72-564: The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018. The Enviro400
144-409: A hydraulic or pneumatic 'kneeling device', which can be used when the bus is not in motion, tilting it or lowering it at the front axle even further, often down to normal curb height. Depending on how close to the curb the bus is parked and wheelchair design, this can allow wheelchair users to board unaided. Though such technology has been available and in use on high-floor buses since the 1970s, it
216-608: A batch of 23 in January 2009. A further batch of 12 was allocated to Bootle depot in September 2009 originally for the cross-Liverpool trunk service 60 linking Bootle with Aigburth. A much larger order of 128 Enviro400s was placed by Arriva Merseyside division from the onwards, with the first 28 arriving in the autumn of 2014 and the remainder being delivered between January and July 2015 to Bootle, Green Lane , St Helens , Southport and Speke depots. Arriva Buses Wales , meanwhile, received
288-765: A high floor bus where the floor is flat in order to align with the high platforms in certain Bus Rapid Transit systems. Thereby, referring to it as a non-step high floor bus. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) mandates the use of low-floor or low-entry buses on city bus routes in the Philippines since 2016. Low-floor buses are used on city bus networks in Metro Manila , Metro Cebu and Davao City , and on some provincial routes, and most Point-to-Point Bus services, although older coaches are still largely used for such services. Buses used on
360-528: A low floor throughout the length of the bus (more popular in Europe ), and low-entry buses with step-free access to only a part of the bus, most commonly between the front door and the middle door (more popular in North America). In North America, both types are commonly called low-floor, as the majority of the vehicle has a low floor, without steps at the doors. The main reason for choosing a low-entry configuration
432-457: A low-floor bus "no-step bus (ノーステップバス)". At Enshu Railway Company in Hamamatsu Area, a low-floor bus is called "omnibus (オムニバス)", " cho-teisho bus (超低床バス; very low-floor bus)" and " cho-teisho omnibus (超低床オムニバス; very low-floor omnibus)". Japanese government calls a low-floor bus " cho-teisho non-step bus (超低床ノンステップバス; very low-floor non-step bus)". The term non-step bus may also refer to
504-492: A low-floor bus therefore requires careful design. Low floor configuration is also known to have poor side to side dead load distribution within the chassis due to the asymmetrical off-centre placement of driveline components - mainly engine and transmission. As a result, many of such buses require electronically controlled air suspension to compensate the lopsided configuration. Low-floor buses usually include an area without seating (or seating that folds up) next to at least one of
576-489: A low-floor design. A small number of higher capacity articulated low-floor buses are used to service the city's southern busways. In Sydney , routes may be operated by both high-floor buses and low-entry ones. Selected routes can be set aside specifically for low-entry buses which are considered to be wheelchair-accessible routes. A recent all-low-entry bus network is the Metrobus system. Arriva UK Bus Arriva UK Bus
648-718: A plug-in electric vehicle. Stagecoach standardised on the Scania N230UD with Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodywork for their Stagecoach Gold services, the first of which entered service with Stagecoach West to upgrade route 94 serving Cheltenham and Gloucester to Gold standard. Further Gold-specification Scania-ADL Enviro400s were delivered throughout the type's production run to operators such as Stagecoach in Oxfordshire , Stagecoach Midlands for their X4 service , and Stagecoach Yorkshire . Scania N230UDs with Enviro400 bodies fitted with guide wheels were also purchased for use on
720-413: A smaller low floor area with a small underfloor bin for some luggage. Whilst these buses do not provide a full amount of luggage space, they can be used to house more luggage than what can be held inside the bus itself. Another drawback is the arrangement means the section of the bus that is at curb height is very short—consisting of enough space to house the wheelchair area and then rising up, to accommodate
792-457: A total of 29 high specification Enviro400s between June 2014 and March 2015 for deployment on two new Sapphire services serving Rhyl to Llandudno and Chester to Connah's Quay respectively. The FirstGroup received a large intake of Enviro400s ahead of both the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games , which were held in London and Glasgow respectively. These operated under
