Roads Minister Richard Holden has confirmed allocations for 64 local authorities across England from the £80 million investment in the Bus Service Improvement Plan+ (BSIP+) for 2024-25. Local authorities can use the funding to improve local buses by bringing in new services or routes, extending timetables through new morning or evening buses, or by making tickets cheaper.
Swedish public transport operator Flexbuss – not to be confused with the firm with the green-liveried intercity coaches – has entered into a cooperation with tyre distributor Colmec Group, beginning 1 September 2023. Announcing the arrangement, Colmec key account manager Mikael Kjellgren said “we are very happy that Flexbuss chooses Colmec as its comprehensive partner regarding tyres and tyre service and I look forward to developing together.”
Leeds City Council has opened the UK’s first solar powered Park and Ride in Stourton, serviced by electric buses that link the Park and Ride to Leeds city centre. Stourton is Leeds’s third Park and Ride site and the first that is powered by solar modules coupled with a battery storage system, with carbon emissions being reduced by approximately 471,000 KGCO2e in 2022.
The entire Conti Urban bus tyre range is now kitted out with the latest generation of sensors from Continental. From August 2023, Conti Urban HA3, Conti UrbanScandinavia HA3+ and Conti UrbanScandinavia HD3 smart tyres will be available to purchase, making Continental the first manufacturer to offer an entire family of tyres with sensors.
Bandvulc has launched a new tyre for bus and coach operators. Introducing Citymaster 5, the Continental-owned retreader states that the tyre “majors on delivering exceptional reliability, durability and safety for operators of passenger carrying vehicles.”
PSV operator, Go South Coast has invested in a number of wheel aligner systems to provide a more accurate and faster service. Go South Coast runs 150 bus routes in Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. It owns brands including Bluestar, Damory, Hants & Dorset Trim, Excelsior, Morebus, Salisbury Reds, Southern Vectis, Swindon’s Bus Company, and Tourist Coaches.
Arriva North West has returned to Michelin after a period with a rival supplier, and says certainty of supply, product quality and in-house expertise drove its decision to switch back. The bus operator has signed a five-year contract with the Michelin Services & Solutions division.
On 4 May 2022 the General Court of the European Union annulled Regulation (EU) 2018/683, overturning the regimen of anti-dumping duties imposed upon truck & bus tyres imported from China. The European Commission subsequently partially re-opened its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation, disclosing its findings on 10 January 2023. The Commission has now published details of definitive measures.
Public transport operator Warrington’s Own Buses has switched to an exclusive Michelin policy with the tyre manufacturer’s Services & Solutions division, as the business prepares to transition its entire bus fleet from diesel to electric. An important part of the new agreement will see 105 new electric buses arrive at the company specified with Michelin X InCity EV Z tyres as original equipment. The X InCity EV Z is Michelin’s first range of bus tyres specifically designed for electric vehicles (EVs).
Tatneft, the firm seeking to acquire the Nokian Tyres operation in Russia, has purchased Uzbekhistan’s only tyre maker, Birinchi rezinotexnika zavodi. Former majority owner Uzkimyosanoat JSC reports that Tatneft paid US$80 million for a 100% shareholding in the tyre maker. Tatneft also takes over credit obligations and debts equal to $153 million.
Continental says its seven-year relationship with bus operator Whitelaws has “gone from strength to strength.” The Lanarkshire-based firm was an early adopter of the ContiPressureCheck tyre pressure monitoring system. Now deployed across Whitelaws’ 23-strong fleet of service buses, ContiPressureCheck is a mainstay of the company’s tyre maintenance schedule.
The iON name is one we’ve recently become acquainted with on Hankook car tyres. With the launch of the iON Evo and iON winter, Hankook Tire has a range of summer and winter tyres specifically aimed at electric vehicles. The South Korean tyre maker is now launching a series of iON truck and bus tyres in its domestic market, and this is worth noting as Hankook says some of these products are being developed with European markets in mind.
Passenger cars now come with TPMS as standard, and before long this feature will also be required by law in the commercial segment. The European Union’s General Safety Regulation calls for newly homologated heavy commercial vehicle models such as buses and trucks, and their trailers, to be equipped with TPMS from July this year. Starting in 2024, all new vehicles must be equipped with TPMS. Continental is catering to this growth market by expanding its commercial vehicle servicing product range with TPMS Update Plus Transport, which turns its TPMS Pro device into a “comprehensive TPMS service tool for commercial vehicles.”
Last month, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) – a Northeast Ohio-based future mobility business – announced a collaboration to test intelligent tyre sensors and prototype tyres on SARTA’s fleet of diesel and zero emission hydrogen fuel cell-powered (HFC) buses.
The city bus market is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Electrification, autonomy and accessibility, including on-demand services, are revolutionising urban mobility. Goodyear has launched a new tyre to provide a solution for operators seeking to maximise the efficiency of their current fleet and prepare for the future; the UrbanMax MCA HL + is an all-position tyre with high-load structure, enabling the 8-tonne axle load capacity required by modern electric or hybrid buses.
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Department for Transport
Leeds City Council
SARTA