Kamal Nath unveils Ashok Leyland’s Jan Bus

Kamal Nath unveils Ashok Leyland’s Jan Bus Union Minister of Urban Development Kamal Nath unveiled the Jan Bus - world’s first single step, front engine, fully flat floor bus, a revolutionary new concept in urban transportation from Ashok Leyland, and the Hinduja Group flagship. Feature-rich and technologically advanced, the Jan Bus is an innovative, well thought-out transport solution that promises passengers easy,comfortable and affordable city travel. Several unique features have been packed into the Jan Bus, none more so than the floor, that is 650 mm from the ground and uniformly flat right from the driver’s work station to the rear. Passengers therefore do not have to climb any steps after entering the bus while the stylishly side-mounted seats and seat-mounted stanchions offer ample hindrance-free leg room, which also makes cleaning very easy. The Jan Bus has a single step entry and wide doors for quick alighting and boarding andconsiderable less stoppage time at bus stops.A kneeling option means that the floor height can be further lowered. The bus offers a high degree of customization with multiple options for door placement (available at 5 locations) and seating layouts. The Jan Bus can thus be configured for various applications like BRTS (Bus Rapid Transport System), airport tarmac and normal city travel. The Jan Bus is equipped with another unique feature: the Ashok Leyland trade-marked Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) – Leymatic – seen for the first time on city buses in India that saves the driver from strenuous gear shifts and clutch operations and leaves him to focus on the road. The Jan Bus has superior acceleration thanks to a 235 HP turbo-charged BS 4 compliant CNG MPFI engine. Another innovative aspect is the front-view cameras that enable the driver to see beyond the vehicle immediately in front of him thus making it ideal for the bumper-to-bumper city traffic and congested roads. Unveiling the unique bus, Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Urban Development said, “A lots of the transport problems faced by urban India are attributable to the proliferation of private vehicle usage. People, however, will convert to public modes of transport only if they have good, comfortable, affordable and efficient options. With the Jan Bus, I am confident that Ashok Leyland has gone a long way towards providing a very attractive transport solution both for the passenger as well as the operator.” Also speaking on the occasion, Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland said: “The Jan Bus is a good example of innovative Indian engineering. Historically, we have been successfully introducing new, passenger-friendly bus solutions and the Jan Bus is just a continuation of that tradition. Patents have been applied for the 16 various innovations on this bus alone. For us, the Jan Bus is also a triumph of our understanding of the needs of our customers and is now ready for rolling out into the market. The Jan Bus isnot onlyoperator- and passenger-friendly, but has been engineered to address pedestrian safety as well with a specially designed fascia.” The Jan Bus is replete with other features like an elegant driver work space with a host of friendly assists, air suspension for a comfortable ride, an infotainment system to keep passengers informed and entertained. It is intelligent and high-tech too thanks to its multiplexing, electronically controlled engine and gearshift.