Westport Supplies Engines for LA Metro Gas Buses (USA)

Westport Supplies Engines for LA Metro Gas Buses

Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI), a leading provider of high-performance, alternative fuel engines for the North American on-highway market, is supplying engines for two of the largest natural gas transit fleet orders in North America to date.

In January, LA Metro announced its plans to order 550 New Flyer Xcelsior natural gas buses, powered with the Cummins Westport ISL G 8.9 litre engine to be deployed in 2014 and 2015, with an option to purchase an additional 350 buses in 2016 for both its own fleet and contract operators. LA Metro has one of the largest transit fleets in North America.

“We have had a good working relationship with Cummins Westport,” said John Drayton, Manager for Vehicle Technology for LA Metro. “There are more than 1,500 natural gas buses in our fleet running on CWI engines. LA Metro is dedicated to being 100 percent natural gas, and CWI is a valued partner in that.”

In December 2012, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) announced the decision to purchase up to 350 Gillig 40-foot low floor buses and 118 New Flyer 60-foot low floor articulated buses, all powered with the CWI ISL G 8.9L. SDMTS will receive 47 articulated buses and 50 forty-foot buses in 2013, with another 50 per year being delivered to replace buses in the current compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled fleet over the following four years.

“San Diego’s transit system has been on the path of natural gas transportation for a long time, and our fleet is composed of 80 percent CNG vehicles,” said Julio Ortiz, Director of Maintenance with SDMTS. “We have always been a good customer of CWI.”

Currently, there are more than 7,000 buses in municipal service across North America fueled by natural gas.

“Substantial orders such as these from LA Metro and San Diego are ongoing evidence of the growing acceptance of natural gas in the transit market,” said Jim Arthurs, President, Cummins Westport.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, February 05, 2013; Image: Westport