Nova Bus LF Series

Low Floor Series
MTA NovaBus LFS demo
Overview
Manufacturer	Nova Bus
Production	1996–present
Assembly	Saint-Eustache, Quebec Plattsburgh
Body and chassis
Class	Transit bus
Body style	Single-decker rigid bus Single-decker articulated bus
Doors	2 doors (rigid), 3 doors (articulated), 1 door (Suburban/Shuttle)
Floor type	Semi low-floor
Powertrain
Engine	Cummins ULSD ISL 8.9L 280hp Cummins ULSD ISL 8.9L 330hp Cummins Hybrid ISB 6.7L 280hp Cummins Hybrid ISL 8.9L 330hp
Transmission	Allison (B400R, B500R, H 40 EP - Hybrid, H 50 EP - Hybrid) ZF (EcoLife 6 speed) Voith D864.5E 4 speed
Dimensions
Wheelbase	244 in (6.20 m) - 40' 497 in (12.62 m) (Front-Mid 244 in (6.20 m) mad Mid-Rear 253 in (6.43 m)) - 62'
Length	40 ft (12.19 m) 62 ft (18.90 m) - articulated
Width	102 in (2.59 m)
Height	124 in (3.15 m) - ULSD 128 in (3.25 m) - Hybrid (with AC)
Chronology
Predecessor	Rapid Transit Series (after 2003) Classic (transit bus)

The Low Floor Series (LFS) bus is a series of transit buses manufactured by NovaBus for North American customers. After taking over the former GM bus plant in St Eustache, Quebec, from Motor Coach Industries (MCI) in 1993, Novabus management was invited by the Quebec government to design and produce a low-floor bus similar to the style popular in the European market. Novabus chose to adapt the Dutch Den Oudsten Alliance. A demonstrator, along with some engineering staff were sent from Holland; however by 1994 Den Oudsten was in financial trouble and was not able to further collaborate with Novabus which then had to design a low-floor bus from scratch. It is worth noting that the limited engineering staff that was acquired by Novabus along with the bus plant had never designed a complete bus; the Classic was an updated version of the GM New Look bus, which had been designed by General Motors in the late 1950s.

The first prototype was shown at the fall 1994 American Public Transportation Association show in Boston. Full development postponed production until 1996.

In parallel, Detroit Diesel had announced that 1994 would mark the withdrawal of its two-stroke diesel engines that had traditionally provided power for North American transit buses since the 1950s; the two stroke technology could not be modified to comply with new US EPA regulations. While Novabus’ initial plan was to introduce the low-floor LFS while maintaining the lower cost Classic in production, the initial release of the Cummins powered Classic "T-Drive" in 1995 was underdeveloped and plagued with severe reliability problems. A decision was made to concentrate development resources on the new LFS and to discontinue the Classic as soon as the LFS was in full production.

These events canceled the initial plan to produce a pilot run of 80 LFS to be put in revenue service in four major Quebec transit properties, then gather reliability and service data to further refine the design before entering serial production. By the time the first LFS (STCUM 16-004) entered revenue service at the end of 1996, about 400 LFS were already built, awaiting acceptance from the same Quebec properties. These early LFS were also plagued with reliability and serviceability problems; but unlike the Cummins-powered Classics, the problems were throughout the bus and not concentrated on the drivetrain.