HART Adds 15 New Buses to Fleet

Huntington Area Rapid Transit – the Town-operated bus system known as HART – is adding 15 new, clean-diesel vehicles into service, authorities said.

The additions provides easier access for passengers and fuel savings, officials said.

The additions include seven 20-passenger Spirit of Mobility buses manufactured by ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, an Indiana-based company. They also feature eight paratransit buses from Shepard Brothers in Canandaigua, in upstate New York.

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The ARBOC buses will be used on fixed routes and will provide improved maneuverability, greater fuel efficiency and easier passenger access than the 29-passenger vehicles they are replacing, according to the town.

Officials say the paratransit buses will replace the vehicles being taken out of service that are beyond their useful life.

HART’s three hybrid fixed-route buses will remain in use, officials said.

The new fixed-route buses cost $175,500 each and the smaller paratransit buses cost $53,368 each. Eighty percent of the cost comes from federal mass transit funding. The Town and New York State each assume 10 percent of the cost.

The first of the vehicles went into service this week and will be joined by the others shortly.

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