平治 O814 Mercedes Benz O814

平治O814 Mercedes Benz O814

編號 Class：B

一九九五年到一九九八年對新福利車隊來說是變化最多的一個時期，車隊中的巴士型號再不是單單由日本產品所壟斷，先有英國丹尼士飛鏢成功加入車隊，然後澳門街首款大型低地台單層巴士─德國猛獅於一九九七年加入，開始了新福利車隊百花齊放的局面。到了一九九七年，新福利再次訂購新小型巴士，訂單落入了德國平治手上，提供三十架O814底盤。

平治O814小型巴士在英國深受歡迎，而為數三十架平治O814小型巴士亦跟大部份英國同款巴士一樣，全數配用英國Plaxton Beaver 2型車身，新福利替這批小型巴士選配的車身，跟英國版本最大分別是採取了雙門設計，前門上車，而位處尾軸後的車門則作下車用。這設計對於改善乘客車廂流動有莫大裨益，亦對減少行車時間有一定幫助。在之後時間當新福利再向三菱購入Rosa小巴，亦採取同樣的安排，可以說平治O814確立了小型巴士採用雙門安排。全數平治O814採用自家引擎，配以Allison全自動波箱，足夠推動由開利供應的空調系統。Plaxton Beaver 2型雙門車身能夠提供十九個座位及十一人企位，當全數巴士投入服務後，主要行走3A，5及離島路線26A，28A及33。

就在這批平治O814小型巴士在澳門街行走十二個年頭之後，受惠於賭權開放而令旅客數目節節上升，同時加大了公共交通的壓力，小型巴士開始未能應付，於是巴士公司陸續採購大型單層巴士應付上升的客量。小型巴士在車隊角色自始開始變得不再重要，這批平治小型巴士亦不能倖免，新福利於二零零九年開始把平治O814淘汰，最後一輛O814於二零一零年退役，自始之後，新福利的小型巴士陣容，只餘下三菱Rosa在車隊中獨領風騷。

There were a significant change in the fleet of Transmac between 1995 and 1998. Followed by the success of Dennis Dart, MAN supplied a fleet of 10 13.230 with Hispano bodyworks to Transmac in 1997 and they are the first super low floor bus in Macau. For the choice of minibuses, Transmac acquired 30 O814 from Mercedes Benz of Germany in 1997.

Plaxton Beaver 2 bodyworks were chosen for the Transmac Mercedes Benz O814 and this is a very common combination in UK bus market. The O814 of Transmac adapted dual-door arrangement with the front door behind the front axle as entrance while the rear exit located behind the rear axle. Benefited from this arrangement, the flow within the compartment was improved and hence the journey time reduced. Since this design was proved to be successful, when Transmac introduced another batch of new Mitsubishi Rosa minibuses, same arrangement was chosen. The specification of the O814 is a Mercedes Benz engine with a Allison fully automatic transmission. The air conditioning was provided by Carrier and each Mercedes Benz O814 can accommodate 30 passengers with 19 seats provided. They were mainly served route 26A, 28A and 33.

The demand for public transport increased as more tourists attracted by different casinos and minibuses cannot meet the demand. More and more full-sized single deckers were ordered and the role of minibuses become less important than before. The Mercedes Benz O814 of Transmac started to retire since 2009 and the last one was withdrawn in 2010. Until now, the only minibus type in Transmac was Mitsubishi Rosa.

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