Vancouver Orders 95 New CNG Buses; 1,000 May Follow

8 November 2005

TransLink, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, is ordering up to 95 40-foot, compressed natural gas (CNG) heavy-duty buses for the Greater Vancouver area.

The base order for New Flyer buses is for 73 vehicles, with a contract value of C$30 million (US$ 25.3 million). The buses are due to be delivered in mid-2006.

We’ve seen our transit ridership jump by over 20 per cent in the last three years and this bus order is aimed at getting more service on the road by next September. Our Board takes TransLink’s mandate to preserve air quality very seriously, which is why we opted to go with CNGs for this order and consider that option for the 1,000 more buses we’ll be ordering in the next eight years.

—TransLink Chair Doug McCallum

New Flyer is also manufacturing 228 electric trolley buses for Vancouver, for delivery beginning next year.

New Flyer also manufactures diesel-electric hybrid buses, using the GM-Allison parallel hybrid drive train, and gasoline-electric buses, using the ISE series hybrid drivetrain.