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.
Hmm… I remember it now. “Got a bus itch that needs a good scratch?” And so my ABC magazine bus journey began. It took me a while to recall exactly which issue that was – four years after the fact – but Issue 368 with then-new Volvo Bus Australia general manager Lauren Downs on the cover was when my trusty backside hit the hot seat. Ah, the memories… (might be a good time to start whistling the intro of Scorpion’s Wind of Change and press play on the stereo). I’d opened talking about 1970s television comedians Paul Hogan and Dave Allen, whose expert delivery of soliloquy had me, amongst millions of other viewers at the time no doubt, engrossed in the show and what they had to say. The way…
WEST AUSTRALIAN operator Go West – now owned by the Kelsian Group Limited (KLS), which in turn includes public transport operator Transit Systems – has continued to bolster its bus offerings by securing four school bus services, for terms remarkably of up to 17 years, with the Public Transport Authority (PTA), the group has announced. Moving primary and secondary school children on a daily basis in the areas of Tom Price, Manea and Karratha, as well as offering school bus services for community events, Transit Systems chief operating officer Greg Balkin says the company was pleased to continue providing safe, reliable and convenient services. “We are proud to secure these new contracts on a long-term basis and look forward to continuing to delivering reliable services to the schooling communities.” “We…
A MUCH-NEEDED North Coast apprenticeships push to address a bus-industry skills shortage is being driven – in partnership with Volvo Bus Australia – via a recent Express Coach Builders (ECB) contract to further the supply of buses in regional NSW for operator Buslines, the companies announced recently. In order to boost the amount of qualified staff in the skills necessary for ECB bus body building operations, the company is heavily investing in apprenticeships to support its expanding operations and currently have more than 13 apprentices, which ECB is looking at increasing this year. The new major contract will ultimately support local jobs, training and manufacturing across the area. With a heavy focus on grassroots staff, ECB is being supported by local partners like Volvo Bus Australia which has been facilitating…
LOCAL ENERGY provider Energy Australia and ‘clean tech’ bus and transport solutions provider Nexport have ‘joined forces’ to, “… help public and private sector customers accelerate the uptake of zero-emission transport,” they recently announced. The pair’s ‘one stop shop – grid to road and beyond’ electrification offering is in the context of a 2021 report* from BusVic and Monash University finding that bus operators were, “…most concerned about establishing energy infrastructure; the cost and commercial viability of zero-emission buses [ZEB] technologies; and their own capabilities to successfully operate, charge and maintain ZEBs.” Energy Australia and Nexport jointly aim to, “…leverage their extensive expertise to enable the provision of bespoke end-to-end solutions to customers across the public/private/industrial transportation and employee mobility sector,” they state. Their work together also helps to, “…urgently…
TRANSPORT CANBERRA’S (TC’s) ageing bus fleet has taken a ‘major step forward’ in its transition to a zero-emissions future with 90 electric buses sought in a longer-term procurement. TC invited parties to register for procurement by 8 March, 2022. Respondents will be invited to participate in the request for proposal activity, it explains. This next tranche of electric buses follows its current low- to zero-emission bus initiatives, of which Yutong’s local distributor Vehicle Dealers International and Western Sydney-based Custom Denning – fresh from its $70 million NSW e-bus contract win – are key to Canberra’s initial e-bus fleet. PREFERRED SUPPLIERS According to TC, the first electric buses are on their way from its ‘current preferred suppliers’, which it identifies as VDI Australia and Custom Bus Group, to lease the ACT’s…
CHARGING SPECIALIST ABB has entered into an agreement with Scania Europe to provide a comprehensive range of robotic solutions for the bus and truck maker’s new 18,000m2 highly automated battery assembly plant in Sweden, the companies announced, recently. The new facility will be a key milestone on Scania’s journey towards the electrification of heavy vehicles, they explain. Scania will invest more than SEK 1 billion ($108 million) in the facility over several years and the new Södertälje plant is expected to be fully operational by 2023, they add. The advanced facility will be built next to Scania’s chassis assembly plant in Södertälje and will be highly automated, from goods reception through production to delivery, ABB says. It will assemble battery modules from cells supplied by Northvolt’s battery factory in Skellefteå,…
