Transit

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority retired its last diesel bus in January 2011 to become the only major transit agency in the nation running entirely on alternative fuel.

That’s more than 2,000 buses powered by natural gas.

“It’s a great day for Los Angeles,” Art Leahy, the CEO of the agency announced as the county towed away its last diesel bus, purchased in 1998.

Metro took delivery of its first natural gas bus in 1995 and the agency reports that the buses have traveled about a billion miles on CNG.

The initial goal in switching to CNG was to improve the air quality and health for the citizens for cities. Transit officials estimate that the elimination of diesel engines has reduced the release of cancer causing particulates from the bus fleet by 80 percent and greenhouse gases by about 300,000 pounds a day.

While air quality is still critical in California, it’s the cost savings of natural gas that drive many transit agencies to switch to natural gas. The county saves about $40 million in fuel costs every year because the price of natural gas sold as transportation fuel is so much less than diesel.

Transit Buses

Two-thirds of all the natural gas being used as a transportation fuel goes into the country’s transit systems. From communities as diverse as Portland, Maine and State College, PA., to San Francisco, transit agencies are choosing natural gas to power all or part of their transit fleet.

And that includes the Los Angeles Metro, which made nationwide news in 2011 when it retired its last diesel bus. And the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which has been authorized to purchase up to 452 natural gas buses for its fleet. Those buses will go into service beginning in 2013.

According to the American Public Transit Association, about 18 percent of all transit buses run on natural gas. Advances in natural gas engines during the past several years have improved performance while exceeding EPA’s stringent 2010 emission requirements. Today’s natural gas powered buses have a track record of clean, reliable, cost-efficient service.

Transit agencies are choosing natural gas powered vehicles for these reasons:

Better economics: Natural gas buses have a significant life-cycle cost advantage over diesel powered or diesel-hybrid powered buses.

The initial upfront cost for natural gas buses is lower than for diesel-hybrids, and there are no expensive batteries to replace.
The differential between the cost of diesel fuel and natural gas equates into substantial fuel savings, and more than makes up for the 10% difference in fuel efficiency between a spark-ignited natural gas engine fuel efficiency.
Natural gas buses have a 35-45 percent lower lifecycle cost than diesel-electric hybrid units and a 50-60 percent lower lifecyle cost than clean diesel units.

Easier on the ears: Riders notice notice that natural gas buses are far quieter because the natural gas bus engine decibel levels are about 90% lower than diesel engines Better for the environment: The greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 25% less than with diesel fuel. Increases energy security and creates

U.S. jobs: These vehicles run on domestically produced natural gas, creating U.S. jobs and reducing the country’s reliance on foreign sources of oil.

A choice of manufacturers: Major bus manufacturers offer natural gas transit buses, including North American Bus Industries, Orion, New Flyer, El Dorado National, offer buses designed to run on natural gas. They typically are powered by a Cummins Westport engine that provides the torque and horsepower.

For smaller shuttles and other vehicles, fleets can look to about a dozen small volume manufacturers who retrofit new or repower existing fleets to run on natural gas.

LA Metro

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority retired its last diesel bus in January 2011 to become the only major transit agency in the nation running entirely on alternative fuel.

That’s more than 2,000 buses powered by natural gas.

“It’s a great day for Los Angeles,” Art Leahy, the CEO of the agency announced as the county towed away its last diesel bus, purchased in 1998.

Metro took delivery of its first natural gas bus in 1995 and the agency reports that the buses have traveled about a billion miles on CNG.

Centre Area Transportation

State College, PA, home of the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions, scores 100% when it comes to the using CNG in its transit fleet.

The community’s Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA), has a fleet of 61 transit buses that all run on natural gas. In 2005, the agency became one of the first transit fleets on the East Coast to be powered exclusively by natural gas.

CATA began experimenting with natural gas technologies in the 1990s, when the agency was looking for a way to fund the replacement of its buses, as well as improve air quality, reduce operating costs and foster energy independence. At the time, the agency estimated that is was operating one of the oldest diesel fleets in the country, with buses averaging 14-20 years old. In 1993, the CATA Board of Directors committed to replacing the entire fleet with buses fueled by CNG.

General Manager Hugh Mose joined the system in 1995 and has been credited with developing many of the innovative programs that have helped the system to grow. The regional bus system, which connects the participating municipalities with downtown State College and the sprawling Penn State campus, has a ridership of almost 7 million passengers annually, the highest per capita ridership of any small urban area in the United States.

CATA started its commitment to CNG by partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and its local utility, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, to build a fueling station on-site, and in 1996 the agency took delivery of its first CNG buses. The fast-fill CNG station has been enhanced five times since then to meet the growing demand. The agency now purchases about 70,000 mcf of natural gas annually to fuel the fleet, which travels about 1.5 million annually on its 17 routes and consumes about 560,000-600,000 gasoline gallon equivalents a year. CATA buses are in service 360 days a year.

Click here to see the agency’s You Tube video

With the recent development of the Marcellus shale in northern Pennsylvania, the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel at CATA has taken on a new dimension. Not only is the system relying on domestic energy, but by promoting and using natural gas, CATA is supporting enhanced economic activity in the state.

The fuel savings have been substantial. The agency estimated that the price of natural gas last year was more than $1 less than diesel. In addition, the agency had been eligible for the federal fuel tax credit, which amounted to more than $230,000 during the fiscal year 2008/2009.

Those lower operating costs help offset the upfront cost of both the fueling facility and buying buses that run on natural gas. The agency has also been successful in securing federal and state grants to offset the additional costs associated with the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. For example, the agency used its $1.7 million in funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to refurbish its ten 1998 New Flyer buses.

As with any early adapter, CATA learned a lot, and Mose has always been willing to share his insights with other agencies considering natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Here’s his advice:

Recognize that NGVs require significant capital investment.
Focus on aspects beyond financing because it helps to generate support from the local community.
Remember that natural gas is domestically produced.
Implement training programs because they are necessary to have success with NGVs