I asked three Bus CEO's from Europe if they found Buses in the U.S. Ugly
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มี.ค. 2022
- While I was in Long Beach California attending the National motorcoach expo, I met so many bus nuts from Europe including the CEO's of Daimler Benz, Temsa and Irizar. I couldn't pass up the chance to ask them whether or not they found buses in North America uglier than those from their home land. Wait till you hear what they answered!
Give Magne and Tom some love. Check out their TH-cam channel Bussmagasinet
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If you didn't get a chance to see my video "Why Are buses in North America so ugly to Europeans" be sure to check it out.
• Why are buses in North...
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I found it interesting the euro and Brazilian guys noted 3 things.
1) split windshields. They liked them for cost and service reasons, but style has higher priority in Europe. And the mentioning that North American busses operate at higher speeds and that impacts design.
2) bumpers. The US has different regulations to meet and bumpers regulations are not the same. Plus, they are figuring out how to incorporate bumper standards in their designs.
3) school buses. They do not use dedicated school bus designs. I guess they don’t utilize the armored high strength design criteria (tank like indestructibility) we do.
I'm thrilled to see you now have a sponsor for episodes and also the following by the Temsa official. This goes to show what growth you've had on this channel!
As mentioned before, there is no doubt North American coaches are tough looking and not the sports cars of European design.
Great video James.
Damn. The two dudes at Buss Magasinet has a cool way of making a living. That's for sure. 😁
I know right?!?!? I wish I could do that!!
I’ve driven Irizar i6 coaches here quite a lot in Australia and found them to be a great vehicle. My only real thing I don’t like is the mirrors protruding out from the side of the chassis projecting forward. You’d be surprised how often they get damaged or even torn off by low tree branches, sign posts, etc. Not by me, I have to say - I’ve never put a scratch in any bus I’ve driven!!! I also find they create a bit of a blind spot as well, mainly on the non-driver side. I much prefer mirrors down low attached directly to the windscreen pillars.
Very nice of all the people to let you talk with them and use it on youtube. If the flashlight has a holder so it can recharge from the windshield or be plugged in charging from the bus would be a nice safety device to have beside the drivers seat. Maybe they have a bracket or could design one, safety devices are always missing when needed having one right by the seat so the driver can see if it is there would be good. Stay safe and healthy.
Now you guys have to add an Irizar to your fleet!
Yes I really want to!
Excellent video James I am sure it was a challenge just to pronounce everyone's name correctly. I enjoyed all of the interviews and learned a lot and especially with the gentlemen from Irizar and learning about the company's history. There is an old saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I think Eagles were the most beautiful coach ever built. I prefer the round front over the flat front but I was also an Eagle driver. I drove Eagles and GM Buffaloes and they both had there pros and cons even moving to newer models. Coaches should be safe and dependable no matter what they look like. I wonder when manufacturers design a new model if end users are ever consulted, company owners, technicians and drivers, I heard the word engineer used a lot, the driver is the person to please. I watched and have been a subscriber since your very first video and have never missed a video and it has been amazing to see how Motorcoach World has grown and become a platform for International bus nuts and geeks. My compliments and thank you.
Buses in the U.S. are designed for function over form. We have a big country and a bus has to operate from coast to coast. A European bus may look good but it won’t function as well. For example it has to keep itself and passengers cool in Texas summer heat. But also be able to start and keep passengers warm in North Dakota winters. Have the power to run at high speed on the interstate and climb mountain passes. Stay cost efficient and have easy maintenance for minimum down time.
So you just literally described the Busses in Western Austria and Switzerland
Perhaps you need to study the geography more and discover that Europe is as big as the USA and that in Europe there is greater climatic and environmental difference.
@@erosgritti5171 perhaps you didn't realize Europe is a continent and the USA is a country. I was referring to individual countries when I was stating what a bus needs to do, as in USA vs Germany. Now if you want to compare continents, North America has more climatic differences from the southern tip of Mexico to the most northern point of Canada than there is in Europe.
