The new vehicles, manufactured by North American Bus Industries, are 60 feet long, and they are articulated in the middle. Powered by compressed natural gas, the vehicles are also equipped with added amenities such as an expanded seating capacity, wireless internet connections, an on-board video-monitor information system, and inside bicycle racks. They will be put into service along the Fredericksburg Road corridor when VIA Primo begins running in December 2012.

“This vehicle is the first of its kind in San Antonio,” said VIA President/CEO Keith T. Parker, “and we at VIA are proud to introduce it as our first step toward our goal of becoming a multimodal transit agency.”

VIA Primo will connect the area’s two largest employment centers (the central business district and the South Texas Medical Center), and it will provide high-capacity transit service that will enhance the mobility of workers, patients, and other citizens through the use of station-boarding.

By Glenn Swain

Branson, MO has become one of the largest entertainment cites in the U.S. with more than eight million people a year traveling to the city to see more than 100 ongoing entertainment shows. In 2011 Branson was one of TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Great Places for Families to Discover in the U.S.
Motorcoach charter company BVT America specializes in Branson tours.
“We are a fully escorted tour and sell pre-packaged tours through a distribution network of just under 1,000 travel agents,” says BVT America President Rob Jones. “Our motto is we do everything except kiss them on the ear and tuck them in bed at night. We currently pick folks up in Kansas City, which is four hours away, Springfield, which is an hour away and we pick up at the new Branson airport. The people who come to Kansas City typically come from long distances, where Springfield and Branson can sometimes be harder to get into because of the limited number of flights.”
Jones says because of word-of-mouth referrals, he does a great deal of business with people living in Hawaii.

Sandy Curtis has been BVT America’s lead tour guide for 112 BVT America tours of Branson, Charleston/Savannah, SC and Pigeon Forge and Nashville, TN. She works with her husband, Geoff, who is a driver for Sunset Tours.

“Our company has a great reputation in Hawaii,” Jones says. “Not long ago we had two sisters scheduled for a tour. They happened to mention the Branson trip to others at their church, and all of a sudden they had 30 people joining them.”
Jones uses Raytown, MO-based Sunset Tours for all of his motorcoach rentals. Although Jones books tours to Tennessee, Colorado, South Carolina and elsewhere, the majority of business comes from people flying in to visit the Branson’s various entertainment venues.
The key to steady business, Jones says, is recruiting good travel agents and having a good relationship with travel professionals.
“What people have come to expect from us is a deluxe package tour,” he says.
Like many motorcoach tour company owners, Jones is watching the upsurge in gas prices with great interest. He is hoping gas prices stabilize and fall, knowing that the recent uptick in motorcoach tour business could be reversed.
“The wild card is air prices,” Jones says. “If they start up that could impact business.”
Jones says BVT had a strong year in 2008, but in 2009 sales dipped.
“We bottomed out in 2010,” he says. “At that time we were down almost 40 percent. We always have a pretty good feel for what’s going on if we go to a Branson theater. The Shoji Tabuchi Show is always sold out, and when the theater is sitting there at 60 percent capacity, you know it’s the industry as a whole. In 2010 we saw a lot of the same thing.”
Jones says his tours saw a rebound in numbers in 2011, and he expects an even better year this year.
“Our fall 2012 schedule is really booking up fast,” he says.

Coach America Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early January in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As of late November the company, with its more than 3,000-vehicle fleet, had $402 million in debts and some $274 million in assets.

Megabus.com is the first, low-cost, express bus service to offer city-to-city travel for as low as $1 via the Internet. Since launching in April 2006, megabus.com has served more than 15 million passengers throughout more than 70 major cities in the Midwest and Northeast of the USA and Canada.

In late November 2006, Fenway Partners, a middle market private equity firm, entered into an agreement to acquire Coach America, then the largest tour and charter bus operator and the second largest motorcoach services provider in the U.S., from Kohlberg & Company. The New York firm acquired Coach America for $60 million. The company was generating $393 million in revenues at that time. Fenway became the company’s largest shareholder when it invested in Coach America back in 2006.

Red flags around the company’s financial situation appeared in February 2011 when Coach America’s lenders, along with Fenway Partners, amended and restated the company’s senior secured credit facility new investment and debt-to-equity conversion together totaled close to $50 million.

The sweeps are part of FMCSA’s year-round effort to raise the bar for bus safety and protect bus passengers by taking unsafe operators off the road. Beginning May 11 and running through May 20, inspections are being held in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

As part of the inspection process, law enforcement officers are thoroughly checking buses for any mechanical problem, such as brakes, lights and engine defects. Bus drivers are also inspected to ensure they are operating in full compliance with hours-of-service, medical fitness, commercial driver’s license and other federal safety rules.

Over the past five years, FMCSA has doubled the number of bus inspections and comprehensive safety reviews of the nation’s estimated 4,000 commercial passenger bus companies. Roadside motorcoach inspections have increased nearly 100 percent, from 12,991 in 2005 to 25,705 in 2010, while compliance reviews are up 128 percent, from 457 in 2005 to 1,042 in 2010. By significantly increasing bus safety inspections, FMCSA placed 54 unsafe companies out of service in 2011 alone.

As part of FMCSA’s ongoing efforts to improve commercial bus safety, the agency recently unveiled SaferBus, a first-of-its-kind, multilingual app that gives bus riders a quick and free way to review a bus company’s safety record before buying a ticket or booking group travel. Designed for the Apple iPhone and iPad, the SaferBus app can be downloaded for free by visiting the Apple iTunes App Store or going to FMCSA’s “Look Before You Book” webpage at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/saferbus.

