New Flyer Industries Inc. announced Thursday that Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has approved the purchase of 10 Xcelsior diesel-electric hybrid 60-foot heavy-duty buses.
The order for 10 articulated buses (20 equivalent units or EUs) was placed using options from another US transit authority. The original contract signed in 2010, enabled the assignment of up to 67 options of which 33 still remain after this procurement and are currently included in New Flyer’s backlog.
“These ten buses help move us towards our goal of doubling public transit use by 2020. We believe that protecting our communities and environment begins with building a robust and diverse transit fleet that is well designed, efficient and reduces our dependence on cars,” said Ralign T. Wells, MTA administrator.
“New Flyer is proud to be selected once again as the preferred bus manufacturer for MTA,” said Paul Soubry, president and CEO of New Flyer. “We understand that having a dependable transit fleet is fundamental to MTA’s needs, therefore we are committed to providing ‘best-in-class’ reliability, along with spare parts, service and lifetime customer care.”
In the past eight years, Maryland has purchased 469 New Flyer buses in both diesel and diesel-electric hybrid propulsions. The MTA has demonstrated its commitment to investing in environmentally friendly vehicles by solely purchasing hybrid buses for six years.
This award was part of the group of firm and option orders for 509 EUs received just prior to the end of 2012 noted in the New Flyer press release of Jan. 9, 2013 as included in the New Flyer backlog, but awaiting approval for the issue of a detailed announcement.
Production of the 10 articulated buses is anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2013 and will be completely manufactured and assembled at New Flyer of America’s St. Cloud, Minn., manufacturing facility. All buses are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2013.
