Forthcoming last edition of Busworld Europe in Kortrijk, 19 October to 25 October, before moving to Brussels in 2019, Busworld decided to start a new tradition and organise a special Awards Night on the eve of the exhibition. During this event, the ‘Busworld Awards 2017’ will be presented, as well as the ‘Coach of the Year 2018’ and the ‘Sustainable Bus Awards 2018’.The Awards Night will take place on the evening of Thursday 19 October 2017 in Kortrijk Xpo, right after the Opening Ceremony in the theatre of Kortrijk and the VIP tour in the exhibition. The traditional walking dinner will have an extra dimension with this entertaining show.
Busworld Awards
Busworld recently changed the name of its awards competition ECW (European Coach and Bus Week) to Busworld Awards. The new name speaks for itself. The goal of these awards is to guide the visitors in the exhibition, as well as the readers of all the articles that will subsequently be published around the world, towards the specialties presented in the exhibition.
The general organisation of the ‘Busworld Awards’ is left untouched. During one test day on Saturday 14 October 2017, a combination of road tests and stationery tests are being performed in Kortrijk. Dedicated teams of international and Belgian experts each focus on their specialty, using a carefully prepared checklist. In total more than 180 aspects of the vehicles are being evaluated. The different jury groups are Driving Test, Driver Comfort, Passenger Comfort, Guide Comfort (for coach only), Ecology and Maintenance, Emissions, Safety and last but not least Design. All jury groups do their evaluation on Saturday, only the Design team waits until the following Thursday. The Design jury is allowed to take all vehicles into consideration that are present in the exhibition.
Busworld Europe exhibitors can register for participation until the end of June. The Busworld Awards consist of two overall prizes for the vehicles, the Grand Award Coach and the Grand Award Bus. On top of these Grand Awards, vehicles can also be awarded one of the following labels when they excel in a certain field, an Ecology Label, a Safety and a Comfort Label and a Design Label.
Since Busworld is not only about vehicles, the same Busworld Awards jury grants Innovation Labels to the accessories, spare parts and service companies present in the exhibition. This way the visitors are informed about the must see innovations in the Busworld exhibitions.
Coach of the Year
Traditionally, since its start in 1989, the prestigious ‘Coach of the Year award’ is announced at the Busworld Europe show. The show has been a loyal sponsor and supporter of this award from the beginning. The jury consists of professional journalists of twenty one bus and coach magazines coming from twenty one different countries, and one new twenty second candidate magazine from the Czech Republic. They test the vehicles during four full days on public roads. Every time a ‘Bus Euro Test’ is performed in even years and a ‘Coach Euro Test’ in odd years. The tests take place in different member countries and this year’s Coach Euro test will be performed in Sweden.
The participants for the Coach of the Year 2018 award are already known. They are the Carrozzeria Barbi Galileo HD, Irizar i8, the Iveco Bus Evadys, the Mercedes-Benz Tourismo, the Neoplan Tourliner, the Scania Interlink HD and the VDL Futura FDD2. Want to know who wins the award this time? Come and find out at Busworld Europe’s Awards Night.
Sustainable Bus Awards
A third and fairly new award will also be revealed during this new event, “The Sustainable Bus Awards”. These awards were born in 2016 and focus on the sustainable aspects of buses and coaches. The prize aims to play a role in promoting a new mobility culture, not only encouraging the use of the most advanced technologies in terms of low environmental impact but also taking into account the safety of vehicles, i.e. the capability of the vehicle to reduce the danger for passengers, pedestrians and the driver. Sustainability also means establishing a positive image of the vehicle in the eyes of the general public. Hence, several aspects come into play, such as noise, recyclability of components and the general environmental commitment of the manufacturer. The Italian magazine ‘Autobus’ initiated this award and developed a sustainability index, ‘Mobility Revolution’, together with LifeGate and with the help of Professor Giulio Ceppi of the Politecnico university in Milan. Today, the jury consists of four professional bus and coach magazines. They will award a Sustainable Urban Bus 2018, a Sustainable Intercity Bus 2018 and a Sustainable Coach 2018.
Needless to say that this Awards Night will be an added value to the already busy Busworld Europe events programme.