Amtran this week ordered three new compressed natural gas (CNG) buses from the Gillig company in California.

They will cost $788,000 each, for a total of $2.36 million.

PennDOT will pay 97% of the cost, while Amtran will cover the remaining 3%, according to CEO Josh Baker.

Because it takes 12 to 14 months to construct the buses, they’ll arrive in 2026, Baker said.

The arrival of the new buses next year will bring Amtran’s fleet expansion plans to fruition, with 29 buses, all CNGs, Baker said.

There are currently 29, but the three oldest are diesel-electrics, which Amtran kept last year when it bought its most recent batch of three new CNGs.

It did so because it expanded service to northern Blair County in 2023, Baker said.

At the old fleet level of 26 buses, the number of spares was lower than ideal, which is 20% to 25% of the number of buses in use during peak service — which in Amtran’s case is 22 or 23, according to Baker.

Thus, at the high end of the ideal configuration, there should be about 29 buses in the fleet.

When the next batch of CNGs arrive next year, Amtran will sell the diesel-electrics.

The diesel-electrics are currently only used in school tripper service for the Altoona Area School District, Baker said.

Once the diesel-electrics are gone, Amtran would have 16 2018 buses; seven 2021 buses; three 2024 buses; and three 2026 buses, Baker said.

Not that many years ago, Amtran had a fleet with a much older profile, including three 40-year-old GMCs.

Federal and state funding has enabled a major update.

“We’ve been fortunate with funding,” Baker said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.