It is half a century since this year that the 'standard bus' made its appearance in the national street scene. Of course you are now wondering what a 'standard bus' is? If you then switch back a little longer in time, you can still remember that city and regional buses were of different brands at the time and often had different 'colors'. For example, in the Haaglanden cream-with-green, in Soest and surroundings red, there were blue buses with a cream-colored roof, moss-green with a cream-colored roof, yellow with a cream-colored roof, blue with a gray roof and so on. Different brands, different - mostly Dutch - bodybuilders. In 1961, a 'Standardization of Bus Equipment Standardization Committee' was set up, which - richly subsidized by the government - started working on a 'standard bus', a city and regional bus in one (burgundy) color - with a dark gray roof - which is available in large numbers. an acceptable price could be delivered. Moreover, interchangeable, faster to produce, faster to repair, less large stock of parts, in short, everything interchangeable. Initially, representatives of the GVB Amsterdam, the RET Rotterdam and HTM The Hague were members of that committee. The GeVU Utrecht joined in four years later. As the subsidy tap opened further, more transport companies flocked to CSA. Except for the GVA Arnhem, because there the proposed buses were not suitable for their somewhat hilly working area. Body builder Hainje from Heerenveen took the smartest approach. Before the final bullet passed through the church, city buses were already delivered that had many of the desired features. In 1966 the first real 'city bus' appeared on the scene. A DAF chassis, a DAF diesel engine and automatic transmission from the company Voith, which was quickly replaced by one from ZF due to the many breakdowns. That is half a century ago this year. And that has to be celebrated. That will happen. Therefore, note 11 June as the day. Is celebrated in the Haags Bus Museum, De Binckhorst Building, Parallelweg in The Hague. Become a party all the more as there are also - for a small fee - organized tours in those first types of 'standard bus' with which you can step back in time for just half a century. Further information: info@haagsbusmuseum.com.
Photo: Meanwhile 50 years ago, the street scene in large cities was partly determined by the 'Standard bus' ...