Talk about getting on board.
Transit systems across the country are using newly awarded stimulus funds to order hybrid buses.Those getting the biggest boost are smaller cities that couldn't previously afford to make the move to green.
In Lubbock, Texas, the transit authority ordered three new hybrids using $1.6 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Clermont County, Ohio will use part of its $1.4 million from the stimulus to buy four hybrids. And in Olympia, Wash., Intercity Transit ordered six hybrids, partly funded by the $2.3 million in stimulus funds it will be receiving.
“We would not be purchasing at this time if it wasn’t for the stimulus money,” says Meg Kester, the marketing and communications manager at Intercity Transit.
Kester says Intercity Transit had been planning to purchase hybrid buses for the past couple of years as a way to save money on fuel costs, but couldn't afford them.
A typical hybrid bus costs between $500,000-$600,000, about $200,000 more than a regular vehicle....
...Several companies currently manufacture buses, but Daimler Buses North America and New Flyer are the largest producers. Daimler supplies buses for New York City and San Francisco among others, while New Flyer counts Washington D.C. and Chicago among its customers....MORE
Daimler Buses is, of course, a division of Daimler AG:
"Daimler Buses North America’s transit bus brand Orion continued its lead as the world’s largest producer of diesel-electric hybrid buses...."
New Flyer is based in Winnipeg and manufactures in Minnesota.
In school buses, the Collins Bus Corp. division of Collins Industries (80% owned by BNS Holdings) is making some noise (via KWCH):
Navistar manufactures hybrid versions of both their commercial and school buses.SOUTH HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas company says it has entered into an agreement with Azure Dynamics to develop small school buses powered by hybrid electric technologies.
South Hutchinson-based Collins Bus Corp. says the hybrid buses can achieve up to a 40 percent increase in fuel economy while reducing maintenance costs by 30 percent....
The Wikipedia hybrid electric bus page has some more names:
Current manufacturers of diesel-electric hybrid buses include Azure Dynamics Corporation, Ebus, New Flyer Industries, Gillig, ISE Corporation, Motor Coach Industries, Orion Bus Industries, North American Bus Industries, Daimler AG's Mitsubishi Fuso, BAE Systems, Volvo Buses, Castrosua and many more.
In 2006, Nova Bus, which had previously marketed the RTS hybrid before that model was discontinued, added a diesel-electric hybrid option for its LFS series as well....