DOING HYBRIDS THE TEXAS WAY In Texas, people go big or go
home. So when Fort Worth Inde- pendent School District decided to go green with a hybrid school bus, they didn’t just order one, they or- dered more than two dozen. Although the 25 Tomas Hy-
brid Saf-T-Liner C2s have only been making the rounds since the beginning of the school year, they are already making an impression.
“Overall, the experience to date has been very positive,” said Michael Hors-
ley, director of fleet operations at Fort Worth ISD. During the district’s last reporting quarter (October to December 2010),
the hybrid buses showed an average of 22 percent better fuel mileage than the current fleet average. Two of the hybrids even showed 41 percent better fuel mileage. Tis prompted Horsley to believe that the 22 percent average improvement may continue to increase with additional driver training and route adjustments. There were several factors that affected Fort Worth’s decision to pur-
chase hybrids, including available funding and infrastructure needs, cost and space. The district decided to go with hybrids because matching
funds had already been budgeted for purchasing the buses. But there weren’t funds available for the infrastructure that would be required for other types of alternative-fueled buses. Finding space for a new fueling station would also have been an issue. “Our hybrids are diesel/electric charge-
sustaining (or self-charging) hybrids and require no new charging/fueling stations,” said Horsley. Along with the district’s matching
funds, grant money was used to pur- chase the hybrid buses. Fort Worth received an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Alternative Fuel and Advanced Technology Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and North Texas Council of Governments that fully covered the cost difference between regular school buses and hybrid buses for the purchase of 25 diesel/electric hy- brid school buses. “Te district also operates three heavy-
duty diesel/electric hybrid warehouse box trucks that were fully funded by a grant received from the Downwinders at Risk/ Sue Pope Fund North Texas Pollution Re- duction Program,” added Horsley. So far, technician training on the new
vehicles has primarily covered basic hybrid
system diagnostics Durability
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60 School Transportation News Magazine March 2011 and hybrid
system safety. Tis, Horsley added, will allow district technicians to safely per- form non-warranty consumable repairs and preventative maintenance. Mean- while, driver, safety, maintenance, and first-responder training opportunities for approximately 500 Fort Worth employees and a number of local emergency person- nel have been provided. Te local community has also taken
notice of the new green vehicles roam- ing the streets, and reactions have so far been extremely positive. Te buses have been the subject of numerous local news stories and were on display at last year’s 37th Annual Texas Association of Pupil Transportation (TAPT) Conference and at the National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey. Te reception has even spurred the dis-
trict to purchase two new hybrid special needs wheelchair lift buses that will be fully funded with IDEA-B, ARRA Grant Funds. n
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