Brampton extends BRT with low-emission buses from New Flyer

New Flyer Industries Canada ULC (“New Flyer”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), one of the world’s leading independent global bus manufacturers, today announced that the City of Brampton, the governing body of Brampton Transit, has issued a new order for ten heavy-duty, sixty-foot Xcelsior® diesel-electric hybrid transit buses (20 equivalent units or “EUs”).

The new hybrid buses will expand the Züm bus rapid transit (“BRT”) fleet to meet the area’s growing population and transit demands. Featuring 40 percent more passenger capacity than forty-foot vehicles, the sixty-foot Xcelsior buses will increase service and improve the passenger experience along key routes connecting people and places within Brampton and the Greater Toronto Area. Using diesel-electric hybrid technology, the new buses will reduce fuel consumption by up to ten percent compared to conventional diesel vehicles.

The order follows Brampton Transit and the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium’s (“CUTRIC”) July announcement of securing $11.15 million in federal funding from Natural Resources Canada to support the adoption of zero-emission transit with a purchase of six battery-electric New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE™ buses.

“As the City of Brampton continues to grow, its mobility demands increase but the focus remains on sustainable transportation. New Flyer meets this need with hybrid electric technology and high-capacity BRT buses, which helps Brampton Transit improve the passenger experience,” said Chris Stoddart, President, New Flyer. “We are proud to deliver more fully-accessible BRT buses to support the Züm service, building on nearly 300 buses delivered to Brampton since 1979 and looking forward to the expansion of its low and zero-emission fleet in future.”

Xcelsior BRT buses offer the lowest interior and exterior noise levels, and feature an upgraded interior including LED lighting, skylight roof hatches, and styling upgrades. Advanced accessibility features also include a wider door and an increased entryway, with one of the lowest floors and best-in-class ramp inclinations on the market. New Flyer, a leader in fully-accessible and high-capacity bus rapid transit solutions, has BRT buses operating in cities such as Cleveland, San Bernardino, Eugene, San Jose, and Seattle.

Brampton Transit is one of Canada’s fastest-growing and most innovative transit providers, moving more than 31 million passengers in 2018 and committing to the reduction of Brampton’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through sustainable transit.

NFI has nearly 90 years of experience manufacturing buses in Canada, with over 50 years of experience manufacturing zero-emission buses. NFI actively advocates for the electrification of public transit vehicles and standardization of charging infrastructure, and in 2018, signed onto the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities and celebrated CUTRIC’s launch of the Pan-Canadian Electric Bus Demonstration and Integration Trial – the world’s first multi-manufacturer interoperability demonstration for fast-charge electric buses – of which New Flyer was a contributing member.

About New Flyer

New Flyer is North America's heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior® and Xcelsior CHARGE™ brands. It also offers infrastructure development through New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™, a service dedicated to providing safe, sustainable, and reliable charging and mobility solutions. New Flyer actively supports over 41,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 7,300 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,600 are zero-emission.