Nova Bus LF Series
The Low Floor Series bus is a series of transit buses manufactured by Nova Bus for North American customers. After taking over the former GM bus plant in St-Eustache, Quebec, from Motor Coach Industries in 1993, Nova Bus management was invited by the Quebec government to design and produce a low-floor bus similar to the style popular in the European market. Nova Bus chose to adapt the Dutch Den Oudsten Alliance. A demonstrator, along with some engineering staff were sent from the Netherlands; however by 1994 Den Oudsten was in financial trouble and was not able to further collaborate with Nova Bus which then had to design a low-floor bus from scratch. Den Oudsten went bankrupt in 2002. It is worth noting that the limited engineering staff that was acquired by Nova Bus along with the bus plant had never designed a complete bus; the Classic was an updated version of the GM New Look bus, which had been designed by General Motors in the late 1950s.
The first prototype was shown at the fall 1994 American Public Transportation Association show in Boston. Full development postponed production until 1996.
In parallel, Detroit Diesel had announced that 1994 would mark the withdrawal of its two-stroke diesel engines that had traditionally provided power for North American transit buses since the 1950s; the two stroke technology could not be modified to comply with new US EPA regulations. While Nova Bus’ initial plan was to introduce the low-floor LFS while maintaining the lower cost Classic in production, the initial release of the Cummins powered Classic "T-Drive" in 1995 was underdeveloped and plagued with severe reliability problems. A decision was made to concentrate development resources on the new LFS and to discontinue the Classic as soon as the LFS was in full production.
These events canceled the initial plan to produce a pilot run of 80 LFS to be put in revenue service in four major Quebec transit properties, then gather reliability and service data to further refine the design before entering serial production. By the time the first LFS entered revenue service at the end of 1996, about 400 LFS were already built, awaiting acceptance from the same Quebec properties. These early LFS were also plagued with reliability and serviceability problems; but unlike the Cummins-powered Classics, the problems were throughout the bus and not concentrated on the drivetrain.
Models
The current LF is offered in seven models:| Model | Length | Type |
| LFS | standard transit bus | |
| LFS Articulated | articulated | |
| LFX “40 | bus rapid transit | |
| LFX “62 | articulated BRT | |
| LFS Smartbus | standard transit bus with electric cooling | |
| LFS Smartbus Articulated | articulated transit bus with electric cooling | |
| LFS HEV | Hybrid Electric Vehicle | |
| LFS HEV Articulated | articulated Hybrid Electric Vehicle | |
| LFS CNG | CNG transit bus |
LFS Shuttle and LFS Suburban are variants outside of the regular products offered. The LFS Shuttle and the LFS Suburban have some features from commuter coaches, with all forward-facing seats and no rear exit. In addition, Nova Bus is working on an electric variant with multiple power source options. Compressed Natural Gas powered articulated buses are not offered.
History
The LFS began production in 1995 and has since expanded to the current models.1st generation (1995-2000)
The 1st generation LFS was constructed with a mild steel space frame up to early 1998, and thereafter a stainless steel frame. This model featured a full low floor layout with a sloped floor over rear axle.2nd generation (2001-2009)
The 2nd generation LFS was constructed with a stainless steel space frame. This model also featured a full low floor layout with a sloped floor over rear axle with optional raised platform with steps at the rear. This model featured a restyled rear end.From March 2007, a semi-low floor layout option was made available.