Allison Launches School Bus Series Transmission for Chinese Market

On February 15, 2012, at the “2012 First China School Bus Development Seminar and International School Bus Exhibition”, the Allison Transmission launched for the first time outside the North American region a school bus series (PTS) fully automatic transmission configured for school buses. . The exhibition will be held at the Beijing National Convention Center from February 15th to 18th, 2012. The China Careers Committee, the Ministry of Education, the State Administration of Work Safety, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the China Automotive Industry Association Organized by China Automobile Engineering Association and China Automotive Technology and Research Center, and co-organized by the Ministry of Public Security and the National Recording Association.

Allison Launches School Bus Series Transmission for Chinese Market

Allison launched the school bus series (PTS) full-automatic gearbox in response to the demand of the domestic school bus market, aiming to improve the safety of school buses for domestic users. Allison's school bus series automatic gearbox is not only convenient for driver operation to ensure focused driving, but also has the advancing direction and gear suppression function to further enhance safety performance. This function is combined with the electronic control system of the gearbox. When the direction of travel of the vehicle changes, the driver must press the control button on the instrument panel or press the brake pedal to shift gears, thus prohibiting the driver from operating in the wrong direction.

The majority of school bus accidents in China have occurred in rural areas with rugged roads and poor road conditions. Many school bus configurations are low, resulting in a low safety factor. The driver basically controls the vehicle manually. Because one hand frequently operates the shift, it is not possible to hold the steering wheel with both hands. The attention cannot be focused on the road conditions in front. In case of an emergency, the driver's handling capacity is insufficient, resulting in Many accidents occurred, so all sectors of society are actively looking for effective school bus safety solutions.

In order to continuously pursue the safety of school buses, the United States replaced manual transmissions with full-automatic gearboxes since the 1970s. In the past 40 years, Allison automatic transmission has become the standard of school bus safety.

Terry Parker, Student Transfer Service Manager, Bellevue Campus, Washington, United States, explained: “Safety is the most important factor in our choice of school bus. Since I started to contact the school bus more than 10 years ago, I never saw a school bus with a manual transmission. Our school bus is equipped with Allison Fully Automatic Transmission.” The school campus has a total of 94 school buses and provides pick-up and drop-off or weekend activities for 3,900 students each day.

Richard Gnehm is a driver who has more than 17 years of school bus driving experience. He fully understands the benefits of a fully automatic gearbox: “The school bus driver has a heavy responsibility, heavier tasks, the state of the car when driving and the noise of the child, plus the road surface The situation will cause very heavy work pressure. Fully automated control makes me less worried. I can grasp the steering wheel with both hands and pay more attention to the road conditions. This has more guarantees for safe driving.”

According to Michael Headly, vice president of international marketing, sales and services at Allison Transmissions, each state in the United States has a fully automated transmission as a requirement in regulations or as a requirement for new vehicles. Allison Transmission 2000PTS and 3000PTS series have become the standard configuration of American C and D school buses for many years. Fully automatic transmission meets the standards of the U.S. Federal and various states, with a market share of almost 100%.

Michael Headly, Vice President of Hudley, also stated: “We are very proud that we have been an integral part of school bus safety for more than 40 years. We are also privileged to participate in the 2012 China School Bus Exhibition, which will transform the United States into an advanced school bus series. Boxes are brought to China and we are very willing to share our accumulated experience in school bus safety in North America and Europe and contribute to the safe, reliable and comfortable school bus service for Chinese students.”

At the exhibition, Allison launched a school bus series transmission that meets the stringent industry requirements of the American school bus industry. At the same time, Allison hopes to write a new chapter for China's school bus safety.