Title: Design trends of articulated buses

Authors: F. Vlk

Addresses: Department of Automotive Engineering, Technical University of Brno, Czechoslovakia

Abstract: The trend towards articulated buses has been steadily increasing in recent years in order to cope with the ever growing demand for public transport capacity. This paper presents a comparison of the three most widespread types of articulated bus: the conventional concept - horizontal under-floor axial engine at the front end with middle axle powered (type A); a concept with a high degree of unification - rear engine with third axle powered - the so-called |pusher| bus (type B); and a compromise concept - rear engine with middle axle powered (type C). The pusher concept appears to be the best for modern vehicle design from various viewpoints. Investigations into the vehicle dynamics of articulated buses have only just begun. This type of vehicle was until recently rather rare.

Keywords: articulated buses; bus design; vehicle design; public transport; manoeuvrability; stability; articulation control; unification; vehicle dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.1983.061311

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 1983 Vol.4 No.6, pp.646 - 658

Published online: 25 May 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article