Press Contact: Sophie Cardona: (212) 361-2400, ext. 244 , or email cardona@informinc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, ­ May 15, 1998

INFORM TESTIMONY URGES NEW YORK'S MTA TO BE A LEADER IN CLEAN FUEL BUSES

New York, NY -– At a hearing held yesterday by Assembly member Deborah J. Glick (D-Manhattan), the environmental research organization INFORM, Inc. urged the MTA to honor its January 1997 commitment to purchase 500 clean fuel buses for service on the streets of New York City. "Purchasing new diesel buses would only serve to perpetuate New York's reliance on foreign oil, add to our children's health problems and further impede New York's struggle to reach its clean air goals," said Thomas Crowell, outreach coordinator for INFORM.

The MTA currently operates 3,600 diesel buses in its fleet. In comparison, it operates only 33 natural gas buses out of the Jackie Gleason Terminal in Brooklyn with long delayed plans to add an additional 190 natural gas buses, figures which have not changed in over a year. These numbers reflect the very slow progress the MTA is making in complying with the 1997 agreement to purchase 500 clean fuel buses over five years.

Across the country the number of clean fuel buses, fueled mainly by natural has, has soared, according to INFORM's research. There are nine cities which have bus fleets of more than 50 natural gas fueled buses. Houston, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Sacramento all have fleets larger than New York's. Los Angeles has further pledged to purchase no more diesel buses. The Los Angeles County MTA voted in 1993 to stop acquiring diesel buses and now either has or has on order over 450 natural gas buses. Nationwide there are over 1,000 natural gas buses scheduled for delivery by the end of this year, which will nearly double the U.S. fleet. By year-end the total natural gas bus fleet in this country should be 2,267 strong.

"Given the rapid pace of adoption of clean fuel bus technologies across the U.S., it is clear that the number of clean fuel bus purchases by the MTA could likely be double and the timetable for deployment shortened, making New York City a leader in the clean fuel movement," stated Crowell.

Studies by the Harvard School of Public Health, US EPA , the John Snow Institute in Boston and the American Lung Association all indicate that exhaust emitted by vehicles burning diesel fuel takes a heavy toll on public health. Just last month the EPA released a draft report identifying diesel emissions as a likely carcinogen.

INFORM is a national nonprofit organization that identifies practical ways of living and doing business that are environmentally sustainable. For more than a decade, INFORM's reports on alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies have been respected resources worldwide.