Coach & Bus Issue 37

Issue 36 – 2019 – $8.95 incl. GST

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BONLUCK STRAYA!

STRAY TRAVEL LUXURY BACKPACKER COACHES YUTONG 'S C122 IN ALICE • EURO BUS EXPO • VOLVO'S STUNNING 9000 SCANIA BIO-FUELS • AUTONOMOUS BUS GOES WALTZING WITH MATILDA

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001 Drivers Seat

PETER BARNWELL FUTURE SHOCKS

W

elcome to another year as the world races on towards new frontiers of vehicle electrification and the ‘A’ word, autonomy.

From our perspective we are constantly being quizzed about when we think electrification and autonomous vehicles will become part of the mainstream in Australia and quite frankly when ever we ask the experts we get mixed messages. Some, if you believe them, will have you thinking it is not far away while others are wary and believe that, particularly with autonomy that mass acceptance is a long way off. If it is confusing for us, with access to the industry’s best technical brains, then we understand how confusing and bewildering it is for you as buyers of new vehicles.

Australia is a conundrum and presents some real challenges for electric buses, although none that can’t be overcome with spending on infrastructure and rapidly improving battery technology. Even in one of the most urbanised countries in the world our city buses have much longer routes than similar buses in Europe, the US or Asia and so that puts pressure on range and recharging facilities.

Even some hybrid buses that have been in use in Australia have struggled because the often higher speeds they have to maintain means the fuel engine has to work harder.

But it all sounds easy on paper doesn’t it?

However for all of that, things are slowly changing. Battery technology is improving all the time and governments are starting to get involved in charging infrastructure, as you will read in our news section with the NSW Government committing $5million for the first of a brace of charging points on main roads.

Its a trickle at the moment but as time rolls on and momentum builds behind electrification there will be more charging points and buses with better range.

In that same news story you will see that Yutong has provided an electric city bus for a bold trial with Premier Group on the NSW south coast, running between Kiama and Bomaderry, a route of about 40 km on semi rural roads with the bus likely to do six runs or more than 240 km before recharge.

Economics will ultimately provide the

tipping point for electric buses and while some government incentives will help the bottom line will be operators making the numbers work.

As cleaner Euro 6 buses come to the fore on our roads with lower emissions and noise levels, that will make it easier for a lot of operators to justify sticking with an internal combustion engine bus. Diesel is not dead yet and will for many years be the dominant power source for our buses, but over time technology will help new power sources from electric to hydrogen fuel cell and even forms of hybrid erode that dominance, but it could be a while yet!

Autonomy is another story altogether and while economics will also affect the potential for self driven buses, there are much bigger hurdles for this than there are for replacing the diesel engine.

For autonomous buses , as a senior executive for a major truck and bus maker told me last year, the biggest hurdle is politics.

While an engineer will tell you that autonomous technology is here and ready to go right now, the problem they have is with all the vehicles that still have a human sitting behind the wheel. If autonomous vehicles were the only vehicles on our roads then it would be much easier.

When those autonomous vehicles have to deal with other vehicles being driven by illogical, irrational and erratic humans then there is a major challenge.

Then there is the ethics conundrum. What would happen if a human ran out in front of an autonomous vehicle? Would the computer driving the vehicle decide to swerve to save the errant pedestrian and put its passenger in jeopardy? Or would it save the occupants and hit the pedestrian?

To our way of thinking it is an erroneous argument. It presupposes that a human driver will in a split second make the correct decision, and we all know that such tests of reflexes, judgement and ethics are imposed on many drivers every day of the week and many fail with dire consequences. Let’s face it a lot of us aren’t very good at the task of piloting a vehicle, otherwise the accident rate and road toll would not be a concern.

Just this week in Sydney a bus driver was

charged after an accident which saw two people killed on a scooter allegedly due to the bus hitting them from behind. An autonomous bus would almost certainly not have hit the scooter, because it would not have been distracted by a mobile phone.

These are difficult questions and none of them are easily answered, which is why the biggest hurdle is political.

Whatever and whenever all this unfolds we are in for an exciting technology filled future and we can fear that change or take a positive view and embrace it and utilise the advantages it will deliver. Who would have believed 30 years ago we would have something called a Smart Phone delivering so much information and communication in the palm of your hand?

Anyway that is the future, this is now and in this edition we have a great line up of stories including a terrific yarn about a backpacker transport specialist utilising Bonlucks on a run up the East Coast from Sydney to Byron and beyond. If you doubt the uptake and acceptance of Chinese built buses then read our story about the Yutongs that have been put into service in Alice Springs by Australian Transit Group.

While out in the outback we take a look at a bus running the infamous Gibb River Road in the Kimberley where a pure bus would struggle no matter where it came from. So APT has pressed a Mercedes Truck chassis into service to tackle the tough conditions and torturous roads.

We take a look at the recent Euro Bus Expo in Birmingham, the new Volvo 9000 series coach in Europe and Scania’s push for bio-fuels.

All that and a whole lot more in this issue of Coach & Bus , enjoy the read and we will catch you next time.

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Issue 036

CONTENTS CONTACT DETAILS PO Box 7046 Warringah Mall NSW 2100 www.truckandbus.net.au admin@truckandbus.net.au Enquiries 02 9938 6408 Follow us on Twitter #truckandbusnews Follow us on Facebook at Truck and Bus Australia

Publisher Jon Thomson admin@truckandbus.net.au Editor in Chief Peter Barnwell peter@truckandbus.net.au

FEATURES

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Just a few weeks after the massive IAA commercial vehicle Expo in Hanover Europe’s major bus and coach expo took place in Birmingham with the 2018 Euro Bus Expo in October. C&B takes a look at the major show to see if there is anything we can expect to see on our shores and where the trends in buses and coaches are headed.

30 IN A TOWN LIKE ALICE

Chinese maker Yutong has won its way into major bus operator Australian Transit Group, selling two of its new C122 coaches into the deep red heart of Australia based in Alice Springs. We investigate why ATG has given Yutong a try in one of the toughest environments around and how they’re measuring up so far.

36 9000 GOOD REASONS

Since launch in Gothenberg in May 2018, Volvo has already signed almost 150 orders for its new Volvo 9700 and 9900 coaches in Europe, collectively known as ‘the 9000 range’ for tourist and line-haul operations across the Continent. We take a closer look at Volvo’s new flagship coach and ponder that while it may never come here, what influence it might have on future coach design.

42 TOUGH LOVE

As roads go there are few tougher, more testing or vehicle breaking than the legendary Gibb River Rd in the WA Kimberley region. Littered with broken vehicle parts, rocks and ruts, bull dust pits that could swallow a small sedan and rocky, croc infested river crossings, the Gibb commands respect and it is a place where a conventional bus would struggle to survive. That’s why APT uses a Mercedes Benz truck chassis to transport tourists to some of the most remote and beautiful locations in the country.

We went to Kununurra to take a look at the rugged Benz buses.

48 MATILDA HAS A WALTZ WITH OLLI

An advance portable transport hub called Matilda has been developed in Adelaide and is being trialled in a pairing with an autonomous people mover bus called Olli. We ponder if this could be a move to inject a personal aspect into what are clearly nanimate objects, by giving them human names or if this is a ground breaking trial, melding home grown technology with a global autonomous transport company.

Contributing Writers Barry Flanagan, Sven Erik Lindsrand Contributing Photographers Mark Bean, Cristian Brunelli, Jan Glovac

Coach & Bus Magazine is published under licence by Transport Publishing Australia. and is distributed to road transport professionals, fleets, business professionals and the industry throughout Australia.

All material contained herein including text, photography, design elements and format are copyright and cannot be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Grayhaze Pty.Ltd. is a member of the Copyright Agency Limited (1800 066 844).

A unique bus service for backpackers and people wanting to see the ‘real’ Australia while travelling the East Coast has just added three new Bonluck 40 seaters to its fleet. C&B decided to find out exactly what makes Stray Travel tick.

22 EURO-VISION

Art Director Fiona Meadows fiona@kududesign.com.au Advertising Sales Jon Thomson Mobile: 0418 641 959 admin@truckandbus.net.au

ON YA STRAYA

54 BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

The Enviro400CBG City is the first Euro VI biogas-fuelled double-decker bus in the world and it’s been developed jointly between Scania and bus maker Alexander Dennis in the UK. Biogas is little used in Australia but as a source of clean energy it is something we could derive huge benefits from given the amount of methane emitted from animals alone in this country. We take a closer look at the technology and how the Scania performs, finding out that the answer could be...Blowin’ in the Wind

REGULARS

01

DRIVER’S SEAT

Editor Peter Barnwell has his say on the growing technology tidal wave and what it might mean in the bus world.

04 UP FRONT We wrap up the key local and international bus and coach news that affects us as a global industry and where we are heading.

Editorial contributions are welcome for consideration. Contact the Editor or Publisher for guidelines, fees and level of interest.

All unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamp, addressed envelope for their return. We will not be held responsible for material supplied electronically.

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64 MONEY

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We drive Ford’s latest Mustang GT.

Paul Clitheroe’s latest advice on finances.

APT USES A MERCEDES BENZ TRUCK CHASSIS TO TRANSPORT TOURISTS TO SOME OF THE MOST REMOTE AND BEAUTIFUL LOCATIONS IN THE COUNTRY. WE WENT TO KUNUNURRA TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE RUGGED BENZ BUSES.

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SOUTH COAST ELECTRIC – PREMIER TRIALS ELECTRIC YUTONG IN NOWRA A NEW YUTONG E12 low floor electric route bus has been selected for a six month trial on the NSW South Coast as part of a state government commitment to ensure at least 10 per cent of new vehicles on the government fleet are electric or hybrid powered, starting in 2020/21.

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The new Yutong will be operated

by Premier Transport Group on a route from Bombaderry rail station to Kiama rail station on weekdays .

The bus was unveiled at a function at Sydney University last week as part of an event held by the NSW government with both the. NSW Minister for

Roads, Melinda Pavey and the NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Andrew Constance announcing the State’s Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Plan.

The Yutong deal was done by Cairns based Yutong dealer, ABC Bus Sales and its GM Barry Henderson.

