The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Transit buys Park-n-Ride buses
Coaches will provide 18 daily departures from nine locations connecting Lake County with downtown Cleveland
Laketran’s board announced this week that the agency recently purchased six new clean-diesel Motor Coach Industries commuter coaches to replace their retiring 2004 models.
The new commuter coach models will make their debut later this summer on Laketran’s Park-nRide service that connects downtown Cleveland and Lake County.
According to a Laketran news release, the commuter buses feature the latest clean-diesel technology with near-zero emission to comply with the most recent emission standards and a new engine and transmission to deliver better fuel efficiency qualifying Laketran to receive federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds through Northeast
Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, in addition to the Ohio EPA’s Diesel Emission Reduction Grant.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency recently published their Air Quality Trends Report showing that the air quality in their five-county region has improved in recent years, although areas exist in which the region falls short of the EPA’s standards. Transportation is the primary driver of the region’s air quality issues.
Grace Gallucci, executive director of NOACA, said air quality has improved significantly in Northeast Ohio in recent years, but noted that as the U. S. EPA continues to strengthen air quality standards to protect public and environmental health, portions of this region remain in non-attainment for one or more of them.
“On-road vehicles continue to generate most of the emissions of these pollutants, and the two pollutants most closely linked to mobile emissions — ozone and fine particulate matter — have declined by a smaller margin than the other pollutants,” she said. “So that tells us that transportation infrastructure and mode choice are intricately linked to the region’s air quality.”
The new buses will provide 18 daily departures from nine Park-n-Ride locations connecting Lake County and downtown Cleveland. Laketran Park-nRide provides Bus on Shoulder service on Interstate 90/ state Route 2 westbound and eastbound shoulders when traffic is traveling less than 30 mph, allowing buses to continue commuting while reducing time idling in traffic that contributes to air pollution.
“Motor coaches are the most fuel-efficient, per-passenger-mile mode of motor transportation, surpassing the car, plane or train, providing a clean-air transportation option,” said Laketran General Manager Ben Capelle, who recently joined NOACA’s Air Quality Subcommittee. “A solution to improve our region’s air quality is simply less single-occupancy vehicles on the road.”
The Laketran coaches are expected to carry 160,000 commuters to and from Cleveland annually, eliminating 700 cars off the road every day, the release stated.
The new 40-foot coaches are fitted with two exterior bike racks, seat 47 and are also equipped with a wheelchair lift, overhead storage compartments, electronic fare boxes, and on-board security cameras.
The new coaches also feature a new look, consistent with graphics introduced on the Laketran 2017 propane Dial-a-Ride fleet. The agency updated their branding in 2017 to modernize its image in the community and promote its commitment to cleanair vehicles.
“Laketran prides itself on providing clean, safe and reliable transportation to our riders with an unmatched customer experience,” said Board President Brian Falkowski. “Continuing to update our fleet with stateof-the-art, eco-friendly vehicles, shows that Laketran is committed, not only to our customers, but to sustaining our region and our environment as well.”
In 2015, Laketran awarded a five-year procurement contract to Motor Coach Industries (based in Des Plaines, Illinois) for a price of $611,921 per vehicle.
The new coaches are 80 percent federally funded with Laketran providing a 20 percent local match.