New Flyer of America Inc. announced that The Comet, formerly known as the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA) located in Columbia, S.C., exercised options under its current contract for 15 New Flyer 35-foot Xcelsior® buses and eight 40-foot Xcelsior buses.

The 35-foot buses will replace the existing fleet at The Comet, upgrading older buses that are ready for retirement to the Xcelsior platform. The eight 40-foot Xcelsior buses will be used to expand the existing fleet. The Comet has grown ridership by nearly 150% in four years and are excited about the new equipment helping deliver safe and more reliable service to the community.

"We are honored to grow our relationship with The Comet and provide Xcelsior buses as part of the fleet expansion initiatives," said Wayne Joseph, New Flyer executive VP, bus business. "The Comet will have a total of 31 Xcelsior buses in their fleet at the completion of this order, and have focused on ridership comforts for this order, including attributes such as USB ports and passenger notifications."

Once this order is delivered, the customer has the option to purchase up to an additional 44 Xcelsior clean diesel or CNG 40- or 35-foot buses over the five-year contract period.