An
articulated bus is an
articulated vehicleAn articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivoting joint in its construction, allowing the vehicle to turn more sharply. There are many kinds of articulated vehicles, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains...
used in public transportation. It is usually a
single-deckA single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term single-decker refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essentially a single decked bus with an extra deck and...
design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a
pivoting jointA kinematic pair is a connection between two bodies that imposes constraints on their relative movement. Franz Reuleaux introduced the kinematic pair as a new approach to the study of machines that provided an advance over the notion of elements consisting of simple machines.Hartenberg & Denavit...
. This arrangement allows a longer legal overall length than rigid-bodied single-decker buses, and hence a higher passenger capacity, while still allowing the bus to manoeuvre adequately on the
roadA road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s of its service route.
Around the English-speaking world, articulated buses have acquired several different
synonymSynonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
s that allude to their articulated design, such as
bendy buses,
tandemTandem is an arrangement where a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction....
buses,
stretch buses,
double buses,
bananaBanana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
buses,
slinkySlinky or "Lazy Spring" is a toy consisting of a helical spring that stretches and can bounce up and down. It can perform a number of tricks, including traveling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum.-History:The toy was...
buses,
wiggle buses,
caterpillarCaterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
buses or
accordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
buses . Due to their high passenger capacity, articulated buses are often used as part of
bus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
schemes, and can include mechanical
guidanceGuided buses are buses steered for part or all of their route by external means, usually on a dedicated track. This track, which often parallels existing roads, excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of reliable schedules on heavily used corridors even during rush hours.Guidance systems...
.
Used almost exclusively on
public transport bus serviceBus services play a major role in the provision of public transport. These services can take many forms, varying in distance covered and types of vehicle used, and can operate with fixed or flexible routes and schedules...
s, articulated buses are approximately 18 metre in length; standard rigid-construction buses are usually 11 to 14 m (36.1 to 45.9 ). The common arrangement of an articulated bus is to have a forward vehicle with two
axleAn axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...
s towing a rear trailer section with a single axle, although the driving axle can be mounted on either the front or the rear vehicle. Some articulated bus models have a
steeringSteering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. which will allow a vessel or vehicle to follow the desired course...
arrangement on the rearmost axle which turns slightly in opposition to the front steering axle, allowing the vehicle to negotiate turns in a crab-like fashion, similar to
hook-and-ladder fire trucksA fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
operating in city environments. A less common variant of the articulated bus is the
bi-articulated busA bi-articulated bus or double articulated bus is an extension of an articulated bus in that it has three passenger compartment sections instead of two. This also involves the addition of an extra axle...
, where the vehicle has two trailer sections rather than one. Their capacity is around 200 persons, and their length about 25 metres (82 ft).
History
Early examples of the articulated bus appeared in Europe in the 1920s.
In Budapest, Hungary the first prototype of this bus was in service in 1960 and could carry 200 passengers. It had been manufactured without the use of blueprints. Later Ikarus's blueprints were drawn up on the basis of this existing prototype. There is an ongoing exhibition in Budapest at the Museum of Transportation in 2010 with the title "The articulated bus is 50 years old".
In the mid-1960s,
AC TransitAC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...
in California pioneered the (American) use of a modern articulated bus, operating the experimental
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
bus "XMC 77" on some of its transbay lines. Articulated buses have also been used in Australia and Europe (Austria (
Gräf & StiftGräf & Stift was an Austrian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, from 1902 until 2001, latterly as a subsidiary of MAN. Founded in 1902 by the brothers Franz, Heinrich and Karl Gräf, and the investor, Wilhelm Stift...
)
http://www.wienerlinien.at/wl/ep/programView.do?contentTypeId=1001&channelId=-17080&displayPage=%2Fep%2Fprogram%2FcontentOverview.jsp&programId=10723&pageTypeId=9322, Italy, Germany (Gaubschat, Emmelmann, Göppel,
DuewagThe DUEWAG AG was one of Germany's major manufacturers for rail vehicles. The business was sold in 1999 to Siemens transportation.- History :The company was founded in 1898 as Waggonfabrik Uerdingen AG in Uerdingen...
