NABI Tours its 60-Foot Articulated Hybrid BRT Bus Out West

15 December 2005

The 60-foot hybrid in action at the Grand Canyon.

North American Bus Industries (NABI) has been taking its new 60-foot articulated parallel hybrid bus on a promotional tour in the West, visiting transit agencies in Utah and Colorado, and the National Park Services in the Grand Canyon.

NABI introduced the 5-door hybrid-electric articulated 60-foot coach designed for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) applications at the APTA International Public Transportation Expo (IPTE) in Dallas earlier this year. (Earlier post.)

The new diesel hybrid combines a Caterpillar C9 330 hp engine and the GM-Allison E^P50 two-mode compound split hybrid drive used in the other GM parallel hybrid transit buses on the market.

NABI’s 60-BRT vehicle is a rubber-tire solution to light rail. It offers many of the same amenities and features of rail, but with the flexibility afforded to bus route deployment.

—Bill Coryell, NABI Vice President of Sales

The Utah Transit Authority is planning several bus rapid transit (BRT) projects in conjunction with cities dotting the I-15 freeway which runs north-south, parallel to the Wasatch Mountain Range, linking several major city-centers together. At least four BRT systems are being studied for use along the Wasatch Front.

Denver RTD is planning an 18-mile BRT corridor on US route 36 as part of the larger $4.7-billion FasTracks program to expand bus and rail service through the eight-county region serviced by the RTD.