USA: CTDOT orders up to 75 e-buses from New Flyer. 6 vehicles headed to Atlanta

New Flyer announced that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) has awarded the bus producer a contract for 12 Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric, forty-foot heavy-duty transit buses, with options to purchase up to 63 additional zero-emission buses in thirty-five or forty-foot lengths throughout the remaining term of the two-year agreement. New Flyer has also been commissioned 6 electric buses in Atlanta for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).

CTDOT is also moving forward the deployment of the first full-sized automated buses in revenue service in North America. A project where New Flyer is also playing a major role.

CTDOT: a major order for New Flyer e-buses

CTDOT owns and operates nearly all public transportation services in Connecticut, delivering more than 27 million annual trips. Its CTtransit bus system is the state’s largest – supporting eight urban areas – and includes CTfastrak, a bus rapid transit system launched in 2015, New Flyer underlines.

The purchase of New Flyer electric buses in Connecticut, supported by Federal Transit Administration funds, furthers the CTDOT Electric Bus Initiative, a partnership between CTDOT, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and bus transit providers that has committed to providing a safe, reliable, sustainable clean energy transportation system.

New Flyer electric buses for CTDOT

“For over 25 years, we have supported CTDOT with reliable transportation, delivering over 900 New Flyer buses and MCI coaches. With a goal of building more livable and sustainable communities, CTDOT is now counting on New Flyer technology for zero-emission adoption at scale,” said Chris Stoddart, President, New Flyer and MCI. “Every Xcelsior CHARGE bus on Connecticut roads will reduce up to 160 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, delivering immediate benefits with cleaner, quieter, more sustainable mobility – a win for everyone.”

CTDOT towards the first automated transit bus

New Flyer technology is powering CTDOT’s pursuit of sustainable integrated mobility. In 2020, New Flyer announced in partnership with CTDOT, Robotic Research, and the Center for Transportation and the Environment, that it would deploy North America’s first automated transit bus on CTfastrak with a battery-electric, Society of Automotive Engineers J3016 Level 4 automated transit bus.

“We are thrilled to be developing – and soon operating – the first full-sized automated buses in revenue service in North America,” said Dennis Solensky, Transit Administrator, CTDOT. “And, we believe we have assembled a world class team to lead and accomplish this remarkable challenge.”

New Flyer, a contract in Atlanta for MARTA

Concerning the purchase in Atlanta, MARTA is among the largest transit systems in the U.S., providing public transit to the Atlanta metropolitan region and delivering 116 million passenger trips per year. The purchase is supported by federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s (“FTA”) Low or No Emission (“Low-No”) Grant Program, and continues MARTA’s pursuit of reducing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions through sustainable transportation. MARTA has been transitioning to lower-emission propulsion since 1996, when the agency first introduced compressed natural gas (“CNG”) buses from New Flyer.