, Vetter), Hungary (Ikarus), Poland (Jelcz AP02)) The first modern bendy buses in the UK were built by
Leyland-DABThe Leyland-DAB articulated bus was an articulated bus built by Leyland-DAB in Denmark. The Leyland-DAB artic found customers in Denmark, and was the first modern style articulated buses in the United Kingdom, albeit with limited repeat orders....
and used in the city of
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1980s, but were withdrawn from service because they proved expensive to maintain.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main benefits of an articulated bus over the
double-decker busA double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
are rapid simultaneous boarding and disembarkation through more and larger doors, much larger passenger capacity (120+ versus 80−90), increased stability arising from a lower centre of gravity, smaller frontal area gives less air resistance than double decker buses thus better fuel efficiency, often a smaller turning radius, higher maximum service speed, and improved accessibility for people with disabilities and the elderly.
One disadvantage that is sometimes experienced with some articulated models is the insufficiency of the effective motive power available to them. It is common for articulated buses to use the same engine type as non-articulated buses (for example, the Hungarian Ikarus 260 solo and IK 280 bendy share a common 10350 cc, 192 bhp inline six
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
). The extra weight of the bendy bus gives rise to a slower speed and acceleration. When used in cities built on numerous inclines (e.g. Vancouver, B.C. or
San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
) the vehicle is prone to overheating. This may lead to stalling, or in the worst situations to a full-fledged fire if the bus is powered by a
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
. During late 2003 and early 2004, a series of onboard fires on newly delivered Mercedes-Benz Citaros led to Londoners humorously nicknaming the vehicles
chariots of fire. Mercedes-Benz quickly addressed the problem, although the vehicles were out of service for a period. However, no overheating or fire-related incidents have ever been recorded in Vancouver's articulated electric trolley buses from a similar cause. Vancouver's articulated trolley buses were specifically chosen for the higher torque output of their electric motors, which typically outperform diesel-based low-floor buses.
In some circumstances of urban operation (such as in areas with high pedestrian volumes, narrow streets and tight turns), articulated buses may also be involved in significantly more accidents than conventional buses. Estimates for London's articulated buses put their involvement in accidents involving pedestrians at over five times the rate of all other buses, and over twice as high for accidents involving cyclists. In a period when articulated buses made up approximately 5% of the London bus fleet, they were involved in 20% of all bus-related deaths, statistics which eventually led to their replacement. However, these safety statistics may be partly skewed due to the buses having been used on the busiest routes in the most crowded areas of the city, so making them look worse than the buses they were being compared with.
Use
Articulated buses have been used in most European countries for many years. Until 1980, they were illegal on the UK's roads. A 1979 experiment by
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport ExecutiveThe South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive is the Passenger Transport Executive for South Yorkshire in England. It is supervised by the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, which consists of representatives from the metropolitan boroughs of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and...
with buses manufactured by MAN and Leyland-DAB led to a change in the law, but the experiment was abandoned in 1981 because double-decker buses were generally considered less expensive both to purchase and to operate. The cost and weight of the strengthened deck framing and staircase of a double-decker was lower than the cost and weight of the additional axle(s) and coupling mechanism of an articulated bus. Modern technology has reduced the weight disadvantage, and the benefits of a continuous low floor allowing easier access plus additional entrance doors for smoother loading have led to reconsiderations of the use of articulated buses.
Articulated buses became popular in mainland Europe due to their increased capacity compared with regular buses. In many cities, lower railway bridge clearances have precluded the use of double-deck vehicles, which have never achieved great popularity there. Overhead wires for trams, trolleybuses etc. are not really relevant issues, as the minimum normal clearance above road level is standard across the EU and is well in excess of the height of a double-deck vehicle. (Otherwise many goods vehicles would encounter severe problems in the course of normal operation.)
In
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, articulated buses and their double-decker counterparts have replaced AEC
RoutemasterThe AEC Routemaster is a model of double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company in 1954 and produced until 1968. Primarily front-engined, rear open-platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances...
s on most routes. Elsewhere in the UK, they are generally operated on particular routes in order to increase passenger numbers, rather than across entire networks. With unsupervised "open boarding" through three doors and the requirement for pre-purchase of tickets, levels of fare-dodging on the new vehicles were found to be at least three times higher than on conventional buses where entry of passengers is monitored by the driver or conductor. The only way of checking for free riders was to use large teams of ticket inspectors to swamp the bus and inspect all tickets whilst keeping the doors closed, meanwhile delaying the further progress of the bus. Since the articulated buses were tending to serve areas of relative deprivation it is suspected that this was a contributory factor in TfL turning against the concept.
