www.stnonline.com
www.stnonline.com/go/271). For example, Michael An- dre, supervisor of transportation, has been steadily acquir- ing CNG buses since 1996 with the help of federal and state grants. Of the 110 buses in his Lower Merion (Pa.) School District fleet, 69 run on CNG. “We built our fueling stations with 50 percent funding
from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We also received partial funding for the additional expense of buying the CNG buses,” Andre said. “If you’re aggressive about it, there’s a lot of grant money out there. We just put in for a grant to the DOE that we have every expectation of getting.” Te pros and cons of CNG are balanced enough for An-
dre, who is proud of the “cleaner” and “quieter” school buses comprising two-thirds of his fleet. “We tell people, ‘If you want to do this, don’t do it necessar-
ily to save a lot of money, do it to help the environment and energy security,’” he said. “Natural gas is born in the USA. In Pennsylvania, we’re natural gas rich, so it makes sense to us.”
GETTING DRESSED FOR PROPANE Ron Smith. Blue Bird’s marketing director, said that both
affordability and abundant domestic supplies factored into the decision-making and development of Blue Bird’s propane-powered Type C Vision school bus. Smith said pro- pane is the most affordable alternative-fuel option not only because of the vehicle’s price tag but also because of the ex- isting fueling infrastructure across North America. “Right now, we found that propane is the best alterna-
tive method. It has near-zero particulates and oxides. It’s clean, it’s powerful and it’s low cost,” Smith said, adding that the propane school bus costs about $14,000 more than its diesel counterpart, compared to cost differences of at least $30,000 per CNG bus and $60,000 per hybrid bus. “We took a popular, very robust GM-based 8.1-liter Vortec
engine and dressed it for propane injection,” he continued. “Our Vision bus is well known. It’s the same bus, built the same way, just dressed for propane instead of diesel to be more environmentally friendly.” John Roselli, new school bus manager at dealership A-Z
Bus Sales in Colton, Calif., agreed that much of the appeal stems from customer familiarity with the product. “It’s the exact same Type C bus but with a different fueling
system. Tey didn’t re-invent the body at all. Tat’s what has made it such a good seller,” he said. Roselli said that propane-bus usage varies from state to
state, with the largest markets located in Texas and Califor- nia and new ones emerging in Oregon and Arizona. “Propane has gotten a fast start,” he said. “In California,
it is primarily used in a special needs capacity. It has a niche in the Type C market, just as CNG does for Type D, espe- cially in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) area.” Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest
transportation branch nationwide, is rolling out 90 new propane school buses this fall operated by contractor Stu- dent Transportation of America. Delta Liquid Energy of Paso
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