Public buses have since long been an unattractive mode of transportation in Mauritius. Non-adherence to time tables, poor maintenance, crowded buses and discourteous personnel are some of the reasons that discourage commuters. But now, public transport is gradually gaining popularity, thanks to the introduction of modern semi-low floor buses.
Publicité
Traditionally, public service buses in Mauritius are in fact mounted locally on truck chassis. Access is via a set of steps and these buses are not comfortable for passengers given the type of seats and the cramped legroom. Today, the advent of semi-low floor buses is transforming the public transport landscape in Mauritius. Modern buses, mainly from China, are replacing favourite bus brands such as Isuzu, Hino, Tata, Ashok Leyland or Nissan UD. The look and feel of these buses, their design and their seating arrangements are conquering the travelling public. But we are very far from the day when motorists would leave their cars at home and travel by buses.
New bus brands
Chinese brands are dominating the semi-low floor bus segment. Yutong tops the list, as this is the brand chosen by the National Transport Corporation Other companies such as Rose Hill Transport have also acquired Yutong buses. The Chinese brands on our roads are: Golden Dragon, Higer, Yaxing, King Long, Foton and Anyuan. Tata Marcopolo and Ashok Leyland Jan Bus are two Indian semi-low floor buses present in Mauritius. Daewoo is another popular brand, and Triolet Bus Service ltd operates Daewoo buses on its ‘SmartLine’ from Grand Bay to Port Louis.
Yutong
Headquartered in Zhengzhou in central China’s Henan Province, Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co Ltd is a large-scale industrial group mainly specialized in the bus business, and also covers some other strategic businesses such as construction machinery, automotive parts and components. It is represented in Mauritius by the ABC group. The National Transport Corporation operates more than 120 Yutong buses. This bus has also been purchased by other companies and private individual operators.
Higer
Higer Bus Company Limited, also known as Higer Bus, is a Chinese bus manufacturer based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. It was established at the end of 1998. HIGER is China’s leading exporter of buses and coaches in more than 100 countries and territories in South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia, East Europe and the Americas. Higer buses from China are commercialised in Mauritius by Scomat.
Tata
Tata Marcopolo is a bus and coach manufacturing company headquartered in Dharwad, India and a joint venture between Tata Motors and Marcopolo S.A. The first semi-low floor bus to hit our roads was a Tata Marcopolo. It was introduced by the United Bus Service in 2014.
Yaxing
Yaxing Coach (Yangzhou Yaxing Motor Coach Co., Ltd) is a bus manufacturer based in Yangzhou, China. It is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Yaxing that was founded in 1998. Buses are produced under the Yaxing and Yangtse (Yangzlv) brands. Yaxing is represented by Luna Transport Co Ltd in Mauritius.
Anyuan
Anyuan Bus Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Anyuan Bus) is based in Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, China. Anyuan Bus has a history of 30 years and produces oversized vehicles, medium buses, light buses, tourist buses, city buses, suburban buses, private coaches and long distance coaches. It exports to Australia, the USA, the UK, Malaysia, Jordan, Bengal, Vietnam and other countries. It is represented in Mauritius by DWorld Motors, situated at Coromandel. The official launching of Anyuan buses in Mauritius last week was marked by an incident. The driver of one of the buses got his wheel stuck in mud as he tried to move along a tiny road, obstructed by badly parked cars at the Domaine les Pailles. The press wrongly reported that the bus was immobilized due to mechanical fault, which was not the case.
Ashok Leyland Jan Bus: How this ‘Indian Innovation’ took shape
Ashok Leyland engineers asked themselves why a bus can’t have a fully flat floor, where all the seats are at the same level! To achieve a low floor height, engineers worldwide have moved the engine to the rear and built the bus around it. And this has always resulted in the difference of levels inside the bus. In fact, the floor of such buses is low only in the front saloon area and not in the rear. But what if the engine can be kept in front? Can a front engine bus have a low floor? And would that configuration help keep the floor entirely flat? The result: a revolutionary concept in urban mobility was born. Named 'Jan Bus' ('Jan' means people), it is the world's first single step entry, front engine and fully flat floor bus. Care was taken not to clutter the floor. That is why even the seats are side-mounted and the stanchions are mounted on the seats, making the whole floor, hindrance-free. Not only will the passengers and the conductor but also the person cleaning the bus find it easier with no obstructions on the floor.
Other brands
Major European bus brands do not yet form part of our public transport landscape. Low floor bus such as Scania, Denis, Mercedes, Optare, Solaris, VDL, among others are considered as costly. Strangely, Volvo-India, a hit in India, has not yet attracted local operators.
Golden Dragon
Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co Ltd is a joint venture company established in 1992 Xiamen, China. It specialises in developing, manufacturing and selling medium-large sized luxury buses and light vans. It is represented in Mauritius by Golden Dragon Bus (Mauritius) Ltd. The United Bus Service Company has purchased more than 60 Golden Dragon buses so far. Rose Hill Transport recently introduced a double decker bus of the same brand.
The disabled
While one of the objectives of the introduction of semi-low floor buses by the government is to encourage safe and easy mobility of wheelchair-bound persons, the fact is that our semi-low floor buses are not adequately equipped to cater for the needs of the disabled.
Notre service WhatsApp. Vous êtes témoins d`un événement d`actualité ou d`une scène insolite? Envoyez-nous vos photos ou vidéos sur le 5 259 82 00 !
