FL: HART Holds Ribbon Cutting on CNG Fueling Station

HART celebrated the grand opening of a $5.5 million Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling facility at a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 24.

Florida Secretary of Transportation, Ananth Prasad, Director of the Office of Energy, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Patrick Sheehan and Mark Riley, regional Vice President, Clean Energy  were among the guests who helped commemorate the grand opening of the fueling station. Nearly 100 community stakeholders attended the ribbon cutting event at the HART 21st avenue Operations facility.

HART Board of Directors Chairperson Councilman Mike Suarez, thanked those in attendance as well as the many community partners for making this project a reality

"A project like this does not happen on its own," Suarez said. "This kind of innovation is at the core of the HART philosophy and strategy for serving the public."

At the ribbon cutting ceremony, HART Interim Chief Executive Officer, Katharine Eagan commented, "This is a perfect example of HART fueling its future and the agency's commitment to environmental leadership."   

Eagan then introduced numerous special guests who offered HART their congratulations and spoke to the importance of this innovative and momentous advancement into CNG technology.

Over the coming weeks, the agency plans to deploy 28 new CNG vans to replace its diesel-powered models. Early next year HART expects to put 22 new CNG buses in service as its diesel buses are retired from service. By the end of 2015 HART expects a total of 59 CNG vehicles to be in service.