Daimler Buses North America announced the initial order of up to 500 diesel-electric hybrid buses, with options for up to 200 buses, from King County Metro in Seattle, Wash. The base, first year order is for 93 hybrid units. King County's business is in addition to orders totaling 225 Orion VII transit buses, 30 Setra S 417 motorcoaches and 15 Sprinter shuttle buses, the company announced.

The first year order of hybrid buses will be delivered to King County beginning in mid-2010. Other hybrid orders this month includes an order for 80 hybrid buses to OC Transpo in Ottawa, Canada, which will bring its hybrid fleet to 177 Orion buses, making them the third largest hybrid fleet in Canada. Roosevelt Island, N.Y. has ordered one additional hybrid bus as well.

Additional orders for Orion VII transit buses include the purchase of 75 Orion VII clean-diesel buses by Veolia Transportation for its service for the New Orleans Transit Authority and an additional 30 Setra S 417 motorcoaches and 15 Sprinter shuttle buses for its services in San Francisco. Suffolk County of New York also ordered 55 Orion VIIs, to be delivered in 2010, in varying lengths and requested an additional 28 transit buses pending ARRA funding.

Meanwhile, Cleveland Area Rapid Transit ordered five Orion VII CNG buses, the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation of North Carolina (PART) ordered an additional five Orion VIIs, Saint John Transit Commission in Canada ordered three Orion VIIs and Sault Ste. Marie, Canada ordered an additional Orion VII to its existing order.

All of these buses will be produced in 2010 and beyond, according to the company.