Flyer D40LF: the first low-floor bus sold in North America

The D40LF is the diesel-powered, 40-foot rigid version of New Flyer’s Low Floor transit bus, and the most common of the 38 variants in that series. Built at New Flyer’s plant in Grand Forks, North Dakota, it was the first low-floor bus sold in the United States and Canada.

Flyer D40LF at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the New Flyer Low Floor series, which describes the D40LF in its opening sections. The article covers the D40LF itself and uses series-level facts only where they apply to it.

History of the Flyer D40LF

Origins

The Low Floor was derived from the B85/B86, a bus built for the European market from 1984 to 1988 by the Dutch manufacturer Den Oudsten, which owned New Flyer from 1986 to 2002. A B85 was sent to the United States for testing in 1988 and became the basis for the American bus.

The first low-floor bus in North America

Production of the Low Floor series began in 1991 at Grand Forks. The very first unit was a D40LF, and it was delivered in 1992 to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The D40LF was the first low-floor bus sold in the United States and Canadian markets, and the low-floor layout, which removes the steps at the front door, became the standard for city buses; most of the other early achievements listed by New Flyer for the series followed on from it.

Body styles and the end of the line

New Flyer kept the D40LF in production while it experimented with replacements. The Invero series, introduced in 1999, was meant to succeed the Low Floor, but few were sold and it was withdrawn in 2007. Two new body styles arrived in 2005: the Low Floor Restyled (LFR), meant to replace the original styling, and the Low Floor Advanced (LFA), intended for bus rapid transit. All three were built side by side until the Xcelsior series arrived in 2008. The LFA went out of production in 2010, the standard Low Floor body, and with it the D40LF in its original form, in 2013, and the last LFR buses in 2014.

Powertrains

The bus is named for its specification: D for diesel, 40 for the nominal length in feet, and LF for Low Floor. The same body was offered with compressed natural gas (C40LF and L40LF from 1994) and as a diesel-electric hybrid, and the naming system was stretched to 30- and 60-foot buses and to articulated versions. The diesel D40LF remained the bread-and-butter model, the variant most often chosen by transit agencies.

Design and features

• Low-floor entry: no steps at the front door, which made boarding easier for elderly and disabled passengers.
• Naming system: D for diesel, 40 for the length, LF for Low Floor — the code that identifies every variant of the series.
• Original styling: the first body shape of the series, kept alongside the later Restyled and Advanced versions until 2013.
• Built at Grand Forks: the North Dakota plant that assembled the whole Low Floor line from 1991.

Flyer D40LF versions

• D40LF: the diesel 40-foot rigid bus with the original body, the version described here.
• Low Floor Restyled (from 2005): an updated body offered across the line, meant to replace the original styling.
• Low Floor Advanced (2005–2010): a separate style for bus rapid transit.
• Other powertrains: the same 40-foot body was sold with compressed natural gas and as a diesel-electric hybrid.
• Other lengths: the series ran from 30 to 60 feet, including articulated buses.

More buses and other vehicles are in the Flyer collection.

Video: Northwest Bus Sales Used New Flyer D40LF Low Floor Transit Bus T17947

Video on YouTube.

Sources

• New Flyer Low Floor, English Wikipedia: production, first deliveries, body styles, powertrains, naming