Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

The customer, ATUQ, is a consortium consisting of the province’s nine transit authorities.

The Ohio Department of Transportation’s new Ohio Transit Preservation Partnership Program will enable the agency to buy five of these vehicles, which have advanced thermal cooling systems that provide a cost savings of $2,000 a year in fuel savings and improved operational performance per bus.

University needs to replace 18 of its 27 diesel fuel buses, which have reached the 12-year mark.

Orion stated that the Allison Hybrid H 40 EP is now being quoted for active bids and will be available in 2011.

Signed an agreement with BAE Systems for the supply of components for the power chain for its new-generation hybrid buses.

The 60-foot hybrid articulated buses are at least 30 percent more fuel efficient than the non-hybrid buses they replaced and are 60 percent lower in emissions.

The 23-foot gasoline-electric hybrid buses are part of a national pilot program to speed commercialization of these fuel-saving vehicles, which are expected to yield 30 percent to 40 percent reductions in fuel use, with an accompanying 30 percent reduction in emissions.

The agreement builds on a relationship that began in 2002, when Maxwell began supplying BOOSTCAP ultracapacitors to ISE for braking energy recapture and torque assist in ISE's hybrid-drive systems for heavy-duty vehicles.

Project cost is estimated at $16.2 million, which includes the purchase of 12 hybrid buses. Annual operating cost is expected to be $3.3 million, and all funding will come from a local half-cent sales tax approved by voters.