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MOTORINDIA
l
January 2012
15
buses are considered more expen-
sive to operate than front engine
buses.
Considering all these aspects,
Ashok Leyland has developed a
semi-low floor city bus with front
engine and full flat floor mounted on
a chassis. Being a front engine bus,
it offers better operational efficien-
cy. It has a floor height of 650mm
and hence it is very convenient for
passengers.
AL is also providing the kneel-
ing option, which will tilt the bus
and make it even more convenient
for the disabled people. It has full
flat floor, making it convenient for
both passengers and the conductor.
It comes with air suspension has
standard which makes for better ride
comfort.
Apart from these basic features
of JANBUS, Ashok Leyland also
offers a fully loaded version of the
vehicle, which will be on display
at Auto Expo. With an automated
manual transmission (AMT), it is a
hybrid between the manual and the
automatic. AMT offers all the con-
venience of an automatic transmis-
sion but at a much lower cost. This
has many advantages. It reduces the
initial acquisition cost for the opera-
tor as well as driver fatigue. It also
enhances the overall travel experi-
ence for passengers.
Another important feature, which
is very specific to India is that some
corporations like BEST of Mumbai
used to wash the buses inside-out
every night. With the seats mounted
on the floor, it was very difficult to
reach the nook and corner of the bus
for cleaning. In JANBUS, for the
first time, the seats are mounted to
the sides making the whole cleaning
process easier. Mr. Dasari said, “the
JANBUS is an Indian innovation at
its best.”
The JANBUS can be loaded with
other features like AC, vehicle
tracking systems, and camera for
monitoring inside and outside. But
all these are optional. The vehicle
available in BS3, BS4, diesel or
CNG versions. Out of the 16 patents
mentioned earlier, the frame and the
design alone has 11 patents and the
Bus industry (Auto Expo preview)
The company has 16 patents on
the JANBUS
Globally and in India, semi-low
floor buses with a floor height of 650
are usually rear engine-driven, and
hence come with step seating on the
rear side of the bus. This suits West-
ern countries with fewer passengers
and good roads and where there are
no conductors for ticketing.
In India, buses are usually over-
crowded, with more standees. Roads
are bumpy, and the bus conductor
used to walk from the front to the
rear end of the vehicle a hundred
times every shift. Also, from an
operational standpoint, rear engine