MCI Commuter Coaches headed for Los Angeles

First deliveries to replace older diesel buses on Commuter Express routes

With its order for 84 40-foot CNG-powered MCI Commuter Coaches, Motor Coach Industries (MCI), Schaumburg, IL, is now an ally of the City of Los Angeles, CA in its continuing effort to improve air quality. LADOT signed a contract for the clean-air, wheelchair-lift equipped commuter coaches with the Cummins ISL G 8.9 liter, 320hp engine that meets 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California’s California Air Resource Board (CARB) standards.
MCI says the CNG coaches will be the first MCI models in the LADOT fleet, and the order includes an option for 11 additional coaches after deliveries begin in the third quarter.
LADOT is using Federal Transit Administration grants for 70 percent of the funding to replace a majority of the 94 older, heavy-duty Commuter Express diesel buses, which are among the department’s oldest equipment on the road. The total value of the 84 MCI bus order is $59,220,000.
The 49-seat LADOT coaches will run on the Los Angeles Commuter Express system that connects outlying suburban districts with Downtown and other employment centers that include Century City, Westwood, LAX, El Segundo, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and Encino.
LADOT launched its Commuter Express program in 1985, beginning with a single route carrying passengers between a city-leased park and ride lot in Encino and downtown Los Angeles. Today, the service has 13 routes operating throughout Los Angeles County during the weekday morning and afternoon peak commuting hours.