12/24/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 12: Conclusions
By: Ned Einstein
The final installment of this series examines the socio-economic dynamics and choices which led to the increasing commission of safety compromises by America’s public transportation services.
11/9/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 11: Wheelchair and Passenger Securement
By: Ned Einstein
As with most things, the ADA requirement to make all new motorcoaches purchased after 2001 wheelchair-accessible, and the 2015 ruling to install three-point occupant restraint systems, introduced an entirely new spectrum of safety, liability and social concerns to the motorcoach industry. But a couple of responses to these requirements, particularly by one OEM and one supplier, have opened up a whole new set of opportunities for savvy motorcoach operators.
9/5/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 9: Rolling Turns and Sharp Turns
By: Ned Einstein
It might seem obvious that a bus driver would know how to properly turn a vehicle with a long wheelbase. Yet it is surprising how many are not taught to. More interesting, bus drivers often do not have the time to.
8/16/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 8: Boarding and Alighting
By: Ned Einstein
Given the mass of a bus or motorcoach, the carnage a moving bus or coach can inflict on a pedestrian is not surprising. Yet readers may be surprised by the carnage such a vehicle can cause when it is not moving - or just beginning to move or come to a stop.
7/23/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 7: Stopping on the Wrong Side of the Intersection
By: Ned Einstein
For each route in each direction, transit stops are almost always located on one side of an intersection, not both. Stops just before the intersection are referred to as 'near-side' stops. Those just after the intersection are referred to as 'far-side' stops.
5/17/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 5 - Failing to Kneel the Bus or Coach
By: Ned Einstein
For many passengers, the 14-inch drop from the bottom step of a high-floor transit bus or motorcoach is challenging. In transit service, drivers do not assist or even spot boarding or alighting passengers. While motorcoach drivers typically assist or spot boarding or alighting passengers at the front door, the drivers of motorcoaches deployed in commuter/express service (provided by transit agencies or companies under contract to them) do not. Nor do scheduled service drivers do so consistently, especially at intermediate stops.
4/12/2018· Transportation
A Paradigm Shift in Motorcoach Accessibility, Part 2: The MCI D45 CRT LE Commuter Coach
By: Ned Einstein
In Part 1 of this three-installment series, I characterized the development of MCI's new ramp-equipped accessible motorcoach (the MCI D45 CRT LE) as a "paradigm shift." While I will expand on why this is so in the third and last installment next month, this installment will overview the most unique features of this remarkable vehicle -- a vehicle whose ultimate potential I feel has not yet been realized.
7/24/2017· Transportation
Autonomous and Inevitable, Part 7: Cameras and Sensors
By: Ned Einstein
The previous six National Bus Trader articles on this subject stabbed at some highlights and low-lights within the extraordinary spectrum of socio-economic, institutional and other issues encompassed by our transition from humanoid-driven to robotic vehicles. At this point, I thought it might be helpful to take a quick glance at some of the hardware that serves as the robots' mechanical fixtures, apart from the electronics and the digitalia: Cameras and sensors. These components were employed in "transitional" or "steppingstone" efforts along the path to truly driverless vehicles. So I feel it is worth a look at how these technologies were used and abused at this earlier stage of HAV (highly-automated vehicle) development. Should the reader wish to view the math in the robots' brains, I recommend Multiple View Geometry in Computer Vision by Richard Hartley and Andrew Zisserman. The bible for artificial intelligence. Way over my head. If also over yours, no apologies necessary.
6/22/2017· Transportation
Autonomous and Inevitable, Part 5: The Regulatory Environment -- Initial Thoughts
By: Ned Einstein
Industry insiders, including government officials, cite an interesting analogy as a justification for their initial jump into the regulation of driverless vehicles that was first promulgated on September 20, 2016. The point made is that, had current regulations been in effect when the "Model T" hit the streets, we would have experienced far fewer collisions.
5/23/2017· Transportation
Autonomous and Inevitable, Part 4: Invasion By Mode - Large Vehicles
By: Ned Einstein
As Part 2 of this series hopefully demonstrated there is much to learn about what lies ahead in the motorcoach world from the experiences of modes deploying smaller vehicles. This installment provides a preview of the likely emergence of "highly-automated vehicles," or HAVs, in the world of large vehicles: School bus, transit and motorcoach service.
by Jon Burroughs, MD, et al
by Carlo Scevola and Karina Sneiderova
by Richard Baer, MD
