The States of Guernsey owns the island’s 42-strong bus fleet, which is operated by CT Plus Guernsey, a subsidiary of HCT Group.
When the fleet upgrade began in 2017, the 9.04m-long, 2.28m-wide Wrightbus StreetVibe was selected as the narrowest in its class, with a seating capacity of 31 plus 11 standing.
To be compliant with the island’s speed limit, the buses needed to be fitted with a limiter.
The Allison T 2100 transmission is mated to a Cummins ISB4.5 Euro VI engine.
Karl Guille, director of traffic and highway services for the States of Guernsey, describes the challenging operating environment: “You can be in typical rush hour town traffic, with stop-start driving one minute, and need to accelerate smoothly up a steep hill the next.”
He adds: “We needed as narrow and short a vehicle as possible, but with a minimum capacity of 40 passengers and superior manoeuvrability.
“The Euro VI StreetVibe Ultra Low Emission Bus (ULEB) from Wrightbus has met our needs with a solution that has significantly reduced particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions, is much quieter and has improved fuel economy by up to 20%.”
The operator is also reporting lower maintenance costs, thanks to the favourable torque characteristics of the Allison transmissions.