MD: MTA Displays Savings at Auto Show

Feb. 19, 2013
The MTA was not only conveying the economics of riding a bus, but its goal of providing vehicles with some of the cleanest emissions on the road today

Motor Trend magazine recently staged an auto show in Baltimore which one could expect would have the latest and greatest from the auto industry. Walking into the exhibit hall this year there was a stark difference one could see in the distance towering above the slung autos. There it was, decked out with an environmental theme was MTA’s newest addition, a New Flyer 60-foot diesel hybrid bus.

The MTA was not only conveying the economics of riding a bus, but its goal of providing vehicles with some of the cleanest emissions on the road today.

Not only will the new hybrid vehicle generate cleaner emissions, but will also achieve savings in fuel economy. MTA staffers had also placed a sticker on the side window of the bus, similar to the EPA mileage sticker on cars, to show how much they could save by riding MTA buses.

MTA officials were delighted with the turnout as it demonstrated a win-win for the agency in public relations and generating interest from newer prospective riders. MTA employees were excited to volunteer their time to staff the booth handing out timetables, answering schedule and bus stop questions as well as providing coloring books for the younger visitors.

It was certainly a novel idea to bring transit bus inside an auto show with a touch of irony of getting people out of cars and on to the bus