Introduction  

After being out of Europe for so long, the UITP Bus Conference is back!

Buses have been suffering from a poor public image: they are perceived as noisy, polluting, unreliable, slow, uncomfortable…
In the last two decades, the generalisation of low-floor technology has made it possible to significantly improve this image. In the last decade a genuine ‘supermarket’ of alternative fuels and drive trains has emerged, offering a wide range of options for clean fuel to improve pollution and overcome noise deficits.

With the freshly presented public transport sector strategy (in Vienna 2009) UITP sets the ambition to double public transport’s market share by 2025. That buses have a role to play is obvious but the central question in the conference will be: how can green buses attract more passengers? How can the economic benefits of non car use and the environmental issues involved be combined with the provision of quality public transport? Are green buses pushing or pulling car drivers and non users onto the public transport network?

It is the duty of operators and manufacturers to further improve buses and their image. Measures towards this end are manifold in nature: political, technological, operational, commercial and also communicational. The R&D project ‘European Bus System of the Future’ coordinated by UITP contributes to this. By the time the Bus Conference takes place, the project will have been running for almost two years. Glimpses and highlights shall be part of the programme.

UITP’s Bus Committee is pleased to invite you to a comprehensive conference to review the state-of-the-art and report on best practices in these different fields.

Who should attend?  The Conference papers and session discussions will be beneficial for bus operators, bus manufacturers, body-builders and component suppliers, local authorities in charge of transport, consultants, fuel suppliers as well as environmental specialists and designers.

We look forward to seeing you in the beautiful city of Lyon next June 2010!

Ezio Castagna, Chairman of the UITP Bus committee