CityBus’ Six New CNG Buses Travel 2,200 Miles

Six new compressed natural gas (CNG) buses were added to the CityBus fleet in December. The buses were driven 2,200 miles from the manufacturer located in Hayward, California, to CityBus on Canal Road. in Lafayette, Indiana. As aging buses are retired they are replaced with CNG fueled vehicles. The six new buses bring the CityBus CNG fleet total to twelve — eight 40-foot buses and four paratransit vehicles.

“Shifting our fleet to compressed natural gas is part of our larger mission to use our funds efficiently and wisely,” says Marty Sennett, general manager. “Eventually the entire fleet will be run on CNG saving us millions over the next decade in fuel and bus purchase costs and repair expenses versus traditional diesel and diesel electric hybrid buses.”

Federal funds paid for 80 percent of the cost of the bus while the remaining 20 percent came from local funds. Each CNG bus costs $475,000 compared to just over $600,000 for a new diesel electric hybrid bus.

The new buses, manufactured by Gillig, are all 40’ in length and 102” in width and are a low floor model which means it doesn’t have steps at the entrance. The low floor bus design improves bus accessibility for riders — particularly the elderly and those with mobility issues.

Each bus includes Gillig’s bus rapid transit styling package, an enhanced modern aesthetic. The bus is powered by a CNG Cummins engine, capable of traveling up to 560 miles between fill-ups, and an Allison automatic transmission. Both Cummins and Allison are Indiana-based companies.

Over the next three weeks CityBus maintenance and IT staff will add fareboxes, computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) systems, announcement system, GPS tracking, automatic people counters, security cameras and communications equipment to each bus.

“We look forward to serving our riders with our new buses,” says Sennett. “Our plan is to have the new buses on the road at the start of Purdue’s spring semester, January 11.”