DAIMLER BUSES GETS ORDER FOR 425 BUSES FROM DUTCH OPERATORS
Published at 23.09.2009 in Alternatives, Public transport
Daimler Buses has once again won two contracts, and as a result it will deliver a total of 425 buses to the Netherlands by December 2009. The biggest contract from the Netherlands to date is for 350 Mercedes-Benz urban and intercity buses, which were ordered by Qbuzz, a private bus operator with headquarters in Amersfoort. The vehicles will be employed in the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen. The second major contract is for 75 natural gas-powered Mercedes-Benz urban buses, which were ordered by Connexxion, the Netherlands’ largest public transport company, with headquarters in Hilversum. The environmentally friendly low-emission natural gas buses will be employed in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region.
The SMART MOVE campaign
At Busworld Kortrijk, Busworld and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) will launch a joint long-term initiative to promote and improve the image and use of collective passenger transport by bus and coach worldwide. The Smart Move campaign aims to muster the largest possible involvement, endorsement and support of the organised bus and coach industry in Europe and worldwide, as well as manufacturers, suppliers and all professionals and individuals who share the vision and objectives of the campaign.
INNOVATIVE BIOFUEL FROM WASTE
Published at 16.09.2009 in Alternatives, International developments
The Finnish VTT Technical Research Centre is starting work on a major project that will combine the forces of European research institutes and companies for developing the next generation of biofuel. The NEMO project received funding worth €5.9 million from the EU and is aimed at producing liquid biofuel from agricultural and forestry waste, such as straws and wood chips. This second generation fuel is seen as a more environmentally-friendly source of biofuel as it does not involve the use of foodstocks.
FREIGHTLINER CUSTOM CHASSIS, ENOVA COLLABORATE ON ALL-ELECTRIC COMMERCIAL CHASSIS
Published at 16.09.2009 in Alternatives, Chassis
Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) and Enova Systems have jointly executed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to enter into an all-electric commercial chassis development program. The development program includes close collaboration and will involve the engineering and integration of Enova�s 120kW and 90kW all-electric drive system technologies into target FCCC chassis platforms, including bus chassis.
FOTON AMERICA PREPARES BUS FOR ALTOONA TESTING
Published at 15.09.2009 in Alternatives, International developments
Foton America Bus is building its CNG powered bus for presentation to the Altoona Bus Research and Testing Center, Pennsylvania — the US Federal Transit Administration’s model bus testing program. “We should enter testing sometime in September,” says Cliff Clare, Foton’s CEO. Foton’s plan is to fit a made-in-China chassis-body — now a monocoque design — with U.S.-made components to meet Buy America requirements, offering operators a compressed natural gas-fueled bus at about the price of a U.S.-made diesel.
