page_title: Articulated bus
section_title: Bi-articulated buses
hierarchical_section_title: Articulated bus / Types / Bi-articulated buses
caption_attribution_description: English: BRT in Guatemala city
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: Since the late 1980s, the concept of the articulated bus has been extended further with the addition of a second trailer section that extends the bus almost to tram length and capacity, to create a bi-articulated bus, also called a triple bus. The Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Youngman (Jinhua Neoplan) has developed the 25 metres (82 ft) JNP6280G bi-articulated bus, deemed the "world's largest", which will be used in Beijing.
  Bi-articulated buses are still rare, having been trialled and rejected in some places. Because of their length they have a role on very high-capacity routes, or as a component of a bus rapid transit scheme. Major examples of bi-articulated buses playing a major role in bus rapid transit can be found in Curitiba, Bogota, Mexico City, Quito, etc. Volvo is a major supplier of puller-type bi-articulated buses in these markets. In the Netherlands, bi-articulated buses came into service  in Utrecht (2002) and Groningen (2014) on busy routes.
caption: Bi-articulated bus in Guatemala City, Guatemala
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