SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By NCRTD
The North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD) has received the 2021 Innovative Solutions Award for Transit Vehicle Technology, from METRO Magazine, a national transit trade publication.
According to METRO Magazine, “The Innovative Solutions Award honors bus operations and their supplier partners who have implemented initiatives that helped them save money, run more efficiently, streamline operations, increase safety, improve customer satisfaction, increase ridership, and more.”
In partnership with LiquidSpring to test its Compressible Liquid Adaptive Suspension System (CLASS), the patented suspension system is designed to replace conventional suspension systems (steel or air), with shock absorbers, and stabilizer bars by utilizing a compressible liquid. With the LiquidSpring-equipped bus, NCRTD has seen a decrease in suspension-related expenses when comparing two identical buses, resulting in significantly improved ride quality and handling for riders and drivers. The agency currently has the CLASS suspension systems installed on the rear axles of approximately 16 of its buses and hopes to install additional axles on the front and rear of its buses in the future.
The North Central Regional Transit District provides fare-free bus service on 27 of 29 routes to a service area that encompasses over 10,000 square miles of north central New Mexico including the Counties of Taos, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Santa Fe; as well as the Pueblos of Pojoaque, Ohkay Owingeh, Nambé, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara and Tesuque, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
