Chapel Hill Buses Receive "Extreme Makeover"
By Philip Jones

Imagine getting a makeover worth $200,000. Well, that's exactly what Chapel Hill Transit has planned for 13 of its buses.

The first of the remanufactured buses returned to Chapel Hill from Riverside, Calif., last week. A 1990 model, the bus was rebuilt from the ground up and boasts new aluminum wheels, an upgraded interior and a new engine.

Chapel Hill Transit interim director Kurt Neufang said the improvements could help the buses double their 12-year life expectancy.

"Obviously if they're 1990 models, we've been running them for 15 years," Neufang said. "So they've already exceeded (the life expectancy). And we think through this rehab process, we'll get another 10 to possibly 12 years out of the vehicle...and that's huge."

Neufang says a new bus has a pricetag of more than $300,000, while the remanufacturing process costs $196,000.

When you count all 13 buses, Chapel Hill Transit will save nearly $1.4 million.