Dive Brief:
- Demand for new transit buses in North America remains strong, NFI Group CEO, President and Director John Sapp said on the company’s Aug. 7 earnings call. The company manufactures transit buses and intercity motor coaches.
- New Flyer delivered 911 transit buses in the second quarter, a 22% increase over the same period last year.
- The bus maker expects continued strength in the market, driven by the need to replace older buses, Sapp said. The average age of transit buses in U.S. fleets is 8.2 years, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
Dive Insight:
New Flyer has faced a variety of across-the-board and specific tariffs ranging from 10% to 40% under the Trump administration. “Our view remains that tariff exposure is manageable, supported by our localized manufacturing footprint, contractual structures, pricing actions and aftermarket distribution capabilities,” Sapp said.
The quarter ended with active public bids for 6,195 units, a 6% increase from the same period last year. The company defines a single 30-foot to 45-foot bus as one unit, and an articulated transit bus counts as two units.
Among the new transit buses New Flyer has delivered this year were 100 hybrid and battery-powered buses for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 50 low-emission buses for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and 73 compressed natural gas buses for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.
Two years ago, more than half of public bids across North America were for zero-emission buses. While Calstart reported that transit agencies, municipalities and shuttle bus operators continued to grow their fleets of zero-emission buses between August 2024 and July 2025, Sapp said they “have seen some decrease in terms of the overall ZEB percentages.”
In the current round of Federal Transit Administration funding grants under the Low or No Emission bus program, the agency said it intends to prioritize low-emission projects over zero-emission projects to the maximum extent permitted by law.
Sapp addressed the surface transportation legislation making its way through Congress, which would fund much of public transportation in the U.S. for the next five years. “We're obviously watching that closely,” he said. “We've been pleased with … some of the draft language around the different elements that could be included with it.”
Funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can still be spent into 2028, Sapp said.
New Flyer also manufactures motor coaches for intercity bus operators, where bus ridership has been growing. New Flyer delivered 142 motor coaches in the second quarter, an 8% increase over the same period last year.
