Ozark company to construct double-decker commuter buses

Haswell is the CEO of Ozark-based Specialty Bus Manufacturers LLC, a corporation formed in 2005. But he’s no stranger to the vehicle-manufacturing business. His other company, JMRL Sales & Service, doing business as Craftsmen Limousine Inc., was founded in 1988.

In 2005, Haswell’s company contracted with New Jersey-based tour-bus broker Roman Chariot LLC to build 20 sight-seeing buses for New York City tourists. That same year, he formed Specialty Bus, because that name is more in line with what the company is doing.

“We still build a few things with (Craftsmen), but I’m moving everything toward Specialty Bus … because we’re no longer building limousines. We’re building buses exclusively,” Haswell said, noting that there’s even a bus – the Limbusine – for the high-end limo industry. “We build that on a Freightliner chassis, and we’ve been doing that since 1998.”

With his latest venture, Haswell’s looking at opportunities in the commuter sector. He’s putting the finishing touches on a prototype for a 45-foot, double-decker commuter bus that is 12K feet tall and will seat 80 passengers.

“It doesn’t have any luggage (capacity) in it,” he said. “Its sole purpose is to haul people going to and from work in major metropolitan areas, such as people who get on the bus at 4:30 a.m. in Philadelphia to go to work in New York City.”

Roll ’em out

Haswell said his prototype will be finished by mid-August. By the end of the month, he hopes to have the city of Ozark’s approval for a 9,600-square-foot production facility for the commuter buses. The new building will be built next to his existing operation, 3751 N. 21st St. He expects to add a few employees to his 70-member staff.

“It will be nothing but a production floor. All the support business, parts, will come out of my existing building,” he said. “We’ll build the buses and move them sideways.”

In the meantime, Specialty Bus has gotten some commuter-bus-building experience, converting some of the sightseeing buses built in 2005 into commuter buses. Two are finished; work on a third is under way.

Once the production facility is completed, Haswell expects to produce one new commuter bus a week, and each will sell for $450,000. He said, as far as he knows, Specialty Bus is the only U.S. manufacturer of such buses; there’s also one in Belgium.

As soon as the prototype is finished, Haswell will embark on a show-and-tell tour in the Northeast.

“I already have a string of appointments with people who said they’d like to see it,” Haswell said, though he declined to share potential client names.

Target markets

New York City, it seems, would be a perfect market for Haswell’s commuter bus.

Every day, 2.5 million people ride commuter buses operated by New York City Transit, the largest agency in the Metropolitan Transit Authority regional transportation network, according to spokesman Charles Seaton. The need is even more staggering considering that NYC Transit only serves the five boroughs – Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and express routes from Staten Island.

NYC Transit operates 4,500 buses, and those with the highest capacity will seat 60 riders. All are bound for destinations in midtown Manhattan.

“We’re always looking for new equipment, both buses and subway cars,” Seaton said, that NYC Transit purchases buses on a competitive-bid basis.

Though Seaton wasn’t familiar with Specialty Bus, he said that all buses bought by NYC Transit must meet qualifications “to stand up to the rigors of New York City traffic,” and satisfy durability standards to operate for a minimum of 12 years, as is the federal mandate for such vehicles.

While NYC Transit serves only a small portion of New York City as a whole, and rides are fairly short – maybe an hour, give or take – Haswell said that bus time is much longer for many commuters, and his bus is designed with comfort in mind. The seats can recline, with a foot rest, for riders who want to sleep. For those who want to be more productive, there are plenty of options, too.

“There are wireless headsets, if they want to listen to the entertainment packages, and if they need to do any work, we’ve got pull-down tables … like on airplanes, and 12-volt plugs … and the vehicle is equipped with three different Wi-Fi servers,” he said.

Base bus fare for NYC Transit is $2, and $5 for express service, but Haswell said for cities where commutes are much farther out, costs can run $20 a day. That stands to make the higher seating capacity attractive to bus operators.

“At $20 a day, a 56-passenger bus compared to an 80-passenger bus means … an extra $480 every day,” he said.

Beyond New York, he said Washington, D.C., Boston and Chicago would be good markets, but he doesn’t expect much demand locally.

“This only works in areas where downtown parking is excessively congested, and very expensive,” he said. [[In-content Ad]]