Alexander Dennis Limited (“ADL”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), one of the world’s largest independent global bus manufacturers, today announced that its work in support of London’s new Bus Safety Standard has been recognised by Transport for London (TfL) with the Award for Collaboration at the 2019 TfL Supplier Awards.
As one of the main suppliers of buses for Transport for London contracted bus services, Alexander Dennis worked with the Transport Research Laboratory, commissioned by TfL to research and develop the Bus Safety Standard through an evidence-based and collaborative project. Alexander Dennis shared insights on its existing and ongoing research into safety features, made vehicles available for the testing of features and undertook significant development work on emerging technologies.
Following the definition and publication of the Bus Safety Standard, Alexander Dennis was one of the first manufacturers to make new safety features available to bus operators, and in August 2019 became the first manufacturer to deliver complete batches of vehicles built to the standard’s first implementation stage.
Bus Safety Standard features already implemented by Alexander Dennis include Camera Monitor Systems replace exterior mirrors with external cameras and cab-mounted screens, Intelligent Speed Assistance technology which prevents drivers from exceeding the speed limit, an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System to make buses more audibly conspicuous, pedal confusion warning lights, and a higher grade of non-slip flooring to give passengers a surer footing inside the vehicle.
While Alexander Dennis is proud to have been the first supplier to deliver batches of buses with multiple Bus Safety Standard features, work continues on adapting further technological innovation to the needs of TfL to ensure that the next stages of the Bus Safety Standard can be implemented as soon as possible ahead of their mandated time.
Colin Robertson, Chief Executive of Alexander Dennis, says: “Alexander Dennis strongly believes in partnership working and we are delighted this has been recognised with the Award for Collaboration for our support of the development and introduction of TfL’s Bus Safety Standard. We are proud to be at the forefront of making buses even safer for passengers, drivers and other road users, and look forward to leveraging further advances in design and technology to continue this journey.”
