62-519: The Wright Axcess was a series of two low-entry single-decker bus bodies built on Scania bus chassis by Wrightbus . The Wright Axcess-Ultralow was manufactured Scania L113CRL between 1995 and 1998, later succeeded by the Wright Axcess-Floline on Scania L94UB chassis between 1998 and 2001. The Wright Axcess-Ultralow was introduced in 1995 as a low-cost replacement for Wright Endurance and Wright Pathfinder bodies based on
124-426: A 320 millimetres (13 in) low single entrance step, capable of being lowered to 200 millimetres (7.9 in) at the kerbside via the 'kneeling' function of the chassis. This was followed by a 780 millimetres (31 in) central gangway between both front axles and three 200 millimetres (7.9 in) steps towards the rear seats of the bus. The Axcess-Ultralow was succeeded by the Wright Axcess-Floline in 1997 on
186-407: A bus deck that is accessible from the sidewalk with only a single step with a small height difference, caused solely by the difference between the bus deck and sidewalk. This is distinct from high-floor , a bus deck design that requires climbing one or more steps (now known as step entrance) to access the interior floor that is placed at a higher height. Being low-floor improves the accessibility of
248-785: A high floor bus where the floor is flat in order to align with the high platforms in certain Bus Rapid Transit systems. Thereby, referring to it as a non-step high floor bus. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) mandates the use of low-floor or low-entry buses on city bus routes in the Philippines since 2016. Low-floor buses are used on city bus networks in Metro Manila , Metro Cebu and Davao City , and on some provincial routes, and most Point-to-Point Bus services, although older coaches are still largely used for such services. Buses used on
310-557: A low floor height by making rear-engined rear-wheel drive buses with independent front suspension , so that no axle is needed to pass under the floor of the front part of passenger compartment, or a lowered front axle. Some full low-floor buses also have a lowered rear axle, while the rear axle is not an issue on a low-entry bus. Many low-floor buses, including the Irisbus Citelis (also in Skoda 24Tr trolleybus version), have
372-459: A low floor, can provide a nearly level entry. An implementation of the low floor design exists in Australia where custom coaches make a "hybrid" variant of its CB60 bodywork. These buses combine a smaller low floor area with a small underfloor bin for some luggage. Whilst these buses do not provide a full amount of luggage space, they can be used to house more luggage than what can be held inside
434-464: A low-floor bus "no-step bus (ノーステップバス)". At Enshu Railway Company in Hamamatsu Area, a low-floor bus is called "omnibus (オムニバス)", " cho-teisho bus (超低床バス; very low-floor bus)" and " cho-teisho omnibus (超低床オムニバス; very low-floor omnibus)". Japanese government calls a low-floor bus " cho-teisho non-step bus (超低床ノンステップバス; very low-floor non-step bus)". The term non-step bus may also refer to
496-535: A low-floor design. A small number of higher capacity articulated low-floor buses are used to service the city's southern busways. In Sydney , routes may be operated by both high-floor buses and low-entry ones. Selected routes can be set aside specifically for low-entry buses which are considered to be wheelchair-accessible routes. A recent all-low-entry bus network is the Metrobus system. North Western Road Car Company (1986) North Western Road Car Company
558-624: A more comfortable ride on rough roads. Some manufacturers use the initials LF or L in their model designations for fully low-floor models (or in the case of German manufacturers, NF or N , based on the German word Niederflur , which means low floor), and in North America buses that are partially low-floor are often also designated LF. In some countries, LE , short for Low Entry , is used by some manufacturers in their model designations for low-entry buses. Most bus manufacturers achieve
620-523: A preference for high floor buses. Although New York City Transit runs some 40-foot low-floors, it originally refused to order low-floor buses, namely D60LFs from New Flyer , after the D60HF, a high floor model, was discontinued mid-delivery. However, they have demonstrated both the D60LF and NovaBus LFSA, the latter of which they have decided to order. Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bangalore
682-485: A result, many of such buses require electronically controlled air suspension to compensate the lopsided configuration. Low-floor buses usually include an area without seating (or seating that folds up) next to at least one of the doors, where wheelchairs , walkers , strollers/prams, and where allowed even bicycles, can be parked. This is sometimes not the only purpose of this area, though, as many operators employ larger standee areas for high occupancy at peak times. Despite
