The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced it has published a final rule to reduce regulatory costs by $74 million per year by removing an information collection burden for commercial buses and other passenger-carrying motorcoaches. This measure will strengthen the industry without adversely impacting safety on the nation’s roadways. […]
Transdev and the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority’s (LAVTA) are excited to announce that non-passenger testing has started on LAVTA’s Shared Autonomous Vehicle (SAV) project. LAVTA is located in Livermore, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. The SAV is designed as a low-speed autonomous vehicle that has a maximum speed of 13 miles per […]
Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD Europe jointly announced today that their electric vehicle partnership, the UK’s leading electric bus producer, has supplied the first of 29 BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deckers to National Express West Midlands, where they are charged entirely by renewable energy and utilise a stationery battery system to balance the load […]
More than 30 associations came together to urge Congressional leaders to support the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act (CERTS Act), introduced jointly by Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). In a letter from multiple industries critical to the U.S. national transportation network, the group stated that the CERTS Act (S.4150) provides much needed grant and […]
APTA APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas released this statement on July 1, 2020: “The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), on behalf of the entire public transportation industry, commends the U.S. House of Representatives for passage of H.R. 2, the ‘Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act’ (INVEST […]
For Steve Spade, general manager of Sun Tran, Sun Van and Sun Link in Tucson, Arizona, transit service is about creating “raving fans.” Drawn from “Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service,” a book by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, this theory posits that all businesses should be focused on understanding customer expectations. Once […]
By Roger Helmy, Trapeze Group Time and time again, when we have faced adversities, we have rallied only to become even stronger. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. While COVID-19 brought new challenges to transit, it also showed us the importance of making sure transit is positioned to manage whatever challenges lay ahead. We need […]
As various industries do their part to support social distancing measures, the “new normal” way of operating has posed challenges, and driven innovation. The transit industry is no exception, and as transit operators have continued to play a key role in supporting essential services and providing transport for those who need it, they have also […]
The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) provides fixed-route and paratransit services for greater Columbus and Central Ohio — orchestrating more than 19 million annual passenger trips for the area’s 1.2 million residents. COTA has around 1,170 employees and maintains a fleet of 321 fixed-route transit vehicles, 75 paratransit vehicles, and 12 micro-transit vehicles. As such, […]
Last month BUSRide Maintenance convened a remote meeting to discuss the intricacies of bus collision work, the benefits of refurbishment and remanufacturing, and the dangers of miscalculating major repairs. These are the results of that discussion. Our panelists: Ed Harmon – National Director of Operations, Southwest Region – ABC Companies Steve Walther – Collision Manager […]