CTA Buying 100 Buses Originally Ordered By Seattle Metro
- By Kevin Zolkiewicz
At its monthly board meeting today, the Chicago Transit Board approved the purchase of up to 100 new 60-foot articulated buses from New Flyer of America, Inc. The $80 million deal is a reassignment of options from a contract with New Flyer originally executed by Seattle’s King County Metro.
While the specific models being purchased have yet to be identified, the CTA says that the order will contain a mix of 67 “clean-diesel” and 33 hybrid diesel-electric articulated buses. The new buses will allow CTA to begin replacement of its 40-foot Nova bus fleet, which have begun to reach end of life.
Delivery is expected to commence late this year and will be completed in 2013.
This isn’t the first time that the CTA has worked with King County Metro to assume contract options. The CTA’s 2007 order of 150 New Flyer DE60LF buses, numbered 4000-4149, was also the result of a reassignment of options from the Seattle-based transit agency.