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#1732801140430744-423: A subsidiary of North Western who retained Bee Line branding but began to refocus the service network more towards the south of Greater Manchester with conventional sized vehicles replacing most of the minibuses. In the spring of 1993, British Bus acquired Crosville Cymru from National Express , who in 1989 had purchased Amberline , a Liverpool-based operator. In August 1996, North Western's parent British Bus,
806-669: Is a very low or non-existent availability of high-floor electric buses. The majority of standard and truncated vehicles were and are the Caio Millennium and Millennium BRT "toco" models, on Mercedes-Benz O500U, Scania K270 and K310, Volvo B7RLE and B290RLE and Volkswagen 17.240 and 17.260 chassis. For articulated vehicles, Caio Mondego HA and Millennium BRT vehicles with Mercedes-Benz O500UA and O500UDA chassis were and are used. The Biarticulates were made with Caio TopBus PB and Millennium BRT TopBus bodies on Volvo B360S and B9Salf chassis. In Brisbane , all Translink buses are of
868-415: Is more expensive for the operator, and only attractive for regular busy scheduled routes. For infrequent routes or routes with hail and ride sections, or demand responsive transport , raised curbs would only be feasible in terminuses . Some transit agencies refused to order low-floor buses altogether, such as New Jersey Transit and MUNI owing to terrain conditions in the service area. DART still has
930-466: Is one of the first cities in India that introduced Low Floor buses. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, BMTC operates many services using the premium Volvo 8400LE Low-floor buses. These buses are air-conditioned, and offer features such as automatic transmission, kneeling and wheel-chair ramp, typical of modern city buses. They are also fitted with LED display boards as well as ITS to announce
992-725: The Den Oudsten B85/B86 [ nl ] . Other competitors followed suit, with the Orion VI (1995), Nova Bus LF Series (1996, also derived from the Den Oudsten B85), Gillig Low Floor (1997, derived from a shuttle bus design for the Hertz rental car agency), and Neoplan AN440L (1990/94/99). By 2008, most new bus orders in the United States were for low-floor buses. In the capital of this country,
1054-871: The EDSA Busway are usually equipped with 1-2 doors on the left side for boarding at the median stations, although not all units currently have them installed. Low-floor buses often use upholstered coach-style seating in a 2-3, or 2-2 configuration, although plastic seats may be found in some buses. Low-floor wheelchair-accessible buses were first introduced in Singapore in 2006 with 150 Volvo B9TL CDGE buses procured by SBS Transit . These buses were registered SBS7300P - SBS7499A. Volvo B9TL CDGE buses were fully retired in 2023. In 2007, SBS Transit procured 1101 units of low-entry Scania K230UB buses bodied by Gemilang Coachworks of Senai , Malaysia . Afterwards, all new city buses procured by SBS Transit, SMRT Buses and
1116-646: The FirstBus fleet, who were popular customers of the Wright Axcess-Ultralow, especially for its Scottish operations. A majority of the group's Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to First Greater Glasgow from 1996 onwards, while twelve were delivered to FifeFirst in June 1997, and eight were delivered to its Midland Bluebird and Lowland operations during 1997. Elsewhere, Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to Kingfisher Huddersfield , First Crosville , and
1178-656: The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority . A further 29 Axcess-Ultralows were supplied to North Western and the StarLine subsidiary during 1996. All but 34 of the 276 Axcess-Flolines produced were delivered to FirstBus operators, with some early examples built concurrently alongside the group's orders for the Axcess-Ultralow. The first production Axcess-Floline was delivered to First Greater Glasgow following
1240-564: The Land Transport Authority are low-floor. Low-floor buses are first adopted in Germany in 1989, and to make them easier to use for wheelchairs and strollers, the minimum ground clearance of the entire vehicle is lowered and the floor is proportionately raised by 30 centimetres (12 in) above the road surface. The Dennis Dart SLF (Super Low Floor) marked the wholesale introduction of single-deck low floor buses in
1302-621: The Scania L94UB chassis. Launched at the Coach & Bus 97 expo, most of the Floline's changes were found internally, most notably being the 'Floline' sloped floor system, originally launched on the Renown on Volvo B10BLE , that removed the need for multiple steps towards the rear of the interior. Additional strength applied to the body's framework for implementing the Floline concept allowed
