Cummins Westport gets natural-gas engine orders

Cummins Westport Inc. announced that it has received orders for 28 low-emissions, natural gas engines for transit buses for two California locations. The orders are for 280 horsepower, 8.3-liter Cummins Westport C Gas Plus engines. The engines will be installed in new 40-foot transit buses manufactured by New Flyer. Twenty of the engines will be used at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and eight will be used by the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District. For San Jose, the new buses will be used for shuttle service between parking lots and the terminals. The new buses will replace older diesel buses, which will be retired. After delivery of the new buses between December and March, half of the airport's fleet of 40 buses will be natural-gas powered. For Santa Cruz, the order represents the first purchase of natural-gas buses by the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, which operates a fleet of 123 buses. The new low-emissions buses will be used in general service and will replace 20-year-old diesel buses, which will be retired. Delivery is scheduled for July.