Belleville Transit received four of its five brand new city buses Friday.
The new NOVA buses were unveiled at the Belleville Transit office in the morning and in operation by the afternoon. The buses were purchased using the $2,442,328 in funding from the Canada Infrastructure Plan – Transit Stream.
These are the first new buses in Belleville since 2013 with three of the older buses being taken out of service.
Councillor Bill Sandison was on hand to talk about the new buses.
Audio Player“The price tag was about $800,000 per bus and because of the favourable pricing we were able to receive the four buses we’ve got here and we were able to add a fifth in to be within the same funding envelope.”
The fifth bus is expected to arrive in September.
The five new buses all feature driver barrier doors for COVID-19 safety and for the protection of bus drivers, five cameras inside the bus and one outside, a new CONSAT system for real time bus tracking.
Belleville Transit Services Manager Paul Buck explained an upgrade that just two of the new buses have.
Audio Player“Two of these buses are equipped with the latest and newest technology for Belleville, actually for Canada. It’s a larger display screen that shows the next three stops that are coming up.”
Loyalist College Executive Director of Student Life and Belleville Transit Advisory Committee member Fred Pollitt explained the importance of the new buses with regards to Loyalist College students.
Audio Player“It’s very important. Route 7 is the busiest route within the Belleville Transit network. The morning rush where we have two buses back-to-back to get to morning classes, I mean it’s essential that we have it. More of our students are relying on public transit. This fall we’re planning on hopefully coming back on campus so it’s really important that these new buses are here.”
The older buses, two of which were past the expected “end-of-life” usage level, will be auctioned off.
See pictures inside the new buses below.
(Photo by: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
(Photo by: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
(Photo by: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
(Photo by: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
(Photo by: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
