****************************************************************** JOINT PRESS RELEASE FROM Senator K. Maurice Johannessen Assemblyman Tom Woods ****************************************************************** Senator Johannessen's Office Assemblyman Woods's Office Rob Stutzman @ 916-445-3353 Trent Smith @ 916-445-7266 For Immediate Release March 31, 1995 Gateway School District & South County Consortium to Receive Safer, More Environmentally Friendly Buses SACRAMENTO - Hundreds of students in the Gateway Unified School District in Redding and the South County Transportation Consortium in Anderson will soon be riding safer in less- polluting, more energy-efficient new school buses thanks to a program funded by the California Energy Commission, State Senator Maurice Johannessen and Assemblyman Tom Woods announced today. The Commission is purchasing at least 174 school buses under the third phase of the Safe School Bus Clean Fuel Efficiency Demonstration Program. A total of four advanced diesel-powered will go to Gateway, while the South County Consortium will receive two advanced diesel buses and two buses powered by natural gas. The buses are worth more than $700,000. "This is great news for the school districts," said Senator Johannessen. "Schools are having a tough enough time trying to make ends meet as it is. They can't even begin to replace older buses because the costs are so high. This program is an opportunity for the school districts to replace their polluting older buses with cleaner, more energy efficiency ones. I'm proud of our two recipeints that their proposals were successful in competing for these cleaner, safer buses." The program was created by the Legislature in 1988. Under the program, the school districts retire an equal number of older buses built prior to the 1977 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. These older buses are replaced by ones that have advanced safety features. Also, as part of the program, at least 35 percent of the new buses have to be powered by fuels other than diesel or gasoline. The older buses are retired from service and cannot be used within California for transporting children or adults. Many of the older buses are sold for scrap or parts. "We have 13 pre-1977 buses out of a fleet of 31," said Marla Kraft, Director of Fiscal Services for Gateway USD. "Our older buses can carry only 66 passengers, so getting new buses that carry 78 will be great. We were already discussing going into a lease / purchase plan to retire some the older buses because we couldn't afford to buy new buses. Now we won't have to." "These new buses are also much safer than the buses they replace," said Assemblyman Woods. "The advanced safety features will help protect our kids as they travel to and from school. Parents should feel at ease knowing that their children are riding in some of the safest buses in the country." In Phase 3 of the Safe School Bus Program, the Energy Commission is giving a total of at least 174 buses to school districts and school transportation consortiums around the state. The final number of buses that will be purchased depends on all bids being received and approved by the state Department of General Services. Of the 174 total new buses (more may be purchased if bid prices are lower than expected), 82 are powered by clean-burning, compressed natural gas (CNG); 82 are high efficiency, advanced diesel-powered buses; and 10 will be powered by electricity, which have zero tail pipe emissions. Natural gas and electricity will be provided by the local utility companies: Pacific Gas and Electric Company will provide CNG and electricity in northern California, Southern California Edison Company will provide electricity and Southern California Gas Company will provide CNG in most of the Southern California region, and San Diego Gas & Electric will provide both CNG and electricity in its service territory. When the buses are delivered starting this fall (with all Phase 3 buses due for delivery by the end of 1996), a total of 737 buses will have been purchased in the three phases of the $100 million program. Funding for the program comes from the federal Petroleum Violation Escrow Account, which is made up of fines collected from oil companies that over-charged consumers at the pumps during the 1970 oil crises. Of the total buses purchased in the three phases, 385 are advanced diesel buses, 192 are natural gas-powered, 150 are powered by methanol _ the high octane alcohol fuel used at the Indianapolis 500, and 10 will run on electricity. The program has convinced major bus manufacturers to offer models and engines that use fuels other than diesel and gasoline. The new buses are being manufactured by (and the cost per bus): * Electric _ Bids are due to the California Department of General Services by April 7th, and opened on April 10th * Natural Gas _ Blue Bird Body Company (low bidder at $96,118) * Advanced Diesel _ Blue Bird Body Company (low bidder at $84,680) A total of more than 200 school districts applied for an opportunity to demonstrate the clean and alternative fuel buses in Phase 3. A rigorous selection process narrowed the applications. The scoring included points based on the number of older buses in the fleet, maintenance capabilities of the fleet, air quality problems in the school district, whether alternative fuels were available nearby, and commitments to the program made by the districts themselves, among other criteria. The distribution of buses was based upon the willingness of districts to accept the three types of buses, the number of spare buses the district may have (to handle possible breakdowns or technical problems with the alternative fuel models), and the availability of fuel sources (natural gas and electricity). The buses include a number safety features not found on pre-1977 buses. These include: * Additional exits _ The buses have two roof exits; exits on both sides _ one in front and one behind the rear wheels; and an emergency exit at the back of the bus, besides the front entrance door. * A fire extinguishing system is in the engine compartment (for the internal combustion engine natural gas and diesel buses) that will snuff out any possible fires. * A stop sign swings out from the left side of the buses warning motorists that children might be crossing the street. * The natural gas buses have a reinforced safety cage that protects the fuel cylinders in the event of a collision. * Electric buses have special batteries that will not leak in an accident. The Energy Commission will track the use of each of the buses for a five-year period. During that time, the school districts will file information on the miles driven, fuel consumption, operating and maintenance costs, and other data. The information is filed via computer and modems over telephone lines. The collected data are used to help manufacturers refine their products and to point out any problem areas that might arise in these new buses. # # # For more information contact: Marla Kraft Director of Fiscal Services, Gateway Unified School District _ 916-245-7900 James Cerreta Director, South County Transportation Consortium _ 916-378-0568 Bob Aldrich Information Officer, California Energy Commission _ 916-654-4993 end of file File Name: 95-03-31_Sentor_Johannessen_&_Assemblyman_Wood_Joint_Release