Outside the now classic MCI legacy D series of coaches, the only other foreign coach I really aspire to is the Marcopolo Paradiso G8 1800 series of coaches. They’re b nearly over 50 feet with just an elegantly profiled curb appeal stance. So it’s both North and South American coaches for me. Van Hool really put a bad taste in my mouth for European coaches. Hopefully Mercedes can change things for the Euro-American curb appeal.
Agreed. The Marcopolo G8 1800 (especially the DD Double Decker model) is a dream. Buscar in Brazil also have some beautiful designs. Mercedes Benz had really beautiful coaches in the 80s in Brazil. Here in the US the coaches are not appealing - narrow and seats are too flimsy.
I loved driving the Marcopolo buses. Back in the mid 90's
I love to biartuculado buses, the Marcopolo version looked way better than the Volvo (although I think both have the same chassis, right?)
@@RipRoaringGarage If I'm not mistaken, Marcopolo biarticulado buses can be mounted on Mercedes, Scania and Volvo chassis
@@PapaiUrsolino Cool. I would love to see one here, but I dont know if they can be driven on our roads, at least not before they are old. I am working on building a replica of a double artic from DAC (Roman and DAC were exported to South America around the 80s...back when I was doing better I was in talks to buy this one bus from Chile, and another from Costa Rica)
Great video James.
Regulations is the key word when designing a bus or coach, but there is still a whole lot of space to manoeuvre in.
Taking a look of the MB Tourider, Irizar and the Vanhool TD25 Astromega DD, one can see EU influence on the North American market.
I hope that this influence will deepen.
Great video James and I could not help but feel excited for you, great interviews and it’s great to see how enthusiastic these bus company owners and CEO’s are about their products!
One of the best channels I have found so far.. much love to motor coaches 🚌
Thank you!
Irizar is a coach used in Australia. The road conditions in Australia and high amount of windscreen damage on country roads favors the installation of a split windscreen because it reduces repair time and installation / insurance costs. Also in remote locations the availability of tooling and specialised labour may not be readily available so the simpler the repair technique and the lower cost of the shipping and supplying the replacement part the better. Your automotive insurance policy in Australia normally allows for one windscreen replacement per year!
Thanks for sharing the info specs on that flashlight as it seems very useful.
Thanks for showing the interviews. Absolutely lovely that you got to talk to all the big bosses and they all watch your channel as well!
I guess it's a good idea to bring a secondary sound recording device just in case your camera fails, so you have a sound track to reunite with your pictures ...
I am lucky to have driven both American and European coaches mostly in Australia. I drove Eagle 05's and 10's also MCI 8's and 9's. I worked for Greyhound Australia in the 80's and 90's. Of course all those coaches are gone now having been replaced with either Australian bodies and European running gear, or fully built European coaches like the Irizar. How I miss the sound of the two stroke Detroit.
Oh man I wish I had the chance to drive the eagles. It would be a dream come true.
@@MotorcoachWorld Those 4 speed Spicers sorted the men from the boys. They were great coaches. Glad I had the opportunity to drive them. Now I am living in the UK driving Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated buses.
Great video. Love this kind of content
Wonderful video James!!
Watching this live! woohoo...I cant watch it all now but I will come back. Kind of like the Temsa CEO
One of the best chanels I have found so far
I’m looking forward to seeing this!!
Creating great content for our history. Thank you
Great video! Excellent insight from the Europeans..Thanks for posting.(-;
Something to have a look at is the Scania K124 coach design. These buses were and still are very popular in the Australian market, along with the likes of Bonluck and Volgren
Magne (pron: Mangne) and Tom from Bussmagasinet (The Bus Magazine) are well recognized in the industry in "our" part of Europe. In regards of design, I guess we all love the simple and functional Scandinavian (Danish) design. We have some freaky bus-designs in Europe as well, so notting is perfect. I hope you can take a tour with Magne and Tom some day! :)
Great video. Interesting to hear the European perspective on American busses and the design considerations of different markets. Well done!
Hey James love your vids. Previous motor coach driver actually looking to start my own company. Btw. Idk if anyone has told you. But you have a quick cameo in Temsa release video on March 1st of their ts45e. Lol 🤣
Great video and great job!
