Cameras are growing increasingly pervasive in today’s society and now include cell phone cameras, security cameras, intersection/red light cameras and video recorders that capture entire segments of time.
Relying on work habits engrained since childhood and working weekend auctions with his father, Royal Excursions founder Shannon Kaser took a calculated gamble on the transportation business in 1998. Seeing his operation as more than a taxi or limo service, Kaser chose the name to denote a more dynamic style of transportation. Twelve years later Kaser believes he has nailed the concept with his most recent purchase of three all black, unmarked motorcoaches, two of which are 2010 Van Hool C2045Es.
As all-electric buses continue to make greater inroads into the motorcoach and transit industries, the terminology is slowly changing from miles-per-gallon to miles-per-kilowatt. Although the Chinese have been using some form of electric bus for years, an increasing number of agencies in the U.S. are accepting and utilizing all-electric transit vehicles. Fleets now sport sleek, all-electric vehicles with the capacity to save thousands of dollars over a vehicle’s lifetime. Also, technology has improved to the point where recharging can be done in minutes.
Yankees Trails began with a fleet of two motorcoaches dedicated primarily to service trips between Albany, NY and cities in Vermont. By the late 1980s, the company began offering individual tour packages to destinations along the entire East Coast.
The convergence of an Academy Award-winning film and a bus tour operator led to one of the more interesting travel tour destinations in South Dakota. Herman Jones, owner of Mount Rushmore Tours and a reminder of the rugged Old West individualism, forged his longtime dream of building a working town square with the remnants of the original movie set for Kevin Costner’s 1989 film, “Dances with Wolves.”
For years while on his way to work Rick Cibik passed by the yellow school bus parked in the yard of someone’s home on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation northeast of Phoenix, AZ. As general manager of Fort McDowell Adventures, Cibik hit on an idea to put the old bus to use for the company that offers visitors the Wild West experience. Inspired by “The Mexican Bus” he had heard about in San Francisco, Cibik envisioned a moving party bus for corporate events and special occasions.
I recently visited Japan to meet operators and manufacturers. It was a fascinating experience, with many surprises. Until recently, with a very strong motor industry that features household names like Toyota, Honda, Isuzu and Mitsubishi, Japan was the second largest economy in the world. But now China has overtaken Japan, and it is clear the country is concerned about its much larger neighbor.
Technology is improving the ride for passengers and simplifying management tasks for transit operators at a very rapid pace. Wireless communication and embedded systems such as monitoring diagnostics and advanced GPS services are the new keys to improved bus capabilities.
It’s been a little over a year since I took over as president and CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio. In that time we have made good progress toward making this transit agency a multimodal system.