CHARLESTON, W.Va. — KRT is getting 10 new large buses but it will take two years to make them.
KRT Assistant General Manager Doug Hartley said there aren’t many bus manufacturers in the U.S. so it takes some time to put together 30 and 35 foot buses.
The KRT board approved the $4.3 million purchase during its Thursday meeting. The funding is coming from a combination of federal, state and local funds. The local funds will be from the recently renewed Kanawha County Safety Levy.
“We didn’t want to make this commitment to new buses until after the levy election because we wanted to see how everything played out–but we were so pleased that the voters approved us at an 83 percent approval rate,” Hartley said.
The 10 new buses will replace buses that were purchased in 2009 and they have lots of mileage on them, Hartley said.
“All of the 35-footers have over 520,000 miles on them. It will probably be close to 700,000 miles before they are pulled out of service,” Hartley said.
The new buses will be a combination of 30 and 35 foot buses.