is a Mississauga , Ontario , Canada -based bus manufacturer established by the government of Ontario in 1975.
It was known as until 1995 and was created to produce buses for the province's transit agencies in the late 1970s. Since 1990, except for two small orders from New Flyer and NovaBus , it has been the exclusive supplier of buses to the TTC .
In 1982, Orion opened a plant in Oriskany, New York under the name "Bus Industries of America"; founded by Donald Sheardown to manufacture buses for the United States market.
Orion Bus Industries was the first bus manufacturer to use Compressed Natural Gas as an alternative fuel on the Orion I model in 1988 and it is also the first one to use on diesel hybrid electric on the Orion VI model, making them the leader of alternative fuels market.
Orion was acquired by DaimlerChrysler in July 2000, and is now part of DaimlerChrysler Commercial Buses North America .
- - Starting in 1989 , the Orion V is the true work horse product line for Orion. It offers many options to choose from the length and the width of the bus and also, it was pioneered the (CNG) or Compressed Natural Gas alternative fuel in the Orion V product line to meet the demands of clean air and environment friendly for the transit agency needs. Many transit agencies in North America are buying and operating the Orion V bus throughout the years on the product lineup and still continued today, making the most successful product for Orion's history. The current Orion V's power train offered is Cummins ISM Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) engines, and Cummins C 8.3 and John Deere Gas Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) alternative fuel engines. There are various transmissions options to customize from Allison B 400 R, ZF 5HP592 and Voith D863.
- - The Orion VII is the new flagship product lineup for Orion Bus Industries. Starting in 2001, the Orion VII is marketed as a low floor bus to the North America market. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3718/is_200303/ai_n9219723/print Based on the Orion VI true low floor bus design, the Orion VII has some of major enhancements to accommodate like a high floor bus model. Instead of making a true low floor, it has a step up at the rear section of the bus that provides additional passenger seats and standee capacity, a full fuel regular 125 gallon (473 L) tank and also the used of the standard rear axle design that was more closely related to the Orion V, instead of the separate control rear axle used in the now discontinued Orion VI bus product. It provides wheelchair passengers that uses a mechanical ramp feature located on the front of the bus that speeds up the loading process instead of using a lift. The convenient of the stop requested push button on the poles. It also adds safety features that includes the emergency exit bar on the bottom of the window located every seat and safety emergency exit trigger box located at the rear and the front doors. The unique part of of the current Orion VII design is the windows and the exterior appearance where it is square or rectangular shape form. All Orion VII models are 102 inches (2,591 mm) wide and powered by diesel, compressed natural gas, or Hybrid Electric diesel engines.
- - "Citycruiser" 30, 35 and 40 foot (9,144 mm, 10,668 mm, and 12,192 mm) bus (1976-1993). US production from 1979-1982 was licenced to Transportation Manufacturing Corporation or (TMC), a division of Greyhound . All Orion I models are 96 inches (2,438 mm) wide transit bus. (Powered by Detroit Diesel 6V53T , 6V71 , 6V92TA or Cummins L10 diesel engines, and Cummins L10G Compressed Natural Gas engine).
- - 25 foot "Community bus", wheelchair accessible bus. The Orion II was the first bus to produced a true low floor designed. It was the forerunner of today’s low floor models in North America. All Orion II models are 96 inches (2,438 mm) wide bus. (Powered by Diesel and Compressed Natural Gas engines) (1983-2003).
- - 60 footer (18,288 mm), 102 inches (2,591 mm) wide articulated bus, Canadian distribution of (diesel power) engine) (1985-1989).
- - True Low Floor 40 foot (12,192 mm), 102 inches (2,591 mm) wide bus (Powered by Diesel, Compressed Natural Gas, or Hybrid Electric engines) (1995-2004).
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