In a nutshell
The Woodlands will get new commuter buses in September 2026, made by Motor Coach Industries, after the board approved executing the commuter bus vehicle manufacturing contract.
The new fleet costs approximately $24.3 million, which is under the $25 million budget allocated for the purchase of a new commuter bus fleet, said Ruthanne Haut, the director of transportation for The Woodlands Township.
Additionally, the entire cost for a new fleet is covered through federal funding from the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration by means of the regional Carry Over Spend Down program via the Houston-Galveston Area Council, Haut said.
The details
The new fleet will come wrapped in The Woodlands transit logo, and that cost is included in the total, Haut said.
The new fleet will also include:
- A heating, ventilation and air conditioning system with 50% more cooling capacity
- Footrests
- Outlets
- Flushing toilets
- Visual displays and electronic stop announcements
- Downtown Route
- Medical Center Route, which includes the Museum District
- Greenway Plaza Route
- Energy Corridor District Route
After The Woodlands gets the new fleet of buses, the plan is to continue using approximately 12-14 of the existing new buses as a reserve fleet, Haut said. This will help lower the annual cost of the express service by allowing the township to not use any contractor-owned buses, Haut said.
The board has until next summer to decide on what it wants to do with the existing fleet, but it will cost approximately $5,000 to update the bus wraps to make them similar to the new fleet, Haut added.
