New Flyer moves forward with year two of six year contract with NJ Transit, worth $92M
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
New Flyer is set to take on the second year of its six year contract to deliver 1,222 buses to NJ Transit; A funding crisis afflicting the State of New Jersey suspended production of the contract orders last summer
DES PLAINES, Ill.—Bus manufacturer New Flyer has been given the go-ahead to fulfill the second year of its six year contract with NJ Transit—a transit provider serving New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania—to manufacture and deliver up to 1,222 clean-diesel commuter coaches.
The second year of the contract stipulates an order for 185 coaches, valued at $92 million.
Production on NJ Transit’s coaches was suspended for nearly three months in July 2016 when the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund experienced a funding shortfall. However, the state of New Jersey’s funding problems were resolved in October when Governor Chris Christie signed an executive order lifting the suspension of funding for transit projects. New Flyer was able to adjust production schedules and deliver 96 coaches to NJ Transit in 2016 once the financing issue was resolved.
New Flyer delivered all year one orders for 187 commuter coaches by the end of Q1 2017 and will commence delivery of year two coaches starting in Q3 2017.
This contract was originally awarded in November 2015.
New Flyer’s subsidiary Motor Coach Industries (MCI) has a three-decade long relationship with NJ Transit.
Patrick Scully, executive VP of Sales and Marketing for MCI, said that his firm is proud to support NJ Transit’s goal of replacing old buses with modern clean-diesel alternatives.
NJ Transit is the third largest provider of bus, rail and light rail transit in the U.S., operating a fleet of more than 2,200 coaches covering some 255 routes, and it has purchased over 2,000 coaches from MCI to date, including 147 compressed natural gas models in 2015.
