We just recently attended the Bus Rapid Transit World 2010 Conference in Boston. From the presentations we saw, there’s no denying that the developing world is still far ahead of the U.S. when it comes to high-end BRT. We still have a lot to learn here, but we also have much to share. These are exciting times for BRT. Even CNN has taken notice in a recent video of the Las Vegas ACE.
Before passengers board and the buses roll, the experience begins at the terminals and depots. The 2011 BUSRide Best Terminals & Depots in North America Competition puts this sector of the industry front and center. BUSRide.com wants you to submit your photographs and conceptual renderings and vote for your favorite points of departure. This competition will showcase the grander vision for public transportation. From curbside shelters and kiosks to towering edifices, current bus terminal and depot architecture and design marries aesthetics with urban needs. Nominate your favorite and vote often!
Since ignition and liftoff two and a half years ago, word from Motorcoach Council mission control is the first stage is compete with the grassroots effort Todd Holland has diligently spearheaded. With the message firmly positioned, the second stage has fired and the next sequence of events is in motion.
Motorcoach financers remind operators to take time to reflect the hard times they have just been through and understand the game has changed. They say money is available, but the path ahead demands sound basic business with accountability like they have never seen. Credit processes are much more stringent than before.
Rarely does an accident occur at a convenient time or place. How many times has a coach operator answered a call at the worst possible time of the day or night from a driver reporting an accident?
From crashes to enforcement operations, reports indicate there is plenty of room for improvement in ensuring bus operators transport passengers in a safe manner. This industry has always hung its hat on the premise it is the safest form of ground transportation. However, in the mind of the public consumer, events over the past year have assaulted the reputation of motorcoach operators. Well-documented and publicized incidents coupled with the lesser-known and surprisingly high rate of vehicles and drivers placed out-of-service during enforcement blitzes erode the public trust and lend to an adversarial environment for enforcement.
Exhibits took up every square inch of available space at the 20th edition of Busworld held in Kortrijk, Belgium in October. Busworld Kortrijk is a truly global event. The 381 exhibitors from 27 countries that included 70 vehicle manufacturers saw the largest tented pavilion ever erected in Belgium. It allowed 20 percent more space than at any previous exposition.
Bus fires continue to be a pervasive problem for our industry. Speaking before the recent Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) safety summit in Washington D.C., I presented on the precise causes and origins of motorcoach fires, noting that insurance and government data indicate that across the United States two buses on average catch fire each day.
In the United Kingdom, the authorities most unusually decided seat belts should be fitted not only to new vehicles but also retrofitted to all existing coaches in circulation. This, of course, created an outcry that neither the seats nor the floors of many older coaches were suitable for retrofitting, and that a serious accident could be made worse by old seats breaking free with passengers belted on to them.
Chicago Neighborhood Tours, a division of the Office of Tourism, recently added several new themed half-day bus tours to its offerings this season.
The new tours include a look at Albany Park with stops at the Cambodian American Heritage Museum, the River Park Dam and Waterfall, North Park Village and the Superdawg Drive-In.