This week, at the Bus & Bus Business show in Verona, Fiat Professional have unveiled the new Ducato Metropolis, which aims to provide excellent urban transport mobility and is able carry 18 passengers. The driver's cabin is isolated from the passenger area either by a tubular metal frame (which can provide additional support for standing passengers) or by a plexiglass screen.

This week, at the Bus & Bus Business show in Verona (21-24 November), Fiat Professional have unveiled the new Ducato Metropolis, which aims to fall into the category of being an urban bus, providing excellent mobility and able carry 18 passengers (10 seated, 8 standing). It further builds on the Ducato's unrivalled reputation as the perfect base model for niche conversions - more than 300 different types of bodywork are now mounted on the chassis of this Italian van.

With 14 million Italians using rubber wheeled public transport every day, an ever growing demand for niche urban transport solutions, and a strong desire for more environmentally conscious methods of passenger movements, the new Ducato Metropolis is seeking to tap into these requirements and present itself as a typical and logical option to the operators of 'city bus' sector vehicles.

Converted by Mussa & Graziano in Turin, it is based on the Ducato's long wheelbase chassis and incorporates the range's super-high roof option. The most visual feature of the Metropolis are the new rubber-protected electrically operated clapper doors which come with a low pavement-level step and which allows for maximum ease of loading luggage and the movement on- and off-board of passengers. The Ducato Metropolis features a radio with CD reader and a digital LCD display mounted externally in a new bezel situated in the high roof section which can provide typical route and service information, while an internal digital screen is able relay and required information to the passengers.

The interior has been designed to be bright and roomy and is fitted with 10 seats, which are finished in a durable and easily washable material, and mounted on scratch-resistant clear grey frames, while for the 8 standing passengers, flexible grab handles are fitted to a series of rails that have been incorporated into the Metropolis by Mussa & Graziano's engineers. The driver's cabin is isolated from the passenger carrying area either by a tubular metal frame (which can also provide additional support for standing passengers) or by a clear plexiglass screen. The Ducato Metropolis further features an emergency exit door at the rear, an electrically powered ventilation system, additional heating capability, and a new inner lighting system.

Under the skin the Ducato Metropolis is based on the chassis of the Ducato Maxi which has an up to 4 ton rating and features an improved and strengthened suspension arrangement. It is powered by the 160 Multijet engine which offers maximum power of 157 CV and peak torque of 400 Nm.

By tradition, the Bus & Bus Business International Bus Transport Fair takes place in Verona in November, and this year it has just opened its gates to the 11th edition following a most successful last edition in 2005. The appointment on the show this year has a particular importance due to the growing issues the sector is having to face relative to transport and the environment and it is in fact thanks to an invitation by the General Manager of Veronafiere, Dr. Giovanni Mantovani, that this edition will be able to count on the authoritative participation of the Minister of the Environment, who will visit the show today (Friday 23rd November).

Bus & Bus Business places no limits on anything that is connected to the world of bus transport, and with over 45,000 square meters used during the last edition in 2005 and 211 exhibitors, of whom 26 percent came from abroad, as well as over 14,500 qualified trade visitors, this year's 11th edition is already well on course to beat all those impressive records.