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Home | Green Cars News | Hybrids | MTA NYC Transit and MTA Bus Combine for 850 New Hybrid Electric Bus Order

MTA NYC Transit and MTA Bus Combine for 850 New Hybrid Electric Bus Order

25 October, 2007 12:00:00

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MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus will take delivery of 850 new Orion VII low-floor Hybrid Electric buses by the end of 2009. The buses are manufactured by DaimlerChrysler Commercial Buses North America and uses the BAE Systems HybriDrive.

The buses will be sourced from a 389-vehicle purchase option on a 2005 order and a modification to that order for an additional 461 buses, subject to approval by the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"The MTA's transportation network makes the entire region sustainable and we are committed to making the system itself a sustainable model," said Elliot G. Sander, Executive Director & CEO of the MTA. "Along with the sustainable commission that we launched this fall, the continuing purchase of environmentally-friendly vehicles illustrates this commitment."

The MTA and NYC Transit have been pioneers in the development of Hybrid bus technology, with experience going back more than a decade. The technology boasts lower exhaust emissions and improved fuel economy over standard buses. Bus customers also benefit from the low-floor design of the Hybrid Electrics, of which, NYC Transit currently operates the largest Hybrid fleet in the world, with 548 buses in service.

Orion VII hybrid buses offer a HybriDrive™
diesel-electric propulsion system by BAE Systems
propelling the bus with a single electric motor
that is powered by a diesel-driven generator and
an energy storage unit. The Orion hybrid is equipped with a smaller, cleaner burning diesel engine that with
quicker acceleration than other conventional
diesel-only buses using a 5.9-liter, 260 hp (194 kW)
Cummins ULSD (Ultra Low-Sulfur Diesel) engine
with a 120 kW traction generator.

The base contract for 500 bus order for NYC Transit (216) and MTA Bus (284) was approved by the MTA Board in September of 2005. There is a 389-bus option to that contract, of which 284 buses will be assigned to NYC Transit and 105 to MTA Bus. The 461 buses from the new order will all serve NYC Transit routes.

The combined order will provide 745 new buses for NYC Transit and 105 for sister agency, MTA Bus. They will be delivered in time to serve a growing ridership and the increased equipment needs which will be generated by Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

During the years between 1995 and 2006, NYC Transit completely changed New Yorkers' views of buses, eliminating visible tailpipe emissions (smoking buses) and significantly cleaning the exhaust profile. While the hybrids are the most technologically advanced, NYC Transit has employed several other innovations to improve air quality, including ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, particulate filters and cleaner-burning diesel engines.

The bottom line is really impressive: from 1995 to 2006, diesel PM emissions dropped 97% and NOx emissions dropped 58%, on a per-bus basis. More than 90% of the reductions were due to the accelerated retirement and replacement of the oldest, dirtiest engines.