ARBOC awarded a State contract for up to 500 Spirit of Equess medium-duty buses for the State of Florida

ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, LLC® (“ARBOC”), a U.S. subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), the largest bus manufacturer in North America, today announced it was awarded a Purchasing Agreement by the Florida Department of Transportation (“FDOT”) for up to 500 fully-accessible Spirit of Equess® (“Equess”) low-floor medium-duty buses over a five year period. The contract was procured through and will be delivered by ARBOC’s largest U.S. dealer, Creative Bus Sales, Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida.

“The Equess is ARBOC’s fully-accessible medium-duty, low-floor transit and shuttle bus constructed on our own purpose-built chassis that recently passed the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Model Bus Testing Program at Altoona, Pennsylvania” said Don Roberts, President, ARBOC. “The Equess is quickly gaining nationwide interest and we are very pleased to be chosen for the FDOT contract and will adjust our production schedule as required to accommodate orders received by the various Florida agencies.”

FDOT is an executive agency whose primary responsibility is to coordinate the planning and development of a safe, viable, efficient and balanced state transportation system serving all regions of Florida. The State procurement conctract enables agencies to purchase buses off a price list from several manufacturers. The one-year contract is for both 27-foot and 30-foot Equess buses, is available to all transit agencies in the State of Florida, and and has up to four yearly renewals. No firm orders will be booked into the backlog by the Company until an agency issues a purchase order.

Creative Bus Sales is ARBOC’s largest U.S. dealer, having multiple locations across the United States and over 200 employees dedicated to serving the industry’s needs. “We look forward to working closely with FDOT and ARBOC to provide accessible transit solutions throughout Florida”, said Ray Cullers, Creative Bus Sales.

ARBOC has been innovating accessible transit for North Americans since 2008. ARBOC currently holds purchasing agreements with Metrolinx (Ontario), Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC), and General Services Administration (GSA), as well as state contracts with Georgia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, New York, and Virginia.