BUSolutions a public-private advance transit bus development initiative by Altair Product Design Inc., has produced an innovative solution to the challenges that confront America’s local and regional transit systems: the worlds’ first series hydraulic hybrid bus, the LCO-140H (Low-Cost of Ownership-1st 40-foot Hybrid).
The primary goal of this program was to design and develop a commercially viable technology-demonstration vehicle that illustrates the commercial benefits of Altair’s system-level, simulation-driven design approach to addressing today’s challenges in the public transportation industry.
"Our whole premise was not to just showcase the technology, but to develope a low-cost ownership vehicle," said Michael Kidder, vice president corporate marketing.
Design engineers on the BUSolutions team took a clean-sheet approach to design the bus, applying their deep domain knowledge and a simulation-driven design strategy using Altair’s HyperWorks computer-aided engineering software suite. The resulting extremely lightweight, heavy-duty bus design yields more than twice the fuel efficiency of conventional buses at a lower lifetime cost. This is a first for any hybrid bus. Requiring no infrastructure upgrades to operate, the LCO-140H is an attractive option for transit authorities to cost-effectively upgrade aging fleets with hybrid vehicle technology.
Visit Altair Product Design at Booth 2281.
