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More Bus Manufacturing Coming to Plattsburgh

Prevost buses
FabulousCoach/Wikimedia Commons

A Canadian company has been awarded a nearly $165 million contract to build 300 New York City transit buses at its planned Plattsburgh facility.

Prevost is a manufacturer of upscale intercity busses and a producer of high-end motor homes and specialty conversions.  It is affiliated with the Volvo Group, a global transportation manufacturer, which also owns Nova Bus, another bus manufacturer located in Plattsburgh. This week the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Board of Directors  approved a 164.8 million dollar contract with Prevost, based in Sainte-Claire, Quebec, to build 300 buses in Plattsburgh.  Calls to the Canadian company were not returned in time for this broadcast, as it is in the midst of its annual two-week summer holiday.
Plattsburgh North Country Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Garry Douglas has been working to bring the company to the area and explains that Prevost will be co-located next to existing manufacturer Nova Bus.

Douglas continues that the differences are what makes the MTA contract so significant.

Prevost must build its 8,700-square foot facility next to Nova before it begins manufacturing the MTA buses, according to the Chamber’s Garry Douglas.

SUNY Plattsburgh Department of Economics and Finance Chair Colin Read, who is running for a seat on the Clinton County legislature, notes that the existing transportation manufacturers — Nova Bus and Bombardier, which manufactures rail cars — have been consistent in securing multi-million dollar contracts. The addition of a third transit manufacturing company establishes a niche for economic development in the region.

Construction on Prevost’s manufacturing facility is expected to proceed quickly now that the MTA contract has been secured. MTA officials say the new buses will replace the oldest in the city's fleet and will be used on express routes from the outer boroughs into Manhattan.

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