Family - Setra

38 | The 21 st century The 21 st century | 39
Setra at the forefront
of coach travel in the future
M
obility will continue to
play a key role well
into the 21 st century.
To minimise urban pollution to
the greatest possible extent,
it is quite conceivable that many
buses will be driven by hydrogen
technology. They will most
definitely be safer than ever –
with highly intelligent systems
to support the driver in seeing,
hearing and steering. This is why
advanced new technologies are
being developed in Neu-Ulm,
to meet the ever increasing need
for innovative mobility concepts.
And, if the trend towards decreasing
household sizes persists,
“reurbanisation” will continue –
with many singles and increasing
numbers of seniors returning to
urban environments for the
quality of life they offer. This
represents an exceptional opportunity
for public transit to provide
a comfortable alternative to
traffic congestion and insufficient
parking.
The coach takes over
long-distance line travel
With increasing energy costs and
regulatory eco-restrictions, reduced
mobility budgets will result in
cost-effectiveness playing an even
more important role in the future.
Cheap line air travel and longdistance
car journeys will be used
with increasing rarity – a trend
Setra is well positioned to capitalise
on, with the coach being ideal for
long-distance travel. The liberalisation
of the European long-distance bus
network will contribute to more and
more travellers using the coach.
Bottlenecks in public budgets will
result in reduced investment in
track systems. Setra will continue to
work on customised bus concepts
delivering significant competitive
benefits to those bus operators
who are prepared to invest in safety,
comfort and, of course, cost-effectiveness.
A spontaneous trip?
By coach, of course
Passengers in more remote areas
will most likely be booking their bus
travel online or via Smartphone.
Timetables, personal agendas and
geo-coordinates for take-off/
destination will all be linked. The
latest-generation Setra MultiClass
could be fully equipped with highly
versatile receivers – with Setra
transforming the coach from a
straightforward method of transportation
to a complete, mobile
communications centre.
Travel comfort in the future
Setra will continue to set the
standard in coach travel comfort.
It is conceivable that seats could
actually adapt to individual body
shapes, to changing body temperatures,
with light sensors dimming
surrounding light as soon as the
guest’s eyes close for rest. Furthermore,
each guest could have access
to a personal entertainment system
with, for instance, a hologram in the
window showing information on the
itinerary, which could be added to
touchscreen and publicised via
online networks. Also, in the future,
the bus driver could take on a new
role: through the incorporation of
supportive driving systems, the
driver could become more of a
service manager, dedicated to
guests’ wellbeing and comfort.
Tomorrow’s Setra could in fact be
driven via autopilot on virtual tracks
with, for instance, electronic
adaptive cruise control adjusting
automatically to the flow of traffic.
Reliability and cost-effectiveness
With ever increasing requirements
being placed on ecology and
efficiency, will tomorrow’s coaches
really offer significantly enhanced
cost-effectiveness? Setra has been
focusing on these key issues for
many years now. In 2020, the use
of parallel hybrid drives in regionalservice
applications – combining
combustion and electric engine
systems – is certainly a possibility,
in view of saving fuel, costs and
weight. Not only cost-effectiveness
will improve, but also reliability.
For instance, a new electronic
Self-Repairing System, or SRS,
could identify and correct technical
defects, with data being collected
centrally at OMNIplus and then
synchronised during the next online
check-in.
A future in motion
The future of the coach sector and
that of Setra could conceivably
reflect what we have described here
– with concepts taken from current
R&D efforts, as well as from the
crystal ball. We can assume that
a lot will be exactly as anticipated,
and that just as much will be
different than anything we can now
imagine. In any case, we guarantee
that the future will be, to say the
least, fascinating! You can look
forward to some very exciting future
developments – many of which you
can work on with us. And, we are
really looking forward to taking on
the future with the Setra family.
Driving a future with clean air and green cities – a vision or, perhaps soon,
reality? One thing we do know: Setra will be part of it.