One of the best things about living in Champaign-Urbana is our extremely robust Mass Transit District. Even more-so, this month, they have announced their acquisition of 18 new, diesel-electric hybrids, coming to a Champaign-Urbana street near you sometime soon.
For more information, check out the release from CUMTD, and then catch one of these hot rides tearing up the streets in-person:
Those who follow MTD’s Instagram or Twitter feeds know that new buses began arriving earlier this month at MTD. Five buses arrived in Urbana on April 4th after a 574 mile drive from St. Cloud, MN, still partially in their protective wrappings.
MTD expects to receive a total of 18 40-foot New Flyers in the next several weeks. All 18 are 2017 Diesel-Electric Hybrids that will replace existing standard diesel buses one-for-one.
After MTD’s Maintenance Department completes inspections of each, the buses will be slated to replace older buses in the fleet. They are expected to be carrying local passengers by summer.
The bid and buying process for buses can be complicated, so to simplify the process somewhat and “buy in bulk,” MTD takes part in a cooperative bid process called “joint procurement.” This 2017 purchase is part of a joint procurement contract in tandem with transit providers in Rock Island, IL, South Bend, IN, Santa Rosa, CA, and the Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation (IN).
More pics are available of the bus build process in St. Cloud at MTD’s Flickr Photostream.