Boris JohnsonAlexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, the current Mayor of London, promised in the run-up to the mayoral election to rid the city of the controversial buses, and articulated buses on routes 18, 25, 38, 507 & 521 have already been decommissioned and replaced with double deckers. He aims to introduce a new generation of open-platform buses, based on the much loved Routemaster.
In
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the use of articulated buses - commonly called
long buses - is widespread, particularly in
Gush DanThe Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area , or Gush Dan , is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv and the Central Districts of Israel. The area is closely linked to the city of Tel Aviv through social, economic, and cultural ties. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline...
and
Jerusalem, the two great
urban centersAn urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
of the country. The long buses are considered reliable and useful, and have been in service in Israel since the mid-1970s. During the
Israeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, such buses were often targeted by Palestinian
terroristsTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and suicide bombers during rush hours, since a crowded long bus can contain more than 100 passengers. Due to the
al-Aqsa IntifadaThe Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
wave of mass bombings, security measures were enforced and today many long buses in Israel are accompanied by a
security guardA security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
.
An articulated bus is a long vehicle and usually requires a specially trained driver, as maneuvering (particularly reversing) can be difficult. Articulated electric
trolleybusA trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es can be difficult to control, with their motors producing momentary peak power in excess of 600 kW. The trailer section of a "puller" bus can be subject to unusual
centripetal forceCentripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path: it is always directed orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens...
s, which many people can find uncomfortable, although this is not an issue with "pushers". Nonetheless, the articulated bus is highly successful in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
,
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, where the
BKVBKV is the unified public transport company of Budapest, established in 1968...
city transit company has been operating more than 1000 of them every day since the early 1970s. The Hungarian company Volán also runs hundreds of articulated buses on intercity lines.
Articulated buses are commonplace in such US urban centers as
BaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Boston,
ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
,
Minneapolis-St.Paul,
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
,
DenverThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
,
HoustonHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
,
ColumbusColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, San Diego,
Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Pittsburgh,
Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
,
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
,
PhoenixPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
,
the Quad CitiesThe Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. In
EugeneEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
,
Lane Transit DistrictThe Lane Transit District is a public agency that provides public transportation in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The transit district serves the Eugene metropolitan area, including the neighboring cities of Springfield, Junction City, Creswell, Cottage Grove, Veneta, and Lowell...
uses articulated buses on some high-traffic routes, as well as on their
Emerald Express (EmX)The Emerald Express is a bus rapid transit system in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It is provided by the Lane Transit District which is the public transit authority in Lane County, Oregon....
Bus Rapid Transit Service.
In
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, they are used in
CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
,
EdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Halifax,
HamiltonHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
,
LondonLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
,
LongueuilLongueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...
, Mississauga,
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
,
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
,
Quebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
,
SaskatoonSaskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, York Region and
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
In Asia, many major Chinese cities had fleets of articulated buses prior to the late 1990s. Some of these fleets have since been replaced by single-section units except in a few cities, namely
BeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
,
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and
HangzhouHangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
. While in the 2000's a surge in BRT construction has reintroduced or re-purposed the articulated bus fleets for rapid transit usage in cities like
ChangzhouChangzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, Jinling, and Wujin. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhenjiang to the...
,
DalianDalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
,
GuangzhouGuangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
,
JinanJinan is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilisation and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub...
,
Kunming' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
,
XiamenXiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
,
YanchengYancheng is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. The city with the largest jurisdiction area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai'an to the west, Yangzhou and Taizhou to the southwest, Nantong to the south, and looks out to...
,
ZaozhuangZaozhuang is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province in Eastern China. The second smallest prefecture-level city in the province, it borders Jining to the west and north, Linyi to the east, and the province of Jiangsu to the south....
, and
ZhengzhouZhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...
. In South America, they are used in
São PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
,
CuritibaCuritiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...
,
SantiagoSantiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
and
BogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
.
