buses

Is your bus bugged for sound?

Do you talk to your fellow passengers on public transport or perhaps on your cell phone to your beloved?

Do you enjoy listening in to passengers' conversations? It's so much more interesting than watching them clip their toenails.

Do you even, as I do, talk to yourself on occasion, when there's nothing better to do?

How would you feel if you local police force could listen in? I merely ask this, because of the mundane fact that they might be.

It seems that video surveillance just isn't enough these days. Your local everyday busybody authorities apparently are feeling the need to listen in on buses, just in case someone is discussing yesterday's bank robbery or tomorrow's drug deal.… Read more

GM, Kleiner Perkins bet on electric bus maker

General Motors isn't in the business of city buses, but an investment announced today in electric bus maker Proterra opens up the possibility

Proterra said that GM Ventures and venture capital company Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers have put $30 million into the Golden, Colo.-based start-up. Kleiner, Perkins led the round, which also brought money from Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsui, Vision Ridge Partners, and 88 Green Ventures.

The investment will allow Proterra to further develop and market its all-electric bus, which the company has designed as a replacement for typical diesel municipal transit buses. The buses are already … Read more

London double-decker buses getting makeover

London Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled new diesel-hybrid electric double-decker buses this week that are scheduled to hit London streets in 2012.

The new hybrid buses will get 10 miles per gallon which is almost 40 percent more efficient than a conventional diesel double-decker bus. London already has some diesel-hybrid buses in its fleet, but these newer models will be 15 percent more efficient than those.

"Over the next few months its mettle will be well and truly tested. But I hope that process will confirm we have built a real eco-warrior of a bus that can contribute to improving … Read more

China's elevated bus drives above cars

China's latest solution to its notorious traffic and road congestion combines the best features of subways and buses into a single mass-transportation vehicle that rides above traffic rather than in it. Or under it.

Eliminating the need to tunnel underground or build expensive bridges, these elevated buses straddle the road on rails and provide enough clearance for other vehicles on the road (except for large delivery trucks) to drive under. This strategy will allow the buses to travel faster than the speed of traffic without the need for dedicated lanes or structures.

Construction of 115 miles of track will … Read more

Literally jump the shark!

Daredevil Dave is a funny, quirky, stunt-based arcade game that offers limited gameplay but lots of heart.

The game's personality and humor--surely inspired by premillennial celebrity weirdo Super Dave Osborne--is evident from the main menu and the tutorial, as you play a self-absorbed and proudly reckless (but still somehow lovable) motorcycle daredevil, portrayed with pop-up cartoons and hyperbolic voice-over.

The game has 18 levels in all, ranging from more-conventional stunts involving trucks and flaming hoops to utterly ridiculous situations with lava, sharks, helicopters, and bombs. In each stunt, your goal is to hit the landing ramp as precisely as … Read more

New bus for London: Routemaster revival

There are few things Crave likes better than classic British icons getting sleek, shiny make-overs. First it was the technicolor iPod-generation Daleks--now it's the classic Routemaster double-decker getting a retro-futuristic sprucing-up.

The New Bus for London draws on the classic London bus design. Rubbish name, but with its swooping lines it looks the part. Initially, there'll be four of the new models on London streets. The new look was unveiled this week by everybody's favorite bumbling posho, Boris Johnson, and cost a hefty 7.8 million pounds ($11.25 million) in development and manufacture. It'… Read more

California to experiment with hydrogen buses

When you think of the words "hydrogen highway," your mind tends to conjure up images of silent cars whizzing down the road in an environmentally friendly manner.

You don't think about trying to squeeze into a seat between a 300-pound man and a woman with 18 grocery bags. But this scenario might be more realistic.

CalStart, an alternative-transportation advocacy group, has signed five contracts with bus companies to develop and study fuel cells, as well as other components for making hydrogen buses. The $24 million project is partly underwritten by federal grants.

The SunLine Transit Agency in … Read more

Using the phone to pay for bus rides

As part of a public experiment, some commuters in Singapore need only tap their mobile phones for bus and train fares.

They're part of the Near-Field Communication (NFC) phone trial jointly organized by Singapore service provider StarHub and partner EZ-Link. According to the press release, the trial is the first public NFC trial in the Republic and possibly one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Since the middle of last week, 1,000 selected trialists have been given a handset from Singapore phone manufacturer iWOW and a Sony PaSoRi card reader (EZ-Link card reader) which they … Read more