With new alt fuel
offerings and tightening budgets, Type A
manufacturers keep their eyes on the near future
By Stephane Babcock
With its big brothers paving the way towards the goal of zero emission school buses, the small bus market
took some big steps this year to keep up. At the same time, the faltering economy and its domino effect on
school budgets have shaken the foun- dation for many industry vendors. But, the Type A OEMs say they are
secure in their places in the market, as well as their future, prospective gains.
THE ‘NEX’ STEP Te introduction of Collins’ Nexbus at last summer’s STN
EXPO opened some eyes and minds to the idea of a green Type A bus that runs on a gasoline-hybrid electric engine. A few months later, it announced another venture into alternatively-fueled transportation with the propane Nexbus. But, it wasn’t a deci- sion left to the company itself. “We’re always looking for areas that our customers are really
asking us to concentrate in,” said Collins Bus Corporation Presi- dent Kent Tyler on the floor of the NAPT trade show in early November. “When we looked at all the different products we of- fer, we saw a real need for a small school bus that would offer hybrid technology and that would also offer some other type of alternate fuel, like propane.” Both projects involved a partnership with companies in the
related technological fields — Azure Dynamics on the hybrid side and CleanFuel USA on the propane side. Leaping into these new types of technology, Collins wanted to have a strong sup- port base that would give it the ability to answer any questions or concerns from customers in the field. “We wanted to make sure when we brought out alternative
fuels that we would be able to support those products in the marketplace as well. We feel very confident that we’ve been able to accomplish that,” said Tyler. He added that the company’s customer base has reacted
positively to the new offerings and the opportunity to provide their students with a different type of bus and a different type of transportation model within their particular school system. “When I went to school, I remember leaving the school to get
on the bus and all you could do is smell the fumes. Today, with the technology that all the manufacturers have been able to put on the road, we’ve reduced that tremendously,” Tyler said.
BIG PARTNERS FOR THE SMALL BUS News of school bus OEMs Blue Bird and Girardin entering a
joint venture to produce the new Type A MicroBird by Girardin brand also made some waves recently (see article on page 22). Te partnership could lead to some new alternative fuels as well, but neither side is in a rush. “We’re considering different alternatives: diesel-hybrid, propane
and CNG,” said Girardin President Steve Girardin, adding that Blue Bird’s presence in the propane market would make it the most logical choice. “We’re going to be analyzing that over the next few weeks and making a decision over what direction we take.” Both sides are committed to pursuing a green strategy but re-
main cautious, according to Roger Howsmon, Blue Bird’s chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales. “Our view of the marketplace segment — the Type A business
— is that it’s a smaller segment on the percentage of our build and, as a result, the investment required is being evaluated to determine if the volume opportunity is there for us to pursue that market.” Anticipating that GM’s 2010 EPA-compliant diesel chassis
would not be available until April, Girardin pre-ordered a num- ber of 2007-compliant units to satisfy its customers. Fortunately,
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