In
AdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, articulated buses are used on the O-Bahn guided busway, reaching speeds of 100 km/h. The first articulated buses to use it were the
Mercedes-Benz O305Mercedes-Benz O305 is a rear-engined bus model built in West Germany between 1967 and 1987. The O305 was built as a successor of the O317 and was the Mercedes-Benz adaptation of the first so called "Standard-Linienbus" design, that was produced by many different German bus manufacturers. The...
G buses; however, three MAN SG280H buses are also equipped for O-Bahn use. In recent years, it has proven problematic to find suitable low-floor articulated buses to replace the 1984-manufactured Mercedes buses, because the design of the O-Bahn track unfortunately precludes the use of most modern articulated buses.
In
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, articulated buses were first introduced in 1996 by Trans-Island Bus Services (now
SMRT BusesSMRT Buses is a public bus transport operator in Singapore. Singapore currently hosts a duopoly transport system in which SMRT's only competitor is SBS Transit, which also operates bus services in Singapore...
) with the Mercedes-Benz O405G buses (bodied in Hispano Carrcera (MK1/MK2),
HispanoTata Hispano Motors Carrocera , based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, is one of the largest manufacturers of bus and coach cabins in Europe. It is a fully owned subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. Tata Motors acquired control of the company in 2005, after purchasing a 21% stake in the company...
Habit and
VolgrenVolgren is an Australian bodywork company previously owned by Volvo and the Grenda Corporation but is now entirely owned by the latter. It was established in 1977, initially supplying bodywork for Volvo buses sold in Australia, and later supplying bus bodywork on all types of chassis for both local...
CR221L). They were given the moniker "bendy buses", a name which is still in use today. In April of that year,
SBS TransitSBS Transit Limited is a public transport operator in Singapore. Its major competitor in Singapore's duopoly transport system is SMRT Corporation, which also operates bus, rail, taxi and other transport services....
introduced a demonstrator
Volvo B10MThe Volvo B10M is a popular mid-engined bus and coach chassis built by Volvo between 1978 and 2001. It was built as the successor of the B58 and was equipped with a 9.6-litre horizontally-mounted Volvo THD100/THD101/THD102/THD103/THD104/DH10A diesel engine mounted under the floor, near the middle...
A bus (registration SBS998Y) fitted with a three-door version of the
Duple MetsecDuple Metsec is a former bus bodywork builder based in West Midlands of the United Kingdom, which usually supplied body kits for assembly overseas....
bodywork similar to that of Volvo's B10M buses. With a length of 19 metres (62 ft), this bus earned the title of "Asia's Longest Bus". In 1997, SBS Transit purchased another bendy bus, the Mercedes-Benz O405GN (registration SBS999U), again as a demonstrator. This bus had
VolgrenVolgren is an Australian bodywork company previously owned by Volvo and the Grenda Corporation but is now entirely owned by the latter. It was established in 1977, initially supplying bodywork for Volvo buses sold in Australia, and later supplying bus bodywork on all types of chassis for both local...
CR221L bodywork. In March 2006, SBS Transit sold all its bendy buses to
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
after encountering drivability issues with the Volvo B10MA bus and air-conditioning problems with the Mercedes-Benz bus, and also deciding that
double-decker busA double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
es could carry more passengers while taking up less road space, as opposed to SMRT's stance that "articulated buses offer greater accessibility and efficiency".
Ever since 3rd July 2011, these buses have been used in
MaltaMalta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
by the company
ArrivaArriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
on lines 11,12,13,41,X1,X2,X3,X4 and X6.
Types of buses
Articulated buses can be of "pusher" or "puller" configuration. In pusher buses, only the rear C-axle is powered by a rear-mounted
internal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
, and the longitudinal stability of the vehicle is maintained by active hydraulics mounted under the turntable. This modern system makes it possible to build buses without steps and having low floors along their entire length, which simplifies access for passengers with limited mobility.
In puller articulated buses, the engine is mounted under the floor between the front and middle A- and B-axles, and only the B-axle is powered. Some consider this an outdated design, as it prohibits floor levels lower than approximately 750 millimetres (30 in), and can produce passenger discomfort due to high noise and
vibrationOscillation is the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples include a swinging pendulum and AC power. The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes...
levels. On the other hand, the puller bus is cheaper to manufacture, and can be used in very narrow or severely potholed streets. This type of bus also performs better in snowy or icy conditions, as the thrust from the driving wheels does not cause the vehicle to jacknife. Also, the unpowered C-axle is much simpler and carries no engine weight, facilitating the installation of counter-steering mechanisms to further decrease the turning radius.
