Nova Bus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nova Bus is a bus manufacturing company based in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada. The company is now owned by Prevost, which is a division of Volvo Buses.
Nova Bus was created by a reorganization of the transit bus division of MCI in 1993, and continued the production of the Classic model (which was started by General Motors Diesel Division Buses in late 1982) until MCI bought the transit division in 1987. The RTS model, originating from General Motors, was also acquired by NovaBus.
They currently produce a single product, the Nova LFS, a low-floor urban transit bus, which was introduced in 1995. The last Classic model was produced in 1997. After closing their American assembly plants in Roswell, New Mexico, and Niskayuna, New York, in 2002, Nova Bus basically withdrew from the U.S. bus market, instead primarily focusing on Canadian transit.
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[edit] Products
- Rapid Transit Series (RTS) - developed by General Motors Diesel Division Buses (1977-2003), although no longer produced by NovaBus, a small company Millennium Transit now builds them) RT80-2W
- Classic - high floor buses (developed as a redesign of the original GMC New Look) originally produced by GM (1983 - 1987), then MCI (1987-1993), and by NovaBus from 1993 - 1997. Models: TC40102N (40", 102' wide) and TC60102N (60", 102' wide, articulated)
- LFS - low floor and wheelchair accessible (1995-present)
NovaBus now produces a series of vehicles developed from the Nova LFS.
- 40 foot Low floor transit bus with a stainless steel structure and diesel engine.
- 40 foot Suburban bus (single and two door variations)
- 40 foot shuttle bus
- 60 foot articulated bus, currently completing testing, with full production expected in 2007, and orders are anticpated by RTC, who have already called for tenders on an articulated bus order, and STM in Montréal.
NovaBus is now marketing a hybrid electric bus as well, using an Allison hybrid drive system in order to help them compete better with their main rivals who already offer hybrid buses. This should also help NovaBus become more competitive outside of eastern Canada (where few NovaBus products have been sold), and to provide this option to Quebec-based systems, who usually only purchase from NovaBus, as the nine large, public systems in that province purchase as a consortium and receive a lower price by doing so than if they each called for individual tenders.
[edit] Rivals
- General Motors Diesel Division Buses
- Gillig Corporation
- Irizar
- MAN AG
- Mercedes-Benz buses / Setra
- Neoplan USA (defunct)
- New Flyer Industries - formerly Flyer Industries and Western Flyer Industries
- North American Bus Industries - formerly Ikarus
- Orion Bus Industries - formerly Ontario Bus Industries
- Van Hool
[edit] Clients
Canada, LFS:
- Auger Métropolitain, for CIT du Sud-Ouest, Chateauguay, QC
- Autocar Connaisseur, Montreal, QC
- Autocar des Chutes, St-Nicolas, QC
- Autocar Québec, St-Augustin, QC
- Barrie Transit
- bought one used LFS from Toronto
- Belleville Transit
- Brampton Transit
- Brandon Transit
- Brantford Transit
- Codiac Transit, Moncton, NB
- Durham Region Transit
- Elliott Lake Transit
- Fredericton Transit
- Grand River Transit
- Greater Sudbury Transit
- Guelph Transit
- Hamilton Street Railway
- Kelowna Regional Transit
- Lanau Bus/Groupe Gaudreault, for MRC L'Assomption, Repentigny, QC
- La Québecoise for CIT Le Richelain, Laprairie, QC
- Leduc Bus Lines, Ottawa, ON
- Limocar, for CIT de la Vallée du Richelieu, Beloeil, QC
- Metrobus, St. John's, NL
- Metro Transit, Halifax, NS
- OC Transpo, Ottawa, ON
- Oshawa Transit (now part of Durham Region Transit)
- Ottawa Paramedic Service
- Peterborough Transit
- Regina Transit
- Réseau de transport de la Capitale, Québec, QC
- Réseau de transport de Longueuil
- Strathcona County Transit, Sherwood Park, AB
- Société de transport de Laval
- Société de transport de Lévis (on order)
- Société de transport de l'Outaouais, Gatineau, QC
- Société de transport de Montréal
- Société de transport de Saguenay
- Société de transport de Sherbrooke
- Société de transport de Trois-Rivières
- Timmins Transit
- Thunder Bay Transit
- Toronto Transit Commission
- sold lone LFS bus to Barrie Transit
- Translink, Vancouver, BC
- Transit Windsor
- Véolia Transport, St-Bruno, QC
- Victoria Regional Transit System
- West Vancouver Blue Bus
- operating ex-Vancouver pilot bus B7298
- Whitby Transit (now part of Durham Region Transit)
- Woodstock Transit
USA, LFS:
- Capital District Transportation Authority, Albany, NY
- Central Ohio Transit Authority, Columbus, OH
- Charlotte Area Transit System
- Chemung County Transit System
- Chicago Transit Authority
- Coach USA, Hartford, CT, Philadelphia, PA, and San Juan, PR
- Disney Transport, Orlando, FL
- Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
- Kenosha Transit
- Knoxville Area Transit
- Memphis Area Transit Authority
- Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY
- Ohio State University Campus Area Bus Service, Columbus, OH
- Rutgers University Campus Bus System (owned by Academy Bus), New Brunswick/Piscataway, NJ
- Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District
- Tompkins Regional Airport, Ithaca, NY
- MTA Bridges and Tunnels, New York, NY
- University of Colorado Buff Bus, Boulder, CO