Sao Paulo,
Brazil—For the past few months, residents of Sao Paulo—Brazil’s largest
city, with a metropolitan area population of 15 million—have been served by the
world’s longest buses: a fleet of 20 bi-articulated Volvo B10M models that carry up
to 276 passengers each.
The buses measure 25 meters in length, a fraction more than 82 feet,
and they are equipped with such high-tech touches as anti-lock brakes, automatic
transmissions, and ASR anti-slip system and power steering. These features are designed to
improve passenger comfort and make the driver’s job easier.
Marcopolo, Brazil’s largest bus manufacturer, turns out the
streamlined body. The advanced design of the vehicle is unique to Sao Paulo and includes
rubber-lined anti-slip flooring and a total of eight doors on both sides of the bus. A set
of eight micro-cameras enables the driver to monitor passengers getting on and off the bus
via the right-hand and left-hand doors, as well as assisting the driver in close quarter
maneuvering.
The advanced design B10Ms have joined a fleet of 160 articulated and
116 standard buses serving a heavily traveled 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) commuter corridor
that links the outskirts of Sao Paulo with the city center. Up to 130,000 passengers
travel that route in each direction every workday.
The Volvo plant in Brazil that turns out the B10M model is also
responsible for the 114 bi-articulated trolleybuses of Curitiba, Brazil, which serve the
heaviest travel corridors. Sao Paulo now has the largest fleet of articulated buses in
Brazil, 351 units, the majority of which are Volvos.
The Volvo B10M chassis with a Marcopolo body is also being used in the
"Fura-Fila" (Queue Jumper) guided trolleybus system that is now in the prototype
stage and expected to enter revenue service on a suburban bus corridor in Sao Paulo later
this year.
Marcopolo, Volvo, and Powertronics of Brazil developed the prototype,
which has been tested on its own track for the past year. The full system is expected to
be completed by 2002 with a total of 450 vehicles, each of which will have a capacity of
270 passengers. The first six-mile segment is expected to be in operation by the end of
the year with 31 vehicles.
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