Modern low-floor pusher articulated buses also tend to suffer from
suspensionSuspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
problems because their wheels lack the ampleness of travel that would enable them to absorb surface unevennesses. This also leads to passenger discomfort and relatively rapid disintegration of the vehicle's superstructure.
Although the majority of articulated buses utilise
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s for their motive power, a number of operators (primarily outside of
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and by
LACMTAThe Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the California state-chartered regional transportation planning agency and public transportation operating agency for the County of Los Angeles formed in 1993 out of a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the...
) are adopting
compressed natural gasCompressed natural gas is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline , diesel, or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to those fuels, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill...
(CNG) power in order to reduce pollution. Many other transit authorities in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
are adopting articulated buses that are diesel-electric
hybridA hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.-Power:...
s, such as the New Flyer DE60LF.
A typical puller model is the Hungarian-made Ikarus 280, the articulated version of the
IkarusIkarus is a bus manufacturer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Uhri Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme .-History:...
260, of which more than 200,000 buses were manufactured between 1973 and 2000, mostly for Soviet bloc customers. Well-known makers of pusher-type articulated buses include
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
,
New Flyer IndustriesNew Flyer Industries Inc. is a bus manufacturer in North America, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It also has factories in Crookston and St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA.-History:...
and
ScaniaScania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
. In the past,
VolvoAB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
and MAN AG Buses produced puller bendies, but both manufacturers have since abandoned these designs for more modern pusher designs. The
RenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
PR 180 and PR 180.2 (articulated versions of the PR 100 and PR 100.2) were a special variation of the pusher design in which both the B-axle and C-axle were driven, with a driveshaft passing through the turntable between the two driving axles. Very few companies specialise in manufacturing the articulated section for the buses. One that does is ATG Autotechnik GmbH in Siek near
Hamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
Bi-articulated buses
Since the late 1980s, the concept of the articulated bus has been extended further with the addition of a second trailer section that extends the bus almost to tram length and capacity, to create a
bi-articulated busA bi-articulated bus or double articulated bus is an extension of an articulated bus in that it has three passenger compartment sections instead of two. This also involves the addition of an extra axle...
. The Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Youngman (Jinhua
NeoplanNEOPLAN Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. NEOPLAN is now a subsidiary of NEOMAN Bus GmbH, which itself is a part of MAN SE.-Foundations:...
) has developed the 25 metres (82 ft) JNP6280G bi-articulated bus, deemed the "world's largest", which will be used in
BeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Bi-articulated buses are still rare, having been trialled and rejected in some places. Because of their length they have a role on very high-capacity routes, or as a component of a
bus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
scheme.
Double-decker articulated buses
A few attempts have been made to design a double-decker articulated bus.
NEOPLAN Bus GmbHNEOPLAN Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. NEOPLAN is now a subsidiary of NEOMAN Bus GmbH, which itself is a part of MAN SE.-Foundations:...
built a handful of
Neoplan JumbocruiserThe NEOPLAN Jumbocruiser was an articulated double-deck multi-axle city coach built by NEOPLAN Bus GmbH between 1975 and 1992. At 18 meters in length, 2.50m wide and 4m in height, it is in the Guinness World Records as the world's largest bus with a capacity for 170 passengers.-History:The...
s between 1975 and 1992. In these models, only the upper deck allows movement between the two sections, so each section has its own doors and set of stairs.
Driver licensing
In some countries of the European Union, an articulated bus can be driven with a normal bus license (D), where a bus towing a normal trailer requires a bus + trailer (D+E) license. However, a special training is needed for bi-articulated buses.
See also
- Trailer bus
A trailer bus or articulated trailer bus is a bus formed out of a bus bodied semi-trailer pulled by a conventional tractor unit in the same way as a conventional articulated semi-trailer truck....
- Articulated buses in the United Kingdom
Articulated buses were rarely used in the United Kingdom compared to other countries, until the turn of the millennium. This was historically due to the UK preference for the double-decker bus for use on high capacity routes. As of June 2006, there were over 500 articulated buses in the UK,...
- List of articulated bus systems
- List of buses
External links