The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bus with fancy, friendly features round the corner

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Thursday, Mar 20, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bus with fancy, friendly features round the corner

Staff Reporter

Prototype of the state-of-the-art iBus showcased at Anna University

PHOTO: S Thanthoni

Plush interiors: The prototype iBus at the Anna University on Wednesday. —

CHENNAI: The prototype of a state-of-the-art Ashok Leyland bus with a host of passenger-friendly features was showcased at Anna University here on Wednesday.

The iBus, with its fancy exterior and striking interior, was first displayed at the Auto Expo in Delhi earlier this year. Briefing reporters here, Special Director (Marketing) of Ashok Leyland B.Venkat Subramaniam said that the team behind the bus was in the process of generating public interest. According to him, the company planned to go into production of the bus within the next six months.

“The bus was developed by a team of young engineers. The ‘I’ stands for intelligence, innovation and Indian,” Mr. Subramaniam said, adding that they estimate the cost of the iBus, with all the features, to be around Rs. 60 lakh. He said that they would also be looking at how to adapt the bus to various local needs depending on the feedback.

The bus had features that add to passenger comfort, including a choice of travelling executive or economy class. Those who travel by executive class would have access to flight-like seats, their own LCD panels (those who travel economy would have a central LCD panel) and controls to lighting and air-conditioning. The entire bus was air-conditioned and wi-fi-enabled. Mr. Subramaniam said that they wanted to experiment with the idea of economy and executive class so that there would be more flexibility in pricing for the private fleet operators.

The bus was semi low-floored and could tilt to enable easy the entry and exit for the aged and the physically challenged. It also had a telematics-enabled passenger infotainment system. The bus had a range of systems, including automated manual transmission-ideal for frequent start-stop intra-city transportation, disc brakes with ABS, rear collision warning and doors with obstacle sensing systems.

Ashok Leyland had already entered into talks with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation. “We have been supplying it most of its fleet, including the semi-low floor, semi-luxury fleet and the vestibules, we will be looking at marketing this product too, as soon as we get into production,” he said.

The bus was designed, keeping in mind the needs that cropped up in a survey conducted by Ashok Leyland in several cities in the country. “We found that people are willing to switch from cars and two-wheelers to public transport if the options provided are efficient and comfortable. We found that more people are using the bus as a means for longer inter-city travel,” he said.

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