Components for low floor buses.

City buses require low, flat floor lines to reduce passenger loading and unloading times. Body builders are currently constrained in their ability to achieve lower and more open floor lines by the intrusion of axle beams and drive-trains into the passenger space. ZF (Zahnradfabrick Friedrichshafen) has developed front suspension, rearaxle and gearbox systems which address these problems. A new adaptive control system for the Ecomat automatic transmission, the EST 18, which improves shift consistency and gearbox durability, completes the low-floor bus concept discussed here. (A)