By Alex Roman, Managing Editorr – METRO Magazine (http://www.metro-magazine.com)
January 2014
Dan Cohen, VP, sales and marketing, at Freedman Seating/4ONE, says the industry has always wanted more and more fabrics over the years, with fabrics that are antimicrobial, antibacterial and moisture repellant recently surging. However, he agrees with Wolf that the latest trend in transit seating is for products that are non-upholstered.
“Our upholstered products are great, but there seems to be this shift toward customers wanting hard plastic seats, so our CitiPro and Gemini offerings have really been gaining acceptance. Both are available with no upholstery,” he says. “Several larger transit agencies, including AC Transit, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and New York City Transit, are already moving in that direction, so customers can walk into a bus and wipe the seats down with their own wet wipe or whatever.”