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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 8, 2000

NEW STUDY CITES NATIONAL TREND TOWARD REPLACING HIGH-POLLUTING DIESEL BUSES WITH CLEAN NATURAL GAS BUSES; CALLS ON STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO MOVE MORE RAPIDLY IN EFFORT TO SAFEGUARD PUBLIC HEALTH

New York, NY – A study released today by INFORM, a national environmental research organization that has studied clean fuel transportation technologies for more than a decade, finds encouraging evidence that clean-fuel natural gas buses are increasingly replacing high-polluting diesel buses in urban transit systems across the nation.

The number of natural gas buses (both compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas) in operation in the United States has grown from 100 in 1992 to 3,204 in 1999 – and is expected to grow to nearly 5,000 buses when pending orders are filled.

Between 1993 and 1999, the number of diesel buses operating in the United States actually declined, according to the American Public Transit Association (APTA). Nevertheless, diesel is still the predominant fuel used by transit operators, accounting for about 93 percent of bus fleets.

The study, Bus Futures: New Technologies for Cleaner Cities, is intended to serve as a guide to the public officials, bus company officials, and community leaders throughout the nation who will be involved in making decisions about what buses will be purchased by public transit and other bus systems in the future. It contains the most up-to-date comparison of all major bus engine technologies and fuels, their commercial readiness, their emissions and their costs.

"In the next decade, more than $10 billion in public funds will be spent to purchase more than 75,000 new buses," said Joanna Underwood, the founder of INFORM. "The decisions that public transit systems make when purchasing new buses will have a major impact on the health of our nation. More than 100 million Americans, including 35 million children, in cities across the country are breathing air that fails to meet federal air quality standards; diesel buses are a major reason why. Their exhaust contains lung-clogging fine particulates – a major cause of the soaring rate of asthma attacks among children; the exhaust also contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants, known or suspected to cause cancer. Bus Futures makes a compelling case for the benefits of natural gas buses. We, therefore, call on all state and local government officials to insist that their transit agencies switch to natural gas buses."

Sixty-five transit agencies in the United States are already operating natural gas buses as part of their fleets. Thirty-one of those agencies have 20 percent or more of their fleets operating on natural gas. (See Attachment.) Ten agencies have more than 100 natural gas buses operating in their fleets. And some agencies, including those in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, as well as the New York City Department of Transportation, have decided to order only natural gas buses in the future. Los Angeles just received its 1000th natural gas bus.

Bus Futures, written by INFORM consultants James S. Cannon and Chyi Sun, is the latest of eight studies produced by INFORM on alternative transportation fuels and systems. The study provides both an overview of bus engine technologies, the commercial availability of each, their costs and emissions performances, as well as a discussion of the health effects of air pollution from the transportation sector.

The study’s principal findings are the following:

• The only fully commercial buses available today are those with conventional engines, fueled by either diesel or natural gas. While conventional diesel buses have been commercially available for 50 years, today natural gas buses have undergone a decade of refinement so that tens of thousands can be put reliably into service.
• Hybrid electric and fuel cell buses are exciting and promising new technologies, but they are not yet sound commercial options. Only 50 electric hybrid buses and less than a dozen fuel cell buses have been tested – an inadequate number to work out all of the performance requirements of complex new technologies.
  
• While many transit agencies want to continue relying on diesel buses, neither the new particulate trap technologies nor the low-sulfur diesel fuel that will be required to meet federal emissions guidelines are currently commercial.
  
• The evidence is overwhelming that compressed natural gas (CNG) buses emit significantly fewer pollutants than diesel buses. Bus Futures reviews the nine major emissions reports that compare conventional diesel and natural gas buses. All point in the same direction.
  
• While CNG buses, compared to diesel buses, are more expensive to buy – and, for most transit agencies, to operate – an accurate cost picture requires analysis of societal costs and the costs of infrastructure investments in both the short and the long terms.

"Based on this analysis, CNG buses are today’s best option," said co-author Chyi Sun. "They are commercially available, generate virtually no toxic pollutants, and the infrastructure built to refuel these buses can be used eventually to refuel pollution-free, compressed hydrogen fuel cell buses. In addition, unlike diesel and other oil-based fuels, CNG is plentiful and widely available throughout the United States and, therefore, not subject to the price spikes that are currently affecting imported fuels."

"Transit agencies can now turn their backs on conventional diesel buses," said co-author James Cannon. "The top five bus manufacturers in the United States accounted for 80 percent of all urban buses sold in 1998. Four out of five of them manufacture natural gas buses, and they are clearly capable of manufacturing natural gas buses in far greater quantities."

The full text of Bus Futures is available on INFORM’s Web site at http://www.informinc.org/reports_trans.php#4. Copies can also be obtained by calling INFORM at 212-361-2400 x239.

ATTACHMENT

Transit Agencies With More Than 100 Natural Gas Buses

• Atlanta, GA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Cleveland, OH
• New York, NY (NYC DOT)
• Dallas, TX
• Phoenix, AZ
• Garden City, NY
• Sacramento, CA
• Houston, TX
• Tacoma, WA

Transit Agencies Where More Than 20 Percent Of The Fleet Is Natural Gas Buses

• Akron, OH
• Norwalk, CT
• Bakersfield, CA
• Oxnard, CA
• Boise, ID
• Phoenix, AZ (two agencies)
• Cleveland, OH
• Port Huron, MI
• Culver City, CA
• Riverside, CA
• Davis, CA
• Sacramento, CA
• El Paso, TX
• San Bernardino, CA
• Fort Worth, TX
• San Diego, CA (two agencies)
• Garden City, NY
• State College, PA
• Grand River, OH
• Tacoma, WA
• Houston, TX
• Tempe, AZ
• Kenosha, WI
• Thousand Palms, CA
• Laredo, TX
• Tucson, AZ
• Los Angeles, CA
• Youngstown, OH
• Monterey, CA
  
  
  Source: APTA
  

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.