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#1732873138611864-816: A total of nineteen for service in Birmingham and Dundee in 2013; East Yorkshire Motor Services , who purchased ten for cross-city services in Kingston upon Hull in 2011; Reading Buses , who had 31 Enviro400Hs delivered between 2010 and 2011; Lothian Buses , who took on 15 of the type in 2011; the Oxford Bus Company , who took on examples to upgrade its park & ride fleet, and First Glasgow . However, reliability issues and maintenance costs have seen many operators convert their Enviro400Hs to use diesel powertrains, with East Yorkshire providing most of these conversions, while Reading Buses converted one of their Enviro400Hs to
936-482: Is Nottingham City Transport , who ordered a total of 62 Scania N230UD Enviro400s, with first deliveries beginning in 2014. Further examples were delivered throughout 2014 and 2015, with most receiving colour-coded route branding for services across the city. These Scania Enviro400s were delivered with audio-visual next stop announcements, mood lighting and leather seating. The Oxford Bus Company received eleven high-specification Scania Enviro400s in 2009 for service on
1008-557: Is a major bus operator in the United Kingdom based in Sunderland , England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva which runs transport services across Europe, which was a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn from 2010. In October 2023, Deutsche Bahn agreed terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital with the transaction completed in June 2024. This included Arriva UK Bus. Arriva UK Bus operates 793 buses in
1080-662: Is a very low or non-existent availability of high-floor electric buses. The majority of standard and truncated vehicles were and are the Caio Millennium and Millennium BRT "toco" models, on Mercedes-Benz O500U, Scania K270 and K310, Volvo B7RLE and B290RLE and Volkswagen 17.240 and 17.260 chassis. For articulated vehicles, Caio Mondego HA and Millennium BRT vehicles with Mercedes-Benz O500UA and O500UDA chassis were and are used. The Biarticulates were made with Caio TopBus PB and Millennium BRT TopBus bodies on Volvo B360S and B9Salf chassis. In Brisbane , all Translink buses are of
1152-577: Is available both as an integral bus and as a standalone bodywork and chassis. The Enviro400 chassis replaced the Dennis Trident 2 (and continued to be badged as the Trident for a time) and was formerly available with East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne and Optare Olympus bodywork; the Enviro400 body replaced the Alexander ALX400 designs and was sold on Scania N230UD and Volvo B9TL chassis. The engine of
1224-490: Is of significant utility on low-floor vehicles only where it enables less-mobile passengers to board and leave the vehicle without help from others. Many vehicles are also equipped with wheel-chair lifts, or ramps which, when combined with a low floor, can provide a nearly level entry. An implementation of the low floor design exists in Australia where custom coaches make a "hybrid" variant of its CB60 bodywork. These buses combine
1296-462: Is one of the first cities in India that introduced Low Floor buses. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, BMTC operates many services using the premium Volvo 8400LE Low-floor buses. These buses are air-conditioned, and offer features such as automatic transmission, kneeling and wheel-chair ramp, typical of modern city buses. They are also fitted with LED display boards as well as ITS to announce
1368-632: Is to allow better placement for the powertrain and other technical equipment in the raised floor section, in addition to allowing a more comfortable ride on rough roads. Some manufacturers use the initials LF or L in their model designations for fully low-floor models (or in the case of German manufacturers, NF or N , based on the German word Niederflur , which means low floor), and in North America buses that are partially low-floor are often also designated LF. In some countries, LE , short for Low Entry ,
1440-403: Is used by some manufacturers in their model designations for low-entry buses. Most bus manufacturers achieve a low floor height by making rear-engined rear-wheel drive buses with independent front suspension , so that no axle is needed to pass under the floor of the front part of passenger compartment, or a lowered front axle. Some full low-floor buses also have a lowered rear axle, while
1512-843: The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway , with the first buses delivered in 2009 prior to the opening of the Busway in 2011, followed by additional Enviro400s being purchased in 2014 and 2015. Elsewhere, conventional specification Scania N230UDs with Enviro400 bodies were purchased for certain Stagecoach divisions, including 22 examples for Stagecoach Devon for use on the North Devon Wave service in 2013, and five examples for Stagecoach in Lincolnshire in 2012 for Lincolnshire InterConnect services. Another significant operator of Scania Enviro400s
