Once upon a time safety was just an initial concept involving some belts and a door. ABC’s focus on zero-emissions safety and fire suppression in our June magazine shows that the concept of bus and coach safety has evolved rapidly over the years.
In the Australian bus and coach industry, there are a few buzz words at the moment. Electric buses and zero-emissions tend to dominate manufacturer conversations, as does driver retention and recruitment when it comes to industrial relations for operators. Yet there’s one topic throughout all parts of the bus and coach sector that has been a constant over the decades.
Safety.
What is it, and in a rapidly developing industry, how is it implemented?
For diesel vehicles, safety traditionally looked like collision protection, seat belts and airbags. But when zero-emissions buses and coaches began to steadily proliferate the Australian market, the idea of best safety practices has taken on a whole new meaning.
In just the past two years alone, the term safety in the bus industry has opened its umbrella to now encompass fire suppression for electric lithium-ion bus batteries, hydrogen fuel-cell protection, thermal management and air purification against the likes of COVID-19.
No one sums up this shimmering definition of zero-emissions bus and coach safety better than United Safety & Survivability Corporation.
As seen on our cover for this month, United Safety offers a wide range of products to protect both passengers and drivers, as well as those working on or driving near a bus. From page 20 onwards, United Safety has focused on the Fogmaker safety system, tailoring the successful product from diesel models to the unique safety challenge that zero-emissions vehicles now present.
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The smorgasbord of companies involved in this edition’s feature on zero-emissions safety practices highlights the variety of meanings safety has in the local bus and coach industry.
For manufacturer Volvo Bus Australia, safety has graduated from the invention of the seat belt through to electric battery cell chemistry and unique ways of protecting important infrastructure, as can be seen on page 25.
For Siemens, its best zero-emissions practices came in the form of a recent European expedition to analyse various charging infrastructure projects. Olivia Laskowski sat down with ABC from page 34 to discuss what the technology company learnt from its visits.
Other manufacturers such as Scania are putting their own spin on safety. The big brand has won awards for its recent safety innovations for not just drivers and passengers, but workshop staff too (see page 29).
Webasto finishes the zero-emissions safety feature on page 46 with information about its CV Standard Battery that is keeping electric buses safer than ever before.
In other news this month, ABC takes a deep dive into what the proposed Tasmanian stadium and AFL team debate means for a potential bus network revolution in the apple isle, and talks to BLK Auto about the next step in its brand evolution from page 40.
Bus Stop has added to its ever-expanding zero-emissions fleet with a King Long EVolution Complete model that adds a critical piece to its electric bus puzzle on page 48. And, in more good news for Yutong buses in Australia, VDI recently won a major tender to fulfil one of Australia’s largest electric bus orders for the nation’s capital.
All of this good news proves the need for safety technology to be more innovative and impressive than ever before. This latest edition of ABC shows the local industry is in good hands with these safety systems. We hope you enjoy this month’s edition!
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