VIA Metro Transit today rolled out the first of its new fleet of buses, all fueled by compressed natural gas, to begin to phase out the current fleet, which have been on San Antonio streets for nearly twenty years, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
VIA Board Chair Hope Andrade said replacing diesel fuel with CNG, which will be purchased from CPS Energy, will reduce almost all of the choking grey-brown exhaust smoke that makes buses so unpleasant to be stopped behind at a red light, and will also result in major cost savings.
"The new fleet will bring an estimated $8.5 million in annual fuel cost savings," she said.
The new buses, manufactured by Nova Bus, will be forty feet long by 102 inches wide, and the VIA CNG fueling station will be the largest in the nation.
Andrade says the technology has advanced a lot since many of the old buses were introduced in the 1990s."The new ones have GPS, a camera system, automatic passenger counters to streamline boarding, and a public information system for enhanced passenger stop information."
VIA is working hard to convince more middle class commuters to take the bus by improving bus lines and bus stops, shortening the time between buses, and establishing express routes to popular work destinations, like the Medical Center.
VIA has also added Primo Buys Rapid Transit to many lines, which makes the bus more like a train.
The plan is to have more than 400 new CNG fueled buses on the streets by 2020.