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#17328731386111584-693: The Den Oudsten B85/B86 [ nl ] . Other competitors followed suit, with the Orion VI (1995), Nova Bus LF Series (1996, also derived from the Den Oudsten B85), Gillig Low Floor (1997, derived from a shuttle bus design for the Hertz rental car agency), and Neoplan AN440L (1990/94/99). By 2008, most new bus orders in the United States were for low-floor buses. In the capital of this country,
1656-860: The EDSA Busway are usually equipped with 1-2 doors on the left side for boarding at the median stations, although not all units currently have them installed. Low-floor buses often use upholstered coach-style seating in a 2-3, or 2-2 configuration, although plastic seats may be found in some buses. Low-floor wheelchair-accessible buses were first introduced in Singapore in 2006 with 150 Volvo B9TL CDGE buses procured by SBS Transit . These buses were registered SBS7300P - SBS7499A. Volvo B9TL CDGE buses were fully retired in 2023. In 2007, SBS Transit procured 1101 units of low-entry Scania K230UB buses bodied by Gemilang Coachworks of Senai , Malaysia . Afterwards, all new city buses procured by SBS Transit, SMRT Buses and
1728-475: The Isle of Wight . These were delivered during late December 2012 and early January 2013 and entered service on a wide variety of school services on the island from 7 January 2013. Southern Vectis then proceeded to order ten more Enviro400s to be used on public routes, mainly route 9, which entered service in January 2014, followed by another order for ten Enviro400s which were delivered in 2016. Alexander Dennis launched
1800-549: The Land Transport Authority are low-floor. Low-floor buses are first adopted in Germany in 1989, and to make them easier to use for wheelchairs and strollers, the minimum ground clearance of the entire vehicle is lowered and the floor is proportionately raised by 30 centimetres (12 in) above the road surface. The Dennis Dart SLF (Super Low Floor) marked the wholesale introduction of single-deck low floor buses in
1872-498: The MTR Corporation taking delivery of nine Enviro400s for MTR Bus services in 2012; an additional two Enviro400s were delivered in 2018. New World First Bus took delivery of 60 low-height Enviro400s with Enviro400 MMC facelift bodies between 2016 and 2017, while fellow NWS Holdings subsidiary New Lantao Bus also took delivery of 14 similar low-height Enviro400s, which began entering service from October 2018. The Enviro400
1944-739: The National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham . The Enviro400 had sold well in London with a number of operators, such as Travel London and London General (which received the first Euro IV-engined Enviro400 in May 2006), operating these buses. It is also popular with Stagecoach , which placed its first order of 130 low-height models in February 2006, later followed by another 389 buses with Euro IV/V engines. Arriva UK Bus also received Enviro400s for its group operations; Arriva Merseyside relaunched its Wirral - Liverpool 'Cross River' services with
2016-851: The North East , North West , South East , Yorkshire & the Humber , West Midlands , East Midlands , Greater London and Wales . It employs 16,000 people. Arriva's bus network in the UK originates from its acquisition of Grey-Green in 1980 and British Bus in August 1996. It has the following operating units: Fleet livery is aquamarine and blue. Arriva London buses operating services for Transport for London are painted red. Yorkshire Tiger buses were painted in an orange livery and Tiger Blue blue. New Enterprise Coaches retains its existing white and red livery. In some regions, premium services are operated under
2088-468: The Optare Alero and Hino Poncho . Accessibility was previously achieved in paratransit type applications, which use small vehicles with the fitment of special lifts. The inception of small low-floor buses has allowed the development of several accessible demand-responsive transport schemes using standard 'off-the-shelf' buses. A disadvantage of the low floor is accommodating the bus's own wheels. With
2160-575: The closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing . The bus featured as part of the handover ceremony for the 2012 Games , where it was driven into the Beijing National Stadium as a typical London bus before a set of hydraulic pumps opened up the bus, revealing a stage covered in artificial grass which was shaped as various London landmarks. In 2012, Southern Vectis received 20 for school contracts on
2232-424: The hybrid electric Enviro400 Hybrid (often shortened to Enviro400H ) at the 2008 Euro Bus Expo, built with a hybrid drivetrain developed in partnership with BAE Systems . The first five production examples entered service with Metroline, followed by larger fleets of Enviro400Hs entering service with operators such as Go-Ahead London , London United , Abellio London and Stagecoach London . Outside of London,
