ABC #396

IGNITION
FABIAN COTTER
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!
Is this short-term pain now with long-term gain ahead? Given new bus
product, tech and players soon to hit our shores, for the bus world it is.
Two hundred metres, easy. I saw
this chap pottering towards me
at night while I was out jogging,
recently. Well, that’s a lie – it was
more a slow walkie-shuffle thing from
me, but I was out of breath and near
heart-attack stage I think, so that’s got
to count for some kind of health kick,
I reckon, right?
Anyway, as we shuffled closer towards
each other from respective uphills to ‘down
the hills’, I noticed something unusual
about this ‘medium collar’ office-type
fellow as he approached in the distance:
he was wearing a white mask.
To be clear, when I say unusual I mean
pre-virus-topsy-turvy times. Now, of
course, without a mask in some places it’s
considered a crime against humanity, so
with many of us ‘following the bouncing
ball across the bottom of the TV screen’
just to help ease things up a bit even if we
are unsure of their effectiveness and such,
masks are a common sight.
But at 10.00pm in the leafy-green ‘burbs
with absolutely no-one else but us two that
happened to be on the same street, I still
found it weird.
Closer and closer still, our paths would
eventually pass. Like two ocean liners
silently passing in the starry night, it was a
close call but at least twice the advocated
1.5 metres social distancing we are told.
What got me was this: from that
distance, time of night and stillness of
breeze (and no, I didn’t get my Inspector
Gadget pocket wind chimes out to tell),
this guy could have easily run faster than
the virus can waft around I’d have thought
or – and get this – just crossed the road to
totally avoid me. Simple, really.
That is, if you see me coming well in
advance, even with like 25 metres to go,
just cross the road, so why the mask in
such a situation?
Other close-contact situations in shops
or whatever, different deal and I’m sure
everyone has their take on that, but when
there’s ‘mega social distance’ and just two
people outdoors on a still night, I just found
it weird.
Ultimately, as he passed – a late-30s
chap with briefcase in hand and
semi-casual corporate clothes on – I got
to see his face, or at least the top part.
The worried furrowed brow and the
stressed-out eyes just said one thing: fear!
Hmmm… With all that’s going on and
the media focus doggedly being on those
who don’t wear masks, I’m hoping there’s
equal attention shone on those who do
yet whose mental states are disturbingly
impacted in such a way that mere
common-sense is almost heresy. Because
it’s common-sense that always will be
needed from all sides and interpretations
of this pandemic.
NEWS JUST OUT
At the time of print, some key bus
developments have occurred. Firstly, as
part of the Western Australia government’s
statement this week endorsing hydrogen
use, mining giant Fortescue has announced
new player Hyzon will be supplying its
coach transport needs with hydrogen
fuel-cell buses instead of diesel-powered
ones. Early days for the tech, but a big move
nonetheless.
Secondly, Bustech has announced a
partnership with North American electric
bus giant Proterra to collaboratively make
e-buses for the local Australian market.
We’ll have more about these next issue.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
Inside this issue, ABC magazine No. 396
we take a good look in our coverstory at
the now even deeper connection between
iconic Aussie bus builder Volgren and its
modern-day parent company Marcopolo,
as the pairs nears its 10-year anniversary
together.
Much thanks to all involved to make it
happen and these things are all the more
difficult to arrange and sort out when it’s
a global mix of emails and different time
zones, etc.
The companies share so much in
common in terms of quality and innovative
bus design and construction, yet are
different enough at times to learn from –
and benefit from – each other. We hope
you enjoy that one.
In terms of operator profiling – and
although it took a while to get out and
massive apologies for it – we visit Red Bus
Services on the NSW Central Coast to talk
generations of bus family business and how
this insanely weird pandemic situation has
affected the Red Bus team of late.
Getting behind the wheel finally of the
new BCI-Merc ‘Cruiser’ coach - which we
first featured on our cover in November,
2019 – Paul Aldridge takes one for a spin
down in lovely Melbourne to let us know
how she handles on the road and how it
feels in the hot seat. Another one we snuck
in just before the first lockdown, so please
don’t freak out about no masks and social
distancing and whatnot. Muchos gracias…
From what we learned, the collaborative
effort between BCI and Mercedes-Benz
hasn’t just produced one great-looking
Euro-style coach, but one that’s a real
pleasure to drive, too.
And in our In Focus sections it’s good
see the beautifully refurbished Bus 80
finally on display in Gatton in Queensland
– at least until a new Brisbane-based
home is finalised for her to be publically
viewed – plus we update you on some new
equipment, new product and expansion at
Custom Denning’s Sydney premises.
And finally it’s great news hearing that a
BusNSW safety initiative is sharing in some
federal government funding, while there’ll
be more buses on the road in South-east
Queensland thanks to social distancing,
plus Kinetic’s acquisition of NZ’s Go Bus is
finally complete.
That’s pretty much it for the month, dear
party people, as 2020 rolls on opening up
multiple Pandora’s Boxes at once it seems
and dealing out all sorts of juju from its
unforseen bag of tricks.
Bring back the ‘old world’, I say – or at
least never ever forget it and ensure you
tell your kids and their kids about it. If they
know ‘what it was’ then they’ll ‘know where
to look’. Or something like that, anyway. ;)
Until the next thrilling instalment…
6
ABC August 2020 busnews.com.au