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#17328011404301364-562: The step-entrance Scania N113 and low-entry N113CRL chassis respectively, developed to fit the recommendations of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DiPTAC) on improving wheelchair and pushchair access. Like the Endurance and Pathfinder, the Axcess-Ultralow body was constructed using an Alusuisse bolted aluminium frame and with bonded window glazing, and internally, featured
1426-623: The AC volvo bus and MW series are served by the Tata Marcopolo buses operated by WBSTC. AC Marcopolo buses serve the MH series route operated by WBHIDCO and the MB series route operated by BHBL. Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) also run AC Volvo Bus & Ashok Leylan JanBus. In Japan , a low-floor bus is called "non-step bus (ノンステップバス)". Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation used to calling
1488-809: The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, since 1997 the legislation governs that all buses of lines of "national" jurisdiction (bus lines that circulate within the capital district and/or cross from here to the suburbs). The first low-floor bus produced in Argentina and marketed in this country was the El Detalle OA105, and the first low-floor bus imported by Argentina was the Marcopolo Torino GV Low-Entry brought from Brazil in 1998. Within Paraguay's public transit system, it
1550-430: The Coach & Bus 97 expo. [REDACTED] Buses portal Low-entry bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a low-entry bus or seldom a flat-floor bus in some locations. Low floor refers to
1612-540: The Crosville depots at Rock Ferry , Chester and Ellesmere Port were sold by Drawlane to PMT who maintained Crosville fleetnames albeit with PMT's red/yellow livery. In September 1989, Drawlane purchased Greater Manchester-based Bee Line Buzz Company from Stagecoach . Bee Line used high frequency minibuses and was a major competitor for former PTE operator GM Buses . After the Drawlane takeover Bee Line became
1674-559: The United Kingdom in 1995, after many small-scale demonstrator usages. Low floor buses were rapidly introduced on high-profile routes, notably becoming a requirement for London Buses contracts. The Optare Solo introduced in 1997 marked another step change with inroads into smaller usages traditionally served by minibuses . The final phase came with low floor double-deckers the Dennis Trident 2 and Volvo B7TL entering
1736-898: The WBSTC. These buses connects places like the Kolkata Airport , Barasat (Capital Town of North Suburb), New Town , Salt Lake , Howrah , Santragachi (a station on the Howrah-Kharagpur railway line), Kudghat and Tollygunge . The road network in Kolkata is vast. Under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, air conditioned buses have been included as a part of travel comfort to commuters. Air-conditioned buses are operated by West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC) directly & through outsourcing. These buses are served by Tata Marcopolo Buses and Volvo Low Floor Buses. The V Series and VS series bus routes are served by
1798-516: The autumn of 1989. Initially Drawlane claimed it wanted to develop Crosville and by the end of 1989. a brighter 1980s style green/cream livery and Crosville logos was introduced. However these operations bordered not only North Western's but those of Midland Red North which was also owned by Drawlane and in 1989, Drawlane absorbed the Crosville operations at Runcorn , Warrington and Winsford into North Western with those at Crewe and Macclesfield becoming part of Midland Red North. Additionally
1860-460: The bus for the public, particularly the elderly and people with disabilities , including those using wheelchairs and walkers . Almost all are rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout . Low-floor buses are generally divided into two major types: fully low-floor buses with a low floor throughout the length of the bus (more popular in Europe ), and low-entry buses with step-free access to only a part of
1922-526: The bus itself. Another drawback is the arrangement means the section of the bus that is at curb height is very short—consisting of enough space to house the wheelchair area and then rising up, to accommodate the luggage bin. These buses also lack the ability to have a center door. Many bus rapid transit systems employ a level boarding by using high-floor buses stopping at "station" style bus stops. Specially raised sections of curb may also be used to achieve accessibility with lesser low floor models, although this
Wright Axcess - Misplaced Pages Continue
