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.
OKAY, I’m a little worried. In fact, I think I’m quite disturbed... While I’ve just realised making that statement will have copious amounts of people who know me well say, “What’s new?”, it’s not my dubious mental state I’m referring to here (though I’m working on that). Electric vehicles – there’s something amiss. Something just isn’t sitting right. To me, anyway. While I was never the clever science type at school – and god knows how we got away with our lives after a failed (read: successful) accidental ‘rock-concert pyrotechnics’ display in Year 8 using beakers, some cystalised pebble-looking thingies and a wayward Bunsen burner or three – I’m pretty sure I know equine dung when I hear it. Well … the hallmarks of it anyway. It’s not the vehicles…
“A lighter bus also equates to a greater passenger capacity.” AUSTRALIAN BUS MANUFACTURER VOLGREN has partnered up with key industry players to investigate how Rare Earth Element (REE) Scandium could help lighten electric bus bodies (or a bus body) – crucial for larger battery fitment, extended range and increased carrying capacity, the company announced. The consortium of engineers, manufacturers and researchers – which is in its early days – involves Volgren – Australia’s largest bus body builder; Deakin University, via a PhD Scholarship (Volgren’s third); Victoria-based Scandium miner Clean Teq; and Sydney-based Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). The alliance aims to find out how Scandium, a rare earth mineral, can be used to help produce the next generation of lightweight electric buses. With many public transport pundits worldwide stating electric…
CONNECTED VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY to keep traffic flowing as part of the NSW Government Innovation Initiative trial announced recently to tackle congestion will hopefully include buses, according to Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey. At this stage, only select trucks will soon be able to ‘talk’ to traffic lights using connected technology to reduce the number of times they stop at traffic lights. Late-running buses are specifically targeted through this initiative, it’s stated. KEY POINTS: • Give participating freight vehicles priority at traffic lights using a new application of the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS); • Run over three months, the results will be evaluated to determine congestion effects; • Be across 40km of important freight routes in Pennant Hills, Parramatta and King Georges roads; • Include more…
“We are keen to deliver improved services through our local knowledge.” ADELAIDE’s Light City Buses (LCB) is under negotiation between current operator Broadspectrum and Transit Systems’ subsidiary Torrens Transit, according to Transit Systems. Torrens Transit has signed a contract to acquire Light City Buses (LCB) and it will involve the transfer of more than 370 buses and 700 employees into the Torrens Transit network, it’s stated. The services to be transitioned were previously operated by Torrens Transit between 2005 and 2011, says Transit Systems. With a history spanning 18 years in Adelaide, Torrens Transit is the only Australian-owned operator in the State and will lean on its own local network knowledge to work with Government to investigate and implement service improvements, including the potential relinking of services across the areas…
MELBOURNE: THE WORLD’S BIGGEST public transport event – the Union International des Transports Publics (UITP) Global Public Transport Summit – will be held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2021 it’s been announced recently. This is a major acknowledgement of the city’s place as a global leader in public transport, experts agree. Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan and Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren welcomed the announcement that Melbourne has been selected to host the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in 2021 – the first time the event has been held in the Southern Hemisphere in 28 years. The UITP Global Public Transport Summit runs every two years and has operated for more than 130 years. With $50 billion invested to transform Melbourne’s transport network and the biggest tram…
BREAKING: MULTIPLE INDUSTRY SOURCES have confirmed that Automotive Holdings Group International’s (AHGI) strategic relationship as official Australian distributor for China’s Higer Bus Company is at an end. AHG is the largest automotive retail company in Australia. With an involvement with Higer Bus since 2011 – initially providing floorplan and working capital finance to previous distributor White Motor Corporation, as stated - AHG eventually assumed that role in 2015. Perhaps further signalling an end to the relationship, AHGI general manager Neil Bamford – who took on the role in 2013 to, “drive the business through its next growth phase”, according to the Higer Bus Australia website – recently announced via LinkedIn his role as MD at Adventurer AWD Buses. Speaking to ABC magazine only 24 hours earlier regarding the current status…
