Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna showcased his department’s new inmate transport bus, a 2024 Motor Coach Industries vehicle, at a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 19, and he described the situation with the old fleet of badly aging transport buses “very difficult.”
He thanked the Board of Supervisors for the “first new buses in eight years” at a cost of $21 million for 20 buses, and he urged the media to take a look at the old buses to understand how bad the situation had become. He showed off the first bus to arrive, which will be followed with another 19 new buses delivered about every two weeks “until the order is complete.”
Luna said he’d heard from judges who said inmates arrived at court too late for their scheduled appearances because the inmate transport buses broke down or weren’t available.
The Sheriff Department’s Court Services Transportation Bureau, which transports people in custody to and from more than 90 state and county facilities, has faced a severe shortage of buses, which added to the problem of the often breakdowns of the aging buses.
Several officials stood with Luna as he spoke to the media, including L.A. County Board of Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s justice deputy Sandra Croxton, and L.A. County Board of Supervisor Hilda Solis’s justice deputy Anabel Martinez.
Luna said he hopes the new buses will help to deal with the significant safety concerns and operational issues with the old bus fleet.
On Thursday, the same day that Luna announced the arrival of the very first new bus, City Terrace Towing loaded up a bus with engine troubles at the Men’s Central Jail bus yard and hauled it away.