KELOWNA – BC Transit and New Flyer Industries Canada ULC are teaming up to test a new medium-duty bus in the Kelowna Regional Transit System. The 35-foot New Flyer MiDi demonstration bus will be in revenue service until April 13, 2014. Customers can expect to see the bus on Routes #15 Crawford, #16 Kettle Valley and #17 Southridge. The demonstration project will provide both New Flyer and BC Transit information on the operating performance of the vehicle.
The New Flyer MiDi® comes in both 30-feet (9 metres) and 35-feet (10.6 metres) lengths, with a choice of either one or two doors, a low floor entry-way and a 1:6 sloped wheelchair ramp to provide excellent accessibility to passengers with strollers or mobility aids. The streamlined design of the MiDi® is sleek and stylish with lots of natural light from the large windows, and was built with special consideration for weight optimization. The result is a lighter, more fuel efficient transit vehicle with exceptional maneuverability.
The demonstration bus, operating in the Kelowna region, has two doors and the capacity to seat 32 passengers and room for up to 33 standees.
“Transit use in Kelowna continues to grow as people recognize the benefit of taking the bus to school, work and other travel destinations,” said Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick. “BC Transit strives to meet the public’s expectation for efficient, comfortable bus service by testing new vehicles to see if they meet the needs of our region. As a result, the 76-bus Kelowna fleet currently has four different types of vehicles, of which 62 are conventional size, including seven double-deckers, and 14 smaller buses.”
“BC Transit is always looking at innovative technologies, including new vehicle configurations, that will allow us to better serve our customers across British Columbia,” said BC Transit President and CEO Manuel Achadinha. “We welcome the opportunity to test the New Flyer MiDi®.”
“We’re very excited about the niche market the MiDi® is positioned in and we are confident that we have a product design that will satisfy the unfulfilled needs of customers in the transit market,” said Paul Soubry, President and Chief Executive Officer, New Flyer Industries. “The MiDi® is also an excellent complement to our current product line-up with the added benefit of being a proven product that we manufacture, source parts for, provide service and support for right here in North America.”
The New Flyer MiDi® is engineered by Alexander Dennis, the largest manufacturer of buses in the United Kingdom with more than 16,000 buses of this type delivered worldwide. Based off this proven design the New Flyer MiDi® was designed for the North American transit market with locally sourced parts and manufactured in one of New Flyer’s North America facilities. This medium-duty bus is tested to a 10-year 350,000 mile (560,000 km) life, with an above industry standard warranty program and fully supported by New Flyer’s Aftermarket, Service, Publications, and Warranty support network.
For more information on the Kelowna Regional Transit system please consult www.bctransit.com/regions/kel or call 250.860.8121.
Media Contact:
Meribeth Burton
BC Transit
media@bctransit.com
ph: 250.995.5720
