The APTA Study Team in South America this week not only saw some of the world's longest
bi-articulated buses in urban service, it got a glimpse at how they are made.
While in Curitiba, the group had a chance to visit Volvo do Brasil's manufacturing
facility. Volvo has turned out more than 1,200 of the articulated and bi-articulated buses
currently running in South America. Curitiba is the Brazilian city known for starting the
Bus Rapid Transit systems now coming to more than a dozen U.S. cities.
Volvo's BIOM models carry up to 276 passengers each and measure slightly more than 82
feet. They are equipped with such high-tech touches as anti-lock brakes, automatic
transmissions, anti-slip system, and power steering. These features are designed to
improve passenger comfort and make the driver's job easier. A total of eight doors on both
sides of the bus is monitored by a set of eight micro-cameras that enable the driver to
monitor passengers getting on and off the bus and assist the driver in maneuvering.
The Volvo plant is also responsible for the 114 bi-articulated trolleybuses in
Curitiba, which serve the heaviest travel corridors. Sao Paulo now has the largest fleet
of articulated buses in Brazil, 351 units, most of them Volvos.
The plant is also supplying the new Manaus transport system that will have 120 Volvo
articulated buses with air conditioning, air suspension, and automatic transmission.
Embedded in the heart of the Amazon, the city has one million inhabitants, and average
summer temperatures exceed 105 degrees.
Earlier this year, the company announced the sale of another 315 articulated buses to
Bogota, Colombia, where a new trunk line system has just started operating, vastly
improving the city's quality of life. There, the new buses make up a modern trunk line
system, replacing a system using a privately operated fleet of small buses that caused
traffic jams and air pollution. As a result, the passenger demand increased far beyond
expectations, leading the city to speed up the construction time schedule for completion
of the new trunk line BRT system.
Editor's Note: Passenger Transport will be running a follow-up story on the two-week,
three-country journey. Bill Lieberman, who accompanied the May 27 to June 9 study mission,
will be providing the details.
Return To International Focus
Some of these pages may include links to documents in the Adobe PDF format. Please download the Adobe PDF reader if you have not already done so.