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-607: The AC volvo bus and MW series are served by the Tata Marcopolo buses operated by WBSTC. AC Marcopolo buses serve the MH series route operated by WBHIDCO and the MB series route operated by BHBL. Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) also run AC Volvo Bus & Ashok Leylan JanBus. In Japan , a low-floor bus is called "non-step bus (ノンステップバス)". Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation used to calling
2376-772: The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, since 1997 the legislation governs that all buses of lines of "national" jurisdiction (bus lines that circulate within the capital district and/or cross from here to the suburbs). The first low-floor bus produced in Argentina and marketed in this country was the El Detalle OA105, and the first low-floor bus imported by Argentina was the Marcopolo Torino GV Low-Entry brought from Brazil in 1998. Within Paraguay's public transit system, it
2448-635: The Brookesbus network. Wilts & Dorset also received some examples. Two were delivered to independent operator Stephensons of Essex in 2013. On 13 October 2006, Solent Blue Line received a Volvo B7TL /Enviro400 meeting the Euro III emission standard, with the interior in Wilts & Dorset livery. This remains a one-off as all subsequent Enviro400s on Volvo chassis were built on the B9TL chassis. An Arriva demonstrator
2520-539: The Enviro400 body was available on Scania N-series chassis. The vast majority of N-series Enviro400s built were of the N230UD variant, which sold well with Stagecoach Group . Additionally, two N-series Enviro400s were built on the more powerful N280UD variant of the chassis, both for Express Motors of Porthmadog. As well as the Scania N-series , a single Enviro400 was constructed on Volvo B7TL chassis before this chassis
2592-518: The Enviro400H was popular with the Stagecoach Group, who starting in 2010, ordered examples delivered in a green variant of the standard Stagecoach livery for their Stagecoach Oxfordshire , Stagecoach Yorkshire , Stagecoach Manchester , and Stagecoach North East subsidiaries. Other operators who purchased Enviro400Hs included National Express West Midlands and National Express Dundee , ordering
2664-489: The United Kingdom in 1995, after many small-scale demonstrator usages. Low floor buses were rapidly introduced on high-profile routes, notably becoming a requirement for London Buses contracts. The Optare Solo introduced in 1997 marked another step change with inroads into smaller usages traditionally served by minibuses . The final phase came with low floor double-deckers the Dennis Trident 2 and Volvo B7TL entering
2736-484: The United Kingdom, although London General's Enviro400s were briefly loaned to Arriva London North for evaluation ahead of delivery of their Volvo B5LHs . Globally, more than 6,000 integral Enviro400s have been sold as of January 2016. Compared to the more predominant Alexander Dennis Enviro500 , a small number of air-conditioned Enviro400s were exported to bus operators in Hong Kong following demonstration trials with
2808-874: The WBSTC. These buses connects places like the Kolkata Airport , Barasat (Capital Town of North Suburb), New Town , Salt Lake , Howrah , Santragachi (a station on the Howrah-Kharagpur railway line), Kudghat and Tollygunge . The road network in Kolkata is vast. Under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, air conditioned buses have been included as a part of travel comfort to commuters. Air-conditioned buses are operated by West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC) directly & through outsourcing. These buses are served by Tata Marcopolo Buses and Volvo Low Floor Buses. The V Series and VS series bus routes are served by
2880-539: The bus deck and sidewalk. This is distinct from high-floor , a bus deck design that requires climbing one or more steps (now known as step entrance) to access the interior floor that is placed at a higher height. Being low-floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly and people with disabilities , including those using wheelchairs and walkers . Almost all are rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout . Low-floor buses are generally divided into two major types: fully low-floor buses with
2952-536: The city center. Low-floor buses have become popular on the Structural and Regional Articulation lines, and have been a mandatory model to be purchased for these since 2015. Until then, exceptions for local lines with low-floor buses were rare, but this has been changing since 2019 and especially since 2023. In 2023, the city banned the purchase of new diesel buses. With the mandatory use of electric buses, new buses on local lines are also being made with low floors, as there
