SBS Transit Invests In Award-Winning Stepless Buses
SBS Transit's next batch
of single-deck buses will crank up the comfort level several
notches - thanks to a completely stepless aisle.
Known as a through low-floor bus, the aisle of the Mercedes
Citaro is flushed flat from the front of the bus to the back . This
makes it especially friendly to elderly passengers who no longer
need to climb steps to reach the back of other low-floor models
currently on the road. The 300 Citaros, which have won several
international awards including the "2007 Bus of the Year" and the
"Best Commercial Vehicles of 2010", will also have more than 10
priority seats which will be easily accessible by the elderly and
the handicapped.
SBS Transit will pay $110 million for the 300 Citaros. Together
with another 300 new double-deck buses from Volvo, they are
scheduled to hit our local roads over the next two years starting
from 2011.
The latest bus purchase of $268 million brings SBS Transit's
total investment in new buses over the last five years to $854
million. It will lower the age of our existing buses from nine
years to seven years.
SBS Transit Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gan Juay Kiat, said: "We
are excited about our latest bus purchase. The saloon layout of the
new single-deck through low-floor buses is more
commuter-friendly."
Mr Gan added that when the new single- and double-deck are
rolled out over the next two years, two out of every three buses in
the SBS Transit fleet will be new.
"This means we will have one of the youngest fleets in Asia," he
said.
As with recent bus purchases, the latest batch of new buses are
Euro 5 compliant.
Background
SBS Transit operates 193 basic bus services and 53 premium and
niche services. The company currently has close to 3,000 buses
where one in two of its buses is new. Since our fleet renewal
programme commenced in 2006, we have bought 1,450 new buses, of
which 1,100 are single deck buses from Scania and 350 are
double-deck ones from Volvo. All are wheelchair-accessible
buses.
The Award-Winning Mercedes Citaro Bus
Exterior view of the Citaro Bus which was named "Best Commercial
Vehicles of 2010 - City Bus" and "2007 Bus of the Year".
Stepless aisle in the bus
Source: http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/press/2010-09-06-01-S.aspx
