CA: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Exercises Options for 50 Xcelsior Transit Buses

New Flyer Industries Inc. announced Nov. 13 that San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) has approved the purchase of an additional 50 heavy-duty 40-foot Xcelsior diesel-electric hybrid buses.

SFMTA will purchase these buses under an umbrella contract with the procurement department of another U.S. state. This umbrella contract is a 'standing offer' open to public transit agencies across the United States, and as a result, New Flyer does not record any firm orders or options as part of its backlog until customer specific orders are received.

These 50 buses will be in addition to the 62 40-foot Xcelsior diesel-electric hybrid buses awarded to New Flyer as mentioned in press releases on September 10, 2012 and December 21, 2012.

"We are bringing state-of-the-art new hybrid buses to Muni's riders, investing in the infrastructure needed to make MUNI a better means of transportation by improving transit performance and reliability," said Ed Reiskin, SFMTA director of transportation.

"We are excited to build additional Xcelsior hybrid buses for SFMTA," said Paul Soubry, New Flyer's president and CEO. "Having repeat customers that share our vision of high quality products, service and support is critical to building strong and lasting relationships.  We are very proud to be associated with MUNI, who have clearly demonstrated commitment to service excellence through an environmentally conscious and responsible approach to providing transit service."

Production of these 50 buses has begun and all buses are expected to be delivered by the end of 2013.