Barry Henderson told Truck and

Bus News that the deal for the trial of the Yutong electric bus took about four months to complete and came after an approach from Premier Transport Group to source an electric city bus for the specific trial route on the NSW South Coast.

“Premier had dealt with us before and they asked about a

Yutong electric bus and it went from there,” Barry told us.

“We had the specs for the route which is around 40km each way between Bombaderry Rail and Kiama Station and requires the bus to do around 280 km on a single charge and we worked with Yutong to source the correct bus for the job,” said Barry.

“Premier told us the idea of the electric bus trial was to gather as much data in regards to all aspects of operations in Australian conditions to enable everyone involved to evaluate all the issues from future needs and direction, operational demands and cost,” said Barry.

Barry Henderson said that the bus had been tested before going onto the trial and easily handled ambient temperatures up to 39 deg Celsius as well as in head and cross winds and showed it could travel up to 285km on a single charge.

Compliance, workplace safety and contract manager for Premier Transport Group, Greg Abel said the company believed the Yutong E12 electric was the best bus for the trial and the company had

worked closely with Yutong, Yutong Australia and ABC Bus Sales to bring the project to fruition.

“Premier Transport would like to thank Yutong and Barry Henderson and technical team for provision of the electric bus to enable the trial to go ahead,” he said.

“This is a very exciting time and is a new frontier for Premier Transport Group,” he added.

Yutong launched the 12 metre full electric low floor E12 city bus in late 2015 and claims to be the first Chinese bus maker to develop a full electric bus. The company says that to date it has delivered over 22,000 ‘new energy vehicles,’ including 8,000 full electric buses running in more than 140 cities around the world.

Yutong claims its E12 adopts the company’s unique intelligent electric drive technology platform – ReCtrl, which has drive management, whole vehicle CAN control and remote technology built in.

In announcing the government’s commitment to increasing its electric and hybrid vehicle fleet roads minister Pavey said it

means NSW will have the largest government fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles in Australia.

“It sends a clear signal of confidence to electric vehicle manufacturers and local consumers will also benefit by greater access to a wider choice of affordable electric vehicles in the future,” Minister Pavey added.

An important part of the plan is the development of electric bus services, such as the Premier Yutong Trial, with a number of other trials to begin shortly, led by the private bus industry and government.

“Electric vehicles are here, they are cheaper to fuel and maintain, but we need to keep developing the network and charging infrastructure to further drive their uptake,” Mr Constance said.

The NSW plan includes a $3 million co-investment in fast charging points for electric and hybrid vehicles on major regional corridors, and $2 million for new charging points in commuter car parks.

“More people are embracing electric and hybrid vehicles and we need to do our part to ensure

we have the infrastructure in place so that people are confident to use these vehicles right across the state,” Mr Constance said.

“That’s why we’re planning fast charging points for major regional corridors including the Newell, Great Western, New England, Pacific and Princes Highways and the Hume Motorway.”

“In the coming weeks we will commence market soundings for charging points to ensure we get the best value for money and identify the right locations by coinvesting with industry.

“We will also launch a new platform mid-year which will provide customer information to help buyers of electric vehicles choose wisely and locate charging points across NSW.” The NSW Government has also released its five-year plan for connected and automated vehicles.

“Vehicles in the future will not only be electric but automated, so we need to jointly consider these technological advances that will deliver safer, more accessible and convenient transport options.”

Mrs Pavey said.

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VDL BUS PALS UP WITH DAF X VDL has agreed on a new five year contract with fellow Dutch automotive company DAF Trucks that will see the two Eindhovenbased organisations work even more closely together.

The agreement includes provisions for the reciprocal supply of parts and components for the production of trucks and buses, the joint production of trucks with electric power trains and for VDL to renew production facilities at DAF. VDL and DAF Trucks have worked closely together since 1953.

DAF, a wholly owned subsidiary of US truck making giant PACCAR, initially purchased stamping, spot welding and regular welding services from VDL, but the portfolio of products and services has

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grown over the years.

Today, VDL supplies parts including engine mounts, cable guides, axle supports and exhaust pipe guides. In turn, DAF supplies VDL with its 11-litre and 13-litre MX engines for buses and coaches, to be used all around the world.

The new contract—the value of which has not been disclosed— is a result of DAF’s increasing production figures and the expansion of VDL Bus. One aspect of the contract is, of course, the mutual agreements in relation to the production of trucks with electric power trains.

Last year, DAF and VDL jointly presented the DAF CF Electric in response to the increasing demand for “zero emissions” vehicles for

deliveries within urban areas. The fully electric DAF CF will enter production as soon as the market is ready, and following extensive field tests — the first of which began recently. The new contract also provides for VDL to modernise the assembly line in DAF’s Cab factory in the Belgian city of Westerlo over the next few years.

“Our jointly developed e-truck that we presented in May last year is the culmination of a collaboration stretching back some 65 years”, says Willem van der Leegte, President and CEO of VDL Groep. “DAF and VDL are both customers and suppliers of each other. Both companies are built on strong and stable foundations and both excel at

developing innovations designed to improve the future. One such innovation is our e-truck, which will make heavy goods transport more sustainable. This background has seen DAF and VDL develop a strong mutual commitment, and the new agreement is yet another way in which we are establishing a solid basis for our partnership, both now and in the future.”

Harry Wolters, President DAF Trucks: “VDL Groep and DAF are leading technology companies, both of which are driven by a desire for continuous improvement and innovation, with the interests of the customer always foremost in our minds. This is what makes the collaboration between VDL and DAF so unique and valuable.”

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ELECTRIC BUS BATTERIES USED IN ENERGY ”WAREHOUSE” THE INAUGURATION of what is probably Europe’s first ever energy warehouse using electric bus batteries is currently under way.

The reuse and recycling of batteries is a key issue as increasing numbers of cities plan the transition to electrically powered transport.

Volvo Buses is taking part in a research project whereby used electric bus batteries get a second lease of life as solar energy storage units.

The research is taking place in Riksbyggen’s Viva housing cooperative in Gothenburg, an apartment complex that aims to be Sweden’s most innovative and

sustainable housing project – Positive Footprint Housing. Tenants are just starting to move into their new apartments.

Volvo, Göteborg Energi and Johanneberg Science Park have created a unique system whereby energy from solar panels on the roofs of the apartment buildings is stored in batteries that previously powered electric buses on a city route.

The energy warehouse is used to cut the property’s power consumption peaks, and to store or sell surplus solar energy.

It can also be used to buy and store electricity from the national grid when it is cheap

and green, for later use.

This improves the efficiency of housing association Viva’s own energy system as well as that of the city’s power grid.

“We know that electric bus batteries have good potential for other applications such as energy storage after the end of their life in public transport,” said Ylva Olofsson, Project Coordinator at Volvo.

“What we are examining here is exactly how good that potential is. Use of the batteries in an energy warehouse gives them an extended service life which in turn means better resource utilisation and less environmental impact.

Here at Volvo we are examining various possibilities for the reuse of bus batteries for energy storage, and Viva is one such example.”

The battery warehouse consists of 14 used lithium-ion electric bus batteries.

They are installed in a battery chamber and linked together to create a 200kWh storage pack.

This energy warehouse allows a larger proportion of Viva’s solargenerated electricity to be used for the housing association’s power needs.

The research on energy storage in used bus batteries is done with support from the EU project IRIS Smart Cities.

“ HERE AT VOLVO WE ARE EXAMINING VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES FOR THE REUSE OF BUS BATTERIES FOR ENERGY STORAGE”

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SCANIA SAYS EUROPE MUST DECARBONISE EUROPE URGENTLY needs to decarbonise all sectors of its economy as well as create high-quality durable jobs and growth, says Scania. In the transport sector, biofuels have a vital role in meeting both of these goals.

“A European bioeconomy can help Europe deliver on the Paris Agreement targets and lay the foundation for new growth,” said Scania’s President and CEO Henrik Henriksson.

At a conference in Oslo organised by the Xynteo leadership platform, Henrik announced a partnership with Xynteo to explore the full potential for biofuels and the

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wider bioeconomy in Europe.

The aim is to identify the barriers that are limiting their growth and by acting together – business, policymakers, innovators and civil society – to weaken those barriers and realise opportunities.

Henrik noted that the most recent climate report shows that a 2°C global warming rather than 1.5°C would mean a duplication of damage to the planet.

“We now have 10 years to bend the curve of global CO2 emissions and ensure that they start to decline instead of rising,” he said.

“This means we need to start acting, now.”

Electrification – and digitalisation

– will play a vital role in decarbonising transport.

The rapid development of battery electric vehicles and infrastructure can offer viable solutions also for heavy transports in ten to fifteen years’ time.

“But given the sense of urgency we don’t have the time to wait 10 years,” he added.

“We quickly need to deploy the biofuel solutions for CO2 free transport that are already at hand.”

Despite decades of high expectations, policy action and investment, trust in biofuels is low in Europe.

To move beyond this impasse, policymakers, business, consumers

and civil society need to develop a new comprehensive vision for the bioeconomy as a whole.

It is now time for a new approach and this initiative will highlight the potential for sustainable high-quality growth and decarbonisation.

Scania already offers the broadest range of vehicles to use with commercially available biofuels that can offer up to 90% reduction of carbon emissions.

“I see a large potential for Europe and for the rest of the world,” said Henrik.

“In Sweden, renewable fuels already account for one-fifth of heavy transport fuel usage.

BYD ROLLS OUT FIRST EURO BUSES FROM FRENCH FACTORY BYD FRANCE has delivered its first pure electric e-buses assembled in its Beauvais factory.

An inaugural ceremony was held to mark the delivery of two 12m vehicles to the Agglo du Beauvaisis, the community of the Beauvais area and they’re expected to enter service this month operating daily from the Beauvais-Tillé airport to the city hall and train station as well as on an express shuttle bus route serving hotels.

The vehicles, operated by Transdev, will drive up to 160km a day and will be charged overnight at Corolis, a Transdev network depot in Beauvais.

They’re capable of operating for the whole day on a single charge.

Isbrand Ho, Managing Director of BYD Europe and President of BYD France, said: “We are very

pleased to deliver our first ebuses to Beauvais, the region where our plant is established.

