Las Vegas News · February 5, 2026
RTC Orders 50 New Low-Emission Buses for Southern Nevada
By The Property Management Firm
Published
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) is exercising options to buy 50 more low-emission buses from New Flyer of America, the bus maker announced on Feb. 5. The order covers 19 sixty-foot and 31 forty-foot Xcelsior compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, valued at about $56 million, and the buses will replace vehicles at the end of their service life, according to New Flyer, a subsidiary of NFI Group.
The Bus Order
New Flyer said the options are part of two five-year contracts with the RTC and are supported by local and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds. The company said the buses meet Buy America requirements and that the order was included in NFI's fourth-quarter 2025 firm backlog.
Other details from the New Flyer release:
- The buses will serve a region with 64 million annual transit riders.
- New Flyer has delivered more than 900 buses to the RTC over more than three decades, and more than 500 of them use CNG.
"Xcelsior CNG buses offer an extended range of 350-400 miles," said Chris Stoddart, president of North American Bus and Coach at NFI.
How the RTC Board Approved the Options
The order traces back to two items on the RTC Board of Commissioners agenda for its Oct. 9, 2025, meeting:
- 40-foot buses: Option No. 2 under Contract No. 23-042, for 31 buses, at a not-to-exceed amount of $30,638,451.01. The RTC said up to $26,042,683.36 of that may be reimbursed with FTA grant funds.
- 60-foot buses: Option No. 1 under Contract No. 24-044, for 19 buses, at a not-to-exceed amount of $26,272,440.87. The RTC said up to $22,331,574.74 may be reimbursed with FTA grant funds.
Together, the two not-to-exceed amounts come to about $56.9 million, compared with the approximately $56 million value New Flyer gave. The RTC figures are not-to-exceed caps, and New Flyer described its figure as approximate, so both are shown here.
Both RTC items said the money is included in the agency's five-year capital plan in its Transit Fund and will be spent in fiscal year 2026. In each case, RTC staff said the buses will replace vehicles that have exceeded their useful life under the FTA's Service Life Policy, and that fleet staff had reviewed the pricing and found it fair and reasonable.
The Contracts Behind the Order
According to the October agenda items, the RTC approved Contract No. 24-044 for 60-foot CNG buses on Dec. 14, 2023, and Contract No. 23-042 for 40-foot CNG buses on April 11, 2024. Both were awarded to New Flyer of America and include options that let the RTC order additional buses during the contract term. The 60-foot item lists options running through Jan. 2, 2029, and the 40-foot item lists options running through April 10, 2029.
This was not the first option under the 40-foot contract. The RTC board's Jan. 9, 2025, agenda included Option No. 1 under Contract No. 23-042, for 46 forty-foot buses at a not-to-exceed amount of $43,541,000.54.
The latest options split the order between two bus lengths. Under the RTC items, 31 of the new buses are 40-foot models and 19 are 60-foot models, matching the counts in New Flyer's release.
What This Means for Owners and Renters
For renters: The 50 buses replace older vehicles in the RTC fleet rather than adding new routes, according to New Flyer and the RTC's board items. Both describe the new buses as replacements for vehicles that have exceeded their useful life.
For owners: The purchase is funded through the RTC's existing capital plan and federal transit grants under contracts the agency already held, according to the RTC agenda items and New Flyer. The orders were approved in 2025 and announced by the manufacturer in February 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of buses did the RTC order?
New Flyer said the order covers 19 sixty-foot and 31 forty-foot Xcelsior compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.
How much do the buses cost and how are they paid for?
New Flyer valued the options at about $56 million. The two RTC board items behind them total about $56.9 million, and the RTC said up to about $48.4 million of that may be reimbursed with Federal Transit Administration grant funds.
Why is the RTC buying them?
Both New Flyer and the RTC said the buses will replace vehicles that have reached the end of their service life.
Sources
New Flyer: RTC of Southern Nevada exercises option for 50 more low-emission buses (Feb. 5, 2026)
RTC of Southern Nevada: Board of Commissioners agenda (Jan. 9, 2025)
This is general local news, not financial or legal advice. Figures come from the sources listed above and can be revised, so talk with a licensed professional about your own situation.
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