Bus

What are buses?
Bus vehicles are celebrating their 100th anniversary. Some 80% of all public transport passengers worldwide are carried by buses.

The bus is a very efficient mode of transport, which is cheap, flexible and, in many cases, tailored to the needs of users both in terms of capacity and speed. Buses operate in mixed traffic and are easy to put in service. They do not require any infrastructure except a depot and workshop.

From an economic, environmental and social point of view, the bus still remains the most universal solution for a balanced and sustainable urban development.

Indeed, the bus is the only public transport mode in many of the world’s cities. It also plays a key supporting role in cities with rail transport modes.

Developments and trends
Over the past decades, increased road space consumption by private individual motorised transport has contributed to tremendous congestion. This has a direct impact on the operation speed of buses, and hence their service quality, reliability, energy consumption, economy and overall profitability. The efficiency and performance of buses depends heavily on dedicated lanes and stops. Various forms of traffic segregation are possible - from a mere painted mark on the road, to various forms of road treatments (elevated lanes, movable barriers, ‘bus locks’, contra flow lanes etc), to dedicated dual lane infrastructure with ‘metro-like stations’. The most advanced of such systems as referred to as ‘bus rapid transit’ (BRT).

A recent trend is also to look beyond vehicle technology alone and to consider the wider system and its components, such as infrastructure and operations. This is commonly known and promoted as the ‘bus system approach’.

Other key innovations include:

• Clean engines and alternative fuels
• Low-floor architecture
• Double articulated vehicles: up to 210 passengers
• Guiding devices

In terms of accessibility and the design of stations and bus stops, much of what has happened with the revamping with light rail can be transferred to bus technology, including the image and design of the vehicle itself.

Buses in figures
The energy consumption of the bus per passenger/km is one-third of that of a car.

Buses are only responsible for about 5% of the CO2 emissions generated by vehicles with internal combustion engines.

The 50 largest bus network operators in Europe have 54,700 buses. Every year they purchase some 4,500 new buses.

The top five bus manufacturers produce 73% of Europe’s buses, or 8,500 vehicles per year.

Capacity of buses: pax: single bus: 120 / articulated bus: 150

Read more
UITP presents its first statistics report: 'Latest Figures on the urban bus fleet in the European Union
Cost reduction and resource maximisation in the urban bus industry
Transantiago: redesigning public transport in Santiago, Chile
Fuel choices for public transport - Environmental demands and efficiency
Appendix: The current state-of-the-art of fuels
Standardised on-road tests (SORT)
European Bus of the Future
A Congestion Free Bus Network
Modern management and organisation of bus workshops
Traffic calming measures and bus traffic
Biofuels in buses
BRT in China

CONFERENCE New Horizons for Urban Traffic Innovative Electric Bus Transit Systems 18-19 November, Zurich, Switzerland

UITP Bus Division

The UITP Bus Division consists of two bodies:

• the Bus committee
• the Bus Assembly

The Bus Committee

The Bus Committee was created in 1961 as the Commission for the Standardisation of Motorbuses. It is hence one of the oldest committee of the UITP. In the last few years, the trend has been to enlarge the scope of interest to economical and operational aspects.

Every 2 years the Bus Committee decides on a number of issues to deal with in depth by smaller working groups. The Committee meets biannually in one of the member cities to discuss the outcome, and the further steps of the Committee.

The current Chairman of the Bus Committee is Ezio Castagna, Director, CTM S.p.A, Cagliari, Italy

The Bus Assembly

The Bus Assembly is a forum for liaison, exchange of knowledge and debate that provides information on innovative technologies and operation methods. The Bus Assembly invites its members to discuss specific aspects of modal interest. The Bus Committee provides the Assembly with its work results and recommendations.

The Bus Assembly is composed of all UITP full members operating bus lines. It convenes regularly (every two years in general) on the occasion of the biennial UITP World Congress, or of UITP topical Conferences.

The current Chairman of the Bus Assembly is David Martin, Chief Executive, ARRIVA PLC, United Kingdom

CONTACT: Arno Kerkhof, arno.kerkhof@uitp.org  

Missions and Issues

The UITP Bus Division consists of two bodies:

• The Bus Assembly
• The Bus Committee

I. The Bus Assembly

Mission of the Bus Assembly

1. The Bus Assembly is a forum for liaison, exchange of knowledge and debate that provides information on innovative technologies and operation methods. The Bus Assembly invites its members to discuss specific aspects of modal interest.

2. The Bus Committee shall inform the Bus Assembly on on-going developments in the industry, on its current themes studied and on the position papers prepared by the Committee and submitted for discussion and approval to the Policy Board.

3. The Assembly notes and discusses the on-going topics studied and the position papers prepared by the Committee.

4. The Assembly can propose candidates for nomination within the Committee to the UITP General Secretariat and to the Committee Chairperson.

5. The Bus Assembly is a privileged place to promote UITP activities to potential Bus Division members.

II. The Bus Committee Mission statement and main issues

The Committee will defend the interest and promote public transport by bus. To this aim, it carries out, among others, studies and pilot actions focusing upon the quality of vehicles, the improvement of bus impact on environment, efficiency and safety. The Committee shall strive for links and synergies with manufacturers and transport authorities. The Committee shall inform the Bus Assembly of its work on the occasion of Assembly meetings. The following activities are key to the operation of the Committee:

1. To study, assess and promote innovative operation and technology for bus design and construction.

2. To represent UITP and its members on matters relating to international legislation and regulation.

3. To monitor, assess and, if deemed applicable, promote the use of environmentally friendly technologies with respect to vehicle construction, its components or its use, notably with regard to energy and drive systems.

4. To meet and co-operate with vehicle and component manufacturers as well as with fuel and energy suppliers on technical and commercial matters to ensure whole life economic operation. The aim of such co-operation is also to jointly define targets and future market trends.

5. To discuss and publicise best practice in vehicle maintenance, including depot and workshop design and economics.

6. To support the development of bus systems (also guided systems) by translating the demands of passenger transport into technical solutions.

List of members

See the list of members

Working groups

- WG Trolleybus
- Bus High Level Group (Building a sound future for the bus business)
- Tendering recommendations implementations
- SORT (Standard On-Road Test Cycles) Enlargement
- Fuel and Traction systems Observatory
- Interaction buses and signals at road crossing
- Bus Corridors
- Quality Time
- Aggression and Fraud
- European affairs (clean vehicles directive; vocational training WG; Bus Legislation overview)