Bus manufacturer New Flyer has won a contract for 12 Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric transit buses from the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), with options to purchase up to 63 more over five years. The purchase was supported by Federal Transit Administration funds.

CTDOT, which owns and operates nearly all public transportation services in Connecticut, representing more than 27 million annual trips, is a longtime New Flyer customer.

“For over 25 years, we have supported CTDOT with reliable transportation, delivering over 900 New Flyer buses and MCI coaches,” said New Flyer President Chris Stoddart. “Every Xcelsior CHARGE bus on Connecticut roads will reduce up to 160 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, delivering immediate benefits with cleaner, quieter, more sustainable mobility.”

New Flyer also offers infrastructure development through New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions. The company currently has over 35,000 transit buses on the road (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion), of which 8,600 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,900 are zero-emission.

Meanwhile, New Flyer is pursuing autonomous vehicle technology in partnership with CTDOT, Robotic Research, and the Center for Transportation and the Environment. The company plans to deploy a battery-electric Level 4 automated transit bus on CTfastrak, a regional rapid transit system currently operating between Hartford and New Britain.

“We are thrilled to be developing—and soon operating—the first full-sized automated buses in revenue service in North America,” said Dennis Solensky, Transit Administrator, CTDOT.

Source: New Flyer