Over the last two years DOT has taken action to reduce distracted driving by commercial truck and bus drivers. In January 2010, FMCSA banned texting by commercial drivers, and in November 2011, the agency prohibited commercial drivers from reaching for, holding or dialing a cell phone while operating a commercial motor vehicle.

To learn more about FMCSA’s robust passenger bus safety initiatives, visit www.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Virginia State Police photo

“The Department and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have long recognized the potential impact of stability control technology in reducing deaths and serious injuries that result from rollover crashes,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Today’s proposal is a major step forward to improving the safety of large commercial trucks, motorcoaches, and other large buses.”

An extensive NHTSA research program to determine how available stability control technologies affect crashes involving commercial vehicles found ESC systems to be the most effective tool for reducing the propensity for heavy vehicles to rollover or lose control. With sensors that monitor vehicle movement and steering, ESC can help mitigate rollover incidents by using automatic computer-controlled braking, and also aid the driver in addressing severe understeer or oversteer conditions that can lead to loss of control. NHTSA estimates that a standard requiring ESC on the nation’s large trucks and large buses would prevent up to 2,329 crashes, eliminate an estimated 649 to 858 injuries, and prevent between 49 and 60 fatalities a year.

“We’ve already seen how effective stability control can be at reducing rollovers in passenger vehicles—the ability for this type of technology to save lives is one reason it is required on cars and light-duty trucks beginning with model year 2012,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “Now, we’re expanding our efforts to require stability enhancing technology on the many large trucks, motorcoaches, and other large buses on our roadways.”

While many truck tractors and large buses can currently be ordered with this technology, the proposed standard would require ESC systems as standard equipment on these types of vehicles. As proposed, the rule would take effect between two and four years after the standard is finalized, depending on the type of vehicle.

The agency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is being published in the Federal Register and members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal for 90 days. NHTSA will also hold a public hearing on the proposed safety standard to solicit further public comment — the date and location of that hearing will be published in the coming weeks.

Currently, AC Transit transfers are 25 cents and are good for two hours or a single ride. Occupy is trying to convince bus drivers to accept the transfers for up to three hours and for multiple rides. At a Wednesday news conference representatives of the group said it was hoping to form an alliance between drivers and passengers to oppose AC Transit for getting a larger share of public transit resources. In the past the agency’s transfer policy favored the rider. Friction between riders and bus drivers has increased since changes to the policy has riders on longer commutes paying for two tickets to simply get to work.

The drivers’ union is not endorsing the Occupy Oakland campaign.

“It simply makes sense to re-establish parity between parking and mass transit benefits,” McGovern testified before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. “It’s good for employers, good for employees, good for the environment and helps take cars off our congested roads.”

According to a statement from McGovern’s office, commuters who drive to work and park are eligible for up to $240 in pre-tax benefits per month from their employer while commuters who take mass transit are only eligible for up to $125 a month. Commuters who drive and park were additionally eligible for an increase in their monthly parking benefit at the start of 2012 because of an automatic cost-of-living adjustment.

McGovern’s bill, the Commuter Benefits Equity Act, has 74 bipartisan cosponsors.

Transit authorities project the Van Ness BRT will cost between $90 million and $130 million. More than $100 million in funding has already been identified from planned sources such as the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts program, the Prop K local sales tax measure for transportation and local developer contributions. Officials say construction could begin in 2014 with service beginning as early as 2016.

In addition to providing transit benefits, transit officials say their plan would increase safety along the corridor by reducing conflicts with left turning cars and adding pedestrian improvements like curbbulbs, countdown and audible pedestrian signals, and pedestrian lighting.

“Van Ness BRT will speed up service and transform Van Ness Avenue into a truly complete street,” said David Campos, chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. “I’m thrilled the Authority and [the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency] are recommending a cost‐effective proposal that will provide transportation benefits for San Francisco residents and visitors alike.”

“The Van Ness BRT project will demonstrate an exciting new mode of bus transit, serving as a model for the nation as we strive to meet the challenges of growth and global warming with limited resources,” said José Luis Moscovich, executive director of the Authority.

The total estimated cost for both contracts is $43.4 million. The contracts are for five-year terms, with an option for two additional years.

The option to award the LIFT’s transit service contract to MV Transportation, Inc., will save an estimated $1.25 million annually, as compared to providing the same service internally.

El Paso will continue to maintain oversight over both fixed-route and LIFT transportation services to ensure that customer service for all Sun Metro clientele improves, and ongoing compliance with service standards are met at the highest levels.

Additionally, the City does not anticipate any LIFT employees to be without comparable employment as it will implement a substantial staffing strategy. For employees who wish to stay with the city of El Paso, Sun Metro will continue to freeze key vacancies at the ever-growing fixed route and will likely be able to absorb most, if not all, employees. Employees also may choose to work in other city departments, or for MV Transportation, Inc.

Free to the public at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/pcs/index.aspx, the bus safety checklist encourages travelers to first look at the on-road safety performance, safety rating and consumer complaint history of a bus company before buying a ticket or booking a trip.

In addition to using the bus safety checklist, consumers can download for free FMCSA’s SaferBus app, which provides quick and easy access to the safety records on nearly 6,000 interstate passenger carriers operating in the U.S.