BYD receives order for Link Transit, hires two transit professionals

BYD received its first order from the North Carolina market and announced the hiring of two transit professionals to work on SkyRail projects throughout North America.  

New bus order 

The city of Burlington, N.C., bought two K7M 30-foot battery-electric buses to serve the customers of Link Transit.  

The BYD K7M has 22 seats, a range of up to 150 miles and can be charged in 2.5 to three hours. The K7M has no air emissions and runs quietly, improving quality wherever it operates. With lower fuel and maintenance costs, the K7M has lower total cost of ownership than diesel or CNG, says BYD. 

“We are thrilled Link Transit chose BYD’s K7M to begin the transformation of their fleet to green technology,” said Patrick Duan, BYD senior vice president, operations. “We believe our battery-electric buses are a perfect fit for their plans to use clean technology vehicles to serve their customers and help keep their region’s air clean.”  

“Link Transit is excited to purchase this zero-emission bus from BYD and join the many transit systems in North Carolina making the shift to battery electric,” added John Andoh, interim transit manager, city of Burlington. “Link Transit is working hard to reduce its carbon footprint.” 

The buses will be built at BYD’s Coach & Bus factory in Lancaster, Calif. BYD’s zero-emission buses exceed Federal Transit Administration Buy America requirements, incorporating more than 70 percent U.S. content.  

BYD offers a 12-year warranty on its batteries. 

Two new hires for SkyRail 

BYD Transit Solutions LLC, the business entity of BYD responsible for implementing, operating and maintaining SkyRail™ (automated monorail) and SkyShuttle™ (battery-electric automated people mover) systems in North America, has hired Michael Hoghooghi and Doug Ostermeyer. 

Besides working on SkyRail projects throughout North America, Hoghooghi and Ostermeyer will be part of the LA SkyRail Express (LASRE) team developing an innovative mass transit solution for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor in Los Angeles. 

“BYD is very pleased to announce the hiring of these of internationally known and highly respected professionals,” said BYD President Stella Li.  “Michael and Doug are extremely well qualified to lead our projects here in North America. 

Hoghooghi will serve as executive program director – vice president of project management and major pursuits, and the CEO for LASRE.  He brings to the firm extensive international experience managing the planning, design and construction of some of the world’s largest rapid transit systems. Most recently Hoghooghi served as the overall Consortium Project Director for the design and construction of more than 60 miles of new high-capacity, fully automated, straddle-type monorail lines in Cairo, Egypt. 

Hoghooghi will serve as the overall consortium project manager for the LASRE team for L.A. Metro’s Pre-Development Agreement (PDA) phase of the proposed 20-mile, $9.5 billion Sepulveda Corridor project from the San Fernando Valley to Los Angeles International Airport. 

Ostermeyer will serve as BYD’s director of operations and maintenance. His resume spans nearly 40 years and includes hands-on management of some of the most important fully automated airport and urban transit systems in the United States.   

Ostermeyer started out as a maintenance technician and through the years, worked up the ranks to the point where he led bellwether projects, gaining along the way extensive professional training encompassing management and business practices, including ISO 14000 and 9000, Six Sigma, industrial and transportation engineering practices, safety, and APM operations. 

Ostermeyer’s assignment will be to serve as the operations integration manager for the Sepulveda Corridor Project.