Hübner a global leader in vehicle articulation systems, provides gangway systems for articulated buses (18 m long) and bi-articulated buses (24 m long). At Busworld Brussels the company showcased its concept for steering-system for high-capacity buses. Growing cities in countries like South America, China and India requires public transport to move people. In most cases these city and intercity buses, a few who do have bi articulated buses, are also not large enough to carry more passengers – so the mobility industry is seeking for new concepts.
In order to address this challenge, Hübner has worked on a package consisting of steering hardware software and gangway system to enable a longer ‘tram’ like buses. Says Dr. Stefanie Boege, Strategic Management, Bus Division: “The idea is to have a long tram like vehicle on rubber tyres. Which means this bus on rubber tyres is a vehicle that has six axles across three coaches. We already have built these axle modules for test bench to test our steering. If the vehicle is going around the road corner or around a building side and the driver is steering right or left then at that moment the preceding and the last axles will also come along. It’s a steering computer where a software communicates with all the three axles.”
Hübner shall began the work with interested customers after extensive study and testing for safety. Informs Dr. Boege: “For these kinds of new buses we would deliver the hardware component of the steering and the software combined with our gangway system as a full package. We consult our customers on the entire field of application of these high-capacity buses. We provide simulation on a theoretical level to show whether the particular vehicle configuration is working or not and if it is working the customer can begin the construction of the vehicle.”
The company is optimistic that with this approach the affordability for many a small vehicle manufacturer would increase and they would be keen to invest in their systems. Given the fact it takes 8 to 10 years for any other public transport like rail and metro to be build, these steering system buses with length around 30-40 m will be ideal for growing cities of South America, China and India.