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73-471: The Optare Tempo is an integral low-floor , heavy duty, full-size rigid single-deck bus manufactured by Optare and was launched in late 2004. It is marketed and sold as the replacement for the Optare Excel . It is designed as a lightweight bus, to use less fuel than traditional heavy duty integral rigids. As of July 2017, 233 had been built, including 27 Tempo SRs. The Tempo SR has since been replaced in

146-431: A Cummins 250 hp ISBe Euro V SCR engine. This technology was integrated into ten 10.6 metre variants, which also featured Transport for London spec double doors, leaving space for 28 seats. Furthermore, the brochure proudly declares that full electric, bio-methane dual fuel, pure plant oil or used cooking oil drivelines were available, designed to fit in the same space. The Optare Tempo has stopped production and

219-409: 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

292-440: A Euro IV MAN D0836 EGR engine option later introduced (both 6 cylinder), coupled to a ZF 6HP500 Ecomat 2 six-speed automatic transmission as standard or optionally an Allison T310R five-speed automatic transmission. The rear Rába A209 drive axle was engineered to be smoother and quieter, with 4 air suspension bags. ZF 8098 steering gear is implemented through a MAN V9-65L-03 drop centre low-floor front axle suspended on

365-544: A feature of the extreme traffic density in London. The Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV bus uses a small Diesel engine with electric storage through a lithium ion battery pack. The use of a 1.9-litre Diesel instead of the typical 7.0-litre engine in a traditional bus demonstrates the possible advantages of serial hybrids in extremely traffic-dense environments. Based on a London test cycle, a reduction in CO 2 emissions of 31% and fuel savings in

438-572: A fuel containing 20% biodiesel (BD20) would further reduce greenhouse emissions and petroleum consumption. Current manufacturers of Diesel–electric hybrid buses include Alexander Dennis , Azure Dynamics Corporation , Ebus , Eletra (Brazil), New Flyer Industries , Tata (India), Gillig , Motor Coach Industries , Novabus , Orion Bus Industries , Daimler AG 's Mitsubishi Fuso , MAN , Designline , BAE Systems , Volvo Buses , VDL Bus & Coach , Wrightbus , Castrosua , Tata Hispano and many more. Toyota claims to have started with

511-490: A further two air bags (with electronic kneeling capabilities ). Initially utilising (air-operated) drum brakes, by 2007 these were bettered with all-round anti-lock disk brakes , requiring a switch to a Meritor MC13175 rear axle and alternate MAN VOK 07B O8 front axle. Also in 2007, a hybrid version was introduced for London operators, utilising a "fully proven" and "fully reliable" Allison EP40 Parallel Hybrid drive system powered by removable NiMH batteries combined with

584-765: 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

657-528: 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

730-457: 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

803-492: 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

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876-595: 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. Hybrid-electric bus The introduction of hybrid electric vehicles and other green vehicles for purposes of public transport forms

949-558: A number of Tempo SRs, though Ipswich Buses are now their biggest UK operator, having taken on Trent Barton's fleet. Additionally, Lynx are now the largest operators of the Tempo in the world, having purchased large numbers of vehicles second-hand. One 36 seat left hand drive Optare Tempo X1200 was exported to Kiel , Germany in 2007. Beginning with KVG in Kiel, Germany as 713, registered KI-EL 7713 , in 2010 it moved to Breda , Netherlands where it

1022-541: A part of sustainable transport schemes. A hybrid electric bus may have either a parallel powertrain (e.g., Volvo B5LH ) or a series powertrain (e.g., some versions of the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC ). Since 2003, Allison Transmission has produced dual-mode hybrid drive units which take the place of a conventional transmission, mostly for transit buses in North America; as the name implies, it

1095-413: 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

1168-521: A steering column with telescopic tilt and reach and later Optare's computerised 'EcoDrive' gauge pod with TFT . Produced in collaboration with Actia, the revised dashboard incorporates telematics analysis with the ability to alert both the driver and operator in realtime (latter over the internet) to fuel consumption, maintenance issues and driving style. Tempos were originally powered by a Euro III Mercedes-Benz OM906LA engine (upgraded to Euro IV and V compliance with Adblue and SCR technology), with

1241-485: A three-year period in school bus fleets across the nation. The vehicles will be capable of running in either electric-only or hybrid modes and will be recharged from a standard electrical outlet. Because electricity will be their primary fuel, they will consume less petroleum than standard vehicles. To develop the PHEV school bus, Navistar will examine a range of hybrid architectures and evaluate advanced energy storage devices, with

