The MAN SG 220 was a VöV-Standard articulated bus designed and manufactured by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) in Germany between 1978 and 1983, available with two, three, or four doors in two different lengths. The bus was also exported to different countries, built locally in France, Slovenia, Turkey, and the United States.

In the American market, in order to meet Urban Mass Transportation Administration "Buy America" requirements for federally-subsidized vehicles, the initial set of vehicles were shipped as driveable shells and finished in the United States by AM General in Texas until 1979. After the joint venture with AM General ended, MAN opened its own assembly plant in Cleveland, North Carolina to produce the SG 220 and its closely related derivative SG 310 (starting in 1981) until it abruptly withdrew from the United States transit bus market in 1988.

Design The full model number describes the type, generation, length, and number of doors: + Type Generation Length Doors SG = Stadt Gelenke("City Joints", articulated bus) 220310 16.5 = long18 = long 2 = 2 doors3 = 3 doors4 = 4 doors

Hence a SG 220-18-3 is an articulated bus long with three doors. Potential door locations are (from the front proceeding to the back): Ahead of the front axle, behind the windshield Ahead of the middle axle Behind the articulation, ahead of the rear axle Behind the rear axle

In the United States, the number of doors was limited to two or three, corresponding to locations 1-x-3-x or 1-2-3-x. The SG 310 was offered with two doors, in locations 1-x-3-x.

Both the SG 220 and 310 were high-floor "puller" type articulated buses, with the middle axle driven. The SG 220 and 310 were equipped with a MAN D2566 MLUM/US inline-6 turbodiesel engine, rated at .

History United States The AC Transit District serving Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area began using an over-the-road articulated coach in Transbay service in 1966; subsequently, AC Transit was one of six transit districts to develop a "super bus" specification in the early 1970s for a higher-capacity bus. A pooled purchase was intended to reduce per-unit development costs. Two European-built articulated buses were tested by AC Transit and Seattle's Metro Transit in the summer of 1974: one based on the Volvo B58 chassis, and the . Riders received the MAN bus favorably, and the specification was released for bid in 1975; the pooled purchase consortium, which by then had grown to encompass ten transit districts, awarded the order to AM General in August 1976. Deliveries of the AM General/MAN joint venture SG 220 articulated buses began in 1978.

Buses were shipped from Germany as "driveable shells" and finished by AM General according to customer specifications. AM General terminated the joint venture agreement, taking effect after the delivery of the Seattle buses, and MAN opened a manufacturing plant in Cleveland, North Carolina in October 1981, with an anticipated capacity of 400 buses per year. MAN withdrew from the US transit bus market in 1988 after an order of 40-ft buses for Chicago was blocked by an injunction. The Cleveland plant was sold in 1989 to Daimler subsidiary Freightliner Trucks.

Operators

United States Several operators in the United States formed a pooled purchase consortium and awarded the bid to the AM General/MAN joint venture (the sole bidder) for over two hundred buses. By March 15, 1982, 511 articulated buses from all manufacturers had been delivered in the United States; of these buses delivered, 399 were MAN/AM General buses. Orders had been placed for an additional 692 articulated buses; of those pending orders, 557 were MAN buses.

Although operating experience with the eleven initial operators showed the per-passenger labor costs of driving the articulated bus were reduced compared with conventional buses, the articulated bus cost was almost double that of a conventional bus, required maintenance was more frequent and more costly, and dwell times were increased.

United States MAN operators  City System Award date Fleet Nos Qty Model PPC Atlanta, GA MARTA 1601-1610 10 55'(SG 220-16.5-2A) Chicago, IL CTA 7000-7019 20 55'(SG 220-16.5-2A) 7100-7224 125 55'(SG 310-16.5-2L) Denver, CO RTD 9001-9089 89 60'(SG 310-18) Indianapolis, IN IPTC 8401-8430 30 60'(SG 310-18) Los Angeles, CA SCRTD 9200-9229 30 60'(SG 220-18-3A) Memphis, TN MATA 500-519 20 60'(SG 310-18) Minneapolis, MN MTC 1001-1020 20 60'(SG 220-18-2A) 1021-1082 62 60'(SG 310-18-2L) Nashville, TN KTRANS 101-115 15 55'(SG 310-16.5-2A) Oakland, CA AC Transit 1600-1629 30 60'(SG 220-18-2A) Phoenix, AZ PTS 7001-7020 20 60'(SG 220-18-2A) 7021-7056 36 55'(SG 310-16.5-2A) Pittsburgh, PA PA Transit 3000-3019 30 55'(SG 220-16.5-2A) 3050-3079 30 55'(SG 310-16.5-2L) Rochester, NY RGRTA 301-317 17 60'(SG 310-18-2A) San Diego, CA SDTC 1001-1045 45 60'(SG 220-18-2A) San Francisco, CA Muni 6000-6099 100 60'(SG 310-18) San Jose, CA SCCTD 2401-2415 15 60'(SG 310-18) San Juan, PR AMA 84801-84812 12 60'(SG 310-18-?) San Rafael, CA GGBHTD 451-460 10 60'(SG 220-18-2A) Seattle, WA Metro 1400-1550 151 60'(SG 220-18-2A) 2000-2201 202 60'(SG 310-18-2L) 4000-4045 46 60'(SG T310-18) Spokane, WA STA 210-219 10 60'(SG 310-18-?) Washington, DC WMATA 5001-5043 43 55'(SG 220-16.5-2A) 5101-5133 32 60'(SG 310-18) Westchester County, NY RTD 600-661 62 60'(SG 310-18)

Notes

Competition Crown-Ikarus 286 — In 1982, the only other manufacturer that had delivered an articulated transit bus to a United States transit district was Crown-Ikarus.

References

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