Long standing Mellor customer Nottinghamshire County Council has taken delivery of a Strata low floor bus as the latest addition to its mainly Mellor fleet.

This follows an order for nine Orion Plus low floor buses which were delivered in March 2019, bringing the fleet up to 70+ vehicles, 90% of which are Mellor products.

Set to be deployed on a local bus service for a new housing estate, the bus was selected following a competitive tender process and won due to its reliability, excellent fuel consumption and emissions levels.

Simon Roberts, Assistant Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council, said:

“We particularly like the low floor bus concept, the 2 + 2 seating and wheelchair space and the addition of all the standard bus features for the benefit of our passengers, who really like riding in the Strata.”

With a passenger capacity of 22, the Nottinghamshire CC Strata also includes a number of special features such as Mobitech destination display and audio visual system, Eberspacher heating, Exeros CCTV and Kiel seating.

Jane Dransfield, Area Sales Manager (Central England and North Wales) for Mellor, said:

“It is great to be working with the team at Nottinghamshire CC again and the vehicle certainly looks fantastic. I am really happy that the Strata fulfils all the Council’s requirements for this new route.”

Since its launch a few years ago, the Strata LF has become a vehicle of choice for many local authorities as well as larger national bus operators. Built on the renowned Sprinter chassis, it is a robust, coach built vehicle, engineered with the approval of Mercedes-Benz to meet the demands of a small service bus suitable for many applications.

In 2018 the Strata was awarded a Low Emission Bus (LEB) certificate following successful emissions testing at Millbrook. The LEB certificate is issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) to manufacturers that meet specific criteria. The definition of the UK government of an LEB vehicle is one that uses efficient technology to produce 15 per cent less Well-to-Wheel (WTW) emissions compared with an equivalent Euro V standard diesel bus.

In addition to any environmental benefits delivered by operating a Strata, there are also significant financial advantages as a certified LEB qualifies for a rebate from the DfT as part of the Low Carbon Emission Bus incentive scheme. This rebate equates to an additional 6p or 10.01p per km reimbursement for England and Scotland respectively. For example, under the current scheme, a bus covering 50,000 km per annum in England would qualify for a £3,000 rebate.