro says the Department of Transport’s decision to prioritise green transport would help reduce emissions, and that by promoting local content the Victorian government was supporting Australian manufacturing and Victorian job creation. “Every manufacturer…
A VAST ARRAY of additional Australian bus-manufacturing jobs will need to be fulfilled given local Yutong distributor Vehicle Dealers International (VDI)’s first bus assembly plant being ‘green-lighted’ – initially for Brisbane – early 2022, it has been announced. Yutong – the world’s largest bus manufacturer – is due to bring its advanced bus building techniques here to Australia via VDI, increasing local jobs to create, “…the most environmentally sustainable vehicle in Australia,” VDI explains. In response to a growing Australian market requirement for local content, VDI Yutong has signed a ‘Drivable Knock Down’ (DKD) agreement with Yutong HQ in China to undertake a local assembly program, which will initially involve the extremely popular E12 battery electric low-floor city bus, VDI confirms. The forecasted sales of the E12 will require a…
DIRECTIVES further supporting customer needs and environmental targets through quality, safety and sustainability spearhead Volvo Buses’ new “vision, strategic priorities and ambitions for 2030”, which the company recently announced. The new vision–as of November 10, 2021, and announced via a broadcast from Volvo Buses president Anna Westerberg in Gothenburg, Sweden – states that it’s Volvo’s vision to, “…be the most desired and successful provider of sustainable people transport solutions, driving value creation through innovation, partnerships and people.” The purpose of this new vision is to further reinforce Volvo Buses long-term direction, with key strategic priorities in place to further emphasise focus areas for the years to come, in order to reach the company’s 2030 ambitions towards safer, more productive and fossil free transport solutions, it explains. These strategic priorities include…
FOLLOWING its successful city bus fuel and emissions-saving trials via Scania’s original ‘Opticruise’ program, the results of its latest ‘Ecolution’ strategy are even further improved, the companies report. Recent results of a seven-month trial using Scania Ecolution – which includes key driver training hints and tips – indicate it cuts fuel use by close to 10 per cent and increases passenger comfort simultaneously, Scania explains. Ecolution aims at maximising fleet fuel efficiency using ongoing driver training, digital coaching, vehicle and fleet optimisation, and other tools to achieve pre-determined sustainability goals, as well as enhance operating cost controls. Self-described as, “…a tailor-made partnership for the sustainability of bus operator businesses across Australia,” the successful Transport Canberra campaign indicates a decrease in operating costs and emissions using the Ecolution optimisation program, they…
