FYI from MCI™

MCI raises the bar for ISTVs

When most people think of special motor coach options and features, they imagine leather seating, entertainment systems and galleys. But some of MCI's best customers are more likely to think of steel bars, containment cells and bullet-resistant materials. For more than 25 years, MCI has made a series of Inmate Security Transportation Vehicles, or ISTVs, for prisons and government agencies.

"They're highly customized," says Tom Wagner, MCI's business development manager for specialty markets. "Depending on what their mission is, they can have different windows, different layouts, different security systems. They're a pretty unique vehicle."

In general, the ISTVs are based on the traditional D-Series platform and have seating for up to 69 inmates. Agencies typically use the ISTVs to transport inmates between prisons and to court dates; immigration authorities also use them to transport illegal aliens. Like all MCI coaches, 2007 ISTVs will be redesigned slightly to accommodate cleaner, EPA-compliant diesel engines. The changes are expected to include more robust doors and better airflow for the rear officers.

Wagner says most ISTV customers opt for full windows as opposed to narrow five-inch openings — or no windows at all — because they allow inmates to concentrate on the scenery rather focusing their energies on other inmates or the officers. And because many states have rules about making sure that certain classes of offenders are segregated from others, many ISTVS include as many as six separate containment cells. Seats are generally plain fiberglass. Comforts, amenities and upholstery are generally reserved for the security officers aboard.

Most of all, says Wagner, agencies choose the MCIs because they're tough and reliable, pointing out that most of the other prison transport coaches out on the road are converted school buses. "For reliability, there are no other vehicles in the market that compare to us."

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