BusTalk

[DE60LF]

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/65941.html

I know this is an old article, but it mentions that Santa Fe Trails of Santa Fe, New Mexico has placed a lease contract with a California manufacturer. I assume this is most likely Gillig. It states that they have cancelled their contract with a New Mexico company (Millennium Transit) and will temporarily lease ULSD buses before they can find a suitable replacement for their Blue Bird CSRE CNG fleet. Suprisingly, the fleet isn't all that old, with most of the buses being no older than 7 to 10 years.

I wonder if they will be the Phantom, Advantage, or BRT?

There is also a chance that the order could be with ElDorado, as they are also based in California.

One thing I have been wondering about though is that what is preventing them from ordering CNG buses directly from New Flyer, Orion, or NABI? I know that those three companies primarily serve larger transit authorities, however, there are some small transit authorities that operate buses from those companies as well. I understand that Gillig's business model is serving smaller TAs, however, they don't make CNG buses. Santa Fe Trails could have just ordered some New Flyer C40LFRs (or maybe C35LFRs) instead.