1984-464: The bus to be specified with bonded gasket windows. The Floline was succeeded in 2000 by the low-floor 'Millennium Design' Wright Solar body on the same Scania L94UB chassis. An initial batch of 20 Wright Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to Rider York in June 1995 for service on the York park and ride equipped with luggage ramps supplied from Marks & Spencer . These buses eventually became part of
2046-487: The bus, most commonly between the front door and the middle door (more popular in North America). In North America, both types are commonly called low-floor, as the majority of the vehicle has a low floor, without steps at the doors. The main reason for choosing a low-entry configuration is to allow better placement for the powertrain and other technical equipment in the raised floor section, in addition to allowing
2108-542: The city center. Low-floor buses have become popular on the Structural and Regional Articulation lines, and have been a mandatory model to be purchased for these since 2015. Until then, exceptions for local lines with low-floor buses were rare, but this has been changing since 2019 and especially since 2023. In 2023, the city banned the purchase of new diesel buses. With the mandatory use of electric buses, new buses on local lines are also being made with low floors, as there
2170-502: The conventional buses. A revamp plan is underway to improve bus-shelters in the city and to integrate GPS systems in DTC buses and bus stops so as to provide reliable information about bus arrivals. The Delhi Government decided to expedite this process and procured 6,600 low floor buses for the DTC before commonwealth games in 2010. Kolkata has an extensive network of government run buses. Recently air-conditioned buses have been introduced by
2232-433: The curb the bus is parked and wheelchair design, this can allow wheelchair users to board unaided. Though such technology has been available and in use on high-floor buses since the 1970s, it is of significant utility on low-floor vehicles only where it enables less-mobile passengers to board and leave the vehicle without help from others. Many vehicles are also equipped with wheel-chair lifts, or ramps which, when combined with
2294-459: The end of 2005, 10 years ahead of the national requirement. London was one of the first major cities in the world to have a fully accessible bus fleet. Due to the deregulated nature of the public transport system in the UK, adoption of the higher cost low floor buses was usually in conjunction with some sort of grant or quality partnership with a local authority , as the profitability of many routes
2356-446: The enforced sale of non-compliant existing vehicles, allowing operators to retain a high floor vehicle until "the end of their economic life". In reality, as the prevalence of low floor buses spreads, combined with grants/incentives, it is likely that the prevalence of high floor vehicles in the national fleet will markedly reduce before all buses were de-registered by 27 October 2014. In the past, in times of reduced economic investment, it
2418-420: The engine in a vertical cabinet at the rear of the bus. Van Hool have a series of "side-engine mid-drive" buses that puts the engine off to one side of the cabin longitudinally between the first and the second axle, to maximize usable cabin space. The same concept was also utilized by Volvo on their B9S articulated chassis. For smaller buses, such as midibuses , the low-floor capability is achieved by placing
2480-525: The fitment of special lifts. The inception of small low-floor buses has allowed the development of several accessible demand-responsive transport schemes using standard 'off-the-shelf' buses. A disadvantage of the low floor is accommodating the bus's own wheels. With the low floor, the wheels protrude into the passenger cabin, and need to be contained in wheel pockets of waist height, and this occupies space which would otherwise be used for seating. To allow space for technical equipment, many low-floor buses have
2542-485: The front wheels ahead of the entrance. One of the last types of buses to gain low-floor accessibility as standard was the minibus , where a similar front-wheel arrangement allows around 12 seats and a wheelchair space to be accommodated in very small low-floor minibuses , such as the Optare Alero and Hino Poncho . Accessibility was previously achieved in paratransit type applications, which use small vehicles with
Wright Axcess - Misplaced Pages Continue
