FORT WORTH, Texas - A Dallas-based tour and charter operator has won one of the year's most unusual shuttle contracts - moving tourists to and from a super-secure printing plant operated by the U.S. Treasury that turns out $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 bills by the millions.
Buses by Bill was awarded the five-year contract to transfer hundreds of visitors daily to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing's Western Currency Facility that was opened to public tours this past spring.
Free, 45-minute guided tours of the giant printing plant are offered week days. However, gaining access to the facility is akin to visiting a prison or Fort Knox. Three barbed-wire fences surround the complex and armed guards at strategic positions watch everything.
Visitors must pass through the latest airport-type security screening before boarding one of two ABC M1035 Series passenger coaches to be transported roughly 800 yards to the tour and visitor center. "Once secure, they get on the shuttles. They won't allow visitors to walk through the property," said Gary McMullin, vice president of Buses by Bill.
Inside, visitors tour two floors of interactive exhibits showcasing the history of paper currency and the intricacies of the money printing process, watch a short movie, and then enjoy the highlight of the tour - traversing a long enclosed walkway that's suspended over the production floor where 4.5 billion bank notes are printed annually.
McMillin describes the museum as remarkable and watching the money printing operation as fascinating. And though security is tight, he says everyone as friendly.
The Western Currency Facility was opened in Fort Worth 13 years ago and is the nation's only currency printing plant outside Washington, D.C. It supplies 55 percent of the U.S. banking system's currency, primarily to the South and the western two-thirds of the U.S.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing officials expect the number of visitors to the facility to grow to 500,000 annually, or to 1,500-2,000 daily. Currently, 700-800 people visit the facility each day.
Buses by Bill used a unique wrap design for one of its ABC M1035 coaches to help it win the contract for the shuttle at the facility. It had the bus wrapped with the design of the new $20 bill.
The other ABC M1035 shuttle operated by the company will be wrapped with the new design for the $50 bill once that currency goes into circulation Oct. 1.
Buses by Bill has equipped its M1035 Series coach with 35 passenger seats, a Cummins ISB 205-horsepower engine, Allison 2400 transmission, Carrier AC310 roof-mounted climate control system, Freedman seats, and Ricon in-step wheelchair lift package. Additional features include a ride-enhancement package, Arens electronic shifter control, remote-control heated side mirrors with LED turn signals, and six-speaker audio system with AM/FM/CD/page.
Buses By Bill also provides charter and shuttle services for churches, schools, corporations, and sporting events -- in addition to tour groups. It contracts with Dallas Area Rapid Transit to operate two ABC M1000 shuttles on the campus of Southern Methodist University.
The 12-year-old company's fleet includes 25-passenger midsize cutaway buses, 40-passenger RTS buses, and 49-57 passenger Van Hool coaches.