Once more: Even the biggest CEOs cook with water ;) I hope that you will get your zoom interview with Mr. Rhode to round this up.
You really produce great content, James. It is also a very under served niche.
Thanks Steve. Really appreciate all your support over the years. I think you were watching my stuff from the beginning!
@@MotorcoachWorld Yes, I started watching your original TH-cam Channel
Hey man I love your videos, I’m a transit driver for my school, but am curious about getting into the coach world, out of curiosity, what do you carry with you on your trips? Like a bag tour? Could be a cool video if you haven’t done one yet!
Hey great suggestion. Ten essential things a bus driver should pack is on my to do list
I love the way MCI and Prevost look. Not really a fan of Volvo bus or Temsa.
Fantastic insights!
Great video. Stay safe.
I like the way Dayton, Ohio's RTA city buses in the good ol' 80's are the best. Today's ones suck.
I think you should travel to Norway and meet Magne and Tom again and see how they work and also compare more buses.
Tom and Magne are awesome and they know what a modern bus in Europe should be like 😄
The new America transit buses are starting to look pretty good. Even with the bumpers. I like the new new flyers. They are also the only transit buses in America that have seemed to progressed with their styling (based off of a quick google search)
The xcelsior is over a decade old
Very interesting video
Just my opinion but buses in general mainly transit and motor coaches from the 90s up until about 2010 had the best looks here in the United States 🇺🇸
US and Canadian buses are a heavy duty long distant all weather machine . The drivers are the best in the world . 🌍☮️✨
I know why people believe school buses are so ugly and basic compared to motorcoaches and the answer is simple. School buses are designed by the largest manufacturers of semi trucks and tractors such as International and Freightliner. Not to mention that when it comes to transporting kids, a school bus has laws that it must meet, such as having warning/stop lights, signs, reflective tape, etc...The school bus yellow is also a traditional color that sets the school bus apart from other buses and motorcoaches. Another awesome video James! 🙂
A school bus in the United States is seen as a utilitarian vehicle. It must be safe which it is, it must do the job be reliable etc. Nobody's going to pay more out of a school budget to get one that looks better. Certainly the children and the parents will not care
@@kevinbarry71 A school bus is not "a utilitarian vehicle" nor has anybody ever referred to it as such. A utilitarian vehicle is something like a Land Rover or a Jeep Wrangler. Although you are right about everything else, a school bus is considered a truck more than it is a bus since conventional school buses sit on truck chassis, as I mentioned before. A type-A school bus can be considered a utilitarian vehicle maybe, but a type-B and type-C are essentially big trucks with a bus body whereas a type-D school bus is designed to be more like a transit bus.
@@ariceagaandros utilitarian in the general sense. As in it is a vehicle for utility. I'm not sure anybody would describe a land rover as such. Maybe they used to be but now they're luxury vehicles
@@kevinbarry71 I get your point but a school bus is still not a utility vehicle. I work with school buses everyday and as I mentioned before, the conventional school bus is considered a truck more than anything else. Regardless of the safety functions of a school bus, it is still a truck chassis with a bus body on top.
@@ariceagaandros even for those versions that have the engine in the back? I wish I had that kind when I was in school
Speed limits in Europe on freeways are way higher than USA! In certain Autobahn sections we have minimum required but no maximum speed limit! Europe is bigger than USA with a lot steep hills mountains! Speed limits in Euro cities are like in east cost US cities! Europe has a lot of competition we lead the world we rich we manufacture quality!
We want the Irizar video!
I got to ask Do coach buses drive like a RV? Do they ride on the same platform? What do you think about RV's in general? Please give me your opinions.
The RVs that your average person is driving do not drive nearly as well as these motorcoaches. Also from my experience the mirrors are terrible on almost all arVs I've driven. Mainly because the dash is so deep and you sit further away from the mirrors. Now if you get a very high end RV that Is built on a motorcoach chassis that is a different story
Nice job
And Im back to watch...I couldnt help but laugh, you saying you enjoyed reading the passionate comments. Translation:
Wars were started...
Heh, I'm more of a Marcopolo and J-Bus man but MCI has some good busses too.
