North Las Vegas facility only one in U.S. manufacturing double-decker buses
The double-decker buses that the Regional Transportation Commission has been using for years on the Las Vegas Strip and for its Game Day Express service are now being built in Southern Nevada.
U.K.-based Alexander Dennis, which manufactures double-decker buses for the global market, marked the grand opening of its North Las Vegas plant on Tuesday. Alexander Dennis’ Southern Nevada location is the only one in North America manufacturing such buses.
The crew of 115 employees has already been at work assembling 10 new double-decker buses for the Regional Transportation Commission.
Starting a local manufacturing facility makes sense considering the company’s yearslong relationship with the commission, Paul Soubry, CEO of New Flyer Industries – which owns Alexander Dennis, said.
“RTC has been a massive customer. So in addition to having local people understand the product and that have demand for the product, you have this wonderful opportunity to be in a place that you can recruit to and bring skills to,” Soubry said. “Some of our other locations are rural, and you just can’t hire in those locations. So Nevada was a very attractive place to start up this kind of a business.”
The buses are hand assembled, and the factory has the ability to build a bus every week. The initial 10 being built for the Regional Transportation Commission run on diesel fuel, with more set to be built over the next year or so. Plans call for Alexander Dennis to build zero emission, electric buses at the facility in 2026, Soubry said.
Plans also call for increasing output from about one to 1½ buses a week, which would amount to around 75 a year, Soubry noted. Alexander Dennis will look to the local workforce as its expands.
“There’s bright promise here for our ability to grow this business in Nevada,” Soubry said. “If you look across America, where you can hire and pay fair living wages, develop and work with technical vocational schools or colleges to grow people, there’s a lot to like about Southern Nevada.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., lauded the addition of the North Las Vegas facility as a win for transportation in the area and for further diversifying the economy in Southern Nevada.
“This is how we bring jobs back to this country, this is how we create jobs here in the valley and this is how we stimulate our economy,” Cortez Masto said. “Building these double-decker buses right here, this satisfies the Build America requirement that we have in this country with jobs created, we’re building it here and this is what it’s about.”
North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown concurred with Cortez Masto, saying the addition of Alexander Dennis to the community was important on multiple levels.
“This is just a great time for building those relationships in the manufacturing industry and in bringing in jobs to our local community and our residents is huge,” she said. “It’s right here locally, so you’re not waiting for parts from all over the place, they’re right here in North Las Vegas. It will help get buses on the street in a timelier process.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
