Nova Bus LF Series

Low Floor Series

MTA NovaBus LFS demo
Overview
Manufacturer Nova Bus
Assembly Saint-Eustache, Quebec
Plattsburgh
Body and chassis
Doors 2 doors (1 door Suburban/Shuttle)
Powertrain
Engine Cummins ULSD ISL 8.9L 280hp
Cummins ULSD ISL 8.9L 330hp
Cummins Hybrid ISB 6.7L 280hp
Cummins Hybrid ISB 8.9L 330hp
Transmission Allison (B400R, B500R, H 40 EP - Hybrid, H 60 EP - Hybrid)
ZF (EcoLife 6 speed)
Voith D864.5E 4 speed
Dimensions
Wheelbase 244 in (6.20 m) - 40'
497 in (12.62 m) (Front-Mid 244 in (6.20 m) mad Mid-Rear 253 in (6.43 m)) - 62'
Length 40 ft (12.19 m)
62 ft (18.90 m) - articulated
Width 102 in (2.59 m)
Height 124 in (3.15 m) - ULSD
128 in (3.25 m) - Hybrid (with AC)
Chronology
Predecessor Rapid Transit Series (after 2003)
Successor none
Low Floor Series HEV
Overview
Manufacturer Nova Bus
Assembly Saint-Eustache, Quebec
Plattsburgh
Powertrain
Engine Cummins Hybrid ISB 280hp
Transmission Allison EP 40 electric drive system
Dimensions
Length 40 ft (12.19 m)
Width 102 in (2.59 m)
Height 128 in (3.25 m) - Hybrid (with AC)
Curb weight 28,220lbs or 12800kg

The Low Floor Series (LFS) bus is a series of transit buses manufactured by NovaBus for North American customers. After taking over the former GM bus plant in St Eustache, Quebec, from MCI in 1993, Novabus management was invited by the Quebec government to design and produce a low-floor bus similar to a current trend on the European transit market. Novabus chose to adapt the Dutch Den Oudsten Alliance low floor bus for the North American market. A demo bus along with some engineering staff were sent from Holland; however by 1994 Den Oudsten was in financial trouble and was not able to further collaborate with Novabus which in turn had to design a low-floor bus from scratch. It is worth noting that the limited engineering staff that was acquired by Novabus along with the bus plant had never designed a complete bus; the Classic was a cosmetic revision of the GM New Look bus, which had been designed by GM in Detroit in the late 50's.

The first prototype was shown at the APTA show in Boston, fall 1994; full development postponed production until 1996.

In parallel Detroit Diesel had announced that 1994 would be the end of the road for its two stroke diesel engines that had traditionally provided power for North American transit buses since the 50's; the two stroke technology could just not be made to complete with new EPA regulations. While Novabus initial plan was to introduce the low-floor LFS while maintaining the lower cost Classic in production, the initial release of the Cummins powered Classic "T-Drive" in 1995 was underdeveloped and plagued with severe reliability problems. A decision was made to concentrate development resources on the new LFS and to stop producing the Classic as soon as the LFS was in full production.

These events canceled the initial plan to produce a pilot run of 80 LFS to be put in revenue service in 4 major Quebec transit properties, then gather reliability and service data to further refine the design before entering serial production. By the time the first LFS (STCUM 16-004) entered revenue service at the end of 1996, about 400 LFS were already built, awaiting acceptance from the same Quebec properties. Again, these early LFS were plagued with reliability and serviceability problems; but unlike the Cummins powered Classics, the problems were all over the bus and not concentrated on the drivetrain.


[1]

Models

The current LF is offered in seven models:

Model Length Type
LFX 40-foot (12.19 m) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
LFX Articulated 62-foot (18.90 m) articulated BRT
LFS Smartbus 40-foot (12.19 m) standard transit bus with electric cooling
LFS Smartbus 62-foot (18.90 m) articulated transit bus with electric cooling
LFS HEV 40-foot (12.19 m) Hybrid Electric Vehicle
LFS HEV 62-foot (18.90 m) articulated Hybrid Electric Vehicle
LFS CNG 40-foot (12.19 m) Compressed Natural Gas transit bus

LFS Shuttle and LFS Suburban are variants outside of the regular products offered. In addition, Nova Bus is working on an electric variant with a multitude of power source options. CNG articulated buses are not offered.[2]

History

The LFS began production in 1995 and since expanded to the current models:[1]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Nova Bus - CPTDB Wiki". Cptdb.ca. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  2. ↑ NovaBus

External links

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