The French electric bus and coach market is one of the largest in Europe, and that is one of the main reasons why we have chosen our production site to serve the French market to be in Allonne.

Here we can optimally serve our French clients, we are close to our customers and we can produce tailor made ebuses with our team of local employees.

BYD has the capacity to make zero emission French-built electric buses in line with the spirit of the 2015 Paris Climate Summit.”

BYD has confirmed over 600 ebus orders in Europe, which makes the company the number one supplier of electric buses in the subcontinent.

Over 35,000 BYD electric buses have been delivered worldwide that have driven over 20m km in service.

“ THE FRENCH ELECTRIC BUS AND COACH MARKET IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN EUROPE”

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VOLVO PARTNERS SINGAPORE IN AUTONOMOUS PROJECT AS PART OF SINGAPORE’S efforts to deploy Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) to enhance its public transport system, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) partnered up with the Volvo Group. This is Volvo’s first opportunity to develop and test autonomous and electric city buses.

Singapore may be the second smallest country in Asia, but it is a leading nation in the region when it comes to technological development. It is investing heavily in automation and electro mobility to increase the use of public transport and to make the systems safer and more efficient.

Currently, 67% of journeys during peak hours are made on

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public transport, and the goal is to increase this to 75% by 2030.

Given the constraints which Singapore faces in land and labour, the country is focusing on automation to achieve its objective.

Manish Sahi, Head of Volvo Bus Singaopore Singapore, collaborated with NTU to understand the value of having Volvo on board as a major partner in the autonomous electric bus project.

The next step is to demonstrate how the buses operate and to carry out more research, together with NTU, into how to prepare the buses for use on public roads. The fact that the buses are not only autonomous but also electric plays an important role in being more

environmentally friendly.

The new technology allows public transport to be planned more effectively, which will lead to a reduction in congestion and a quieter, greener and safer transport system.

“The developments in the automated technology are helping progress towards Singapore’s vision of deploying AV technology for public transport,” explains Manish.

“But the technology is not yet ready to be commercialised. We need to carry out further tests to show that it is safe for passengers to use the buses on public roads.”

The project leader, Joakim Jonsson, drove the bus on-board the boat to Singapore and the

test track there himself. “Volvo is currently only allowed to test selfdriving vehicles on private roads” explains Joakim.

In December 2018, testing began within an enclosed test track which is the size of two football pitches and has stage scenery to represent buildings. Tropical rain storms will be simulated, among other things, to mimic the conditions that the autonomous electric buses will have to operate in.

In addition to the two buses, Volvo has also supplied an autonomous platform which will be developed on site. The buses will not only have to operate autonomously, but must also be able to travel to a depot and recharge

their batteries independently.

“Singapore is near the top of the rankings for the acceptance of automated technology, according to a study carried out by KPMG, but it is much lower down the scale when it comes to manufacturing,” explains Joakim. By contrast, the same study showed that Sweden has a strong manufacturing sector.

“That makes us the perfect match,” says Joakim with a smile.

This type of cooperative project has major advantages.

“Technology that works in one part of the world does not necessarily function well elsewhere. The definition of automation is not the same all over the world.

For example, in Singapore buses must be fully autonomous.

They should not rely on roadside infrastructure for support, but must be able to read traffic road signs independently, for instance,” explains Joakim.

NTU is no stranger to Autonomous driving research and advanced transportation technologies as the university is the first in Singapore to demonstrate autonomous vehicle technologies since 2013.

Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, Associate Vice President for Strategy & Partnerships, said, “Here at NTU, industry-academic partnerships are key elements in nurturing an ecosystem which promotes translational research excellence to develop innovations that will impact industry and society.

Our partnership with Volvo attests to this and we are proud that both organisations will have a hand in changing the way people travel in future.

NTU is already leading the way in transport innovation in Singapore as our entire campus is a living test-bed for a variety of cutting edge technologies such as fastcharging electric vehicles to fully autonomous mini buses.”

YOU’RE A GAS MAN

THE GERMAN GAS INDUSTRY has recognised the MAN citybus powered by the newly developed E18 gas engine during its 2018 Innovation Prize ceremony.

According to MAN, the jury was won over by its economical and environmentally friendly overall concept in combination with the MAN EfficientHybrid hybrid module.

Under the auspices of the Federal Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek, the German gas industry undertook the Innovation Prize ceremony at the end of November. The MAN Lion’s City G with hybrid module came in second in the Mobility and Transport category.

If the pool of submissions was limited to companies from the commercial vehicle sector, MAN Truck & Bus would have had the best concept.

“MAN has been the market and technology leader in natural gas buses in Europe for many years,” said Rudi Kuchta, Head of Product & Sales Bus at MAN Truck & Bus. “In order to be able to offer our customers state-of-the-art technology in the future, we have applied our 75 years of expertise in gas drives to the development of a new engine.

I am therefore particularly pleased that it has been able to convince the jury tasked with choosing the winner of the German gas industry’s Innovation Prize with its outstanding economic efficiency and extremely low exhaust emissions.”

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Operator

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A unique bus service for backpackers and people wanting to see the ‘real’ Australia while travelling the East Coast has just added three new Bonluck 40 seaters to its fleet. C&B decided to find out exactly what makes Stray Travel tick.

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W

hen you think about coaches running between Sydney and Cairns you think of the big express opportunities running the Pacific and Bruce up the East Coast with an unrelenting schedule to keep.

However while most people will jump on a cheap plane ticket and fly that sort of route these days there is a demand not just for the direct express routes but also for some ‘experiential‘ travel particular for back packers who have plenty of time and want to really see the country, not just flying over it at 36000feet.

Which is where Stray Travel comes in with a relatively new and very interesting ground travel option for backpackers and travellers up the Australian east coast.

Stray has been operating for the past four years using small 24 seaters mostly Fuso Rosas but the growth in that time has seen the company recently purchase three new Bonluck 40 seat coaches each finished in a vivid orange colour scheme that won’t be missed as they wend their way up and down the coast.

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Basically the Stray Travel model is a bit like those big red double deckers that inhabit most of the world’s big cities offering a ‘hop on-hop off service for tourists. Minimum time for the travellers to get from Sydney to Cairns or vie versa is 13 days but their ticket gives them up to 12 months to complete the journey.

The company has also just launched a new travel App in New Zealand and Australia, this allows travellers to discover, research, plan and bool every aspect of the journey at the touch of a button. Stray is dedicated to providing a seamless customer experience throughout the entire journey as they know the future is customer centricity.

Stray was founded in 2001 across the ‘dutch’ in New Zealand. It really took off and managed to carry 10,000 travellers more than one million kilometres around the country from start in not much more than a year. This was well before the Internet, mobile phones and social media. Since then it has grown even more with its own fleet of custom built orange buses and an expanding hop-on, hop-off route to cover all corners of the New Zealand and now Australia.

“ THE BONLUCKS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED FOR AUSTRALIAN CONDITIONS”

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Stray Australia was originally named Loka, they threw out the Aussie rulebook and created a travel network combining its own buses up and down the New South Wales coast integrating with train travel for the long distances in Queensland and private transfers to special remote locations.

Last September saw a change of name to Stray Australia, or as Neil Geddes from Stray Australia says “Straya to reflect the way Aussies pronounce their country’s name!”

The company is based in the idyllic North Coast town of Byron Bay but has its bus depot in Sydney and another office at Rainbow Beach on the Queensland Sunshine Coast.

“We plan heaps of leg stretchers and fun activities for our travellers to experience, so depending on which pass they buy they can enjoy such thing as wine tasting in the Hunter Valley, secret swimming holes, scenic country walks, wildlife centre, kayaking trips and some epic spots for sunrises and sunsets,” said Geddes.

“Other activities like learning to surf, the Whitsundays and Fraser Island can be

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bought on our website, through our app or through the guide on board the bus,” he added.

“We have driver guides on hand to help and assist our customers enjoy the unique experiences and with their expertise we take them to secret watering holes, stunning beaches, give tips on cheap eats and the best nights out on the coast.

Stray realized they had to move up to some larger buses to cope with the growth in demand and having purchased buses from BCSA and Athol McKinnon in the past and having considered the spec and capabilities of the Bonluck range, Stray chose three Bonluck Coopers powered by Cummins ISB 207hp to Euro 5 spec mated to an Allison automatic and configured with 40 seats “BCSA offers an amazing service, they are Australian based and they offer good service and have a great reputation,” said Neil Geddes.

“The Bonlucks have been designed for Australian conditions, they are well built, have plenty of luggage space and are great

value for money, all of which were key factors for us, “he added.

“We have run Chinese buses in the past with Higers and some smaller LDVs and at first we were a bit nervous, but experience has given us a lot of confidence in Chinese product and with the back up from BCSA we are totally confident in our new Bonluck.

“The fact that they have a proven driveline with Cummins and Allison was also important because we know we can rely on the American driveline and we have proven that with other buses we have had in the past.”

Stray feels that for the customer centricity point of view the Bonlucks are very comfortable featuring reclining seats and USB ports in every seat with air conditioning and a very comfortable ride thanks to the air bag suspension.

“We are about giving our customers a total travel experience and the Bonlucks add to that with a touch of luxury that enhances the travel,” he added.

One thing is for sure you won’t miss the bright orange Stray Travel Bonlucks as they run up and down the coast.

Show Just a few weeks after the massive IAA commercial vehicle Expo in Hanover Europe’s major bus and coach expo took place in Birmingham with the 2018 Euro Bus Expo staged at the National Exhibition Centre in October. C&B takes a look at the major show to see if there is anything we can expect to see on our shores and where the trends in buses and coaches are headed.

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he halls at the NEC in Birmingham were brimming over with gleaming new buses and coaches from Europe’s major manufacturers along with a wide array of technology that we are sure to see in Australia in the new future.

The UK debut of Volvo’s all-new 9000 series coach was certainly one of the highlights at Euro Bus. “This is a historic step, the biggest renewal of our European coach range for more than 20 years. I’m convinced that our customers and their passengers will appreciate the result,” said Håkan Agnevall, president of Volvo Buses.

