Daimler Buses is supplying an additional 99 buses to the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport in UAE. The buses are a second batch after a 100 buses were delivered in 2009. The buses being supplied are the Citaro City Buses.
Citrao city buses are manufactured in Mannheim in Germany. Its a family of city buses offering various propulsion options including natural gas and electric in addition to diesel. The buses being supplied to Abu Dhabi are Euro VI compliant diesel buses.
The buses being supplied to Abu Dhabi are the three door Citaro buses. These buses are 12,135 mm long, 2,550 mm wide and 3,150 mm tall. The wheelbase of these buses is 5,990 mm. Each bus can carry 106 passengers, with 28 sitting and the balance standing. For ease of ingress and egress, the bus doors are 320 mm above the ground level. Each bus weighs 19,500 Kg.
The Citaro buses are powered by Meredes Benz OM 936 engines. These are 7,700 cc inline six cylinder diesel engines producing 300 PS of power and 1,200 N-m of torque at between 1,200 and 1,600 rpm. The power and torque is transmitted to the rear wheels using a Voith Diwa6, four speed automatic transmission. The driver can easily steer the Mercedes Citaro buses using a ZF power steering. The front axle is supported on by the ZF, independent wheel suspension the drive axle has the ZF AV 133 suspension.
Braking is provided by electro-pneumatic disc brakes with ABS. Other electronic support systems provided onboard are Acceleration Slip Regulation (ASR) which prevents wheelspin when driving away on a slippery surface. It provides no more power than the drive wheels are able to transfer to the road surface. Wheelspin is prevented by metered
braking. Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), which comes into action in situations where the driving dynamics are critical. The ESP selectively controls engine output and the braking forces at each wheel individually. This way it prevents any possible “breakaway” by the bus. ESP therefore contributes noticeably to a reduction in the tendency to understeer and risk of skidding during cornering or evasive manoeuvres.
The Mercedes Citaro is provided with Automatic Bus Stop Brake with pull away lock, Air suspension, Tyre pressure monitoring system etc. The Mercedes Citaro also has Cruise control, side guard assist, Preventive Brake Assist, video recording for passenger area, space for installing a ticket vending machine etc.
Other automatic safety features include rain sensing wipers, a fire monitoring and alarm system, fire extinguishing system in the engine compartment.
On the passenger comfort front, the Citaro buses have been provided with air conditioning, a radio system with CD player, bus stop display within the bus, LED destination system and wheel chair buttons both inside and outside the buses. There is earmarked space for parking wheel chairs inside the bus ans luggage storage space on top of the front wheel arches on both sides.
The Transport Journal 