After 3 years and more than 300,000 kilometers, Qbuzz reviews Tribus’ Civitas Economy low-floor buses
- 17 November 2022
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At Busworld 2019, Tribus introduced the first demo model of the low-floor Civitas Economy bus. A few months later, the first 23 vehicles could already be spotted in the Groningen and Drenthe concession driven by bus operator Qbuzz. We are now 3 years down the road with 300,000 km on the counter. A perfect time for an endurance test.
The Groningen and Drenthe concession is the largest concession in the Netherlands and includes all services in these areas until 2030. To perform off-peak services with a low TCO as well, Qbuzz swapped the large buses for Tribus’ smaller and flexible 9-passenger low-floor Civitas Economy bus. Thus started the first 23 Civitas Economy vehicles based on Volkswagen Crafter.
Equivalent small-scale passenger transport
A major requirement of Qbuzz in this selection process was to provide equivalent passenger transport: “Everything you are used to from the large bus, you can expect from the small bus as well,” said Dirk Huzeling, Equipment Purchasing Manager at the time. The Civitas Economy was fully connected to the existing fleet by subjecting the interior and exterior of the vehicle. The vehicle was fitted with the corporate colors, check-in and check-out equipment, travel information screens, USB ports and good wheelchair accessibility due to the ground-level entry and double doors. A completely new turn-key solution. How does this solution hold up after 3 years?
Gezamenlijk met zijn grotere broers op station Emmen
Time for an endurance test of the Civitas Economy
With more than 300,000 kilometers on the dashboard, this is a great time to subject the first low-floor buses based on the Volkswagen Crafter to an endurance test. Tribus asked Qbuzz about their experiences over the past 3 years. Erik Huisman, Fleet Manager at Q-buzz took on this task.
“The Civitas is deployed and driven daily by dozens of drivers. We have heard from our drivers that the vehicles drive nicely and the first 300,00 km have gone smoothly. Customers are also very positive about the Civitas Economy, partly due to the nice look, design and ambience of the vehicle. The Tribus conversion is very strong and still looks good. The vehicle did have one issue at start-up, which was water and moisture drainage in the front matrix board housing. We communicated this to Tribus and they fixed it perfectly by modifying it immediately. The Civitas still fits perfectly into our overall transport offer.”
