When it came to choosing the interior colour scheme for their new – and first – Optare Solo, three generations of the Hanson family had a say.

Margaret Hanson, her husband Patrick, their daughter Nicola Wood, along with her daughter Hannah, were all involved in making the choice. The result, according to Margaret Hanson, is: “a very smart, colourful and co-ordinated interior and a layout that exactly meets our needs but more important, the needs of our passengers and service users.”

The family run the 22-vehicle business of Hansons (Wordsley) Limited based in Lye near Stourbridge. It began in 1969 as a coach business and made the move into buses following deregulation in 1986. Today the company runs 19 buses and three coaches.

They bought their new Solo to meet two very different operating needs. It runs on the hourly 288 Stourbridge circular route that takes in the village of Norton. When not on that service it’s being used on a contract with Dudley Council to carry people with a range of disabilities between their homes and day care centres.

“Both Centro, who subsidise the 288 service, and Dudley Council required a low-floor DDA compliant vehicle,” explains Margaret Hanson. “The Council also wanted a seat-belted bus. So we looked at what was on the market and Optare were able to meet both requirements with the Solo. It was also a short vehicle – something that is important on the council contract where we have to pick up and set down passengers at their homes, a number of which are on narrow roads.

“We then worked with Optare to develop a specification that enabled us to fully meet our customers clearly-stated requirements. Optare couldn’t have been more helpful and were able to build the bus from scratch to that specification.

“To start with, the basic design of the Solo was almost exactly right, with most of the seating in the flat low-floor area, a very low entry height, and the ability to easily load passengers in wheelchairs by means of the ramp. We were able to alter the position of stanchions and take them out where not required and they were able to offer Richards & Shaw Integra seats with seatbelts.

“When it came to choosing the interior colour scheme Stephanie Baker from their sales team visited us with samples of the moquettes available and colour swatches so that we could all be involved in the decision and to help us match everything together in a very co-ordinated way.

“And it didn’t stop at that. We carry out our own maintenance and arrangements have been made for our fitters to undertake a training course with Optare to help make routine servicing easier for them now that the bus is in service.”

The new Solo is a 9.5 metre long, standard 2.5 metre wide model with 30 fixed seats and two tip-ups in the wheelchair bay. Mobitec dot matrix destination equipment is fitted.

It’s got plenty of power from the 5.9 litre, six-cylinder Cummins ISBe engine which uses SCR technology to achieve Euro 4 compliance and delivers 150 kW (201 bhp) and 750 Nm of torque. An Allison 2100 series five-speed fully automatic transmission is fitted and a KLAM electro-magnetic retarder, which is standard, assists with braking and helps to reduce wear on the service brakes.

For further information please contact:
Martin Hayes, Communications Advisor, +44 (0) 207 494 8050