Motor Coach Industries (MCI) recently announced that the Board of Directors for Houston-based Metro (Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County) has awarded MCI a new three-year contract for 139 commuter coaches, including 10 options per year for a total of 169 coaches. The contract has an approximate total value of $ 84 million. The 169 coaches from this order were included in New Flyer's fourth quarter backlog and orders press release announced on January 11, 2017.
The new Metro contract follows orders in 2014, 2015 and 2016 contracts for a combined total of 105 MCI coaches delivered.
Operating from Park & Ride locations throughout the greater Houston area and leveraging high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, Metro's new coaches will replace older models for an equipment upgrade of its commuter express services.
Metro's new coaches are equipped with wheelchair lifts, Kiel seats with three-point passenger seatbelts and baggage bay slide-out bike racks. Equipped with a Cummins ISX engine and Allison B500 transmission, they are powered by the newest EPA-mandated clean-diesel engine technology.
The MCI commuter coach, which is Buy America-compliant and Altoona-tested, is specifically designed for express service and highway speeds. It offers a rugged, semi-monocoque structure which elevates passengers and drivers above traffic. In addition to seat belts, safety features include Electronic Stability Control (ESC), tire pressure monitoring and a fire suppression system, along with a G. Vansco Vs IO Control multiplex system.
Metro and MCI have had a valuable relationship since 2001. Over the past 16 years, the system has purchased 391 MCI commuter coaches, which includes 122 coaches with a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system. MCI is the first intercity coach manufacturer to offer public transit agencies an over-the-road intercity diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system, as well as coaches with compressed natural gas (CNG) propulsion.
Houston Metro operates an integrated transit system that includes light rail, local bus paratransit, HOV/HOT lanes and 25 Park & Ride lots.
'We are very honored that Houston Metro has once again found the commuter coach to provide the value and reliable performance important to its operations and ridership," said Tom Wagner, MCI vice president of public sector sales. "The MCI commuter coach offers Metro's passengers a comfortable, safe and convenient ride, which is an enormous draw for riders facing a long distance commute during rush hour traffic."
Houston has a long standing relationship with New Flyer as well. Since 1996, New Flyer and its subsidiary companies have delivered a total of 1,295 low floor clean diesel, compressed natural gas or diesel-electric hybrid powered transit buses to Metro. Most recently, on January 5, 2017 New Flyer announced in a press release an order for 100 Xcelsior clean diesel 40-foot transit buses to be built for Houston Metro.
