Solaris 18 903

Location: Juliana Dunajewskiego at Karmelicka, Krakow, Poland
Operator of Vehicle: Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne SA w Krakowie
Date of Photo: May 28, 2008

I first photographed and rode buses manufactured by Solaris about ten years ago in Italy and Poland.  I encountered them a few weeks ago for the first time since then in the past few weeks, so I thought it would be appropriate to share a photo of a Solaris bus for the photo of the month.

Solaris is a Polish bus and tram manufacturer that was founded in 1994.  Agencies in Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Qatar and Turkey, among other places, have ordered these buses.  American busfans are probably aware that bus design has evolved over time, even among models of a single manufacturer.  Think of how the designs of the Orion I, Orion V, Orion VI, and Orion VII changed over time.  However, when I re-encountered Solaris buses in Israel last month and looked back over my photos from Poland and Italy from 2008, the basic Solaris bus design has pretty much remained the same.  While Wikipedia describes several “generations” of various Solaris models, each one maintains the same swooping design of the front windshield, crescent shaped front headlights, and side destination sign housing, among other features.  Can you think of another bus model that has been so consistent in its design over time?

For more photos of Krakow buses, please click here.