Transit System: Prince George
VICTORIA – Just in time for the Canada Winter Games; BC Transit, the City of Prince George and New Flyer Industries Canada ULC are teaming up to test a new medium-duty bus in the Prince George Transit System. The 30-foot New Flyer MiDi® demonstration bus will be in revenue service as of February 20, 2015. The bus will be operating in Prince George for a month, both during and after the Games, and will provide both New Flyer and BC Transit with information on the operating performance of the vehicle. The demonstration vehicle will also help manage busy passenger loads during the Winter Games when fleet resources are expected to be at maximum capacity.
The New Flyer MiDi comes in both 30-feet and 35-feet 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 Prince George, has two doors and the capacity to seat 24 passengers and room for up to 30 standees.
“In order to ensure the efficient movement of people around the city as we host the nation and then begin to celebrate Prince George’s 100th Anniversary, we are encouraging residents and visitors to take advantage of public transit, which is free for riders during the 2015 Games,” said Mayor Lyn Hall of Prince George. “The New Flyer MiDi® will serve to make Prince George’s already robust and effective transit service even more flexible, accessible, and accommodating for citizens and visitors alike throughout this busy and exciting time.”
“BC Transit welcomes the opportunity to showcase the New Flyer MiDi as our partners at the City of Prince George host the prestigious Canada Winter Games,” said BC Transit President and CEO Manuel Achadinha. “BC Transit is always looking to the marketplace for new technology and new vehicles to meet the needs of our customers and the communities we serve throughout the province.”
The New Flyer MiDi is engineered by Alexander Dennis, the largest manufacturer of buses in the United Kingdom with more than 18,000 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.
“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.”
Media contacts: Meribeth Burton, BC Transit, 250.995.5720
Mike Kellett, City of Prince George, 250.614.7882
Katherine Cooke, New Flyer, 204.224.6647
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