By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE, Maine — The Maine Military Authority is known on the local, state and national level for the excellence they bring to vehicle refurbishment, and the rollout of its newest bus renovation last Thursday only further demonstrated the company’s abilities.
The ceremonious rollout of the overhauled 2006 Bluebird transit coach took place at the Maine Instrument Flight hangar at the Augusta Airport, where Governor Paul LePage recognized the entrepreneurship of the Maine Military Authority and their success in maintaining jobs while adjusting to decreased military budgets.
The completion of the project, however, may mean good things for the future of MMA. “Completing this particular bus will allow us to be on the approved vendor list for state of Maine DOT contracts department,” explained MMA spokesman Tim McCabe, director of business development. “We’re hoping that this is the first step toward a lot of opportunities in the future.”
Completion of the bus also demonstrates to the Federal Transit Administration Region One (the whole Northeast) that not only does MMA have the capability to refurbish transit vehicles in an cost-effective, timely and thorough capacity, “we have the proof of concept that we can meet all of the FTA requirements,” McCabe explained.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the courage and creativity of the Maine Military Authority,” the governor said. “The people at MMA get the job done; they ought to be proud of their work.”
The acronym “MMA” is seemingly synonymous with the word “Humvee,” but the employees at MMA have been refurbishing different types of vehicles for decades at the Limestone facility.
Communications equipment, tactical shelters, five-ton trucks, tracked vehicles, howitzers — MMA employees have brought them all back to life, breaking them down to the frame to be built back up piece by reconstructed piece.
The new Bluebird Transit Coach overhaul tops the list of vehicles refurbished through MMA quickly, efficiently and affordably. A new 32-foot mass transit bus comparable to the one recently refurbished would have cost at least $260,000; the MMA “mid-life” overhaul on the Shuttlebus-Zoom mass transit bus was accomplished for under $100,000, and in approximately 90 days.
“The rehabilitation of this bus will increase its service life expectancy by an additional 4-7 years beyond it intended life of 12 years,” McCabe said, “This bus was rehabilitated with the same dedication and workmanship as we have for all our military vehicles we have produced for our National Guard soldiers.”
This isn’t the first time that MMA employees have successfully refurbished a bus; their school bus refurbishment program brought in 16-18 buses just this past summer for overhauls.
McCabe explained that the school bus refurbishment program is really a summertime business, however, because school districts need their buses during the school year to shuttle their students back and forth.
“Our plan is, when we can afford to do it, is to purchase three or four buses that we can overhaul and provide school districts to use while we refurbish their buses — like a loaner or lease program,” McCabe said.
The implemented idea would allow school districts to part with their buses during the school year without a disruption of transportation services, meaning bus repairs could be done year-round in theory.
McCabe pointed out a similar issue with the transit buses, as the absence of a vehicle could mean a disruption of services.
“If we were able to provide with a loaner or lease vehicle, they could keep their schedules and keep services going,” he explained.
The transit bus refurbishment potential available at the Limestone site is turning heads in the public transportation arena, and MMA officials are working hard to secure contracts for their skilled workforce.
McCabe was quick to mention that MMA has received the full support from U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, as well as Congressman Mike Michaud.
