With the help of a tax-exempt lease from MassDevelopment, MASCO has purchased a new fleet of buses and cut vans for its shuttle services.

Canada-based New Flyer Industries will manufacture 30 Xcelsior clean diesel heavy-duty buses for MASCO, and Krystal by ElDorado National will manufacture 7 new cut vans. 

“MASCO is committed to providing safe, comfortable and timely transportation to our riders, who represent 14 medical and academic institutions in the Longwood area,” said Marilyn-Swartz-Lloyd, President and CEO of MASCO. “They are hard-working, mission driven employees, so it is extremely important to us that we provide our riders the very best in transportation,” she said.

MASCO currently transports more than 12,000 riders each day across eleven different routes. The new buses will be wholly owned and operated by MASCO and and used in place of buses currently in service.

By partnering with MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency, MASCO secured a $13.4 million tax-exempt lease from JP Morgan for the purchase of the new fleet. The tax-exempt lease acts essentially as an installment loan. An investor lends funds to the borrower to purchase equipment and complete any related renovations, and the borrower agrees to make periodic fixed-rate payments.

"With this flexible, equipment-specific financing MASCO can improve transit services for employees and students of this economic and educational hub in Boston," said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. "We are pleased to help MASCO provide efficient and economical transportation - and essential service in this area - to its members."

The buses are set for a July 2014 delivery.