The City of Moose Jaw unveiled four new and improved buses they'll be adding to their transit fleet.

Mayor Fraser Tolmie and Fleet Services Supervisor and acting Fleet Manager Bill Anderson showed off these new buses to the media Thursday morning, along with all of their new equipment.

Anderson explaining some of the new features to Mayor Tolmie.

"These ones have air conditioning; the ones they are replacing don't have air conditioning and the ride on these is a lot better than the older buses," Anderson said. "The older buses have a tendency on some of our roads to be quite rough for passengers, and these ones sit a little lower than the older buses, and in case of winter time like last winter when we had our storm, we only had one bus that could raise up and drive through the snow. The rest of them were at that one level. These ones here, there's a button you hit on the dash, it'll raise the bus two inches, give us more clearance."

The new buses not only have these features, but they also include a fold out front bike rack, fold out wheelchair ramp, 24 seats (17 with wheelchairs), low-floor accessibility for those with strollers or mobility issues, wheelchair storage spaces, and security cameras.

They are also more fuel efficient and have reduced greenhouse emissions compared to some of their other buses.

The four buses had a cost of $1,643,404, but thanks to the Government of Canada’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) that contributed $792,544, the City only had to pay $850,860.

One benefit to these smaller buses is, instead of having their 40-foot buses carrying only two passengers, these smaller ones will be able to do the job in a more cost and fuel efficient way.

In the City's release, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness had this to say:

“The Government of Canada is pleased to support these new and improved buses. We recognize that investing in transit infrastructure helps create inclusive communities and reduce commute times, all while fostering economic growth and job creation. The expanded fleet will help keep Moose Javians moving comfortably and quickly round the city for years to come."

One of the four new buses apart of the fleet.Anderson added that they hope to replace their older fleet and get a more fuel efficient, cost effective fleet. They already have two more para-transit buses coming sometime in mid-July.

One of the new buses will begin their routes on Friday, and the rest will slowly be phased into the system.