RailBus63

I don't see NFI moving away from the Xcelsior design anytime soon. Engineering for an all-new design is not cheap and it's not like a 'fresh' look is going to result in a huge increase in sales (which they might have difficulty filling anyways). Plus, they are seeing success with the electric version of the Xcelsior and are getting the hydrogen version delivered now as well. I think the Xcelsior is going to be NFI's primary product for many years to come. Just my 2 cents.

I don't see the separation of bus body and chassis building ever becoming widespread in North America, because any company investing in the body business would need Gillig. NFI and others to be willing to join Nova in this endeavor and that doesn't seem realistic. What would a Gillig or New Flyer have to offer if they didn't build the entire bus? It's not like they design and build their own engines and transmissions.

No surprise. ElDorado just never made the jump to becoming a serious supplier of true heavy-duty transit buses.

People tend to vastly overestimate the savings possible in merging smaller entities into one larger entity. Look at DASH as an example - it seems to be well-run and successful and is responsive to Alexandria and its residents. Why would a merger into a Northern Virginia transit authority be a good thing for Alexandria?

That doesn't excuse an intentional and systematic effort to bypass those regulations on almost a million trucks.

I wonder if that person is just a marketing or social media staffer who is going by what's on the website themselves - I mean, shouldn't they know that their company has sold many, many XDE60's until recently?

That's weird. Feels like an oversight, since the XD60, XN60 and even the XT60 are all still being offered.

Please read the post above yours - Volvo only bought the battery business. The South Carolina plant they bought is not a bus manufacturing facility, so no, the LFS will not be built there.

Nice catches. Strange that they wrapped them right over the standard scheme

Looks like it's six new electric buses, not eight. At least one bus (#2303) can be seen wrapped in the video accompanying this news story. Plans are to have them on the road by Thanksgiving. I assume that the 0800's will be taken off the road at that time. GoDurham adds 6 new electric buses to fleet with plans for more in the future

I believe it's to help prevent passengers from falling out of the bus if the emergency window unexpectedly swung open.

A 72-bus order wouldn't merit a bulk discount like that, though - it's still small potatoes compared to the multi-hundred bus orders placed by the big agencies. If Mississauga received a discount for the 2005 buses, it would likely have been due to competition from Orion and maybe NovaBus.

Link?

The poster said that there are 'talks' regarding a 5th generation LFS, supposedly. I was asking who is doing that talking?

Talk from whom?

The bigger issue likely is that Proterra has had financial issues for a while now, so they couldn't afford the added expense of running two manufacturing facilities unless they were fully booked with enough orders to keep both of them busy.

This would make a ton of sense. Similar to when builders offered multiple powertrain options, Gillig/NFI/Nova could offer Proterra, Siemens and/or Cummins battery-electric options.

A Golden Empire Transit New Flyer XHE40 hydrogen fuel cell bus was destroyed in a fire at the fuel station in Bakersfield CA: https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/fire-engulfs-new-hydrogen-bus-and-fueling-station-at-golden-empire-transit-kern-county-bakersfield-fire-department-get-bus

They're not cancelling this order, electric buses are the future. The delay is about getting these buses right. An electric bus spontaneously combusting on a New York street would be a disaster.

Many motorists act like idiots when encountering a transit bus making a service stop, no matter what flashers are being used. My strong recommendation to bicyclists would be to wait and let the bus complete its stop and merge back into street traffic before you resume your ride. Attempting to pass a stopped bus on a bicycle (or a scooter) is extremely risky from the perspective of reckless motorists, pedestrians darting across the street, other motorists looking to turn into the main road from a side street who see a stopped bus as an opportunity to go for it, etc.

The plant likely has limited value due to New York state being a very expensive place to do business in.

They didn't need a big NY state presence to get the lion's share of the MTA's orders before, so they certainly don't need one now.

Hitachi or any other builder can potentially be qualified if they go through the process and meet the authority's approval. Kawasaki and Alstom were new builders with no MTA experience at one time also.

The more knowledgeable posters on the NYCTF board don't seem to believe this.

If I'm reading that document correctly, Proterra didn't even bid (or maybe they were disqualified)?