2604-1060: The group's Eastern Counties , Northampton and Leicester operations. Twenty Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to MTL Trust Holdings for its Merseybus operations in 1996, while ten Axcess-Ultralows were also delivered to Kentish Bus in late 1994, part of a wider investment by Kent County Council into improving bus stops and shelters as well as providing route information for service 480 between Dartford and Gravesend . Six Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to Chester City Transport for park and ride services in late 1997, and five Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to Nottingham City Transport between 1995 and early 1996. Five Axcess-Ultralows were delivered to Bullocks Coaches of Cheadle in 1995 for use on route 42 between Piccadilly Gardens and Stockport bus station , followed by another five being delivered to North Western 's StarLine subsidiary for service between Altrincham , Sale , Wythenshawe and Manchester Airport . The purchases of both batches of these buses were funded from low-floor grants provided by
2666-747: The halts. The corporation also had tried Mercedes-Benz Low-Floor buses as well as Ashok Leyland ULE coaches, but chose to stick to the Volvo offering. In order to keep the bus ticket prices low, the BMTC operates the majority of their services using Non-Airconditioned Semi-Low Floor (SLF) buses that have a floor height of 650mm as against the 400mm floor height of the true Low-Floor buses. These buses are from Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors, with future procurements planned to be from Eicher (VECV). These cheaper alternative to low-floor buses do not have kneeling or wheel-chair accessible ramps, but they have air suspension and use
2728-402: The lack of steps, studies have found the opposite effect in the UK. This is apparently due to the prevailing system of operation where passengers enter and exit through one single front door. It has been suggested that the previous 1980s/90s high floor step entrance buses which featured a centre rail, encouraged a bi-directional flow of entering and exiting passengers simultaneously. The removal of
2790-547: The mass market, even though they were introduced after the Optare Spectra . London Buses was one of the earliest major users of low-floor buses, with the first low-floor single decker vehicles entering service in 1993 and the first low-floor double decker vehicles entering service in 1998. Following withdrawal of older, high-floor vehicles such as the AEC Routemaster , the bus fleet became fully accessible at
2852-436: The pole to allow wheelchair/buggy access created the situation where the quintessentially polite British bus passenger would wait for all passengers to alight before boarding, leading to an increase in dwell times . Moscow was the first city to introduce low floor as the compulsory requirement for the suppliers of the city buses. By 2005 a few hundreds of low-floor buses started intra-metropolitan service. At first, PAZ-3237
2914-506: The rear end of the bus. The same applies to trolley buses that are mostly of low-floor design. Other cities that use low-floor buses on the regular routes are Kazan , Sochi , Tyumen , Pskov and more. Most of these vehicles are domestically manufactured by LiAZ , GAZ , KAMAZ and Volgabus . In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act is credited with motivating the development of low-floor buses, directly affecting
2976-408: The regions to the center, or connect two large terminals of two regions passing through the center Regional Articulation, which connect distant neighborhoods to the center without passing through large terminals, or connect two distant neighborhoods passing through important regions. Locations/distributors, which connect neighborhoods to large terminals or stations. None of these lines pass through
3038-566: The same or better seats as those found in the Volvo buses. They also feature manual transmission as against automatic transmission With the introduction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the development of dedicated corridors for the service, bus service is set to improve. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has started introducing air-conditioned buses and brand new low-floor buses (with floor height of 400 mm (15.75 in) and even higher on one third area as against 230 mm (9.06 in) available internationally) on city streets to replace
3100-558: The same year, the first low floor bus specification was drafted by DPTAC. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 provided for the completion of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, which specified that all new public service vehicles over 22 seats should be low floor from 31 December 2000, with smaller vehicles mandated from 1 January 2005. The 2000 regulations do not require retro-fitting of pre-existing vehicles or
3162-434: The seats mounted on podiums, making a small step up from the floor, while others are able to mount the seats directly to the floor, avoiding the step. Seating layout for a low-floor bus therefore requires careful design. Low floor configuration is also known to have poor side to side dead load distribution within the chassis due to the asymmetrical off-centre placement of driveline components - mainly engine and transmission. As