1314-439: Is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between 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

1387-662: 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

1460-497: Is able to switch between series and parallel modes. A plug-in hybrid school bus effort began in 2003 in Raleigh, NC, when Advanced Energy began working between districts across the country and manufacturers to understand the needs of both. The effort demonstrated both a technical and business feasibility and as a result was able to secure funding in 2005 from NASEO to purchase up to 20 buses. The resulting RFP from Advanced Energy

1533-1103: Is another HEV using in-wheel motors. It was tested in winter 2003–04 in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. In Japan, Mitsubishi Fuso have developed a diesel engine hybrid bus using lithium batteries in 2002, and this model has since seen limited service in several Japanese cities. The Blue Ribbon City Hybrid bus was presented by Hino , a Toyota affiliate, in January 2005. For the North American transit bus market, New Flyer Industries , Gillig , and Nova Bus produce hybrid electric buses using components from either BAE Systems (series hybrid, initially branded HybriDrive and now branded Series-E), or Allison Transmission (parallel/series hybrid, branded Hybrid EP or H 40/50 EP). In May 2003 General Motors started to tour with hybrid electric buses developed together with Allison. General Electric introduced its hybrid electric gear shifters on

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1606-490: 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

1679-462: 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

1752-576: 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 ,

1825-403: 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

1898-746: The Coaster Hybrid Bus in 1997 on the Japanese market. Since 1999, Hybrid electric buses with gas turbine generators have been developed by several manufacturers in the US and New Zealand , with the most successful design being the buses made by Designline of New Zealand. The first model went into commercial service in Christchurch since 1999, and later models were sold for daily service in Auckland , Hong Kong , Newcastle upon Tyne , and Tokyo . The Whispering Wheel bus

1971-693: 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,

2044-860: 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

2117-549: 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

2190-468: 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

2263-607: 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

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2336-772: 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

2409-640: The Tempo SR has now been replaced in the UK market by longer variants of the Optare MetroCity . However, Manchester Airport took delivery of a further four Tempo SRs in May 2017 for use on airport car park shuttle bus operations; these buses came from an order intended for an Australian operator, which was cancelled. As of October 2018, Trent Barton has replaced all Tempo SRs with Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs , which now operate

2482-675: The Tempo SR was born. The finalised bus was unveiled at Coach & Bus Live 2011, and marketed as "the new bus for Nottingham". Indeed, the vehicle exhibited wasn't a prototype or demonstrator but a to-spec, fully 'i4' liveried fleet member for Trent Barton. Stenning reflected that the design "has a natural flow and every line has a purpose" and it wasn't "tarting it up for the sake of it". The design reportedly drew on inspiration from Stenning's 'design heroes' Raymond Loewy and Pininfarina , with close attention paid to details. Trentbarton would take delivery of thirteen examples between May and July 2012. Despite Trentbarton proclaiming their redesign

2555-499: The Tempo as an all welded heavy-duty box section 'one-piece' integral (unconventionally for the time) from stainless and carbon steel dressed in a mix of GFRP (fibreglass) and aluminium modular exterior panels with sleek bonded glazing (no gasketted), integrating easy maintenance features like swing out headlamp clusters and multiple LED lamps . Key mechanical services are installed on a demountable frame, connected with "no-loss" couplings. Detailed analysis and computer modelling of

2628-505: The UK market by longer variants of the Optare MetroCity , although production of the Tempo SR continues for the Australian market. The Optare Tempo was launched in October 2004 after the building of two pre-production prototypes (both of which saw use as demonstrators and still exist); one an example of the longest available (12.6 metres), the other an example of the shortest (10.6 metres), with

2701-545: 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

2774-874: 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

2847-536: 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

2920-499: 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

2993-913: The design and any impacts of stresses it would see in service were undertaken by finite element analysis firm Analysis by Firth , based in Wigan, UK. The resulting bus underwent testing at the Millbrook Proving Ground . Achieving interior space comparable to buses 2.55 metres wide (at 2.5 metres wide) with a 900 mm (0.90 m) wide aisle between the front wheel arches, interior amenities offered included an optimised sound insulation package (Tempos were demonstrably up to 5 dB(a) quieter at 40 mph than contemporary rivals), ambient saloon uplighting, cantilevered seating, luggage pens, tinted single or double bonded glazing, parcel racks, tables, climate control, power outlets and AV systems amongst others. Tempo cabs, set for an optimal driver/passenger height, include

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3066-562: The difference between 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

