Paper Bus Connection – 紙巴士總匯

In preparation for the Olympics last August, Beijing purchased thousands of new buses to improve the capital’s air quality and image. For the past several years, China’s bus production has improved under various joint ventures and partnerships with foreign bus manufacturers. The bus above is one of many examples.

There’s a chance that a Youngman bus would operating in America. ZAP, a company in California signed a deal with Youngman to import buses.

The MCW Super Metrobus was one of the first 12m double deckers introduced in Hong Kong in the early 1980s. Until the late 1960s, Hong Kong operated standard length British buses. As the population and bus ridership grew in Hong Kong through the 1970s, British bus makers began to built stretched version of their regular UK buses for the Hong Kong market. To this day, more than 10 years after the UK returned Hong Kong to China, bus operators in Hong Kong still buy custom designed double deckers from British manufacturers.

12m buses like the Super Metrobus were common in cross harbor routes which connect the Kowloon Peninsula with the Hong Kong Island. Since these route charge higher fares and are always crowded during the rush hours, bus operators depend on these routes to generate a profit. Unlike most other countries, Hong Kong bus operators do not receive direct subsidy from the government to purchase vehicles or for daily operation. Each bus operator in Hong Kong has to have some profitable routes so that it can continue as a sustainable business and maintain service on unprofitable, but necessary, routes.

In order to handle the extra passenger load, these buses have areas on the lower level just for standees with no seats installed. This model in particular, for some reason, the seatbacks have no padding.

Because these buses do not have air conditioning, they were retired by 2000. Today, some of these buses continue to run in Sydney and London as local tour buses.

Routemaster buses have been regularly operated in London for nearly 50 years. Many of the buses received engine replacements and other upgrades that allow them to serve when others had to be retired. The open platform boarding and conductor operation made these buses a unique London institution.

Since 2005, articulated “bendy” buses have replaced Routemasters on many lines. To outsiders, articulated buses are nothing special and are common in cities around the world. However, many Londoners feel that articulated buses don’t fit well in their city.

Since 2005, Routemaster continues to operate in London only on two Heritage routes: 9 and 15.

This model has been significantly refreshed after the first paper model drawn in 2001.