Future bus specs
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Papers were presented on -he Usefulness of research in lublic transport by R. A. Chapnan of Newcastle University nd London Transport's exierience in Research into demand and productivity in bus .ervice planning by P_ H. Collins vho is LT's assistant planning Aficer. His paper described the ,ariety of approaches adopted iy London Transport in the area if demand and productivity esearch. It covered the idenification of the needs for esearch, the development of esearch approaches and nethodologies, the production if results that are policy orienated for use in decision making ,t different levels and the idenification of future directions for esearch.
Greater London Council
architect, John Parker pre-i sented a paper on Urban design and public transport which was intended to show interaction between public transport and the design of urban areas. This was followed by G. Eric Hutchinson of the Tyne and Wear PTE who spoke of the integration of bus and Metro services in his area.
British Rail strategy was outlined by Dr J.D.0 A. Prodeaux,
Overhaul
Harry Taylor of the West Yorkshire PTE presented a paper entitled An operator's view of bus design and maintenance. This was followed by papers on bus design from the manufacturers' viewpoint. The Concept development phase was discussed by Leyland's John Cox and the Production, design and development phase by John Rook of Metro-Cammell Weymann Ltd.
Harry Taylor looked at the effect of legislation on fleet replacement and maintenance. The need for every psv to be issued with a Certificate of Fitness has influenced the maintenance system and the vehicle replacement programme of many operators.
A CoF renewal entails a major overhaul. Many operators have been encouraged to replace buses every 12-13 years and avoid overhaul. This has caused peaks and troughs in the demand for double-deck buses as many operators bought vehicles in the post-war boom years 1948-54 which were due for replacement in 1962-64 and again in 1976-77.
Mr Taylor points out that it cannot be in the best interests of the manufacturing industry to have to meet a demand of 3,000 one year and only 1.000 the next. .
In future the CoF seems likely to be replaced by a form of type approval coupled with compulsory annual tests for buses. This will not replace the need for overhaul but will allow operators to determine when the overhaul is best done. They will not be faced with a large batch of vehicles simultaneously needing overhaul.
Environment
Another point likely to affect operators is future technical legislation emanating from the EEC. Mr Taylor considers that future legislation requiring retarders with braking systems on buses a good thing but is worried by possible environmental regulations which will undoubtedly require engine encapsulations which could make routine maintenance more difficult.
The present generation of rear-engined double-deckers has generally been found to lack the reliability and durability associated with old front engine designs, says Mr Taylor. This has placed pressure on the maintenance resources of operators who have required 20 per cent or more increase in spare buses.
The tendency to blame Leyland for the situation is not totally fair as the three most common models have been in production many years and were all designed by separate teams and originally produced independently. He found it surprising that there is little to choose between the models from the reliability and durability aspects and was disappointed that after 20 years the rear-engined bus still often fails to meet operator requirements despite innumerable modifications and re-designs.
He does not altogether blame the bus designers for their buses unreliability as they all were originally designed for crew .operation and have since been needed for one man operation which is thought to lead to increased wear and tear. The transmission still remains the same and is often particularly troublesome.
Operators also deserve a proportion of the blame for unsatisfactory bus designs as many did not modify their maintenance systems and periods for more complicated buses and some did not foresee the need for large capacity rear-engined double-deckers and preferred single-deckers.
Operators should also ask themselves whether they provide sufficient training for shop floor maintenance personnel. Computerised maintenance systems have been used for many years in the USA by trained operators and Mr Taylor feels that their use could be extended to the British psv industry with advantage.
Competition In the UK he said that the usual attitude is that information on the cost of maintenance and component reliability is too costly to obtain. NBC and CIE have, however, introduced such a system.
Mr Taylor then looked at the new generation double-deck buses coming on to the market. He welcomed the competition provided by five separate manufacturers although he predicted that before long the choice would be between three or four manufacturers. He then outlined his basic specifications for future buses.
His specification was:— r] fully automatic transmission with manual override matched to the final drive to give optimum desired performance consistent with fuel economy braking system with integrated foundation brakes and retarder. Brakes should not be affected by low operating temperatures El power-assisted steering and anergonomically-designed cab
Rconstant height suspension light alloy construction with integrated underframe and body structure Li efficient heating system designed to give optimum performance from vehicle waste heat and reasonable waste flows under all conditions
17] carefully protected electrical' installation integrated for both underframe and ,body using reliable components. Unit should be readily accessible E attention to major corn ponents' reliability with eas' access for routine maintenance Minimum need for special tool and equipment
E the vehicle should be a! light as is consistent with durability for fuel economy. Ext erior noise levels should cornph with projected, legislation.
Many of these points are de signed into the new generatior buses.
In the future Mr Taylor woulc like to see increased use o plug-in test units that woulc automatically check a variety o items for safety. He also predict a limited future for the articu lated bus in Britain.
John Cox of Leyland Vehicle: outlined the consideration made by manufacturers lookini at a new bus project. Marketini and sales considerations includ, general market objectives, gec graphical market areas, marke sectors, operating modes specification features and prc jected sales forecasts.
Legislative requirements an related standards, both now an in the future, were also consic ered as were the engineerinc service and manufacturing loci tions necessary to fulfil the ma keting objettives.
If operators' and manufar turers' objectives are all met i the design of buses, the futur reliability of bus services shoul be relatively assured. If deman is identified, the bus is provide and the operators allowed to ru these services without too muc interference, hopefully the ne+ generation of buses wi bring a new and improve generation of public transport.