According to the company, the new range

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of tourist and line-haul coaches includes two models – the more luxurious 9900 and the more versatile Volvo 9700 -- both feature dynamically styled exteriors with crisp lines and smooth sides and take aerodynamics “to a new level”.

The the new, unique “Z shaped” window lines combined with gradient “theatre floor” seating and its muscularly well-defined ‘forehead’ introduces a whole new design language for coaches and mixing things up a bit, in terms of coach design says Volvo.

Inside the coach, Volvo says the design team put considerable importance into both visual and tactile quality. Passengers are said to be greeted with a “calm and balanced light palette” as well as “tasteful

combinations of textile and leather, set off by accent details in metal”. In layman’s terms, it sounds like a pretty flash mobile gaff.

To guarantee passengers a high-class “holistic” experience, Volvo Buses has also invested heavily in comfort-enhancing solutions, such as ergonomic passenger seats and a well-insulated interior with a low noise level, it’s claimed. The climate unit is developed to provide a steady, pleasant temperature throughout the bus irrespective of outside conditions.

Volvo says the 9000 series should be landing in Australia in late 2019.

Alexander Dennis’s new Plaxton Panorama double-decker coach attracted plenty of attention.

With up to 87 seats, the Plaxton Panorama double deck coach is ADL’s latest model aimed at inter city coach operations, commuter express services as well as high-capacity touring.

With access via staircases at the front and centre of the coach there are 65 seats on the upper deck of the Panorama, while ADL says that different lower saloon layouts are available to offer wheelchair access through the front or centre door, depending on operator requirement. A sliding seat system enables rapid conversion to provide a wheelchair position complying with Euro Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.

ADL also presented a selection of low and zero emission buses with its successful

partnership with Chinese EV continuing to bear fruit. The new Enviro200EV was on display promising full zero emissions capability thanks to a compact mobile EV charger that can be transported inside the vehicle and plugged into operators’ existing mains electricity.

The 200EV was built to a high specification with an electroluminescent ceiling as well as the provision for wireless phone charging on its two social seating tables and a media shelf at the first raised row of seats. Passengers sit comfortably on high-back ADL SmartSeats with integrated passenger amenity consoles complete with wireless bell push, USB charger, phone holder, reading light and bag hooks.

The EV bus also featured ADL’s SmartVision system replacing traditional mirrors with high-definition digital cameras and displays mounted inside the cab for direct and clear visibility. Like the Benz MirrorCam system shown on its new Actros truck at Hanover, SmartVision provides a safety benefit but also reduces drag and the risk of mirror damage or injury to passengers or pedestrians.

The 200 EV was joined by the Enviro400EV double decker which the company said is on track to be launched in the first half of 2019. ADL says it leads the British market for electric buses with more than 215 already delivered or firmly ordered as well as its Plaxton coach range at Euro

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“ EACH VEHICLE ON DISPLAY ATTRACTED A GREAT DEAL OF ATTENTION IN ITS OWN RIGHT BUT THE LEVELS OF INTEREST IN ALTERNATIVE AND RENEWABLE FUELS DEMONSTRATED TO US BEYOND DOUBT THAT THE INDUSTRY IS NOW FIRMLY FOCUSING ON OPERATING MORE SUSTAINABLY IN THE FUTURE”

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Bus. Bristling with innovations, ADL’s show vehicles underlined the company’s stance as a systems integrator and technology pioneer.

ADL CEO, Colin Robertson said during a press briefing on the first day of Euro Bus Expo that the new products and services it was bringing to market have been developed together with its customers to increase their operational efficiency and fleet reliability.

“We aim to delight our customer’s passengers and help them respond to increasing environmental pressures,” said Robertson.

Yutong’s luxury tourer – the highly anticipated super-high GT12 Coach was another popular display as the Chinese maker wins favour in Europe as it has here in Australia.

Mercedes-Benz Buses and Coaches’ right-hand drive Tourismo Safety Coach was the star of the Daimler display in Birmingham, while Irizar’s next generation integral coaches, featuring the new DAF (MX engines) -ZF Driveline and new virtual dashboard display was a major attraction.

The organisers of this year’s Euro Bus Expo say the event went as planned with thousands of attendees and many orders placed.

Around 9,000 people filed through the expo over the course of the three-day event with the show-goers taking in the sights and sounds of 265 exhibitors.

There were over $AUD 37 million worth of vehicles on display and event director Helen Conway tells us manufacturers secured some significant orders at the expo.

“As the biggest bus and coach event in Europe this year, Euro Bus Expo ticked all the right boxes. Many exhibitors have already reported record orders and hailed

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the show as a significant success,” “This year’s line-up offered our visitors an unrivalled opportunity to exchange information about the latest vehicles, technologies, equipment and services on the market, and get expert advice and inspiration from all the leading industry innovators.

“It was a very busy, valuable and productive three days for everyone involved.”

And, not surprisingly, the bus manufacturers were happy with the success of the expo.

Caroline Szeremeta, group marketing manager at Alexander Dennis, says it was a great chance to showcase a wide range of products and new technologies.

“There was a positive atmosphere in the hall, particularly on Wednesday when we were completely overrun with visitors!

“The quality of visitors to our stand was particularly high, which was great to see in a market which has been tentative for much of the year.”

While Scania report that the expo netted them several orders.

“Innovation, sustainability, partnerships and performance are our four key messages and all were present in abundance on our stand at this year’s show. – Martin West, new bus and coach sales director for Scania Great Britain.

“Each vehicle on display attracted a great deal of attention in its own right but the levels of interest in alternative and renewable fuels demonstrated to us beyond doubt that the industry is now firmly focusing on operating more sustainably in the future.”

Next year’s event will be held once again in the UK on the 2nd and 3rd of October.

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Operator

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Chinese maker Yutong has won its way into major bus operator Australian Transit Group, selling two of its new C122 coaches into the deep red heart of Australia based in Alice Springs. We investigate why ATG has given Yutong a try in one of the toughest environments around and how they’re measuring up so far.

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or one of Australia’s largest coach operators, taking a chance on some untried new coaches from Chinese manufacturer Yutong may have seemed like a bit of a risk, especially with the prospect of operating in the harsh and testing conditions of the Northern Territory.

Australian Transit Group has added three of Yutong’s new C122 tour coaches to its 800 strong national fleet, with two of the new Yutongs being sent to the Alice Springs base while the other has been assigned to the big smoke in Melbourne.

For ATG’s Northern Territory manager, Wayne Thompson the fact that the Yutong

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C122 uses a Mercedes Benz driveline with a ZF transmission and axles made it something worth considering.

“The Benz-ZF driveline made the Yutong intriguing and certainly worth a try in my view,” said Wayne Thompson.

“We have a lot of other Benz buses in the fleet, everything from MB 0404s to 500s so having a Yutong built bus with the same drivelines makes a lot of sense in terms of commonality but also because they are well proven and reliable,” he added.

ATG is arguably the biggest coach operator in Western Australia and amongst the biggest operators in the country with more than 800 buses and coaches in its fleet

operating from 16 depots around the country under a number of different brand names.

Thompson oversees a fleet of around 43 buses and coaches in the NT, including 18 tour coaches in Alice Springs, four tour coaches in Darwin and around 21 school buses through out the NT. The C122s are the first Yutongs to be added to the ATG fleet, so in that way they are blazing a trail for the Chinese brand as it seeks to win more business in the Australian market. Given the rugged conditions they will face in the NT, with everything from extremely high heat to rough roads and long distances, the longer term reliability and performance of the

Yutongs coaches will be closely watched to see if they can cut the mustard when the going gets tough.

“Up here we have to have reliability,” said Thompson.

‘If you have a coach full of people and something goes wrong and it stops in the middle of nowhere, 400 km from civilisation, you have a major problem on your hands,” he added.

“You have to find shelter and shade for your passengers and get it repaired or get a new bus out there all of which isn’t that easy a lot of the time, so you really need a coach you can rely on,” he said.

While Wayne was intrigued enough to

put two Yutongs on his fleet in the NT it is fair to say he is keeping a watching brief and believes the verdict on the C122s will not truly be in for three or four years of operation in the territory.

“We will look at their reliability, the ability to source spare parts and their retained resale value over that time,” said Wayne.

“I think one of the big issue with all new coaches, no matter where they come from is the use of full electronic dashes which have lots of sensors monitoring all sorts of things, which is good while it is working but if one sensor fails it can stop the bus and cause all sorts of problems in the outback,” he added.

As part of ATG’s fleet in the NT the Yutongs are being used across the full scope of the company’s inbound International tour operation handling everything from tours around Alice to longer runs to Uluru and Kings Canyon and in the first month of operation even a tour to the Top End and Darwin.

“During November the Yutongs helped finish off our peak season which ends at the start of December when the heat really sets in and so far there have been no real issues, aside from a minor fault with the sound system in one of the coaches, but after pulling it apart it worked again when we put it back together, but apart from that

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“THE RIDE COMFORT IS VERY GOOD AND IT COPES WELL WITH OUR ROADS, SITTING NICELY WITH NO HARSHNESS AT ALL”

we have had no problems,” he added.

Its fair to say there was some scepticism from the ATG drivers assigned to the new Yutongs but Wayne reckons their view on Chinese built buses have pretty quickly been changed after a couple of months behind the wheel.

“One of our driver’s was particularly anti-Chinese when it came to buses but he has changed his view and has been very impressed with the Yutong and is very happy to be driving it.”

Wayne says that the ride comfort and handling of the Yutongs is as good as any coach on the market and while they operate 95 per cent of the time on sealed bitumen roads, these can be quite rough and choppy thanks to that baking NT heat and they also have do the odd few kilometres on gravel to get to major tourist highlights.

“The ride comfort is very good and it copes well with our roads, sitting nicely

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with no harshness at all,” Wayne added as he explained that he had first hand experience of the ride after driving one of the C122s from Adelaide to Alice on its delivery run.

“They are really quite pleasant to drive and our tour directors have also sung their praises,” he said.

The Yutong C122s are powered by with the Mercedes Benz Euro 5 OM457LA engine, which delivers 265kW of power at 1,900rpm and 1,850Nm of torque at 1,100rpm. and as mentioned running through the ZF 6AP2000B, six-speed transmission .

