MTA Bus Company:

Orion V 05.501 (ex-Green Bus Lines)

MTAB inherited a number of diesel Orion V buses from Green Bus Lines following the takeover of that company. Most of these buses, dating from 1997, were originally rejects from a large order that would have gone to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) in the nation's capital. Therefore, they are rather unique as they were not built to NYCDOT speficications (as the later Orion V CNGs were). Several of these buses originally had gone to Queens Surface, but were later transferred to Green.

Buses 5894-5897, however, were not new to Green. These buses were purchased new by New York Bus Service in 1999 for evaluation on NYBS's express routes. They feature red and blue leather seats (similar to those in the rest of NYBS's buses) and do not have back doors. However, they were deemed unsatisfactory and were later given to Green Bus Lines in exchange for four suburban MCI Classics.

The 1997 buses can be seen operating in local service out of John F. Kennedy and Rockaway depots in Queens, the former garages of Green Bus Lines. The ex-NYBS 1999 buses operate solely in express service. As of this writing (December 2007), all of these buses have been repainted in MTA blue and white.