Motor Coach Industries (MCI), a subsidiary of New Flyer Industries Inc., announced today that Laketran, the regional public transportation system in Lake County, Ohio, received 10 new MCI Commuter Coaches three months ahead of schedule, and has exercised an option for four more coaches.

The 40-foot coaches will serve the weekday service operating 18 daily departures from nine Park-n-Ride locations connecting Lake County with downtown Cleveland, and operate in its Bus-on-Shoulder service on the I-90/SR-2 westbound and eastbound shoulders when traffic is traveling less then 30 miles per hour.

“Now that [the 10 buses] have arrived, we must finish multiple internal inspections of the buses and then transfer our fareboxes, rangers and radios to the new buses before we can put them into operation,” Laketran’s GM Ray Jurkowski told The News-Herald. Laketran expects its newest coaches to be serving commuters by late spring, with a launch and ribbon-cutting ceremony planned at its headquarters in Painesville Township, Ohio on June 2.

The MCI Commuter Coaches replace buses purchased in 1998 and are funded with federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grants and matching funds through local sales tax revenue.    

The new commuter coaches feature plush, forward-facing seating and overhead parcel racks with individual reading lights and airflow controls. Engineered to provide a comfortable, safe ride on express and highway routes, Laketran’s new coaches are each equipped bike racks, a wheelchair lift, on-board security cameras, and the latest clean-diesel engine technology for near-zero emissions. The model, 2015’s best-selling coach, also offers ease of maintenance and low total cost of operation.

“Laketran provides critical service for Cleveland commuters, and the transit operation has been serving Lake County for more than 40 years,” said Tom Wagner, MCI VP of Public Sector Sales.

Laketran coaches deliver 175,000 commuter express trips to and from Cleveland annually.