Wayne says that the engine is very under stressed and even with a full passenger manifest they are returning really strong fuel economy and performance.

“Our coaches are averaging better than 4 km/litre and are returning even better on the open road because the Benz engine

never really feels like it is being overtaxed,” said Wayne.

“With a full load of passengers and luggage on board adding a bit over five tonnes to the C122’s 13.2 tonne kerb weight, the laden coach tips the scales at around 18.5 tonnes but copes extremely well and has plenty of power to handle the job,” he said.

The 12.2 metre C122 is of course built in Yutong’s factory in Zhengzhou in China and the build quality is excellent and continues to improve with Yutong Australia providing constant feedback to its parent company to ensure the standard continues to improve.

Time will tell if the C122 Yutongs can handle the demands of long term operation in Central Australia but for the moment, at least initially they’re coping well. C&B will keep an eye on the ATG C122s and keep our readers abreast of they’re longer term effectiveness.

COMING SOON!

AN ALL NEW MAGAZINE AIMED SQUARELY AT BUILDING AND MAINTAINING GRAVEL ROADS IN THIS COUNTRY AD To Be Advised

WELCOME TO GRAVEL ROADS AUSTRALIA AN ALL-NEW niche publication will be hitting your desk in mid 2019 when Gravel Roads Australia arrives on the scene.

Gravel roads make up almost 66 per cent of the nation’s road network with close to 600,000 kms of unsealed thoroughfares across this wide brown land. Many have low traffic volumes while others are vital arteries providing access to some of our most valuable resource assets.

Building and maintaining our unsealed road network is a major industry in itself with Local Govt, Civil Contractors, Mining Companies, Forestry, Farmers and a

myriad of others all involved in ensuring these vital routes are available to industry and travellers alike.

Now, for the first time, this sector will have its own journal featuring interesting stories about road construction practices, new equipment, case studies, planned projects and new techniques – in fact anything that involves the building and maintaining of gravel roads.

Gravel Roads Australia will be a high quality 64 page publication, produced four times a year by Grayhaze Publishing, publisher of Transport & Trucking Australia and Coach and Bus magazine

as well as the highly successful transport website, www.truckandbus.net.au Gravel Roads Australia will feature great writers with features and news produced by some of the best journalists in Australia with high quality photography and design.

The first edition will be published in March 2019 and then in June, September and December each year. The magazine will be direct mailed to more than 3000 Local Govt Works Officers, Civil Contractors, Transport Operators, Machinery Dealers and Manufacturers as well as Mining Companies.

For advertising please contact: Transport Publishing 02 9938 6408 admin@truckandbus.net.au – ads@truckandbus.net.au

New Product

Since launch in Gothenberg in May 2018, Volvo has already signed almost 150 orders for its new Volvo 9700 and 9900 coaches in Europe, collectively known as ‘the 9000 range’ for tourist and line-haul operations across the Continent. We take a closer look at Volvo’s new flagship coach and ponder that while it may never come here, what influence it might have on future coach design.

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f sales demand is an indicator then Volvo’s 9000 could surely already be declared a success. However while it has grabbed lots of early sales it is much more important than its popularity indicates, this is a coach that raises the bar in terms of design and technology.

Of the strong demand for the new longdistance buses, Niklas Orre, vice president of retail for Volvo Bus, said the company was very proud of the new, flexible and competitive 9000 range, which he said have “safety, comfort and environmental

properties of absolute world class.”

“Their strong sales performance is confirmation that customers truly appreciate the result of our efforts,” explained Orre.

Orders have come from all over Europe including 40 for Lithuania, 25 for Norway, 20 in France, 11 in Austria and 10 in Britain, with all to be delivered in the year ahead.

Volvo says the model range update and its innovative design and high comfort levels will persuade more people to travel by coach even on long-distance trips.

“The 9000 was an historic step and was

the biggest renewal of our European coach range for more than 20 years. I’m convinced that our customers and their passengers will appreciate the result,” said Håkan Agnevall, president of Volvo Buses.

Volvo says the new 9000 range can be neatly divided into tourist and line-haul operations with the more “luxurious” 9900 aimed at the luxury tourism market while the “versatile” 9700 will be popular with line haul operations. Both feature a dynamically styled exterior with crisp lines and smooth sides, taking aerodynamics “to a new level”,

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On the Volvo 9900, new, unique “Z shaped” window lines have been combined with gradient “theatre floor” seating to usher in a whole new design language for coaches and with its muscular, well-defined ‘frontal treatment’ it has certainly mixed things up in terms of appearance.

Inside the coaches Volvo says the design team put considerable importance into both visual and tactile quality.

Passengers are greeted with a “calm and balanced light palette” as well as “tasteful combinations of textiles and leather, set off by accent details in metal”. Its corporate speak, but still the result is impressive.

To guarantee passengers a high-class “holistic” experience, Volvo says it has

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also invested heavily in comfort-enhancing solutions, such as ergonomic passenger seats and a well-insulated interior with low noise levels. The climate unit is developed to provide a steady, pleasant temperature throughout the bus irrespective of outside conditions.

The Volvo 9900 also offers an extra-high floor and large glass windows to provide excellent views to the front and sides, the company says, while the interior roof is eight centimetres higher than before - and the straighter transition between walls and roof creates an airier feel with significantly greater space.

Both the Volvo 9700 and the Volvo 9900 feature comprehensive solutions

for active and passive safety. Among the new features are more robust frontal impact protection (FIP) and a Driver Alert system that monitors the bus movements and issues alerts if the driver is tired or not concentrating on the road.

The new range comes as a result of a development and engineering investment of around $AUD64million by Volvo Bus with a whole new design language for coaches.

The 9000 is based on the company’s wellestablished B11R chassis so they have not totally reinvented the wheel, instead choosing a major evolutionary path. Volvo is confident the overall look of the 9000 will hold major appeal in particular for the 9900, which has clearly struck a chord with the market.

Inside the coach, the design team attached considerable importance to both visual and tactile quality. Passengers are greeted with a calm and balanced light palette as well as tasteful combinations of textile and leather, set off by accent details in metal.

“We have been determined to create a modern functional, friendly and inviting overall impression with strong character,” said Volvo Buses, design director, Dan Frykholm.

Volvo says it has engaged in extensive customer surveys across six European countries to discover what passengers and drivers really feel and want to guider them in the development of the 9000.

The surveys were illuminating and the

results are telling. The surveys revealed that drivers, above all else, want happy passengers more than anything else and they want to drive a premium vehicle.

The surveys revealed that passengers want legroom, fast WiFi and that they want more privacy and would be prepared to pay for it.

Volvo was at pains to point out that they were surveys, rather than design approval workshops, where people are asked what they thought of various design concepts.

It really set out to find out what people wanted in a coach before a designer put pen to paper Dan Frykholm and his design team processed the results to formulate some

necessary design criteria before they started.

Frykholm explained that in terms of exterior design language the thinking was to give the front a strong but friendly ‘face’ which was both aerodynamic and safetyoriented and in doing that used Volvo truck headlights and integrated them into the front of the coach.

The side of the 9900 of course features the aforementioned dramatic z style shoulder line, which Frykholm says emphasises power and a forward stance as well as enabling the ‘theatre’ seating arrangement inside. Apart from anything else it delivers a unique, good-looking and instantly recognisable characteristic to the coach.

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At the ‘business’ end of the coach, the design team has given the rear what it says is a powerful style ‘hinting at what is in the engine bay’, while Volvo’s trademark vertical taillights complete the look.

Inside, as passengers enter the front door, great care has been taken to not only provide a premium entrance but also to ensure that everything falls easily to hand or foot. This is especially important when the vehicle is ‘kneeling’ on its airbags for passengers to board. The division between

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driver and passenger spaces is clear and the design team has provided a smart, elegant and well thought out entrance.

Volvo in Europe is offering lots of alternative trim and seat options unique to Volvo and which are the result of a partnership between Volvo and the German seat manufacturer Kiel.

The seats slide to adjust the configuration while overhead controls are neat and well designed. Subtle, ambient lighting calms the interior at night and lighting towards the front is controlled to prevent reflections

for the driver in the cockpit.

Volvo says the air-conditioning system has been the subject of intense development with Eberspacher to ensure and maintain an interior temperature of 20˚C when up to minus 40˚C outside, clearly a requirement in Scandinavia, or 20˚C inside when it is 40˚C or more outside, as we could experience in Australia. Volvo says that it concentrated on ensuring evenness of temperature so that all passengers are comfortable wherever they are seated.

Sticking with Volvo heritage, technology makes the 9000 one of the safest coach ranges on the global market. Both the 9700 and the 9900 feature comprehensive solutions for active and passive safety.

Among the new features are more robust frontal impact protection (FIP) and a Driver Alert system that monitors the bus movements and issues alerts if the driver is tired or not concentrating on the road.

Volvo Dynamic Steering is featured as standard on the 9900 as well as solutions for active and passive safety, while the specification has been tailored for the luxury market and will see the 9900 available as a 12m, 13.1m or 13.9m chassis length, on a two or three axle chassis with 53 or 57 seats and a centre demountable toilet making it possible to offer customertailored solutions to suit individual needs and wishes.

The 9700 is 20 cm lower then its big brother while both the drivelines use Volvo D11 Euro 6 engines delivering either 430 or 460 hp, while the I-Shift automated gearbox is standard.

The factory body is constructed from a newly developed corrosion-preventive structure and sandwich-construction roof giving the bus not only a low weight but also a low centre of gravity.

The retail price in Britain has been confirmed at ÂŁ285,000 (around $AUD510,000).

Volvo is saying the 9000 is not destined for our shores and given the high cost a built up version would command that is obvious. The fascinating thing to ponder is what infuence this will have on future coach design. If and when it comes to Australia, the 9000 will be more likely a chassis version imported here, which will get local body builder’s own takes on the Frykholm design concepts. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.

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Operator

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As roads go there are few tougher, more testing or vehicle breaking than the legendary Gibb River Rd in the West Australian Kimberley region. Littered with broken vehicle parts, rocks and ruts, bull dust pits that could swallow a small sedan and rocky, croc infested river crossings the Gibb commands respect and it is a place where a conventional bus would struggle to survive. That’s why APT uses a Mercedes Benz truck chassis to transport tourists to some of the most remote and beautiful locations in the country. We went to Kununurra to take a look at the rugged Benz buses.

