HEAVY-DUTY MAZ SCHOOL BUS

Minsk automobile plant has released the first Super-passable bus for rural schools, which is able to move freely in difficult road conditions and overcome obstacles in the form of sand, puddles and snowdrifts.

The Mazovian bus was the first school transport in the CIS, which was originally designed for rural areas. Unlike the standard "schoolchildren" created on the basis of existing models, the MAZ-257.S30 was designed from scratch. The new special bus turned out to be hardier, more powerful and more agile than serial "brothers".

The school bus received a frame chassis from a medium-duty truck. High ground clearance and spring suspension allow you to drive freely on dirt roads. The school special bus is equipped with a modern Euro-5 Environmental class engine. For greater reliability, a speed limit system is built in, which will not allow vehicles to accelerate over 60 km/h.

The special bus also received an extended cabin for 28 passengers. The interior space is divided into seats for teachers and schoolchildren, with seats for children equipped with four-point seat belts. Luggage racks for school backpacks are organized above the seats, and a retractable additional step is provided for first-graders. Engineers also installed an external speakerphone and multimedia systems in the bus so that children could be entertained on the road.

"Shkolnik" successfully passed the tests, during which the reliability of the structures was checked. Tests have shown that the model meets all the safety requirements that are accepted in the CIS and Europe.

"The new model took the best from the truck and bus: on the one hand, increased cross – country ability, on the other-comfortable conditions and maximum safety for children. The bus is designed to bring students to school from any village or Hamlet, regardless of the quality of the road surface. Such qualities make transport indispensable in almost any region, " the developers noted.

The first buses will appear on rural roads in the autumn of this year. They are also planned to be supplied to the markets of the EAEU countries. "Many potential customers are interested in the special bus. In fact, we have created a bus that has no analogues in its class. We expect that the new model will be successful in foreign markets, "Maz said.

The special bus was created under the "school bus" program, which is implemented by Maz and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus on behalf of the head of State. The goal of the program is to solve the problem of delivering rural children to school and back. The plant developed two models-Maz 241 and Maz 257. In total, more than 300 school buses will be produced for rural areas.