3139-445: 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

3212-411: 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

3285-446: 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

3358-502: The first production example (12.0 metres) delivered to Trentbarton in February 2005. It came in four different lengths: 10.6 (X1060), 11.3 (X1130), 12.0 (X1200) and 12.6 (X1260) metres and it has a raised roofline in the middle continuously to the rear roof spoiler instead of an arched top. Tempos were to be built in Optare's Cross Gates , Leeds factory (since relocated). Optare constructed

3431-445: The goal of developing a vehicle with a 40-mile (64 km) electric range . Travel beyond the 40-mile (64 km) range will be facilitated by a clean Diesel engine capable of running on renewable fuels. The DOE funding will cover up to half of the project's cost and will be provided over three years, subject to annual appropriations . A report prepared by Purdue University suggests introducing more hybrid Diesel–electric buses and

3504-739: 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

3577-631: The i4 service. Tempo SRs built for Oceania can also be optioned with an 8.9 litre Cummins ISL euro V engine. As of early 2019, municipal bus operator Ipswich Buses have purchased all 13 ex Trent Barton Optare Tempo SRs. Arriva UK Bus , First Cymru , RATP Group , Stagecoach Group , Transdev , Veolia Transport and Wellglade Group all have been purchasers of the original Tempo, not to mention several independent operators. It has been operated by Lynx, King's Lynn and Transport for London operators East London , London United and Metroline . Trentbarton and Manchester Airport have both purchased

3650-402: 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

3723-423: 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

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3796-698: 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

3869-463: The market in 2005. Several hundreds of those buses have entered into daily operation in the U.S. In 2006, Nova Bus , which had previously marketed the RTS hybrid before that model was discontinued, added a Diesel–electric hybrid option for its LFS series. In the United Kingdom, Wrightbus has introduced a development of the London " Double-Decker ", a new interpretation of the traditional red buses that are

3942-533: 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

4015-525: The original design, ZF's 6HP500 six-speed transmission could be specified as an alternative to the now standard Allison T310R gearbox – both of which feature integral retarders. Trentbarton , then having a long and close relationship with Optare, sparked the facelift of the Tempo to be "fundamentally different to anything else on the market". Between Trentbarton, transport design and branding agency Best Impressions (led by Ray Stenning) and Optare -featuring suggestions and ideas from Nottingham-area bus users-

4088-436: 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

4161-469: The range of 40% have been demonstrated, compared with a "Euro-4" compliant bus. Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies (HEVT) makes conversions of new and used vehicles ( aftermarket and retrofit conversions), from combustion buses and conventional hybrid electric buses into plug-in buses. Transit authorities that use hybrid electric buses: Federal funding generally comes from the federal Diesel Emissions Reduction Act . etc. The Green Bus Fund

4234-524: 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

4307-501: 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

4380-408: 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

4453-566: 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

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4526-539: 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

4599-550: 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

4672-587: 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

4745-540: Was "taking the transport industry by storm", the vehicle proved divisive. For instance, although the same framework underneath, and constructed using the same methods, (even sharing concurrent chassis numbers with the original) operators contracted by the Welsh government continued to order the original Tempo even though the SR facelift had been out for over a year (albeit an order for a discontinued size, 12.60 metres). Following poor sales,

4818-436: 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

4891-550: 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

4964-439: 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

5037-454: 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

5110-545: Was re-registered BV-VH 41 and operated by Arriva as fleet no. 1002, before returning to Germany a year later; namely Saarlouis registered WND-P 86 until around 2014 when it finally served in Bayreuth with Heserbus GmbH as BT-OS 1010 . According to records sometime afterward it ended up in Coburg for spares. In Australia, Tempos have been purchased by Carbridge and Park Ridge Transit . Low-floor bus A low-floor bus

5183-610: Was replaced with the Optare Tempo SR. In October 2011, a restyled version was launched as the Tempo SR, borrowing from the Solo's naming convention. The Tempo SR came in three different lengths: 10.6, 11.3 and 12.0 metres and incorporated a Mercedes-Benz OM906LA six-cylinder 210 kW (282 bhp) SCR engine, which continued to be housed on a removable cradle alongside the transmission (the MAN engine option being dropped). A notable reversal on

5256-527: 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

5329-513: Was won by IC Bus using a product jointly produced with Enova for a 22-mile plug-in hybrid product with a $ 140k premium over existing buses. The buses performed well in testing with 70% reductions in fuel usage although only in specific conditions. The United States Department of Energy (USDOE) announced the selection of Navistar Corporation for a cost-shared award of up to $ 10 million to develop, test, and deploy plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) school buses. The project aims to deploy 60 vehicles for

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