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-499: The conventional buses. A revamp plan is underway to improve bus-shelters in the city and to integrate GPS systems in DTC buses and bus stops so as to provide reliable information about bus arrivals. The Delhi Government decided to expedite this process and procured 6,600 low floor buses for the DTC before commonwealth games in 2010. Kolkata has an extensive network of government run buses. Recently air-conditioned buses have been introduced by
3096-445: The doors, where wheelchairs , walkers , strollers/prams, and where allowed even bicycles, can be parked. This is sometimes not the only purpose of this area, though, as many operators employ larger standee areas for high occupancy at peak times. Despite the space existing, operators may also insist that only one or two wheelchairs or pushchairs can be accommodated unfolded, due to space/safety concerns. Low floors can be complemented by
3168-411: The end of 2005, 10 years ahead of the national requirement. London was one of the first major cities in the world to have a fully accessible bus fleet. Due to the deregulated nature of the public transport system in the UK, adoption of the higher cost low floor buses was usually in conjunction with some sort of grant or quality partnership with a local authority , as the profitability of many routes
3240-446: The enforced sale of non-compliant existing vehicles, allowing operators to retain a high floor vehicle until "the end of their economic life". In reality, as the prevalence of low floor buses spreads, combined with grants/incentives, it is likely that the prevalence of high floor vehicles in the national fleet will markedly reduce before all buses were de-registered by 27 October 2014. In the past, in times of reduced economic investment, it
3312-409: The ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a low-entry bus or seldom a flat-floor bus in some locations. Low floor refers to a bus deck that is accessible from the sidewalk with only a single step with a small height difference, caused solely by the difference between
3384-739: The halts. The corporation also had tried Mercedes-Benz Low-Floor buses as well as Ashok Leyland ULE coaches, but chose to stick to the Volvo offering. In order to keep the bus ticket prices low, the BMTC operates the majority of their services using Non-Airconditioned Semi-Low Floor (SLF) buses that have a floor height of 650mm as against the 400mm floor height of the true Low-Floor buses. These buses are from Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors, with future procurements planned to be from Eicher (VECV). These cheaper alternative to low-floor buses do not have kneeling or wheel-chair accessible ramps, but they have air suspension and use
3456-485: The integral Enviro400 is a six-cylinder Cummins driving through a Voith or ZF automatic transmission , although a MAN D0836 engine began to be offered from 2007. A hybrid-electric version of the powertrain developed by BAE Systems was also available. The Enviro400 was originally launched as an integral product. Soon after launch, the Enviro400 chassis became available with East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne and Optare Olympus bodywork. As well as an integral bus,
3528-609: The introduction of a Euro 5 compliant drivetrain for the Enviro400. The Trident moniker on the chassis plates was largely dropped not long afterwards, but the Trident 2 name was retained on Enviro400s built for Hong Kong. The second generation Enviro400 was superseded by the Enviro400 MMC in 2015 in the UK with no more orders, but in 2016 Alexander Dennis developed a low-height Enviro400 with Enviro400 MMC-style front and rear specifically for Hong Kong market. London operator Metroline
3600-402: The lack of steps, studies have found the opposite effect in the UK. This is apparently due to the prevailing system of operation where passengers enter and exit through one single front door. It has been suggested that the previous 1980s/90s high floor step entrance buses which featured a centre rail, encouraged a bi-directional flow of entering and exiting passengers simultaneously. The removal of
3672-568: The license of First Games Transport, providing shuttle services throughout the Games before being dispersed to other operators within the FirstGroup following the Games' conclusion. 60 Enviro400s were delivered to Glasgow in 2014. Later in 2014, eighteen Enviro400s were delivered to First West Yorkshire for operation in Leeds . In 2008, a specially converted Enviro400 was assembled in knock-down kit form for
