page_title: Articulated bus
section_title: Puller
hierarchical_section_title: Articulated bus / Types / Puller
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: Kossuth Lajos utca az Astoria kereszteződés felé nézve. Location: Hungary, Budapest V. Tags: Hungarian brand, automobile, Ikarus-brand, bus, Budapest, street view, traffic, neon sign Title: Kossuth Lajos utca az Astoria kereszteződés felé nézve.
context_page_description: An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-decker, and comprises two or more rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint enclosed by protective bellows inside and outside and a cover plate on the floor. This allows a longer legal length than rigid-bodied buses, and hence a higher passenger capacity, while still allowing the bus to maneuver adequately.
  Due to their high passenger capacity, articulated buses are often used as part of bus rapid transit schemes, and can include mechanical guidance. 18 m or 59 ft ⁵⁄₈ in in length; whereas standard rigid buses are usually 11 to 14 m or 36 ft 1 ¹⁄₈ in to 45 ft 11 ¹⁄₈ in long. The common arrangement of an articulated bus is to have a forward section with two axles leading a rear section with a single axle, with the driving axle mounted on either the front or the rear section. Some articulated buses have a steering arrangement on the rearmost axle which turns slightly in opposition to the front steering axle, allowing the vehicle to negotiate tighter turns, similar to hook-and-ladder fire trucks operating in city environments.
context_section_description: In most puller articulated buses, the engine is mounted under the floor between the front and middle axles, and only the middle axle is powered. Some consider this an outdated design, as it prohibits floor levels lower than approximately 750 millimetres (29.5 in), and can produce passenger discomfort due to high noise and vibration levels. On the other hand, they can be used in very narrow or severely potholed streets. This type of bus also performs better in snowy or icy conditions, as the thrust from the driving wheels does not cause the vehicle to jacknife. Newer models such as the Van Hool AG300 feature low floor while maintaining the puller design placing the engine block off-center opposite to the second door. Also, the unpowered rear axle is much simpler and carries no engine weight, facilitating the installation of counter-steering mechanisms to further decrease the turning radius.
  A typical puller model is the Hungarian-made Ikarus 280, the articulated version of the Ikarus 260, of which 60,993 buses were manufactured between 1973 and 2002, mostly for Soviet bloc customers. (This type accounted for two-thirds of the articulated buses built in the 1970s.) Puller-type articulated buses are built in less numbers, but are still available in Scandinavia and South America. Examples being the Volvo B9S and Volvo B12M.
caption: Ikarus 280 buses in Budapest traffic (1975)
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