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On 26 July 2017, New Flyer of America, the U.S. subsidiary of New Flyer Industries and the largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America, announced that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA or Muni) awarded them an option order for 185 Xcelsior trolley electric, 40-foot, heavy-duty buses.
These options are exercised off of the King County Metro’s 2013 trolley electric bus contract, which is the largest zero-emission bus procurement in North America to date. These trolley buses will complement the new lightrail vehicles that SFMTA started receiving in January 2017.
Electric trolley buses, also called trackless trolleys, are rubber-tired vehicles with motors powered by electricity from overhead wires (Figure 3). Although their operations can be less flexible than that of motor buses, trolley buses are much quieter, significantly more energy efficient, and produce much less pollution.
They are also better on hills, require less maintenance, and last longer than motor buses. The trackless trolleys are equipped with batteries that allow them to operate off the overhead wires for a short distance, allowing them to pass a broken trolley bus ahead when needed.
The new vehicles will replace buses currently in service that are over 17 years old and account for 40% of system-wide delays, due to mechanical issues. SFMTA Board
President London Breed said, "We desperately need the new 40-foot electric trolley buses to improve the ride for passengers and the impacts on our environment. These new buses will serve passengers on the city’s hilliest and busiest routes and will replace the oldest and most problematic buses in the system. We can’t have them on our roads soon enough."
This is the most recent milestone for this procurement, which has received unwavering support from Mayor Ed Lee, the SFMTA board of directors, and the board of supervisors to improve SFMTA’s reliability by replacing and renewing the rubber tire fleet.
Full article: IEEE Vehicular Technology
Magazine, Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017 | 
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