7 new buses to hit the Pocatello streets

Pocatello Regional Transit (PRT) is putting seven new buses on the road.

The department purchased seven new 2019 Ford E450 Champion buses. Two of the buses will be used in the Franklin County rural program and the other five will join PRT’s urban program in and around Pocatello.

The new buses boast a new low-floor design with no entry steps, 18 passenger seats, and 3 wheelchair stations.

“Our patrons’ preference for the low-floor design was a major contributing factor in purchasing this type of bus,” said Skyler Beebe, Pocatello Regional Transit Director. “In the short time the buses have been in service, we’ve had nothing but positive feedback from our passengers on their design, comfort, and overall accessibility.”

The new buses replaced vehicles with average lifetime mileage of 300,000 miles. The department points out, that is a little bit further than the 240,000 miles between earth and the moon. PRT served 293,148 passengers last year.

According to the department, the vehicles were purchased using a combination of federal, state, and city funds for a total cost of $743,050. The five buses utilized by the urban program cost $530,750, of which, $424,600 was covered by grants from the Federal Transit Administration and the remaining $106,150 by PRT. The two buses going to the rural program were 100 percent funded by $212,300 in grants from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.