The new buses, manufactured by Nova Bus, are part of a modernization program announced in 2012 to provide customers with an almost entirely new bus fleet within the next few years, the city said.
The city has ordered 300 new 40-foot clean-diesel buses manufactured by Nova Bus. The new buses feature a sleeker body design, bigger windows, brighter LED lighting and seamless flooring. In addition, new safety features include 10 surveillance cameras per bus and improved safety barriers between customers and the operators, the city said.
The buses will also have locally made bus seats, manufactured by 120-year-old Freedman Seating in Humboldt Park. The city said the lightweight seats help to reduce overall vehicle weight and, therefore, fuel costs to the CTA. The partnership between the CTA and Nova has meant the creation of 50 new jobs by Freedman, the city said.
The CTA expects to receive the new Nova buses starting in April and continuing through the end of 2015. The city expects the new buses will be in rotation in May.
The new buses will replace Nova buses purchased by the CTA between 2000 and 2002 that are "beyond their useful life." Under the Nova contract, the CTA has the option to purchase an additional 150 buses.
In 2012, the CTA purchased 100 New Flyer 60-foot articulated buses by piggybacking on a King County Metro (Seattle) contract, to provide a fleet for free bus shuttle service during the Red Line South reconstruction project in 2013. Those buses are now deployed throughout the system, the city said.
