WMATA buys new buses just about every year. They have to, in order to replace a steady stream of old buses that have reached the end of their useful lives. This year’s bus purchase is a little more notable than most because the new buses will look different enough from anything running right now that regular riders may actually notice.

The new buses are being delivered right now and will begin to hit the streets later this month. They’re hybrids, which is important for vehicles that are basically running all day long.

So what will they look like? The paint scheme isn’t changing much, except that Metro has made the sensible decision to add a colored stripe to the front so passengers waiting at stops will know if an approaching bus is red for local or blue for express. Beyond the livery, the shape of the buses is a little different. They’re produced by the same manufacturer (New Flyer) as the sloped-front buses from the last few years, but the new buses are a different model, with a noticeably different – and less sloped – front.

One of the new buses is pictured below at left. For comparison, the image to the right is one of WMATA’s existing buses.

New bus, image from New Flyer.	Existing bus.