That CEO of Temsa is really car-bus guy.Lovet.
Something also to point out when talking about school buses in particular. The U.S has load of regulations specifically for school transport buses that Europe either doesn't have or arent at the same level. I like school buses, they are iconic and a part of our daily life.
Regulations should move with the times. Your school buses look like they could be from 50 years ago and for prisoners. Meanwhile in the UK school buses are what are typically luxury coaches contracted for school runs when not on normal operations.
@@Horizon301. oh we have those too, the yellow buses are just the daily transport. They have coach busses that are what your describing. Their more used for charters like school trips than student pickup and dropoff
@@sterlingodeaghaidh5086 the point being that coaches are used for every day commuting to school for students whom ‘take the bus’ the buses that are used in the US are antiquated for no reason at all. They should be no different to luxury coaches and I bet they would safer with proper seatbelts and individual seats for all. We have bus stops or coaches just stop next to a pavement so they don’t require any special consideration from other road users either. I understand in the US you have to stop for them? Here they have no extra right of way, it’s just taught to drivers as part of hazard perception to expect the cposisbility of someone walking out in front of a bus or coach when passing.
@@Horizon301. Ok let me explain this to you.
You mention students "who take the bus", in the U.S. 3/4 maybe more, of the student population, rides a bus to and from school. Why? Because unlike in GB or other parts of Europe tho not to the extreme of say Australia, schools are somewhat spread out, and a lot are rural. It's not always feasible for the parents to drive their kids to school, especially with the American work culture.
Also, these buses are by no means "Antiquated" their just as modern as the coach buses you are implying are superior in all aspects in fact, Thomas, one of the major bus makers is in fact owned by Daimer so there is that as well. Yes we do have older busses in use that were made in the 90's sometimes even 80's but even those arent as prehistoric as some lay them out to be.
So why do we use them? Why not just use regular city buses and stuff? The answer is that the use case is different. In the U.S. School busses are not like public transit, they don't have regular routes with buses every 15 minutes. Instead, the operator of the busses has planned routes of the houses for each student/s, meaning these don't stop at stops and wait for a student to board, at least not in most cases some do. aThat means they do not stop on a thorofare with planned bus stops and enough signage to make a DOT nut quake in their dreams.
Instead they're stopping on residential streets with little to nothing there for drivers to follow. Hince the flashing lights, stop signs, bright ass colorations, and laws punishing drivers for passing them if they're loading or unloading. Also, these buses when operating in more rural areas are on country roads (think gravel roads sometimes even less) with little to no maintenance. These buses have to be tough, cheap to operate, and safe. These are not death boxes as some may imply, and that is by no means happenstance.
The history of these buses and why we use them is written in blood, and I am not making that up. We have over a century of history where we have had tragedies involving students going to school and finding their demise on the way, and through those each time we changed the busses to better suit the task. Going from quite literally converted hay wagons (not even joking) to what we use now which are specialized and especially with the newer busses, a highly advanced vehicles for what they are is no short of a massive improvement.
Their safety stands, student fatalities have dropped over the years with each advancement, and the newest buses we have today are some of the safest yet. It's the media that shows them to be blundering death traps when they are actually far from it. So why aren't they used elsewhere?
Europe for the most part and Asia too, distances are shorter to schools, I mean the adage: "Brits think 100 miles is a long way and Americans think 100 years is a long time." is a thing for a reason. You guys don't have to travel as far, and you have more established public transit that can just tack on a bus or two for the kiddos to ride to school. There is no need for such a specialized transit option where you live, there is a need here tho.
The situations are just different here you cant apply European or Asian ways of thinking and assume they will work, and as I mentioned we do use standard coach busses for things like school trips, student charters to events, and more. Some private schools exclusively use them too so some go that route. But buy-in-large this just isn't the norm. Those buses are expensive for the most part and just aren't as practical for what most need. The U.S. is rather diverse tho so don't look at these videos and think that what your seeing applies everywhere. In a lot of inner-city schools it's not rare to see public transit having a school route and special student passes, its also not rare for older students to drive themselves either.
