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Nova Bus

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Nova Bus
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTransit
PredecessorMotor Coach Industries (transit)
Transportation Manufacturing Corporation
Founded1993
HeadquartersSaint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada
Key people
Jean-Pierre Baracat (President & CEO)
ProductsPublic Transit buses
ParentVolvo Group
WebsiteOfficial site

Nova Bus is a Canadian bus manufacturer in North America, owned by Volvo Buses, and headquartered in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada.

History

The factory used to be a General Motors plant for building city transit buses intended for the Canadian market. In 1987 GM divested itself of its bus-building holdings by selling them to Motor Coach Industries (MCI), which had been formed from companies that had been owned by Greyhound Lines. The plant was used to produce the Classic model for sales in Canada, while GMC's Rapid Transit Series (RTS) product was moved to join MCI's own designs at Transportation Manufacturing Corporation in Roswell, New Mexico. MCI decided to divest its urban rapid transit models in 1993, and Nova Bus was created to take continue producing the Classic and RTS models at the Saint-Eustache and Roswell plants respectively.

The Classic and RTS were later discontinued in order to concentrate on the Nova LFS, a low floor city bus, which was introduced in 1995. The last Classic model was produced in 1997. Sales of Nova LFS proved uncompetitive and Nova Bus closed their Roswell and Niskayuna, New York plants in 2002 to concentrate all efforts on the Canadian market. The Roswell plant was later acquired by a local consortium, Millennium Transit Services, that almost went bankrupt in 2008, then emerged from it in 2011. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), with 483 LFS units in its active bus fleet, remains one of the larger operators of Nova Buses.

On February 2, 2008, Nova Bus announced plans for the construction of a new assembly plant in Plattsburgh, New York, signifying the company's return to the U.S. bus market. The plant opened for business on June 15, 2009.[1] Its first US order under American production came from the New York City Transit Authority for 90 LFS Articulated buses (counting LFS rigids operated by the same agency, the NYCTA now counts nearly 500 LFS buses in its active fleet). In March 2010, Nova Bus received the first US-built order for its redesigned LFS from Honolulu, Hawaii's TheBus. The 24 buses arrived in December 2010 with plans to order more in the future.[2] In March 2012 the Walt Disney Company announced that it plans to test a Nova articulated bus on certain high traffic routes at the Walt Disney World Resort. In 2012 SEPTA placed an order for 245 buses which included 155 articulated buses to replace its aging Neoplan AN460 articulated buses & its remaining NABI 416 standard buses. [3] In 2014 SEPTA finally rolled out their brand Nova Bus LFS HEV 62-102 articualted buses onto the streets of Philadelphia on October 27th, 2014. [4]

Products

Current

Main article: Nova Bus LF Series
Differing powertrain layouts: original asymmetrical (left) and new centred (right).

The current Nova Bus LFX (articulated bus rapid transit (BRT) applications). The rigid LFS entered mass production in 1995, and the LFS Artic and LFX models were introduced in 2009. The standard LFS is also available in a single-door commuter configuration. Both the rigid and articulated versions of the LFS/LFX are available with a hybrid drivetrain that uses an Allison EP40 parallel hybrid system. These options were first delivered in 2007 to Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) in Gatineau, Quebec (40-foot model) annod in 2011 to Connecticut Transit (articulated). In October 2011, the rear window became an option.

The original powertrain layout mounted on the left at the rear was changed to a center-mounted powertrain, with ventilation through the roof on all LFS models starting in 2009. However, some demonstrators and test buses were built in 2008 with this update. In 2013 a new fourth generation rear layout was introduced and became standard mid 2013. Some early 2013 models were delivered with the third generation rear.

Past

Model Length Width Photo Years Produced Notes
Rapid Transit Series (RTS) 9.14 m (30 ft)

10.67 m (35 ft)
12.19 m (40 ft)

2.44 m (96 in)

2.59 m (102 in)

1995–2004
TC40102A
TC40102N 		12.19 m (40 ft) 2.59 m (102 in) 1995–1997
TC60102N 18.29 m (60 ft) 2.59 m (102 in) 1993
  • Based on the 1982 GMDD model TA60-102N, but with a full Classic body

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nova Bus.

References

  1. ^ "Bus-assembly plant proposed for Plattsburgh", The Press Republican
  2. ^ Press release from Nova Bus (March 11, 2010)
  3. ^ "SEPTA plannning to buy 245 new buses". philly.com. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
  4. ^ "SEPTA Rolls Out Hybrid Buses in Philly". nbcphiladelphia.com. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
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