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#17328731386113744-423: The low floor, the wheels protrude into the passenger cabin, and need to be contained in wheel pockets of waist height, and this occupies space which would otherwise be used for seating. To allow space for technical equipment, many low-floor buses have the seats mounted on podiums, making a small step up from the floor, while others are able to mount the seats directly to the floor, avoiding the step. Seating layout for
3816-698: The luggage bin. These buses also lack the ability to have a center door. Many bus rapid transit systems employ a level boarding by using high-floor buses stopping at "station" style bus stops. Specially raised sections of curb may also be used to achieve accessibility with lesser low floor models, although this is more expensive for the operator, and only attractive for regular busy scheduled routes. For infrequent routes or routes with hail and ride sections, or demand responsive transport , raised curbs would only be feasible in terminuses . Some transit agencies refused to order low-floor buses altogether, such as New Jersey Transit and MUNI owing to terrain conditions in
3888-533: The mass market, even though they were introduced after the Optare Spectra . London Buses was one of the earliest major users of low-floor buses, with the first low-floor single decker vehicles entering service in 1993 and the first low-floor double decker vehicles entering service in 1998. Following withdrawal of older, high-floor vehicles such as the AEC Routemaster , the bus fleet became fully accessible at
3960-466: The operators. The first operators of Enviro400s in Hong Kong were Citybus , who after trialling two Enviro400 demonstrators developed for the Hong Kong market in 2009, took delivery of 38 Enviro400s in 2011, which were then followed by an additional 20 in 2013. Kowloon Motor Bus , after trialling one Enviro400 demonstrator, also took delivery of 50 Enviro400s between 2012 and 2013, which were followed by
4032-436: The pole to allow wheelchair/buggy access created the situation where the quintessentially polite British bus passenger would wait for all passengers to alight before boarding, leading to an increase in dwell times . Moscow was the first city to introduce low floor as the compulsory requirement for the suppliers of the city buses. By 2005 a few hundreds of low-floor buses started intra-metropolitan service. At first, PAZ-3237
4104-524: The rear axle is not an issue on a low-entry bus. Many low-floor buses, including the Irisbus Citelis (also in Skoda 24Tr trolleybus version), have the engine in a vertical cabinet at the rear of the bus. Van Hool have a series of "side-engine mid-drive" buses that puts the engine off to one side of the cabin longitudinally between the first and the second axle, to maximize usable cabin space. The same concept
4176-501: The rear end of the bus. The same applies to trolley buses that are mostly of low-floor design. Other cities that use low-floor buses on the regular routes are Kazan , Sochi , Tyumen , Pskov and more. Most of these vehicles are domestically manufactured by LiAZ , GAZ , KAMAZ and Volgabus . In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act is credited with motivating the development of low-floor buses, directly affecting
4248-408: The regions to the center, or connect two large terminals of two regions passing through the center Regional Articulation, which connect distant neighborhoods to the center without passing through large terminals, or connect two distant neighborhoods passing through important regions. Locations/distributors, which connect neighborhoods to large terminals or stations. None of these lines pass through
4320-566: The same or better seats as those found in the Volvo buses. They also feature manual transmission as against automatic transmission With the introduction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the development of dedicated corridors for the service, bus service is set to improve. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has started introducing air-conditioned buses and brand new low-floor buses (with floor height of 400 mm (15.75 in) and even higher on one third area as against 230 mm (9.06 in) available internationally) on city streets to replace
4392-539: The same year, the first low floor bus specification was drafted by DPTAC. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 provided for the completion of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, which specified that all new public service vehicles over 22 seats should be low floor from 31 December 2000, with smaller vehicles mandated from 1 January 2005. The 2000 regulations do not require retro-fitting of pre-existing vehicles or
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#17328731386114464-550: The service area. DART still has a preference for high floor buses. Although New York City Transit runs some 40-foot low-floors, it originally refused to order low-floor buses, namely D60LFs from New Flyer , after the D60HF, a high floor model, was discontinued mid-delivery. However, they have demonstrated both the D60LF and NovaBus LFSA, the latter of which they have decided to order. Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bangalore