Just the thing is here in the U.S. when you have a crap ton of students to get to school, and a need to do it safely and efficiently sometimes a specialized tool like the standard American school bus is the way to go. They don't work elsewhere, and there are cases where there are better options, but then again you cant gleam from that they're useless.
Hopefully this answers things for you, I can try and answer any other questions you may have tho I am not a transportation engineer, I am an EMT who is studying mortuary science so i am by no means an expert.
@@sterlingodeaghaidh5086 the majority of students here take the bus also. Coaches are doing the same job as your buses, they are on a fixed route picking up children and dropping them off at a set time. It’s nothing like a commuter bus at all and they do operate in rural areas where you can barely fit two cars past each other. If you know the UK then you would be aware of the tight roads in the country side. They stop in the road and block the lane when picking and collecting, you wouldn’t be able to get past unless able to overtake on the oncoming lane. There is virtually no difference in the role at all and commuting can take up to an hour depending on the location. My school had 20 coaches or so, an early and late one for each area. The regulations and safety come from the prevention of accidents because of the rules about overtaking and the fact they are yellow. It’s more so drivers here are of a higher standard due to the stringent driving test therefore we don’t need to take such measures. The only actual feature is rollover prevention but if you have seen the old route master buses, I bet that the coaches are unlikely to be subject to any such incident either and the high ride height means that any impact with a car wouldn’t even reach the floor of the coach in which passengers sit. There is also the argument that the high back rests make compartments, but that’s just trying to be cheap then subsequently making up a benefit as any coach seating has high seat backs therefore this is also a moot point. The interior of these buses look like they are for prisoners in my opinion. Overall, I still think that the school buses are antiquated and very little in terms of research proves otherwise. You could use the same road laws and paint a coach yellow, and I have confidence that it would be the better option than. You did mention costs are lower but I’m not sure on that as I’m not aware of how much a Thomas bus costs. Here, as mentioned we have tour operators whom are contracted for the role. Therefore, no school is buying buses or coaches nor locals councils. It’s merely contracted work which is an alternate source of income for them, in which parents are paying for the service. I believe it is under £1000 per annum which is reasonable I guess.
Wind resistance on a bus ....interesting concept. Let me know just how that works out. A deer and a windshield. Having a double pane sounds like a great ideal. Having a 400lbs animal come thru a bus windshield at 70 MPH ...still would be scary as hell. One deer and a MCI 102 can cause a whole lotta damage. Trust me on this one.
I hope that Dr Rohde's contacts you back for a interview.
Neoplan Cityliner has a different kind of split windshield (since forever) with a horizontal bar separating a lower portion (for the driver) from an upper portion (for the passengers sitting in elevated position). Not sure if NEOMAN is selling anything on the North American market currently. They used to have some American models in the past.
@@uncinarynin I have not seen one for a while.
I love your videos and I enjoyed this one; nevertheless I have some unsolicited advice. When you're doing an interview, please, please, ask a question and then let them answer it. Don't ask a question and then basically answer it for them. Or frame the question in a way that tells them exactly what answer you expect. Let them actually tell you what they want to say. Perhaps it is not what you think they were going to say
So its not a frame the question thing. I tend to do that with those who do not speak English as their first language. I got used to doing that since I was a kid when I'm with my parents and helping them finish their sentences because I fear that they are struggling. I still do with them as they both still kind of struggle with English. Its more of a courtesy thing. Chines people do that a lot in when those who do not speak Chinese as their first language are conversing with them. I understand that probably neither of these guys needed help with English and it may come across as insulting if I were to explain my self to them. Its just a habit i grew up with. I was also in a very excited state. Had nothing to do with trying to get them to answer in any particular way.
@@MotorcoachWorld I understand. I don't mean to imply you're trying to lead them; you have no reason to do that. But nevertheless that's how you're asking the question. I'm just saying please try to think about how you ask a question. You want to leave it open. If they don't understand English, well, in this situation you just have to let that be. If it's clear they don't understand ask them if you can maybe phrase it differently. Sometimes you might be able to confuse them a little bit more if you think you know what they are thinking. Maybe you don't. If they cannot answer it they cannot answer it. But just let them be the star
In the United States the school bus is just that. It is designed to efficiently and safely, maybe even comfortably, transport children to and from school. These things are expensive and school districts often have to buy a lot of them. I don't think anybody is willing to pay extra to make them more visually appealing. Certainly the children will not notice or care.
