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Carrosserie HESS AG | |
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 1882 |
Founder | Heinrich Hess |
Headquarters | Bellach, Switzerland |
Areas served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Website | hess-ag |
Carrosserie HESS AG is a bus, trolleybus and commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Bellach, Switzerland. Their products can be found operating in several countries, including the United States and Canada.
The company was founded in 1882, when Heinrich Hess set up business in Solothurn to build customised car bodies. The company first began building buses in 1919, and production reverted to aluminium products in 1933. It produced its first trolleybuses in 1940 for the Swiss cities of Basel and Biel/Bienne. In 1961, it commenced building of articulated vehicles, some of which were supplied to operators in the United States and Canada in 1975. The company soon began to expand, and businesses were set up in Portugal and Australia in 1957 and 1978 respectively. The U.S. business was set up in 1996. The company began production of low-floor buses and trolleybuses in 1991, and in 2003 built its first double-articulated trolleybuses.[ citation needed ]
As well as building complete vehicles, Hess also manufactures bus kits for its worldwide customers. These kits are imported and then assembled on reaching their destination.
Hess also builds smaller buses, mainly for the transportation of school children and persons with disabilities.
Hess builds vehicles designed for commercial purposes, such as vans, some of which are fitted with tipper equipment, loading ramps and trailers.
A bus is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for charter purposes, or through private ownership. Although the average bus carries between 30 and 100 passengers, some buses have a capacity of up to 300 passengers. The most common type is the single-deck rigid bus, with double-decker and articulated buses carrying larger loads, and midibuses and minibuses carrying smaller loads. Coaches are used for longer-distance services. Many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus, are free. In many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special large vehicle licence above and beyond a regular driving license.
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws power from dual overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires, and two trolley poles, are required to complete the electrical circuit. This differs from a tram or streetcar, which normally uses the track as the return path, needing only one wire and one pole. They are also distinct from other kinds of electric buses, which usually rely on batteries. Power is most commonly supplied as 600-volt direct current, but there are exceptions.
An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a single-decker, and comprises two or more rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint (articulation) enclosed by protective bellows inside and outside and a cover plate on the floor. This allows a longer legal length than rigid-bodied buses, and hence a higher passenger capacity (94–120), while still allowing the bus to maneuver adequately.
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The Nantes Busways are bus rapid transit lines operating in the city of Nantes, France. The service was inaugurated on November 6, 2006, and is operated by Semitan. The line 4 runs from Place Foch to Porte de Vertou on a dedicated right-of-way, and interconnects with line 1 of the Nantes Tramway at Duchesse Anne Château station. Four park & ride facilities have been built along the construction of the line to encourage passengers to use public transport. Nantes Busway line 4 is NF certified. A victim of its own success, Busway line 4 attracts higher ridership than Semitan expected, pushing the system to saturation. Buses are overcrowded at peak times and nearly full off-peak. Semitan tested the Hess LighTram in November 2009 to eventually increase capacity of the system and relieve overcrowding at peak times. Though that solution wasn't implemented at that time, Semitan decided to increase passage frequencies to less than 3 minutes at peak times. If saturation recurs, Busway line 4 might be converted into a Tramway line in the future.
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