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For years, passengers with disabilities, wheelchair users and parents with children in buggies were unable to use single-deck buses with steep steps leading to a high floor. However, in the 1980s, a new breed of bus was being developed, with stepless entrances and flat floors. These were first seen in the UK in 1992, and gradually, operators moved away from older single-deckers as new models became available. These were often adaptations of existing models from mainland Europe, but UK-based manufacturers like Dennis, Optare and Wright have developed simpler and cheaper models tailored for the home market, the most notable being the best-selling Dennis Dart, which developed into the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 range. Where once every new low-floor single-decker was invariably diesel-engined, in the early 2000s, environmental concerns led engineers to rethink the concept, first with diesel-electric hybrids, then gas buses, battery electric buses and now hydrogen-powered buses. There are signs that diesel models are on the way out as new zero-emission models are becoming increasingly popular. With over 150 images, this book traces the development of low-floor single-deckers from the first tentative steps 30 years ago, up to the latest gas, electric and hydrogen models.
For years, passengers with disabilities, wheelchair users and parents with children in buggies were unable to use single-deck buses with steep steps leading to a high floor. However, in the 1980s, a new breed of bus was being developed, with stepless entrances and flat floors. These were first seen in the UK in 1992, and gradually, operators moved away from older single-deckers as new models became available. These were often adaptations of existing models from mainland Europe, but UK-based manufacturers like Dennis, Optare and Wright have developed simpler and cheaper models tailored for the home market, the most notable being the best-selling Dennis Dart, which developed into the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 range. Where once every new low-floor single-decker was invariably diesel-engined, in the early 2000s, environmental concerns led engineers to rethink the concept, first with diesel-electric hybrids, then gas buses, battery electric buses and now hydrogen-powered buses. There are signs that diesel models are on the way out as new zero-emission models are becoming increasingly popular. With over 150 images, this book traces the development of low-floor single-deckers from the first tentative steps 30 years ago, up to the latest gas, electric and hydrogen models.