Macon, Georgia-based school bus manufacturer Blue Bird Corp has received the largest order of electric school buses in its history from Modesto City Schools in California. The order covers 30 units, enough to convert nearly half of the school district’s fleet to zero emission vehicles. Deliveries of the vehicles are scheduled for Q4 2022.

Hexagon Purus ASA, based in Ålesund, Norway, has been selected to supply hydrogen tanks to New Flyer Industries, based in Winnipeg, Canada, for use in its Xcelsior CHARGE H2 fuel cell transit bus. The total value of the contract is estimated at around USD2 million.

The Czech manufacturing plant of Turin, Italy-based Iveco Bus, located in Vysoké Mýto, has produced its 150,000th bus. Located around 150km east of Prague, the plant has been producing vehicles since 1895, previously for historical Czech companies Sodomka and Karosa.

Paris-based Forsee Power SAS has announced a new ultra-modular heavy-duty battery system, titled the ZEN PLUS. Forsee says the system offers a greater energy density to support high power applications, making it suitable for buses, off-road vehicle, and heavy trucks.

Solaris has announced a new framework agreement with Österreichische Postbus AG of Vienna, providing options to deliver up to 106 battery and fuel-cell electric buses between now and 2025.

CaetanoBus S.A., headquartered in Porto, Portugal, has announced it has won two international tenders to supply ten H2.City Gold buses to Düsseldorf’s operator Rheinbahn, and eight units to SSB Stuttgart. The orders add to more than 40 H2.City Gold buses already in service in Germany.

BAE Systems Inc, headquartered in Endicott, New York, has announced it is to supply the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transport Authority (SEPTA) with up to 340 Series-ER hybrid electric drive systems for its new fleet of low emission transit buses.

Van Hool, Kiepe Electric, and Alstom will be collaborating on a vehicle based on the Exqui.City line of buses for BRT lines.

Iveco Bus, headquartered in Turin, Italy, has announced the signing of three framework agreements with DPP, Prague’s public transport authority, for the supply of up to 253 buses between 2022 and 2027.

Ebusco Holding N.V., headquartered in Deurne, Netherlands, has received an order for up to 80 electric buses from Metropole Rouen Normandie, the operator of public transport in Rouen, France. The contract comprises an initial order for four Ebusco 2.2 buses to be delivered at the end of 2022 with an option to purchase an additional 76 Ebusco 3.0 buses to be delivered in batches between 2023 and 2026. All units in the contract are 18 metre models.

HVAC systems supplier for bus and coach and rail, Hispacold SA has opened a climate testing laboratory at its headquarters in Seville. The new purpose-built facility has two separate climate chambers, one for bus and one for rail. Hispacold says it has invested close to EUR1million in the centre, with initial plans first drawn up as far back as 2010.

Changes to the UK’s Highway Code, the rules and regulations that govern UK road use, have increased the responsibility placed on drivers of larger vehicles to protect more vulnerable road users. The rule change was largely aimed at improving the safety of cyclists and pedestrians at turnings and roundabouts.