CNG School Bus Fleet Logs 6 Million Miles
Last Updated: 03/22/2005
In the case of the Lower Merion School District in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a journey of 6 million miles began with a single bus. In 1995, the district's first compressed natural gas (CNG) bus began serving the community. Since then, the CNG fleet has expanded to 72 buses. Over the years, the district's CNG buses have traveled more than 6.2 million miles, displacing approximately 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel. In the 2003-2004 school year alone, the fleet logged more than 900,000 miles and used more than 180,000 gasoline gallon equivalents of CNG.
The CNG fleet is composed of"
- 72 CNG school buses, including 60 72-passenger, 8.1-L John Deer rear engine dedicated CNG BlueBird school buses
- One 72-passenger 5.9-L Cummins rear engine dedicated CNG Thomas school bus
- Seven 24-passenger 5.7-L Chevrolet converted dedicated CNG BlueBird mini school buses
- Four 30-passenger 5.4-L Ford dedicated CNG BlueBird mini school buses
- Five dedicated CNG Ford Econoline work vans
- One Chevrolet CNG Bi-Fuel Express passenger van.
Mike Andre, Lower Merion School District's Transportation Supervisor, says the switch to CNG vehicles was prompted by community members' complaints about noise and pollution generated by diesel buses. He says using CNG has addressed those concerns and offers many other benefits. "It's an inherently cleaner fuel, domestically produced, in plentiful supply, and competitively priced. The engines are also noticeably quieter than diesels."
The U.S. Department of Energy, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the Philadelphia Electric Company have all contributed funding and technical support to this effort. In September of 2004, Andre received a National NGV Achievement Award from the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation and the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition for his contributions to the advancement of natural gas. The Lower Merion School District is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Program Board of Directors and plans to eventually convert the majority of its 110 buses and 40 operations vehicles to CNG.
Currently, the district has two CNG refueling stations, one each in Ardmore and Rosemont. However, there are a limited number of refueling stations outside the district's normal operating area, so the fleet must include some diesel buses for lengthy trips. But Andre says the CNG fleet will keep growing, starting with the addition of six CNG buses next school year.
For more information contact Philadelphia Clean Cities Coordinator, Nathalie Shapiro, 215-413-3122.
