NAFA Fleet Management Association has added to the City of Culver City’s trophy cabinet, recognizing the outstanding work of staff member, Paul Condran, for his environmental commitment toward greener fleets through the use of natural gas vehicles (NGVs). The city’s fleet has recently received national attention and acclaim for its work as an early adopter of NGV technology.
When Culver City was planning for the reconstruction of its transportation facility in 1996, city leaders made the decision to start replacing diesel and gasoline vehicles with CNG (compress natural gas)-powered vehicles whenever possible – a step taken in advance of state-mandated clean air rules. Since then, Culver City has been a progressive leader in its commitment to using CNG as the fuel of choice for its entire fleet. Their current roster of 93 CNG vehicles, which includes 52 buses, 15 refuse trucks, 22 light-duty vehicles, and 4 heavy-duty public works trucks, fuels at the City’s dedicated CNG station, displacing nearly 800,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel and saving taxpayers more than $1.2 million dollars per year. In fact, nearly 80% of the City’s medium- and heavy-duty fleet is now CNG-powered, a decision that has removed more than 2100 tons of CO2 (a greenhouse gas) and 40 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides over the past eight years alone.
After initially deploying 20 CNG buses in 1998, the Culver City bus fleet eventually completed replacement of all its diesel buses by 2006, becoming the first 100% CNG transit fleet in the South Coast Air Quality Management District – and just the second in the state. Other “firsts” include the City’s CNG-powered asphalt truck, sewer truck and other vocational trucks, none of which were available until fleet staff worked with manufacturers to develop new engine/chassis specifications – applications that have since been improved upon and offered to other cities. The City’s CNG fleet program was a major factor in its #2 Best Green Fleet in North America – 2008 ranking by the Top 100 Fleets Certification Program.
On September 21 this year, the City of Culver City was awarded the prestigious 2009 NGV Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of natural gas as a vehicular fuel, during the recent NGVAmerica Conference Summit at the Long Beach Convention Center. More recently, the City of Culver City and Condran were among the first recipients of Government Fleet’s first annual “Environmental Leadership” Awards presented at the 2009 Green Fleet Conference in Chicago on October 19, 2009. Condran also received the Green Fleet Award from the 100 Best Fleets Program at a presentation made later that day.
“As an early adopter of NGV technology, Culver City has built upon experience to build a successful NGV program and they’ve shared their insights and experiences with others. This type of leadership is worthy of our industry’s recognition and thanks,” said Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) President Doug Horne.
NAFA Fleet Management Association is a not-for-profit, individual membership professional society serving the needs of members who manage fleets of sedans, public safety vehicles, trucks, and buses of all types and sizes, and a wide range of military and off-road equipment for organizations across the globe.
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