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he Gibb River Road is a stunning gravel track that starts off alongside the captivating Cockburn Ranges in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.

It’s punctuated by corrugations, large rocks, wandering cattle and a few majestic boab trees that defy the blazing heat and sparse rain.

Visitors will also notice the vehicle parts scattered next to the road; a bumper here, a trailer spring there as well as mangled tyres torn apart by the rough surface.

This is an unforgiving part of the world, which makes it the perfect place to introduce the Mercedes-Benz all-wheel drive 1835.

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Eighteen months before Mercedes-Benz launched the new AWD truck range in Australia, the company teamed up with luxury tour companies including APT in order to get its new model into one of the harshest regions of the planet as a luxury go-anywhere truck-based bus.

Mercedes-Benz was confident in the product, but also knew that if there were any issues with the new-generation AWD model, which features new and more efficient Euro 6 engines and upgraded automated transmissions with new creeper mode, they would be shaken out by the roads of the Kimberley.

Coach and Bus tagged along for two days of a 15-day luxury tour that departed from

Broome and took in the Bungle Bungles, the Ord River, El Questro and Fitzroy Crossing.

We met tour guide James Hunter and his vehicle in Kununurra. It is a MercedesBenz 1835 AWD cab chassis mounted with a luxury coach body made by Australia’s Coach Design, based in Brisbane.

Guests pay a premium for these kinds of tours and they expect the best. Given they are staying at luxury outback lodges, catching helicopter flights over natural wonders, going on exclusive guided tours and sampling some of the finest food in the region, it makes sense for them to travel in a Mercedes-Benz fitted out with a premium coach interior. It has all the mod cons including large tinted windows

and comfortable reclining leather seats with footrests, which are built for long-run comfort. There are spots for 22 people, although APT leaves a few seats spare.

James has been conducting tours in the region for nearly 10 years and has been driving the 1835 Mercedes-Benz since it was introduced to the Broome fleet.

The Tamworth-raised driver has a good system going. If any of his guests refer to the Mercedes-Benz as a bus, instead of a truck, the penalty is a cold beer, payable to him at the end of the day. It’s genius.

To be fair, both truck and bus are correct.

There is a large cut-out section that joins the truck cab to the bus body. To those on the tour, it looks just like a bus; they can

see the driver and also look through the windscreen.

Coach and Bus follows the APT 1835 truck across the serene Ivanhoe River crossing and on to a fast and flowing road that could have been made for a World Rally Championship stage. We have to drive our rental 4WD like Colin McRae to get enough of a gap to snap a photo before James steams past in the big Benz.

When we arrive at the serene Parry Lagoon, a birdwatcher’s paradise, I ask James what it’s like on that road at that speed in the truck.

“It is super smooth,” he says. “Some of the roads we travel on have corrugations that you could drop a beer can into, but this

isn’t bothered by them at all, it just glides right over the top.”

The tour group members attest to the comfort of the ride too.

The truck features steel parabolic springs at the front and rear, instead of rear airbags, for optimum articulation and the chassis frame is now stronger and capable of greater flex than previous generations.

Chassis cracking can happen out here in these kinds of vehicles, but it is not an issue with the Mercedes-Benz. For all the arduous work, the only issue has been a rear mudguard coming loose from the bodywork.

James and his guests need to cover some serious kilometres to ensure they are at key locations on time to meet local guides,

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to check in to accommodation or to take in some scenery at the best part of the day, so the ability to run safely at reasonable pace is appreciated.

The 1835 runs a 7.7-litre six-cylinder Euro 6 engine with 345hp and 1400Nm or torque, which is available nice a low in the rev range, which makes it great for steep hills and lowspeed off-road work.

It features an engageable AWD system and has front and rear differential locks.

For James, it’s simple. “I just flick it into the off-road mode and it does it itself,” he says.

He also appreciates not having to change gears all the time thanks to the 1835’s eightspeed automated transmission (a nine-speed manual is optional).

“When we first switched to autos from manuals there was some apprehension about how they would go off-road, but there is no issue at all,” James adds.

On the second day of our tour, James approached a bog hole that led through to Zebedee Springs on the 2832 square kilometre El Questro station, which doubles as a tourist destination. It’s the kind of hole you can spend a few hours in contemplating your decisions if you get it wrong. But the big Benz simply wades through with ease.

Later that day, James has to negotiate a steep hill road that has a surface of four-inches of fine dirt, the kind of power that gets in to every nook and cranny of man and machine.

The jacked up 4WD utes with rice paddy tyres are treating it with respect. They stop to flick all the buttons and switches at hand, before charging up as if it is the first stage of the Finke Desert Race. There is a lot of soot and noise and dust.

James simply eases up the hill, using the available torque to ascend with as little fuss as possible.

Within minutes, the tour group has arrived back at the El Questro Station for a sumptuous steak.

The road from El Questro Station out to the Gibb River Road is your typical outback road, with washouts that will propel those attempting to speed well into the air, there are corrugations and so much dust.

There are also water crossings that must be treated with respect. Not everyone does, as evidenced by the gallery of damaged number plates nailed to posts out the back of the nearby Swing Arm Bar and Grille.

James powers on and has to carefully negotiate his way past crew cab utes towing ‘outback’ style campers, which are going at a fraction of the pace.

After a series of turns, the Mercedes-Benz is on the Gibb River Rd, passing those magnificent boab trees and running alongside the vast Cockburn Ranges.

It is maintaining an impressive pace along the road, but James slows to cross the Pentecost River. He pulls up after easing through the shallow crossing so that the tour members can soak up the amazing view back to the sun-kissed escarpment.

It is a magical location and the campground next to the river is a must-stay location for campers, as long as they don’t go swimming (there be crocs).

The Mercedes-Benz gets going again and is soon crossing the decent sized rocks at the entrance to majestic Home Valley Station, which act as a kind of natural cattle grid.

APT’s guests will soon be relaxing with a glass of champagne and watching sun setting over the Cockburn Range, but Coach and Bus has to get going home via Kununurra.

Just past Pentacost River, the vicious rocks of the Gibb River Rd tear a hole the size of a 50 cent piece in one of the rental car’s chunky tyres in the middle of nowhere. The Kimberley roads register another win.

Thankfully, the APT Mercedes-Benz suffers no such problems through its entire journey and returns its guests to the airport, where they go back to their regular lives with some very special memories.

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“WHEN WE FIRST SWITCHED TO AUTOS FROM MANUALS THERE WAS SOME APPREHENSION ABOUT HOW THEY WOULD GO OFF-ROAD, BUT THERE IS NO ISSUE AT ALL”

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Technology

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An advance portable transport hub called Matilda has been developed in Adelaide and is being trialled in a pairing with an autonomous people mover bus called Olli.

We ponder if this could be a move to inject a personal aspect into what are clearly inanimate objects, by giving them human names or if this is a ground breaking trial, melding home grown technology with a global autonomous transport company.

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hey can be an adventurous mob down in South Australia, they’ve never been frightened of trying a bit of new technology which is why it is hardly a surprise that the people of Adelaide are getting to trial a new autonomous transport system complete with an advance technology transport hub based in the seaside suburb of Glenelg The six month trial is an integrated autonomous transport solution with local company SAGE Automation achieving what it claims is transport history with the Australian debut of the ‘Matilda’ – which is believed to be the world’s first smart transit hub – as part of the landmark integrated trial with a driverless shuttle at Glenelg.

Matilda is a portable, connected transit hub, like a small covered bus stop that is equipped with the latest smart technologies and which offers everyone an equal opportunity for using autonomous shuttle transportation.

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The locally-developed and manufactured Matilda has been partnered with the Olli, a driverless electric shuttle developed by the US-based autonomous vehicle developer, Local Motors for the milestone trial at Glenelg.

Matilda is really a link to new smart technologies, promising to end the era of time wasted waiting for on-time or delayed public transport. Using a mix of smart innovations, Matilda is claimed to improve comfort on and around public transport which encourages ridership.

SAGE automation managing director Adrian Fahey says that today’s autonomous and connected vehicles need connected bus stops and transit hubs to deliver a seamless, tailored passenger experience.

The company says that Matilda “caters for passengers, based on their individual abilities, making each visit unique, easy and fun”.

From Matilda passengers can source the connecting tram timetable, book an Uber,

locate the nearest bicycle hire station or schedule a ride on an autonomous shuttle.

Because of this, Matilda is much more than a shelter that provides safety and comfort during transit and becomes the transport hub ‘host’ when there is no human reassurance, becoming if you like a connection to smart mobility.

Its portability offers a degree of flexibility allowing it to be relocatable within a few hours, thanks to its ‘off the grid’ solar or battery power making it fully selfcontained. What this means is that it will give transport authorities flexibility to be able to trial different ‘first’ or ‘last mile’ locations, or put additional transport in place for major public events.

Meantime the Olli autonomous ‘bus’ being used in the Glenelg trial was first launched by Local Motors in 2016 and now operates at a number of university campuses in the US and Europe, with a trial also planned at Newcastle University’s

Callaghan campus later this year.

In the US and Europe most Ollis operate on private land so the implementation of the Olli for the Glenelg trial is a major step while there is a strong possibility another shuttle will start trials this year at Adelaide Airport as well.

SA Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan said the six-month Olli trial would demonstrate South Australia’s leadership and commitment in autonomous vehicle technology.

“South Australia has led the nation in driving the push towards developing autonomous vehicles, hosting the first trials of driverless cars in the southern hemisphere in 2015,’’ he said.

“In early 2016, SA became the first Australian state to permit driverless vehicle testing on Australian roads.’’

Local Motors executive vice president Matthew Rivett acknowledged SA as a leader in the region.

“With South Australia’s friendly regulations and aggressive commitment to innovation, we believe that South Australia marks the first of many deployments in the region.’’

The key to the benefits of the local trial will be the partnership’s Tonsley-made Matilda Smart Hub, or the OlliStop as Local boss Matthew Rivett calls it, where much of the technology connecting passengers with the vehicles is housed.

