Bi-articulated bus

However, the technological immaturity during the Great Leap Forward era and a lack of the support of other associated industries meant the bus did not enter mass production.

These buses, now retired, were used on Bordeaux's bus route 7[citation needed] until the city's tram system opened in 2004.

There are two main differences, the replica in Budapest features a more powerful motor, and a more stable and safer axle mechanism.

This vehicle was built to fulfill the need of high capacity person transportation, which was proving difficult for the ITB in 1988, when the prototype was made.

However, the DAC 117E's 134 kW traction motor proved insufficient for such a heavy vehicle, let alone the weight of passengers when it operated at full capacity.

A regular double articulated diesel bus was also made but the capital police refused to allow it to be road legal and to register it on the grounds of its excessive length being outside of the highway code (maximum 17m for articulated buses), and was converted to a regular bus shortly after; the trolleybus was allowed to run being part of a different vehicle class owing to its electric traction.

A bi-articulated bus is a long vehicle and usually requires a specially trained driver, as maneuvering (particularly reversing) can be difficult.

Articulated electric trolleybuses can be difficult to control, with their motors producing momentary peak power in excess of 600 kilowatts (816 PS; 805 hp).

The trailer section of a "puller" bus can be subject to unusual centripetal forces, which many people can find uncomfortable, although this is not an issue with "pushers".

The transit system that has used bi-articulated buses the longest is the Rede Integrada de Transporte, in Curitiba, Brazil, which provides a type of service that has come to be known – particularly in American English – as bus rapid transit (BRT), where buses run in dedicated lanes and stop only at enclosed stations.

Buses stop only at enclosed, tube-shaped stations, where passengers pre-pay the fare and then board at the same level as the vehicle floor.

Curitiba has over 170 bi-articulated buses in operation on routes serving five main corridors of dedicated bus lanes.

[6] On 28 June 2020, the Flemish regional public transport company De Lijn inaugurated the Ringtrambus (route 820) between Brussels Airport and Jette via Vilvoorde, operated half-hourly by 14 24-metre double-articulated buses.

The Brazilian bus body manufacturers Marcopolo, CAIO, Busscar and most recently Neobus have made many bi-articulated buses on top of Volvo chassis.

[12] In Ontario's York Region, the depot and maintenance facilities for the Viva Rapid Transit system include future accommodations for 80-foot double articulated buses.

[18][needs update] The Belgian manufacturer Van Hool offered a 25-metre (82 ft) bi-articulated bus with a capacity of about 180 passengers.

In Hamburg they were retired in 2018 after 13 years of service as they started to require more and more maintenance due to their growing age and an unusual level of wear and tear, caused by the second articulation joint.

In September 2002, fifteen were deployed on lines 11 and 12 in Utrecht, connecting the central railway station to office, college and university buildings at the edge of the city.

In 2016 these buses were moved to Utrecht because the few stops and higher speeds on this line made the hybrid engine perform poorly.

From August 2019 onwards, Trondheim have used Van Hool Exqui.City 24 CNG Hybrid on three core routes, known as the Metrobuss system.