New Flyer of America Inc. (New Flyer), the U.S. subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (NFI Group), announced that the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) awarded the company a new contract for 14 heavy-duty, sixty-foot Xcelsior® clean-diesel transit buses (or 28 equivalent units or (“EUs”) with options for 10 additional buses (20 EUs).

The New Flyer Xcelsior buses have been designed for a special bus rapid transit (BRT) system that improves route capacity and schedule reliability as a part of the Houston Uptown Dedicated Bus Lanes Project (Uptown DBL). The contract brings the total NFI Group fleet size in Houston to just under 1,400.

“New Flyer is proud to work with Metro to bring sustainable transportation solutions for the city’s Uptown district development,” said Wayne Joseph, president, New Flyer of America. “We are proud to be the chosen manufacturer for the first BRT-type buses to operate for Houston METRO as a part of this innovative project, which adds to the existing fleet of 1,015 New Flyer transit buses, 315 MCI Commuter coaches, and 40 of ARBOC low-floor buses already in service.”

The BRT development will run along Post Oak Boulevard to deliver transit service from Westpark to the Northwest Transit Center. Elevated “Busways” have been specifically engineered for BRT bus operation. The schedule calls for service to start high-capacity in summer 2019.

METRO began operations in January 1979 and has expanded to serve 14 cities as well as major portions of unincorporated Harris County. With nearly 9,000 bus stops, METRO buses run more than 42 million revenue miles and will have had an estimated 66 million boardings per year.