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'''Transbus''' was announced in December 1970 as an United States [[Urban Mass Transportation Administration]] (UMTA) program to develop improvements to existing [[transit bus]] design; at the time, the US bus market was dominated by the [[GM New Look]] and [[Flxible New Look]] buses, and bus ridership was declining. The improvements had been suggested earlier by the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1968 to improve operating costs, reduce pollution, and stimulate ridership, and included innovations such as a [[low-floor bus|low floor]] for easier entry and seats cantilevered from the wall to expand passenger space.
In 1971, [[Booz Allen Hamilton|Booz-Allen Applied Research]] won the contract to serve as the Systems Manager for the Transbus program. Three manufacturers{{efn|[[AM General]], [[General Motors]], and [[Rohr, Inc.|Rohr]]/[[Flxible]]}} were selected to participate in the Transbus program in 1972 and each produced prototypes for evaluation by late 1974; some were tested at a [[Proving ground#Automotive proving grounds|proving ground]],{{efn|The Dynamic Systems, Inc. proving grounds near [[Phoenix, Arizona]]}} others were subjected to crash testing, and the rest were placed into revenue service during a nationwide tour of four cities{{efn|name=4cities|From October 1974 to March 1975, three Transbus prototypes (one from each manufacturer) were tested in [[Miami]], [[New York City|New York]], [[Kansas City]], and [[Seattle]].<ref>{{cite report |url=https://trid.trb.org/View/41464 |title=Transbus public testing and evaluation program |author=Simpson and Curtin |publisher=Urban Mass Transportation Administration |date=January 1976}}</ref>}} in 1974 and 1975 to gather rider feedback, which was subsequently incorporated into a specification developed between 1976 and 1978. However, none of the three prototype manufacturers submitted a bid in response to a joint procurement of 530 buses{{efn|name=79bid|The request for bid was issued jointly by [[Southern California Rapid Transit District|SCRTD]], [[Metrobus (Miami-Dade County)|Metrobus]], and [[SEPTA]], the transit agencies serving [[Los Angeles]], Miami, and [[Philadelphia]], respectively. The three-agency consortium had been formed in October 1977 at an [[American Public Transit Association]] meeting, and were privately told there by UMTA representatives that an order of at least 500 Transbuses would "put us over the hill in moving the Transbus program forward." The final bid request was for 230 (Los Angeles), 110 (Miami), and 190 (Philadelphia) Transbuses.<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|5;7}}}} to the Transbus specification in 1979. Although no Transbuses were ever ordered, some of the program's goals were incorporated into the successor Advanced Design Buses introduced in the mid-1970s.
==History==
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The initial prototyping contracts were awarded to [[AM General]], [[General Motors]], and [[Rohr, Inc.|Rohr]]'s [[Flxible]] division in 1972 to build nine Transbus candidate prototypes (three from each manufacturer) for further testing and evaluation<ref name=Whitford-83/> at a total cost of {{USD|28000000|1972|round=-4}}.<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|4}} Booz-Allen would test and evaluate each design, then composite the best ideas from each into a standardized procurement specification.<ref name=Reason-80/> This was to be followed by the procurement of 100 to 600 preproduction Transbuses for further development and testing in revenue service.<ref name=Reason-80/><ref name=Whitford-83/> In March 1973, representatives from UMTA testified before Congress they intended for each manufacturer to produce 100 preproduction prototypes.<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|4}} The [[American Public Transit Association]] proposed for each manufacturer to produce 200 preproduction prototypes for evaluation in service, then hold a two-year production moratorium to gather feedback.<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|113}}
Due to the [[Rehabilitation Act of 1973]], which was passed in September 1973,<ref name=UMTA-oversight-hearing/>{{rp|4}} the goals of Transbus shifted to allow full accessibility for public transit vehicles, and the candidate designs were modified to incorporate a ramp or a lift. The nine prototypes were delivered in 1974.<ref name=Reason-80/> Three would be crash tested,<ref name=Reason-80/> three would be tested in Phoenix and Buffalo, and the remaining three would enter demonstration service for evaluation in four cities<!--, selected for X Y and Z-->.{{efn|name=4cities}} On May 13, 1975, one of the Flxible prototypes caught fire during testing in Arizona and was destroyed,<ref>{{cite report |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Fire_Accident_Report.html?id=xsJgHAAACAAJ |title=Fire Accident Report: Rohr Transbus Prototype Model R45-WTA102 Urban Coach on Interstate Route I-17, North of Phoenix, Arizona, May 13, 1975 |author=Booz-Allen Applied Research |publisher=Urban Mass Transportation Administration |date=1975 |accessdate=11 October 2020}}</ref> but no one was injured; at the time, it was carrying two technicians, instruments, and sandbags to simulate a full passenger load.<ref name=Reason-80/>
In 1975, the UMTA canceled its initial plans to procure the larger fleet of preproduction Transbuses for further testing. This had been intended to mature the technologies required to support the Transbus priority goals, and the cancellation of the preproduction fleet left these technologies underdeveloped.<ref name=Whitford-83/> By 1980, of the six prototypes that had been tested, one had been destroyed in a fire, another had been returned to Flxible, and the other four were being stored in Phoenix, Arizona.<ref name=Reason-80>{{cite magazine |url=https://reason.com/1980/07/01/sic-transit-transbus/ |title=Sic Transit Transbus |author=Parachini, Allan |date=July 1980 |magazine=reason |accessdate=9 October 2020}}</ref>
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