Greensboro Transit Authority Unveils New Buses 

Congressman Howard Coble, Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday, Regional Director of the Federal Transit Administration Susan Suhruth, Greensboro City Council members, the Greensboro Transit Authority Board of Directors, bus drivers and bus riders will gather this Friday, January 21 at 2 pm at The Depot (300 East Washington St.) to unveil eight new buses.

The Greensboro Transit Authority (GTA) purchased the eight buses for $1,855,896 or $231,897 each. Approximately 80 percent of the purchase price came from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration of the United States Department of Transportation. North Carolina Congressman Howard Coble helped secure the necessary funding through the earmarking of transportation funding legislation.

"GTA requested assistance from my office in response to the agency's urgent need for new equipment, and I was pleased to be able to gain the cooperation of Congress to set aside the funding necessary for these buses." Coble said. The remainder of the purchase price came from grants from the State of North Carolina Department of Transportation and the City of Greensboro.

Mayor Keith Holliday stated that the new buses were certainly needed, "In the past three years, GTA has seen significant increases in ridership," the Mayor commented. "These new buses will help ease the overcrowding that riders have experienced on some routes. They will also help make GTA services more appealing to our residents."

The new buses seat 37 passengers and are equipped with wheelchair-positions, lifts and a kneeling feature to provide a lower first step for boarding. Each of the buses also has a "talking" feature to announce various stops and destinations. According to Joyce Johnson, Chair of the Greensboro Transit Authority Board of Directors, "The comfort and safety of our passengers was a top priority in the selection of the Thomas buses."

Thomas Built Buses in High Point, North Carolina manufactured the eight buses. More than 1,400 employees were involved in building the eight GTA buses, according to John Thomas III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Built Buses, a subsidiary of the FreightLiners Corporation. "Not only will these buses help boost ridership in Greensboro but their manufacture in Guilford County has also greatly aided our economy," Thomas said. "Component parts and other supplies were purchased from many suppliers, and virtually all our employees had some role in building GTA's new buses."

GTA carried 1,717,490 riders over 34 million miles of service during 1999. The agency has an annual operating budget of $5,721,000. GTA operates fixed route bus, flex route van, paratransit and special transportation services in the City of Greensboro and to adjacent areas of Guilford County.