Houston awards New Flyer a contract for up to 24 BRT Buses

High capacity rapid-transit to increase mobility in America's fourth-largest city

ST. CLOUD, MN, July 16, 2018 /CNW/ - (TSX: NFI) New Flyer of America Inc. ("New Flyer"), the U.S. subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. ("NFI Group"), the largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America, today announced that the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas ("Metro") has awarded a new contract for 14 heavy-duty, sixty-foot Xcelsior^® clean-diesel transit buses (or 28 equivalent units or "EUs") with options for 10 additional buses (20 EUs).

The New Flyer Xcelsior buses have been designed for a special Bus Rapid Transit ("BRT") system that improves route capacity and schedule reliability as a part of the Houston Uptown Dedicated Bus Lanes Project ("Uptown DBL"). The contract brings the total NFI Group fleet size in Houston to just under 1,400.

"New Flyer is proud to work with Metro to bring sustainable transportation solutions for the city's Uptown district development," said Wayne Joseph, President, New Flyer of America. "We are proud to be the chosen manufacturer for the first BRT-type buses to operate for Houston Metro as a part of this innovative project, which adds to the existing fleet of 1,015 New Flyer transit buses, 315 MCI Commuter coaches, and 40 of ARBOC low-floor buses already in service."

The BRT development will run along Post Oak Boulevard to deliver transit service from Westpark to the Northwest Transit Center. Elevated "Busways" have been specifically engineered for BRT bus operation. The schedule calls for service to start high-capacity in summer 2019.

METRO began operations in January 1979 and has expanded to serve 14 cities as well as major portions of unincorporated Harris County. With nearly 9,000 bus stops, METRO buses run more than 42 million revenue miles and will have had an estimated 66 million boardings per year.

About NFI Group

With nearly 6,000 team members, operating from 32 facilities across Canada and the United States, NFI Group Inc. is North America's largest bus manufacturer providing a comprehensive suite of mass transportation solutions under several brands: New Flyer^® (heavy-duty transit buses), ARBOC^® (low-floor cutaway and medium-duty buses), MCI^® (motor coaches), and NFI Partstm (parts, support, and service). NFI Group's buses incorporate the widest range of drive systems available including: clean diesel, natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid, and zero-emission electric (trolley, battery, and fuel cell).  For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, NFI Group posted revenues of US $2.4 billion.

NFI Group Inc. common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NFI. News and information are available at www.nfigroup.com.

About New Flyer

New Flyer is North America's heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior^® and Xcelsior CHARGEtm brands. New Flyer actively supports over 44,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 7,300 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,600 are zero-emission. Further information is available at www.newflyer.com

About ARBOC Specialty Vehicles

ARBOC is North America's low-floor, body-on-chassis ("cutaway") bus leader serving transit, paratransit, and shuttle applications. With more than 3,000 buses in service, ARBOC leads the low-floor cutaway bus market providing unsurpassed passenger accessibility and comfort over traditional high-floor cutaway vehicles. ARBOC also offers a medium-duty bus for transit and shuttle applications.  Further information is available at www.arbocsv.com.

About Motor Coach Industries

Motor Coach Industries (MCI) is North America's motor coach leader in public and private markets offering the J-Series, the industry's best-selling intercity coach for 11 consecutive years, and the D-Series, the industry's best-selling motor coach line in North American history. MCI actively supports over 28,000 coaches currently in service.  Further information is available at www.mcicoach.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to expected future events and financial and operating results of NFI Group that involve risks and uncertainties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, investors cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and the differences may be material. Actual results may differ materially from management expectations as projected in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including market and general economic conditions and economic conditions of and funding availability for customers to purchase buses and to purchase parts or services, customers may not exercise options to purchase additional buses, the ability of customers to suspend or terminate contracts for convenience and the other risks and uncertainties discussed in the materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Due to the potential impact of these factors, the NFI Group disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.     

SOURCE New Flyer of America Inc.