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#17328011404303224-405: The space existing, operators may also insist that only one or two wheelchairs or pushchairs can be accommodated unfolded, due to space/safety concerns. Low floors can be complemented by a hydraulic or pneumatic 'kneeling device', which can be used when the bus is not in motion, tilting it or lowering it at the front axle even further, often down to normal curb height. Depending on how close to
3286-613: The standardized design of the Transbus Program , which concluded with the introduction of so-called 'interim' Advanced Design Buses with a lower floor height but which required lifts to board passengers in wheelchairs. The first low-floor (low-entry) buses to be delivered were the New Flyer Low Floor D40LF, to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1991. The New Flyer LF was derived from
3348-665: Was a bus operator based in Liverpool , England. The company operated between 1986 and 1998. In the lead up to the privatisation of the National Bus Company , in 1986 the government stipulated that the larger business units be split to boost competition. Thus Ribble Motor Services whose operations stretched across North West England from Cumbria to the East Lancashire / West Yorkshire borders and Greater Manchester to West Lancashire /North Merseyside
3410-462: Was in a phase of expansion and began a new operation on the Wirral branded as Red Rider as well as new entrants like Busman Buses, CMT Buses , Gold Star and Wirral Bus. Crosville was sold by NBC in 1988 to American banking consortium ATL but ATL's acquisition of Crosville was thought to be a short term move for them to sell the company on for a profit and indeed ATL did sell Crosville on to Drawlane in
3472-470: Was not high enough to justify conversion based purely on increased revenue. It has been reported however that adoption of so-called Easy Access buses does have a positive effect of ridership and revenue levels. Under the Transport Act 1985 the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) (or commonly DiPTAC) was established to provide independent consultation on accessibility issues. In
3534-439: Was not uncommon for service buses to be used for 15 to 20 years. While some coaches have been produced with a small front low floor section at the driver's level, most coaches in the UK are being made accessible through the use of wheelchair lifts , with the 2005 Caetano Levante being one of the largest introductions. While another widely stated benefit of low floor buses is quicker boarding for able-bodied passengers due to
3596-459: Was not until 2012 that the first low-floor bus in the country were added to its fleet, being a 1999 Marcopolo Viale imported used from Argentina. In São Paulo, low-floor buses began to become popular in the 2000s with the creation of the so-called Sistema Interligado (Interconnected System, in English) which divided bus routes into so-called lines: Structural, which connect the large terminals of
3658-584: Was one such company, and in the summer of 1986 its Merseyside - Aintree and Bootle , West Lancashire - Skelmersdale and Greater Manchester - Wigan depots were transferred to a new company, North Western Road Car Company. The North Western Road Car Company name had previously been used by a National Bus Company subsidiary based in Stockport with operations in Cheshire , Derbyshire , South-East Lancashire and what became Greater Manchester until it
3720-463: Was restructured as British Bus . Crosville Motor Services like Ribble had seen its English and Welsh operations - now Crosville Cymru , split and after abandoning Liverpool (see above) what remained of Crosville in Cheshire and in particular the Wirral was unprofitable due to increased competition not only from Merseybus but also from Staffordshire based Potteries Motor Traction (PMT) which
3782-532: Was selected for the city centre, while LiAZ-5292 were chosen to serve city outskirts. Later the articulated version of the latter, specifically designed for Moscow, the LiAZ-6213 was introduced. In St.Petersburg the transition to low-floor-only city bus services was completed only by 2021. Besides LiAZ-5292 and LiAZ-6213 and other full low-floor models that account for 85% of the city buses, there are also semi low-floor buses in service, with elevated floor in
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#17328011404303844-574: Was split up with parts being absorbed by Crosville Motor Services , Ribble Motor Services, Trent Motor Traction and the SELNEC PTE in 1974. The new North Western was based in Bootle, later moving to Aintree with a new livery of red and blue separated by a grey diamond stripe replacing NBC's poppy red. On 16 March 1988, North Western was to sold to the Drawlane Group, which in 1992
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