SAGE Automation chief executive Adrian Fahey said the trial site had been selected because it was minutes from the company’s head office and manufacturing facility at Tonsley, where the Matilda is be engineered and manufactured.

Tonsley is the site of the former Chrysler and later Mitsubishi automotive manufacturing plant which is now a technology hub for companies in a range of innovative industries.

The Olli carries up to eight passengers and has also been operating at university

campuses in Berlin and Copenhagen.

While the Olli is claimed to be a smart autonomous vehicle it cannot account for ‘driven’ vehicles and the erroirs of their human commanders. In Las Vegas a truck backed into an Olli only two hours after it was to began service on a trial.

SA Transport Minister Mullighan said Australian research had found that global leadership in the field of driverless and autonomous vehicles could generate 16,000 jobs nationally and unlock around $95 billion a year in economic value One of the Matilda smart transit hubs is located outside the Stamford Grand in

Glenelg and another is about a kilometre away adjacent to the Broadway Kiosk with the Olli shuttle transporting passenger between the two stops along the beachside route.

The $1.6m trial has been made possible through a $700,000 grant from the State Government’s Future Mobility Lab Fund to boost local testing, research

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“PASSENGERS CAN ‘TALK’ TO THE MATILDA TRANSIT HUB, RECEIVE DIRECTIONS, BOOK A RIDE USING TOUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGY”

and development of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.

“This type of integrated technology trial has never been done anywhere in the world before, and we look forward to giving people an interactive, personalised experience, including real-time travel updates and route assistance through Matilda, and testing how this exciting technology interacts with the Local Motors driverless shuttle,” said SAGE’s Adrian Fahey.

“Passengers can ‘talk’ to the Matilda transit hub, receive directions, book a ride using touchscreen technology, receive congestion alerts and even ask questions about local tourist attractions or where to get a cold drink,” he said. Lets hope it works better than Siri or the Google Assistant.

“To grow smart, accessible cities of the future we need to make devices, vehicles and infrastructure talk to each other, and Matilda offers a seamless, tailored transit service by communicating with any driverless bus fleet and the people wanting to catch one,” says Fahey.

SAGE says the trial demonstrates how a first-and last-mile transport solution can integrate with existing public transport, fill any service gaps and reduce traffic congestion in heavily-populated urban spaces. It also showcases how driverless technologies can share public space with pedestrians, cyclists and recreational activities.

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The portability we mentioned earlier also means that Matilda can easily be trialled at different ‘first’ or ‘last mile’ locations.

That unique flexibility also allows the smart transit hub to be rapidly deployed for network maintenance and downtime periods, for temporary deployment, and for testing demand for new public transport services.

Mr Fahey said the trial will be monitored in real-time from SAGE Automation’s stateof-the-art National Operations Centre in Adelaide as part of the trial’s operational and maintenance support, ensuring a high level of security for autonomous vehicle operators and users while providing data to enhance future deployments.

“In addition to leading edge technologies such as IBM Watson and KinTrans systems, each Matilda features audio and visual cues to assist anyone with visual and hearing impairments, as well as making it easier for elderly commuters and those with disability,” he said.

Olli will be travelling at a walking pace during the trial and will carry up to eight passengers and a steward onboard. People will be able to ride at no cost and can book a seat at each Matilda via the interactive screen or online.

Part of the data driven solutions governments and companies are seeking means that trials of smart transport solutions like Matilda need to be monitored

closely for performance and to understand the demands on the system.

This is where the SAGE National Operations Centre located at the company’s Tonsley HQ is vital. The NOC, as they refer to it, is delivering real-time monitoring of different assets, to provide operational and maintenance support, emergency response, security monitoring and assistance in managing incident resolution.

Importantly it is also being used to monitor Matilda and other trials to determine their success and improve future offerings.

Passengers will be asked to complete a short survey pre and post ride to help SAGE collect feedback and give the public the opportunity to have their say.

SAGE says that Matilda communicates in real time with passengers, vehicles, fleet management servers and city transport systems and it is claimed it will provide transport planners the traffic data they need to deliver efficient, personalised and safe services in the brave new world of driverless public transport When the trial is completed around May 2019, Glenelg will be returned to normal and feedback from the trial will be assessed and technologies improved to pave the way towards the future of smart mobility. Only time will tell if Adelaide will continue to Waltz with Matilda and Olli.

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Innovation The Enviro400CBG City is the first Euro VI biogas-fuelled double-decker bus in the world and it’s been developed jointly between Scania and bus maker Alexander Dennis in the UK. Biogas is little used in Australia but as a source of clean energy it is something we could derive huge benefits from given the amount of methane emitted from animals alone in this country.

We take a closer look at the technology and how the Scania performs, finding out that the answer could be...

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here seems to be a headlong rush in the commercial transport business toward electric propulsion and while at times this seems to be a fait accompli, there is clear evidence that diesel engines are far from a spent force. Work continues apace around the globe to come up with innovations and solutions for cleaner and more efficient internal combustion engines for heavy vehicles.

The reality is that internal combustion delivers real advantages in flexibility and range that most electric vehicles cannot match just yet, not to mention the need for extra infrastructure to ensure electric vehicles can be charged and continue to operate.

It won’t stay that way but right at this moment that is the reality.

Over in Europe one particular option is bio-gas, an alternative that has not gained traction here in Australia. However it is a sustainable and interesting option that delivers low emissions, no need for AdBlue or complex after treatment and it is sourced from food, farm and sewage waste. All these sources would produce a high level of methane if sent to landfill and left to decompose naturally, so using then as a form of fuel is not only sustainable but is reducing the number of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. Australia also has ready abundant access to these waste sources so we have ready made and abundant sources for methane gas from waste.

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Scania in the UK has worked with Alexander Dennis (ADL) to develop the Enviro400CBG City and this has resulted in a bus that has the potential to take the industry by storm according to UK sources.

The bio-gas powered bus is claimed to be fully sustainable while operating with a dedicated clean Scania Euro VI gas engine.

The Scania OC09 101 Euro VI engine develops 280hp and delivers tailpipe emissions that are cleaner than the equivalent diesel-powered Euro VI bus.

The biogas-fuelled engine emits a very low level of hydrocarbons and particulates and generates a CO2 saving of a whopping 84 per cent.

The OC09 101/280 uses the Otto

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principle, meaning that all fuel and oxygen is completely burnt off.

The combustion is initiated by using spark-plugs, with pre-mixing of the fuel taking place prior to entering the cylinders of the engine.

This engine, when powered by two gas tanks, has a range of around 400km plus – more than enough for a vehicle operating a short city service all day.

The good news is that many of the service parts for the engine are the same as the diesel equivalent, the main difference being the need to stock spark plugs.

The use of biogas is safe and the only additional check required by drivers is to visually check the system safety valve caps

which are mounted on the rear roof dome above the gas tanks.

Any issue with gas pressure is released through four valves, which in turn will blow off a series of red caps. But before this happens the driver receives a visual or audible alarm in the cab.

The Scania N280UD/Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) Enviro400CBG City has seen great success since coming into the biogas market in the UK just two years ago and there are now more than 100 operating in major cities across the UK including London, Blackpool and Plymouth with almost half of the buses operating in Nottingham. In fact with the recent delivery of the 53rd biogas Scania, Nottingham

can now claim to have the largest fleet of biogas diesel buses in the World.

“This represents an important milestone for Nottingham City Transport and Scania as we together look to drive the shift towards a more sustainable transport future,” said Mark Oliver, of Scania UK’s Bus and Coach operation .

“We are sure that many other public transport operators around the UK will now look to follow Nottingham’s lead.”

With 53 biogas double-decker buses now in use Nottingham’s environmental stats from this fleet alone are impressive. The biogas diesels produce 3,500 tonnes less CO2, 35 tonnes less NOX and 0.75 tonne less particulate matter each year with the

bottom line being significant improvements to air quality.

As well as being amongst the greenest buses on the road, it is claimed customers travelling on the biogas buses enjoy a smoother, quieter ride.

With plans for further orders of biogas double deck buses and to convert 185 existing buses to the latest Euro 6 emission standards, Nottingham City Transport is on track to reduce its emissions by 90 per cent by 2020.

The 11.5m, biogas bus is an impressive looking double decker with large glassed areas and sharp styling making for a very impressive looking vehicle.

Performance from the 9.3-litre 280hp

engine is impressive coupled with the ZF EcoLife gearbox the bus easily gets to 60km/h and on to 80km/h without fuss while gear changes are smooth and precise, The Scania N280UD with the ZF is a good combination.

It offers an efficient and comfortable vehicle for customers, whilst delivering operators significant fuel savings over the diesel equivalent.

Operators in Europe have a tough choice to make at the moment. Low Emission Zones (LEZ) are approaching in many big European cities and operators need to decide viable options to meet the approaching rules and many have realised

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that Electric vehicles are not the answer for every operation.

Biogas-fuelled buses represent an option that delivers fuel from a sustainable source of energy but still retains engine technology that is common for many large fleets that operate Euro VI diesel buses.

There is the need to install infrastructure at depots of course and the need to source a supply and regular deliveries of biogas, but in Europe these costs may be lower than installing charging points for a fleet of electric vehicles.

Scania has indicated that an ADL Enviro400 City with its biogas technology would cost 16 per cent over the cost of a conventional Euro VI diesel-powered version.

That 16 per cent takes into account the cost for additional chassis elements and body adaptations to install the biogas fuel tanks.

Maybe its time Australian authorities stopped ‘farting’ about and paid some attention to bio-gas as an alternative clean energy source.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION DIMENSIONS Length: Width: Height:

11.537m 2.550m 4.306m

PASSENGER CAPACITY 70 seated, eight standing, one wheelchair CHASSIS Scania N280UD ENGINE Scania OC09 101 280hp Euro VI Otto EGR BODY Alexander Dennis Enviro400CBG City TRANSMISSION ZF EcoLife 6AP1202B six-speed auto BRAKE SYSTEM Ventilated discs all round. ABS, EBS TYRES

Michelin 275/70R 22.5 with Alcoa rims UNLADEN WEIGHT 11,947kg FUEL CAPACITY Two 515-litre gas tanks

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Company Car

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Since landing here in 2015 the Mustang has been one of Ford’s great successes. A new updated 2019 model presented us with a really good reason for another test and here is what we thought.

hen Ford said it would start selling the Mustang in Australia few could have imagined that this niche sports coupe and convertible would have been the tearaway success that it has turned out to be. Sure it launched with a huge waiting list but they’re still selling in large numbers three years down the track.

