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First of new city buses here, but lack identification

Dennis WebbPost Independent Staff

The first of a trio of new Ride Glenwood Springs buses has arrived, and right now it’s blending in a bit too much with the surrounding winter scenery.”Snowflake,” city transportation director Sabrina Harris calls the bus, which for now is best described as white – nothing but white.The bus has been put in service without signs indicating what exactly it is. Markings – and perhaps exterior advertisements – will be coming in time, but for now, the city is happy to finally have a replacement for one of the vehicles in its aging bus fleet.”We ordered it, and it took a year to get here,” Harris said.The delay resulted because the city ordered buses from Goshen, which went bankrupt. Another company bought Goshen, disassembled its factory in Florida, and relocated it to Georgia before being able to start building Glenwood’s buses, Harris said.The city is still awaiting two more deliveries to replace the rest of its fleet, and is hoping for delivery of them this spring.Unfortunately, getting the first of the buses delivered hasn’t been the city’s only challenge. Harris said she has been asking the company since the bus arrived about a month ago for the software that controls the electronic message board on the front of the bus, but it has yet to arrive.Meanwhile, the company that printed the wrap designs for the old buses is out of business, so the city can’t use the existing design for its new bus.”Our problem is trying to figure out what to put on it,” Harris said.The city may consider holding a public contest for a new bus design.The new buses seat 33 each and are wheelchair-accessible. They cost $109,000 apiece and are being paid for in part by about $200,000 in federal funds.Contact Dennis Webb: 945-8515, ext. 516dwebb@postindependent.com


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