AC Transit Rolls Out Fleet of 23 Sleek New Buses
News Articles
06/05/2013
New Flyer Xcelsior Coaches Beautiful, Durable, American-made
Offering style, comfort and great reliability, AC Transit continues to offer A Better Ride by preparing to put 23 streamlined, articulated New Flyer buses into daily East Bay passenger service.
New Flyer buses are renowned for their durability. But this particular batch of Xcelsior articulated coaches have been especially well-designed from top to bottom, from inside out, for stunning appearance and stellar performance.
The coach is a low-floor, 52-seat, 60-foot long vehicle with a host of enhancing features including:
- Five percent (5%) less weight than normal to yield at least a two percent (2%) increase in fuel mileage.
- Disc brakes that reduce maintenance costs by an estimated $13,000
- Quieter –running engine to decrease noise pollution
- Improved driver area with a recessed overhead control panel
- LED interior lighting and headlights
- 330 horsepower engine with exhaust after-treatment for lower emissions
- Two ADA wheelchair positions and front door wheelchair ramp
- Three passenger doors
- Roof mounted air conditioning
- Stop request pull cords with push buttons at exit doors
- electric cooling system for better fuel economy
“It all adds up to improved reliability, easier maintenance along with smoother starts and stops for better rides for our customers,” said James Pachan, AC Transit Chief Operation Officer. “It’s a new style bus that helps the agency transition to a more modern fleet of American-made buses.”
The New Flyer Xcelsior launch, coupled with the March rollout of the locally-made Gillig buses, continues the District’s ”A Better Ride” campaign of service and performance initiatives throughout the agency. Among them are initiatives to improve on-time performance and service reliability, institute a quality assurance program to maintain cleaner buses, and bring many internal efficiencies.
For more information about AC Transit’s “A Better Ride” campaign, visit the webpage A Better Ride.