MTA Rejects New Buses Until Old Ones Are Fixed

Despite an urgent need for buses, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is refusing to accept delivery of new buses until the manufacturer fixes problems with the vehicles now in use.

Engine fires have broken out four times and severely damaged buses powered by compressed natural gas. The failures have led the agency twice to temporarily pull the entire fleet of compressed natural gas buses off the streets.

No one has been injured, and transit officials said that no buses will be put into service unless they are safe.

Richard Hunt, MTA’s deputy executive officer for transit operations, expressed optimism Monday that the manufacturer, Neoplan USA Corp., is moving to resolve the problems. “I think it’s close to being resolved,” he said.

If problems persist, the MTA could find itself leaving new and unused buses parked in a yard while badly in need of buses to meet a court order to reduce crowding.

The exhaust system is the area of greatest concern, but officials say they also have found cracks in the brake chamber bracket on eight buses.

“While these problems have had a negligible impact on our current service, we are concerned about the long-term reliability of our fleet,” Arthur J. Kimball, MTA executive officer for procurement, said in a memo to the agency’s board.

Until the problems are resolved, the MTA may need to continue using older, less reliable buses, officials said.

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The MTA has received about half of the 300 new buses most recently ordered from Neoplan, giving it 447 buses powered by low-polluting compressed natural gas, the most of any public transit agency in the United States. The agency is receiving about five new buses a week.

Besides the four fires--the most recent one occurring about two weeks ago--the MTA pulled about a dozen buses out of service until repairs could be made to the exhaust system.

MTA officials said the exhaust system on each bus is checked every day. “If we see any indication that there may be a problem, we take the bus out of service,” Hunt said.

So far, none of the new buses are sitting unused like the approximately 150 problem-plagued ethanol powered buses stored in a Long Beach yard. The MTA has authorized the conversion of those buses to diesel fuel and hopes to put them back into service this summer.

Hunt said the MTA doesn’t want to be left with problems after the warranty expires. Colorado-based Neoplan could not be reached for comment.

“It’s a way to push a faster resolution,” Hunt said. “We have every confidence that this problem will be resolved quickly and effectively.”