Offering public transportation and parking services within Tekirdağ Metropolitan Municipality, Tekirdağ Otopark Ulaşım A.Ş. (Tekulaş) is strengthening its fleet with Isuzu Citibus buses equipped with Allison fully automatic transmissions.

TEKİRDAĞ, Turkey, February 2024 – Tekulaş provides public transportation and car parking services in Tekirdağ province, which became a metropolitan municipality in 2014. Preferring fully automatic transmissions for both passenger and driver comfort, Tekulaş continues to transition its fleet from manual transmissions with delivered Isuzu Citibus buses equipped with the Allison Torqmatic® Series.

"Tekulaş offers public transportation services throughout Tekirdağ province with a bus fleet of 200 vehicles. We provide transportation for an average of 80,000 passengers on a daily basis and 2,400,000 passengers per month,” said Kadir Albayrak, Tekirdağ Metropolitan Municipality Mayor. “As the Metropolitan Municipality, we aim to renew the equipment of our old vehicles as well as expand our bus fleet, and we continue our investments in this respect."

The 9.5-meter Isuzu Citibus buses recently received by Tekulaş are powered by a 4.5-liter Cummins ISB Euro 6 engine that can produce 151 kilowatts (210 horsepower) and 832 newton-meters/Torque. The six-speed Allison T 280R™ fully automatic transmission with integrated retarder is offered as standard equipment on Isuzu's Citibus model.

The buses are used on routes 2/7 and 1/3 in Tekirdağ Süleymanpaşa district center. The route is 34 km one way with a total of 90 respective stops. Allison transmissions offer many advantages on such routes requiring frequent stop-start operations. Allison's torque converter smoothly multiplies the engine torque to deliver more power to the wheels. Superior acceleration and startability are possible thanks to smooth and seamless full-power shifts supported by Allison’s Continuous Power Technology™. Thus, Allison fully automatic transmissions offer higher performance compared to manual or automated manual transmissions (AMTs), which cause loss of power and torque with each gear shifting, resulting in less efficient operation and less mileage.

"50 percent of the buses in our fleet are equipped with fully automatic transmissions. We will always prefer fully automatic transmissions in our future purchases,” said İlyas Küçükmidil, Tekulaş General Manager. “Fully automatic transmissions ensure our drivers can focus on the road in heavy traffic conditions and on urban routes, ensuring a comfortable drive experience compared to manual transmissions. This increases the comfort and safety of our passengers as well as that of our drivers."

"Thanks to automatic gear shifts, drivers concentrate on the road and the drive without the need to shift gears,” said İlyas Küçükmidil. “On the other hand, the efficiency of our fleet increases as fully automatic transmissions also prevent the wear on vehicles caused by drivers."

The Allison T 280R transmission uses an algorithm to select the most efficient shift point based on vehicle and environmental parameters with Allison’s FuelSense® 2.0 with DynActive® Shifting, which also features Automatic Neutral at Stop and Vehicle Acceleration Control.

Vehicle maintenance and repair costs are also reduced with fully automatic transmissions

Thanks to the hydraulic torque converter used instead of the wear-prone dry clutch system found in manual and AMTs, Allison fully automatic transmissions help reduce maintenance costs, a primary cost of public transportation providers. Costly and time-consuming clutch repairs and replacements are thus eliminated. Allison transmissions offer a much more efficient operating life with only periodic fluid and filter changes. Furthermore, the transmission's integrated retarder helps the vehicle slow down with less wear on the braking system. Since the retarder provides efficient braking by slowing down the vehicle exactly when it is needed, the brake pad and disc life is extended, while increasing passenger and driver comfort.

"Our one bus travels an average of 200 km per day. Our operations become easier thanks to the low maintenance required by Allison fully automatic transmissions,” said Küçükmidil. “Pursuant to this, we focus on equipment with higher performance and efficiency instead of manual transmission vehicles that cause loss of time and cost by leaving the route due to frequent maintenance requirements."

"Allison fully automatic transmissions are well suited for journeys requiring frequent stop-starts in heavy traffic, particularly in urban public transportation. On long routes between city centers and districts, vehicle control increases thanks to the integrated retarder system," said Berk Gönenç, Allison Transmission Turkey Sales Manager. “In addition, when the total cost of ownership is taken into account, there are significant savings in operational expenses. For this reason, the use of fully automatic transmissions has become widespread in vehicles with the 8-9 meter segment belonging to both municipalities and private bus companies. After introducing Allison-equipped vehicles to the fleets, users tend to quickly switch their entire fleet to fully automatic transmissions.”

Tekulaş continues to use ten Allison-equipped Isuzu Citibus and seven Allison-equipped Otokar Doruk buses, which were delivered in 2011, with high performance without experiencing any transmission-related problems.