ABC #395

IN FOCUS
VENTURA SCANIA
SLIDE-OUT
WHEELCHAIR LIFT KEY
Leading Victorian bus operator Ventura has added eight new Scania
Touring school and charter coaches to its fleet, with a luggage-spacesaving
slide-out wheelchair lift a highlight, the company has announced.
Above:
Four of the vehicles
will be based at
Monbulk, near
Melbourne’s
Dandenong Ranges.
Below:
Long-serving driver
Roy Beattie says the
new Touring was very
smooth to drive and
the ZF automatic
transmission
provided a refined
travelling experience.
Opposite, Below:
A benefit of the slideout
wheelchair lift is
not eat into luggage
space.
PURCHASED for use
from Ventura’s outerurban
depots, four of
the vehicles will be
based at the hilly and
picturesque village of Monbulk
on the edge of Melbourne’s
Dandenong Ranges, Scania
confirms.
The 57-seaters all feature
powered wheelchair lifts above
the rear wheels on the kerb-side,
and a capacity for carrying two
wheelchairs internally with the
loss of four rows of seats on the
left aisle, it explains.
The seats, though, have been
designed to be easily removed
and stored at the depot while
a bespoke wheelchair-lashing
system has been designed and
the chairs’ occupants are secured
with three-point seat belts for
additional safety, Scania explains.
Although freshly commissioned,
the Touring coaches have been
welcomed quickly into Ventura’s
Monbulk fleet, it adds.
LUGGAGE CAPACITY
Long-serving driver Roy Beattie
says the new Touring was very
smooth to drive and the ZF
automatic transmission provided
a refined travelling experience for
the passengers.
“It is more comfortable for
drivers and passengers, and
the braking system is very well
calibrated, too. I recently did a
school camp run and the luggage
all fitted – and we had a lot of it,”
he said of the Scania Touring’s 9
cubic metre luggage capacity.
“The school kids were really
happy to be driven around in a
new bus and one that’s smart and
quiet,” he said.
A benefit of the slide-out
wheelchair lift design is that
is does not eat into precious
luggage space as previous
lift mechanisms have, Scania
explains.
LATEST TECH
Further driver assistance
technologies have also made a
positive impression on Beattie, he
says.
“I was previously driving a
2000-model manual transmission
Scania bus and the difference is
significant. There’s so much more
technology on these new vehicles,
such as Lane Departure Warning
and Adaptive Cruise Control,
but also nice features such as a
heated driver’s seat, which gets
hot very quickly and no doubt will
be very popular in the winter.
“We also have a dual-radio
system so we can have the
passengers and driver listening to
different stations, although I have
made a playlist for my school run
and play that through the system,”
Beattie explained.
“The new buses have plenty
of power and, even when fully
loaded, they are getting up the
steep hills around here very easily.
The bus also cruises at high speed
very nicely. I took a charter to
Philip Island recently and the bus
sits very securely at 85–90km/h.
“It’s a dream to drive. It’s like the
bus becomes an extension of you;
it’s very predictable,” Beattie said.
DRIVER COMFORT
Shaun Staggard has been driving
for Ventura for nine years and says
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ABC July 2020 busnews.com.au