Looking for a new driving gig? School bus companies all over the country are currently scrambling to make up for a driver shortage that has forced schools in some areas to delay class schedules and suspend bus routes. These bus companies are in immediate need of new drivers, and many of them are offering special incentives and referral bonuses in an attempt to attract qualified hires. According to a recent survey in School Bus Fleet Magazine, twenty-two percent of the nation’s 50 largest school bus operators called the shortage “severe,” while 5 percent said they were “desperate” for new drivers…. Read more »
The news that Amazon has launched a dedicated bus service may not be as exciting as rumors that they are testing drones for same-day delivery, but it’s certainly big news for commuters who work for the enormous company in Seattle. Recently, Amazon began offering private shuttles to its employees that are scheduled to run six times in the morning and six times in the evening, with a bus arriving to pick up employees about every twenty minutes. The program is called “Amazon Ride,” and it will shuttle up to 26,000 passengers from Redmond, Issaquah and Bellevue to Amazon’s two… Read more »
It’s still a few years off, but many people in New York City are already preparing for the impending shut down of the L train. The L is one of many lines of the subway that carries people from Brooklyn to Manhattan, and vice versa, often during the peak of rush hour. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) plans to shut down the only tunnel that carries the L train underneath the East River in January of 2019 for a year or more to repair serious damage that was caused by Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. During the hurricane, more… Read more »
Each city has its own unique public transit system, and no system is perfect. In New York, the Subway carries commuters and residents from place to place on a regular schedule though a delay-prone system of underground and above-ground trains. Meanwhile in Boston, the T uses mainly above-ground tramcars to take people from place to place. In other cities, however, people rely primarily on bus service for their transit needs. In Houston, for example, the bus system is becoming more and more user friendly thanks to a recent major overhaul. Last August, the bus system’s outdated service map was upgraded… Read more »
There will be some changes to the truck and bus models you see driving down the country’s highways come 2021. According to a press release from Environment News Service, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have made some decisions on emissions caps for medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses for the 2021 through 2027 model years. The goal of these two agencies partnering up is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to encourage “manufacturing innovation”. Environment News Service reports that the potential benefits of the stringent emissions program outweigh… Read more »
Back in July, a curious little bus named Olli made its debut appearance in Washington, D.C. Aside from its distinctive appearance, what sets Olli apart from other buses in D.C. is that it’s able to drive itself. The bus is able to respond to hails from an Uber-like app, and recognize requests from passengers to take them to different locations in the area. Now, a similar bus is about to hit the streets of the Finnish city of Helsinki as well. They’re called EasyMile minibuses, and this will be the first time they’ll share the road with ordinary traffic in… Read more »
The National Park Service has long maintained a commitment to minimizing traffic on their roads and keeping environmentally-vehicles in their fleet. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), roughly 60 percent of the vehicles the Park Service maintains are electric or powered by alternative fuels. About 20 years ago, the Park Service began replacing its gasoline and diesel-powered buses with low-emission propane-powered alternatives. Now, those buses are getting old and park officials are considering upgrading to an even more environmentally-friendly alternative – electric buses. Recently, the Park Service began working with the NREL to evaluate the possibility of converting… Read more »
Since it was founded in 2004, Proterra has become one of the biggest names in zero-emission bus design in the world. Last year, Fortune Magazine went so far as to call the company the Tesla of electric buses. According to Bloomberg BNA, the company currently controls about 80 percent of the U.S. market for electric buses. You can find Proterra’s electric buses in cities all over the country – from Seattle to Reno to Nashville. What distinguishes Proterra from its competitors isn’t just its commitment to electric vehicles; it’s the company’s proprietary rapid-charging technology that allows their buses to be… Read more »
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is committed to making their fleet of buses as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. Currently, 97 percent of the fleet runs on clean-burning natural gas. By the end of 2016 they expect the entire fleet to be powered by natural gas, with one notable exception. On May 23, the OCTA hosted an event to unveil its first zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell bus. Wrapped in a graphic decal of California poppies, the bus will roam the streets of Orange County in a two-year demonstration of hydrogen fuel cell technology. The $2.6 million dollar… Read more »
Here in America, many cities have begun embracing bus rapid transit systems as fast, cost-effective alternatives to subways. In China, meanwhile, engineers are taking a very different approach to modern bus transit. It’s called the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), and it debuted earlier this month at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo. As its name suggests, the TEB’s passenger rides above traffic, rather than alongside of it. Its massive frame straddles cars, allowing them to pass underneath it without disrupting the flow of traffic. With its sleek lines and unusual form factor, the TEB looks distinctly futuristic. Civil engineers… Read more »
