A new model has joined the low-entry offer of Polish manufacturer Solaris: the articulated Urbino 18 with compressed natural gas (CNG) propulsion.

With 111 Urbino, Frankfurt has one of the largest fleets of Solaris buses in Germany. Stadtwerke Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main counts on the reliability and longevity of the buses with the green dog and benefits from economic Urbino life-cycle cost agreements. Christian Marquordt reports.

The first Solaris buses with state-of-the-art ZF EcoLife automatic transmissions have entered service with bus operators all over Europe. With the ZF EcoLife, Solaris adds another eco-friendly and cost-effective specification option to its broad range of modern public transport buses.

Bus trailers are celebrating their comeback: a common sight on European roads fifty years ago and almost extinct since, the winning combination of flexibility and economy opens up new opportunities in urban and interurban bus services.

In the bus industry, the technology of the Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid bus is at the forefront of current developments. In our quest for the optimal solution, we decided to team up with General Motors-owned Allison Transmission, whose hybrid technology has been proven successful in hundreds of North American buses.

Protection of the environment and low fuel consumption were Solaris’s principal objectives in constructing the Urbino 18 Hybrid bus. A marked reduction in emissions makes Solaris hybrid bus extremely environmentally-friendly as well as a pleasant solution for a city’s inhabitants.

Benefits of the Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid over traditional diesel-engined buses: