#bi-articulated-buses

#bi-articulated-buses

Corentin Roudaut, who once felt overwhelmed by Paris's traffic, found renewed confidence in cycling after the establishment of a segregated bike lane on Boulevard Voltaire. He now actively participates in promoting cycling in the city, witnessing a remarkable transformation in urban mobility and safety over the last decade.

The buses in La París de Sudamérica evolved out of a system of taxis, and each route is run by a separate company to this day.

"This project is symbolic of what we've done over the last 12 years, reshaping the streets and the city," Christophe Najovski, the city's deputy mayor in charge of green spaces, stated during the opening ceremony.

It's tempting to frame autonomous driving as a single leap. In public transport, adoption tends to be incremental - because the system is built for reliability, and new capabilities have to fit into daily operations without disrupting service. That is why a practical strategy is evolution, not revolution: introduce autonomy in a defined domain, learn safely in real operations, and expand capability step-by-step.

The design, which has a cycle lane between the stop and the kerb, is intended to allow bus passengers to get on and off safely while cyclists continue moving. Sarah Gayton, street access campaign co-ordinator at the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, said: "It does not address the concerns that blind and visually impaired people have and it's totally insulting to think that we'll accept this."

The planned order is expected to include 12-meter and 18-meter vehicles, and potentially also 24-meter bi-articulated trolleybuses. All units will be equipped with traction batteries enabling off-wire operation. The new trolleybuses are expected to cover at least 20 kilometers without overhead wires, while remaining fully compatible with Riga's extensive existing trolleybus infrastructure.

Goiânia has launched a fleet of electric bi-articulated buses in regular passenger service, deploying 21 high-capacity Volvo BZRT vehicles supported by a new dedicated charging hub. The Brazilian city has introduced 16 articulated and 5 bi-articulated battery-electric buses built on the Volvo Buses BZRT chassis and bodied by Marcopolo (Attivi model). The vehicles operate within the RMTC metropolitan public transport network, alongside the inauguration of the Eletroposto Oeste charging facility located at the METROBUS S.A. depot.

The framework covers vehicles powered by hydrogen, battery-electric and diesel technologies, as well as different bus formats including single-deck, double-deck, articulated and 6×2 models. Framework agreements are designed to streamline procurement processes by allowing public buyers to purchase vehicles without conducting a full open tender.

Every city contains two transportation systems. One is the visible network of roads, rail lines, sidewalks, and bus routes mapped in planning documents. The other is the invisible geography of privilege and exclusion embedded within it: the neighborhoods that received highways instead of parks, the communities whose bus routes were cut, the sidewalks that abruptly end at the edge of a district.

Heating, cooling, and battery temperature control are among the biggest energy consumers in electric buses today - and thus have a direct impact on range, availability, and operating costs.