4536-587: The standardized design of the Transbus Program , which concluded with the introduction of so-called 'interim' Advanced Design Buses with a lower floor height but which required lifts to board passengers in wheelchairs. The first low-floor (low-entry) buses to be delivered were the New Flyer Low Floor D40LF, to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1991. The New Flyer LF was derived from
4608-436: Was also utilized by Volvo on their B9S articulated chassis. For smaller buses, such as midibuses , the low-floor capability is achieved by placing the front wheels ahead of the entrance. One of the last types of buses to gain low-floor accessibility as standard was the minibus , where a similar front-wheel arrangement allows around 12 seats and a wheelchair space to be accommodated in very small low-floor minibuses , such as
4680-536: Was introduced to North America exclusively as an open-top bus for sightseeing purposes. It is not available as a public transport vehicle, unlike the similar Alexander Dennis Enviro500 . On 11 November 2010, Alexander Dennis announced it had received an order for 10 Enviro400s from Coach USA subsidiary Twin America, in New York. Low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between
4752-408: Was not high enough to justify conversion based purely on increased revenue. It has been reported however that adoption of so-called Easy Access buses does have a positive effect of ridership and revenue levels. Under the Transport Act 1985 the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) (or commonly DiPTAC) was established to provide independent consultation on accessibility issues. In
4824-439: Was not uncommon for service buses to be used for 15 to 20 years. While some coaches have been produced with a small front low floor section at the driver's level, most coaches in the UK are being made accessible through the use of wheelchair lifts , with the 2005 Caetano Levante being one of the largest introductions. While another widely stated benefit of low floor buses is quicker boarding for able-bodied passengers due to
4896-404: Was not until 2012 that the first low-floor bus in the country were added to its fleet, being a 1999 Marcopolo Viale imported used from Argentina. In São Paulo, low-floor buses began to become popular in the 2000s with the creation of the so-called Sistema Interligado (Interconnected System, in English) which divided bus routes into so-called lines: Structural, which connect the large terminals of
4968-476: Was selected for the city centre, while LiAZ-5292 were chosen to serve city outskirts. Later the articulated version of the latter, specifically designed for Moscow, the LiAZ-6213 was introduced. In St.Petersburg the transition to low-floor-only city bus services was completed only by 2021. Besides LiAZ-5292 and LiAZ-6213 and other full low-floor models that account for 85% of the city buses, there are also semi low-floor buses in service, with elevated floor in
5040-689: Was shown at Euro Bus Expo in 2006 to the latter standard. Irish municipal operator Dublin Bus was the first operator to order the Volvo B9TL -based Enviro400, taking delivery of 100 on the updated Volvo chassis in two batches between 2007 and 2008. East Yorkshire Motor Services later took delivery of five Enviro400-bodied Volvo B9TL in December 2007, which entered service in January 2008. London General also received three Enviro400-bodied Volvo B9TLs in October 2008, which were evaluated against integral Enviro400s and Wright Eclipse Gemini -bodied Volvo B7TL and B9TLs extensively featured in Go-Ahead's London Central and General fleets. No further orders resulted in
5112-457: Was succeeded by the Volvo B9TL , on which more examples of the Enviro400 were bodied. Alexander Dennis released the second generation Enviro400 at Euro Bus Expo in 2008, with the main external visual differences being the incorporation of a line of white LED daytime running lights underneath the headlights in the main front light clusters, redesigned front bumpers and the relocation of the offside emergency exit door. The facelift coincided with
5184-517: Was the first company to order the Enviro400, ordering 28 for route 24 in June 2005, entering service at the end of the year. One dual door demonstrator, named Spirit of London , was delivered to Stagecoach London to replace the Dennis Trident destroyed during the 7 July 2005 London bombings and a single door demonstrator was delivered to the then Travel West Midlands for evaluation. Both prototypes were exhibited at Coach & Bus Live 2005 in
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