Ford sold just shy of 7000 Mustangs last year making it the second highest selling vehicle in the company’s line up behind the Ranger ute. Ford is selling about the same number of Mustangs as it did Falcon in the last year of its life and we can assure you Ford makes a whole lot more out of the Mustang than it did from the locally made Falcon out of its loss making assembly operation.

In fact Mustang is the most popular sports car under $80000 in Australia with more than half of the 12000 odd cars sold in this category last year wearing the wild horse on its grille.

So why is the Mustang still so popular even after the waiting lists have been whittled down? Well for a start it is well priced, and it is an exciting car, it’s exciting to look at, its exciting to hear and it’s exciting to drive. Did we mention it was well priced? Well it is and as a mate of mine who bought one for his wife says, ‘if there is a better GT coupe available, then I don’t know what it is, this thing does everything so well and it is not expensive’.

After years of struggling to sell passenger cars the Blue Oval has hit the jack pot with the Stang and its so obvious one wonders why it has taken them so long.

The ten-speed automatic we tested had a starting price from $66,995,orabout $4000 more than the six-speed manual, and for us the extra money is worth it, delivering a transmission perfectly suited to the car but more of that later. Prices are up about $5500 on the previous model but it is still good value. Its most direct opponent, Holden’s Chevy Camaro is about $24000 dearer because it is converted to RHD here in Oz, while the ‘Stang is built as RHD in the US factory.

We had the chance recently to sample both a GT 5.0 litre convertible and a similarly powered coupe hardtop and came away even more impressed than we were with the previous edition.

The newer model gets the ten-speed automatic replacing the older six-speed self shifter and this has taken the ‘Stang to a new level. It is such an exemplary shifter whether tootling around the suburbs or having a go on an interesting and

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challenging back road. It shifts smoothly is well-spaced and wellmatched to the Coyote 5.0 litre V8 and is just nice to live with.

Under the bonnet the Coyote V8 has been warmed up a bit with power now at 399kW, 33kW more than the old version while torque is also up 26Nm to 556Nm, all thanks to some retuning of the fuel injection.

Inside the cab there is a new digital dash that can be configured several different ways but is easy to read at a glance and fits the performance image of the Mustang perfectly. Along with that there are some other trim and design improvements and the coupe we tested the optional Recaro buckets which are a total joy to sit in but cost an extra $3000.

Light up that Coyote under the bonnet and there is the pleasing roar of a V8 and the burble that follows at idle. The noise this engine makes is superb and you find yourself wanting to go out to the drive and just start it up. It sounds particularly good on a back country road with the bark of the V8 bouncing of the rock walls and trees as you blast up a twisty, challenging hill. The engine is responsive and agile and just as easy to drive idling in traffic as at full noise on a lonely country blacktop.

The coupe we tested had selectable modes from ordinary to track mode and these can be switched between modes. Delivering hard suspension in track mode and softer more pleasant but still firm damping in normal mode.

In normal mode it works nicely on even the crappiest Sydney roads, compliant and smooth at commuting speed.

Track mode stiffens the adaptive dampers and sharpens the steering and makes the Mustang a sharp weapon that handles superbly but could bite if not respected.

Grip levels are supreme, helped by the well set up suspension and steering and also the Michelin Sport Cup 4 tyres. on 19 x 9-inch alloy rims on the front and 19x 9.5-inch wide rims at the rear.

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The brakes are big six pot Brembos that offer superb feel and stopping power but with a car of this level of performance this is exactly what would be expected, but they work beautifully.

During our test, the Mustang GT returned an average of 15.6 litres/100km according to the car’s trip computer, against a claimed combined fuel economy average of 13.0L/100km. But lets face it you wouldn’t buy Mustang for its fuel economy.

The ‘Stang has very good standard equipment with LED lighting and auto headlights and wipers, the four-mode digital dashboard we mentioned earlier, Ford’s Sync3 multimedia system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and sat nav, a beaut leather-bound steering wheel, performance gauges and even lap timers amongst its multimedia system while the audio system is fantastic, put the Springsteen on and turn it up, plant the right foot and baby you are born to run!

Mustang is a compact coupe inside, there is plenty of room for the two front seats but the back seat, although more scalloped and offering a bit more headroom than the previous incarnation, it still has a sloping roofline of a fastback and the limitations that delivers. Fine for children and small adults but apart from that forget it.

Don’t start me on the ANCAP ratings , the Mustang still only scores three stars but as far as this writer is concerned is not a hinderance in buying a Stang. One day the whole ANCAP sham will be exposed as a system of awarding points for warning chimes and systems that take control away from real drivers. We still feel safe in the Mustang and any one who reckons it is a problem is a whinger.

We love the new version of the Mustang and would have one in a heart beat. If you have any interest in a performance sports car then do yourself a favour and drive a Mustang, you will be impressed.

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064 Money Matters

PAUL CLITHEROE IS A LONG TERM STRATEGY STILL RELEVANT AND BETTER MANAGING CREDIT CARDS?

W

e live in a world of change.

Technology is driving big shifts in what we do and how we do it. Interest rates

are at historic lows. And after many years

of significant growth, home values in some of our largest cities are on the decline.

Against this backdrop of upheaval, is long term investing still relevant?

I think so. History tells us just how

effective a buy-and-hold approach can be.

Over the last year for example,

Australian shares dished up total returns (including dividends) of 3.45 per cent.

Extend that timeframe out to five years,

and returns have averaged 8.12 per cent annually. But an investor with a 10-year horizon could have pocketed average annual gains of 11.79 per cent.

It’s a compelling case for thinking long

term. But giving sharemarket investments

years – not just weeks or months – to grow, calls for more than patience.

Success with long term investing

demands a diversified portfolio. Today’s rooster can quickly become tomorrow’s feather duster.

By way of example, if you’d bought the

minimum parcel of 400 Commonwealth Bank shares back when it first listed in

1991, you’d have paid $2,160. That same parcel of shares today would be worth

$28,908, and this doesn’t include the value of annual dividends (Commbank has a dividend yield of 5.98 per cent).

The challenge is that not every company

is around long enough to make it as a

long term investment. Former sharemarket darlings like Pasminco and Babcock and Brown are testimony to this. It explains

why investment guru Warren Buffett, who is a fan of long term investing, looks for

companies that will still be in business in ten or 20 years.

This highlights the need for diversity,

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something that can be hard for direct investors to achieve. An easy and

potentially low cost way to diversify is

through a managed share fund, which can offer access dozens of listed companies.

That said, don’t expect your investments

to do all the heavy lifting. Making regular contributions can be the thing that really sees the value of your investments

skyrocket. Even Warren Buffet could have

trouble growing your wealth if you only tuck away $100 each year.

Importantly, be prepared to block out

market noise. Sharemarkets go up and

down frequently, and if you follow the news on a daily basis it can be easy to subscribe to the Chicken Little view that the sky is about to fall in.

Rather than focusing on what you can’t

control, embrace what is within your reach – the fees you pay on investments, the

choice of investments at your fingertips, and your ability to add to your portfolio when you have the funds to do so.

Meantime January 1 saw a raft of

new reforms introduced that can help

card, chances are you’ll only be able to

shift a smaller chunk of the balance over.

This comes back to the new rules about maximum credit limits.

The downside here is that you may end

up with two cards – one for the balance

transfer deal as well as your old card, still laden with debt. The risk is that it’s easy

to reload both cards with more purchases and potentially end up owing more than you started with. Unless you knuckle

down to pay both cards off, it can be worth using a personal loan to clear the slate.

It could end up saving you money in overall interest charges.

Card reforms also involve changes to the

way interest is calculated. If you don’t pay the card off in full each month, you’ll only

be charged interest on purchases from the date they were made rather than from the payment date of the last statement. This

change isn’t restricted to one or two card issuers, it applies across the board, and

it could see plenty of cardholders paying less interest.

The latest reforms are a step in the right

consumers avoid unmanageable credit

direction, but the single best way to keep

If you apply for a new card, the credit

balance in full each month. If you carry an

card debt.

limit will be based on what you can afford to repay over three years assuming the

maximum card rate, which is usually the

cash advance rate. For the record, that can be over 20 per cent .

This could mean your credit limit is less

than expected. That’s not always a bad

thing. We have a tendency to overestimate

our ability to repay debt and underestimate how much we’ll rack up on the plastic.

Putting the brakes on how much debt you

interest costs down is by paying off the

ongoing card debt, look around to see if

you could get a better deal. Getting on top of any debt is harder when you’re paying above the odds, and plenty of smaller banks and credit unions like Northern

Inland Credit Union (8.99 per cent ) and G&C Mutual Bank (9.49 per cent ) are

offering very low rate cards that can cut your interest costs, freeing up cash for extra repayments.

can get into if the card is maxed out is a positive step.

Balance transfer deals could also be

less generous. Instead of being able to

transfer all your card debt to a 0% transfer

Paul Clitheroe is a founding director of financial planning firm ipac, chairman of the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board and chief commentator for Money magazine.

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hino.com.au

HINO PONCHO. DDA COMPLIANT & THE SMARTEST BUS AROUND TOWN.

XAVIER_HINO36428

THAT’S ANOTHER HINO

Over 4 million Australians live with a disability. Yet, unlike most community transport solutions, the smart Hino Poncho is fully DDA compliant right now and ready to go. Its internal layout configuration features excellent accessibility and an ultra low floor design. Cost efficient to run with superior rear engine access, the Hino Poncho will help lower your fuel costs and reduce maintenance costs as well. And because Hino is driven to do more for you, it comes equipped with automatic transmission and airbag suspension. It’s all designed to deliver on the Hino QDR (Quality, Durability and Reliability) promise to ensure a smooth and comfortable ride, for all your passengers. Find out more today at hino.com.au