School Buses
As our nation’s school districts urgently look for ways to meet budget constraints (given the high prices for diesel and gasoline) and stricter emissions regulations for heavy vehicles, administrators have been looking more and more to CNG vehicles. A natural gas-powered school bus can displace 1,400 gallons of diesel fuel per week.
CNG buses emit far fewer pollutants, such as soot (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NOx), than older diesel engine buses (model 2006 and earlier) and significantly less NOx emissions than new diesel engine buses.
Source: UCS report, School Bus Pollution Report Card 2006: Grading the States, May 2006
Currently, there are more than 2,500 CNG buses in school districts across the country.
Contact your Clean Cities Coordinator or school district and urge the superintendents and board members to change to CNG buses as soon as possible.
Fleet Vehicles
Compressed natural gas is also popular among fleet operators, who point to lower operating and life-cycle costs, as well as reduced air pollution. CNG vehicles are being used in many fleet applications: airports, delivery services, long-haul trucks, parks, police and traffic enforcement, refuse haulers, buses (school, shuttle and transit) and taxis.
Like school buses, there are several factors that make fleet vehicles a great fit for CNG. They are typically high mileage vehicles, so the fuel savings from CNG vs. gasoline is substantial over the life of a vehicle. Plus, the central location of fleets mean they can locate near refueling stations or house their own facility.
Contact your local
Clean Cities Coordinator and encourage their advocacy of CNG vehicles for fleet vehicles, shuttles, buses and taxis.