Halifax council Tuesday agreed to buy 45 new buses. The $33 million
contract will have Nova Bus, a division of the Volvo Bus Corporation,
supply 15 buses over three years, with the first buses arriving in time
for next school year.
Each year, 10 of the new buses will serve to expand Metro Transit’s
fleet, and five will replace aging buses. The new buses are the
articulated, 60-foot LFS model, shown above. They’ll be deployed on
heavily used routes, increasing capacity by 50 percent; the 40-foot
buses now used on those routes will be shifted to new and presently
underserved routes.
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2009.
Though I was shocked to learn that Nova won the contract over New Flyer, I was happy to see that price wasn’t their only concern (the Nova models were the more expensive option, but performed better in testing). If the new garage finishes on time, they’ll be ready to go by August. I have a strong suspicion the buses being replaced will be the current 60ft buses purchased in 1992/93. Still, these buses are much needed and I’m glad they’re on their way.