THE INTERNATIONAL REPORT
A Van Hool Exqui.City articulated trolleybus for Geneva.
connections with the MAN Group, had an allelectric bus priced at $350,000. A collector toward the rear of the roof could connect with trolleybus overhead wiring. Iveco, the industrial arm of the Fiat Group, has abandoned the Irisbus name, created when Iveco and Renault merged their bus manufacturing activities 14 years ago. Now Iveco Bus, the new company celebrated with the introduction of a new city bus range that’s compliant with the forthcoming Euro 6 emissions legislation. The stylish and well-equipped Urbanway is lighter but stronger than the previous range. It’s available in overall lengths of 34-foot 6-inches, 39-foot 4-inches, and 59foot articulated. They come with a choice of diesel or CNG and with BAE Systems hybrid drive. Van Hool had a large and impressive stand with three of its Exqui.City vehicles designed for high-quality Bus Rapid Transit systems. Van Hool is able to tailor these
Bombardier showed its inductive charging system under a Rampini electric midibus.
vehicles to the exact requirements of its customers. For instance, there were biarticulated 80-foot diesel hybrid vehicles for Barcelona and Metz that look quite different. The Metz Exqui.City had a more squared-off front and rear styling than its Barcelona counterpart. The third Van Hool model was one of 33 60-foot trolleybuses for the local system in Geneva. The second and third axles are driven to handle the hills and winter snow. Daimler has taken the lead in putting Euro 6 buses into service before the
deadline of January 2014. Currently 350 are running. Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses, predicted 1,700 would be on the roads before the end of the year. He made a quick summary of Daimler’s activities in other parts of the world. While he regretted the necessary closure of Orion, he was optimistic about the link between MCI and Setra. Five new models will soon be introduced in the intercity sector in Mexico where Mercedes-Benz has nearly half of the market. Daimler will soon introduce the CapaChassis in Brazil. This articulated vehicle can stretch to 65 feet with two axles in the trailer section, making it ideal for BRT systems. Scania had a large stand without any vehicles but instead a backdrop of a Swedish street. Scania’s theme was that the diesel city bus is not dead. It is now extremely clean with minimal emissions, they say. Buses cost much less than trams or metro systems and can be installed far more rapidly. Scania urged cities and politicians not to think about buses in isolation, but to look at a whole package of solutions that could make journeys faster and more attractive. The company’s message was at least partly based on its experience with its vehicles on BRT systems in South America.
Compared with its European competitors, Scania has been much slower to develop hybrid buses. There has been one small-scale trial with ethanol-fueled hybrid buses in Stockholm. Scania said that, in its view, neither batteries nor super capacitors have evolved sufficiently to provide a commercially satisfactory solution when it comes to service life and lifecycle cost. Current hybrid systems are mainly selling on image and are
The Conductix Wampfler system uses plates in the road surface for recharging.
dependent on incentives, not on financial merits or robustness. The next UITP World Congress and Exhibition will be held in Milan, Italy. Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.
Nationwide Motorcoach Installation of: Electrical Outlets Commercial Wi-Fi Low Profile Satellite TV Rear Observation Systems Audio and Video Systems
800.695.1670 sales@wardelectronics.com busride.com | BUSRIDE
35