New city bus on its way

New city bus on its wayTwo provincial grants help buy newest bus
By Hugo Rodrigues POLITICS REPORTER Tuesday March 25, 2008

WOODSTOCK - City council ordered the Friendly City’s newest transit bus Thursday. It should be rolling down city streets this fall.With little discussion, council approved the $414,111 purchase of a 2008 Nova LFS accessible transit bus at zero cost to the taxpayer, using a combination of two provincial grants.

The new bus came at a slightly lower cost than the one ordered in 2007, which should be rolling on city streets within weeks. City engineer David Creery explained that some of the parts in the Quebec-made bus come from the United States and have been affected by the high Canadian dollar.With the newest order, the city is halfway through its current fleet replacement plan, having ordered four of the eight new buses planed. The city plans to order two additional buses in 2009 and one bus in 2009 and 2010 respectively.Bus replacement - the city currently operates a fleet which has one of the oldest average ages in the province - is the highest-priority item in the transit renewal strategy. City council is set to approve the rest of the strategy later this spring, which could include a downtown off-street terminal, new bus routes and extended hours of service.