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market a hybrid-electric plug-in school bus. Since, more than 100 of the school buses have hit the road, and data from a West Virginia University Suburban Test Cycle performed last year showed a 70 percent reduction in fuel consumption. Te company figures to benefit as well from a $39 million federal grant awarded last month to parent company Navistar for the development of next-generation electric batteries.
‘CHANGE IS INEVITABLE’ Te high cost of introducing alternative-
engine buses into his fleet drove Curtis Fritts of the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation, located in southern Indiana, to switch from using CNG school buses back to later-model diesel engines, which a recent health study found beat earlier esti- mates of emissions reduction levels. “We introduced CNG buses in 1984
[and] tried two buses at first to see how effective it would be. We started convert- ing [the gas engines] ourselves after that,” Fritts said, stressing that the governmen- tal ban of these conversion kits motivated the switch. Fritts said another major reason was
the $120,000 price tag for one CNG bus, when he could buy two diesel buses for much less, at about $55,000 each. In 1999, the district began purchasing about 18 new diesel school buses each year. “We were seeing savings from CNG
buses, but when you look at the price of the bus, you were limited if you went to CNG buses because [of] where you could run it. We could run only in Vandenburgh County, because there are no refueling stations outside of it,” said Fritts. “Looking at the costs and the convenience of being able to get the fuel, it was a better option for us to go to a diesel bus.” Fritts is proud to say most of his fleet is
clean-running diesel. “A grant paid for the whole thing —
81 buses have a muffler system that re- duces emissions. If you go the extra mile to make sure they do, like with the muf- fler system we put on, there’s money out there,” he said. Lower Merion’s Andre said he is not
convinced that diesel engines can earn continued high marks from the EPA. “Te diesel manufacturers are going to
Circle 109 on STN Product Info Card 57
have to make some major design changes in order to meet these standards,” Andre said. “For the average fleet manager, we have proven that it is viable. You can operate a large fleet of school buses on CNG. Tat’s not to say that getting started is not expensive or a bit complicated, but it’s doable.” LAUSD’s Boull’t pointed out that all fleet operators are having to change the way they
do business. “Change is inevitable in the industry as we try to improve the quality of air for stu- dents and take the initiative to reduce diesel emissions,” he said. n
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