RICHMOND, Va. — Thomas Built Buses has built and delivered its 75,000th Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus.

The landmark C2 went to Bishop Bus Service Inc. in Lusby, Maryland.

“We are delighted to add another Thomas Built Buses vehicle to our fleet,” said Dwight Bishop Sr., owner of Bishop Bus Service. “The innovative design, technology and sustainability measures inherent in the C2 [make] us confident that this new school bus will be a part of our fleet for years to come.”

Ken Hedgecock, vice president of sales, marketing and service at Thomas Built Buses, presented the key and the bus to Bishop at the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) trade show last week.

“As evidenced by its 36 years of service to its community, Bishop Bus Service is committed to providing students with the safest and most reliable transportation available,” Hedgecock said. “At Thomas Built Buses, we share that commitment and are proud to deliver this momentous vehicle to Bishop Bus Service and the citizens of Lusby.”

The school bus contractor purchased the 75,000th C2 through American Bus Sales and Service in Annapolis, Maryland.

The Saf-T-Liner C2, Thomas Built's Type C school bus, was launched in 2004. Company officials said that the bus was designed from the ground up based on extensive driver and customer input. The C2 is manufactured in the High Point, North Carolina, production facility that was created specifically for that purpose.

Also at the NAPT trade show, Thomas Built Buses highlighted another upcoming milestone: The school bus OEM will mark its 100th anniversary in 2016.

“When Perley A. Thomas started building streetcars at the onset of modern mass transportation in 1916, he clearly had a vision for the future,” said Caley Edgerly, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses. “And as the marketplace evolved in the 1930s, Thomas evolved with it by launching a new line of school buses and ultimately fulfilling an unmet public need.”

To read more about Thomas Built's history, go here.