BUSES PURCHASE PROSPECTS * USA - Agency poised to order 30 buses

Rider gains strain Y-S Transit fleet


Marysville,CA,USA -The Appeal-Democrat, by Howard Yune -March 17, 2009: -- An increase in riders is wearing down Yuba-Sutter Transit's bus fleet — and pushing the transportation agency to order as many as 30 buses in the next three years to keep up... Yuba-Sutter Transit is poised to acquire 10 new buses this fall for its Dial-A-Ride service, transit manager Keith Martin said Monday... A vote to buy the vehicles — which the transit agency's board of directors will make on Thursday — also would give Yuba-Sutter Transit the option to buy up to 20 more buses through 2012, depending on ridership... If approved, the 16-seat vehicles would join the local bus fleet as early as October at a cost of about $80,000 each. In addition to Dial-A-Ride routes, they would traverse rural scheduled routes and occasionally the main routes between Yuba City and Marysville...


* STIMULUS PLAN - Company: Buses Entirely U.S .-Built

Albuquerque,NM,USA -The Alburquerque Journal/TMC News -Mar. 17, 2009: -- About 20 new buses being purchased for ABQ Ride with federal stimulus funds will be built entirely within the United States, a spokesman for bus manufacturer New Flyer said Monday. The buses are being purchased with the bulk of an $11.3 million allocation of federal stimulus money to Albuquerque... City Transit Director Greg Payne said Monday that the city would prefer to buy the buses in-state, but he said New Flyer is the only company that produces the hybrid-electric buses and has treated the city well...


* Stimulus $678,000 for new buses

Gaylord,MI,USA -The Gaylord Herald Times, by Chris Engle -March 17, 2009: -- Otsego County’s bus system will likely get six new buses to replace a portion of its aging fleet if federal stimulus funding comes through... The new buses will be upgraded to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) or diesel, a move which will slash fuel and maintenance costs and provide more eco-friendly transportation... (Photo by Chris Engle - Ron Dale, a mechanic at the Otsego County Bus System garage, checks the engine fluids on a bus. The system will likely receive six new buses which will be converted to run on compressed natural gas. “We’ve talked to other mechanics and everyone’s having good luck with natural gas,” he said. “It’s a good thing all around.”)