The magazine Bus Industry

Volvo's concept bus is deployed on the line 16 in Gothenburg from Wednesday. Photo: Ulo Maasing.

From Wednesday tested Volvo's new concept bus on route 16 in Gothenburg. The bus, which we previously reported about the only Swedish trade magazine, is designed to provide quicker passenger flows. The most distinctive feature of the new bus is that the wheels are placed at the front and the driver sits in the center front.

The bus is part of the great European project ESBF - European Bus System of the Future. Gothenburg is a collaborative project between Volvo Buses, Västtrafik, Chalmers and Veolia Transport. The goal is to develop and test a new type of bus that can attract more passengers, providing a safe travel experience while reducing operating costs. The bus has been developed from advanced traveler studies.

The concept bus that will go on stombusslinje 16 in Gothenburg has been given a modern look with large windows and wide doors that open outward, for faster access and egress, leading to short stop stop. The bus also takes more passengers as it has folding seats that allow more standing can ride during peak hours. Another innovation is the placement of the front wheels.
- The advantage of the wheels are placed as far forward as possible, taking up less passenger space, while the driver gets a major traffic view their location in the center, says Peter Danielsson, project manager at Volvo Buses.

The new bus also requires a different driving style because the driver can not sweep the front of the curb as you can with a regular bus, which can make it harder to get close to the bus stops. - We work on driver training to give passengers a pleasant journey, while we developed a method to run as close to the bus stop as possible, says Magnus Lorentzon, project manager at Västtrafik.

The bus will go into service on Line 16, starting on December 14. It will run between rounds of the regular schedule and during the test period, which lasts until March 2012, the bus will be evaluated by the travelers.

A full report on the future of Volvo's new coach is in Bussbtanschen 10/2011 which will expire on 16 December.

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