Are motorhome coaches (RVs) considered in the same category as normal
Coaches ,in terms of design?
Don’t except from highly recognized CEOs to be very critical! It would be no5 professional or polite to do it! So, you have to ask regular people on the street!
real cool content
Thank you!!
I wish that they would come to Canada and prove that their coaches will last with our weather and conditions!
The coaches here are knowen for many years of use and the European coaches don't last here and are more problematic , I look at the setra and how the military had so much problems !
Oh wow, does the military use the Setra in Canada?
European coach buses are much better than American coach buses in terms of technology and comfortable. but american buses have trouble less. So my favorite is Mercedes Travego after and second Temsa Marathon, thirth MAN Neoplan Starliner.
Europe is just richer bigger better more high tech advanced than USA plus both Americas combined!
Hi James, how can we (Busworld) contact you (Motorcoach World) 🙂? We love what you're doing!
Hey bus world. jwang@peoriacharter.com
Hi James,
Hello my friend!
Those guys say American buses are nice but they don’t want to buy or ride them in Europe!
Dear American and european friends, I’m sorry to say but Brazilian buses are better than both LOL. At least on the comfort for the passengers, down here we have real bed like seats, specially on the long haul trips, I just took a 9 hours journey on one of those and I slept all night long
Have you actually tried those European and American coaches. I've been on European mercedes tourismo, recently i've been riding MCI j35. And i remember about 3 years ago before covid i had a trip to sao paulo and had a chace to ride one of your coaches. I forgot the body but i remember it use scania running gear. And i can tell this Brazilian bus is the least comfortable. I still feel the body roll, hard front suspension, and rougher area near the engine. Especially when going uphill as if the engine lack of power
While a lot of the US buses are ugly looking as pointed out, the metallic Greyhound buses of 80s and 90s movies are iconic to look at.
As I jokingly commented that the US buses looks ugly to counter the US trucks looking nice, I guess you can say those Greyhounds are the old nose trucks of Europe like the Scania T line in terms of astetics.
Exactly 20,000 subsribers! Isn't that cool?
high speed in the US? Well, 65-75 mph is less than 130 kph in highways. In the city the speed limits are 30 or max 50 kph. Pretty similar to 20 mph to 30 mph found in the US.
Just change the regulations and standardize with Europe. Better quality from day one.
Это не профессионально спрашивать у людей из Европы, находящихся в США по бизнесу, уродливы ли американские автобусы. Было бы намного более объективнее спрашивать европейцев в Европе.
Они действительно агли! Но вежливые профессионалы этого не скажут.
Europeans don't think much of American products
Mexico buses are almost perfect...
I need to do a video on buses in Mexico. I don't know much about them
but most buses in mexico are made in brazil
I give suggestion how to find out to see clear picture do really American busses ugly. It must be anonymous to have fair result instead of asking those who are not in position to be rude or have political scandal! Do not expect your colleagues or competitors to tell like it is! I would never say anything bad being in their position too!
So, it is not fair to figure out this kind of way!
European buses mostly banned in America so to speak especially with the fancy design! Look what kind of cars people in America buy more ! Of course European but not American especially if they can afford it! Why is that? Because Americans have a chance inside the country to choose what to buy but it is different with European trucks or buses! With those they have no chance to buy it! So, it explains the reason why America love so to speak American buses! If American government would allow European manufacturers to bring European buses to American market you would find the situation is different! European look at American buses as relic ! That is simple!
Let's be honest, a bus is designed to get people safely from point a to point b. Why should anyone give a flying fuck about how a bus looks like, as long as it does what they're designed to do.
Same could be said about airplanes, ships, and cars... Why should anyone give a fk what anything look like.. quit giving a fk everyone!!!!! Sheesh people these days giving a fk about stuff... 😂