DART CNG-powered transit bus
452 new CNG buses; paratransit fleet will be 100% CNG-powered
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has awarded Clean Energy Fuels Corp. a $40-million contract to design and build four new compressed natural gas (CNG) stations to support the transition of DART’s fixed route and paratransit bus fleet to 100% CNG power. The project will also will include two building modifications for maintenance facilities.
Over the next three years, the agency plans to deploy 452 new CNG buses and 200 CNG paratransit vehicles as replacements for its current fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel-powered models that began service in 1998.
The new Clean Energy CNG fueling stations will be located at DART’s bus and paratransit maintenance facilities. The station development project is set to start in May 2011 and Clean Energy expects to complete DART’s first new CNG fueling facility by April 2012.
“With the transition of its bus fleet to CNG power, DART joins the ranks of clear leaders among U.S. transit operators anxious to secure the environmental and economic benefits of CNG for their communities,” said James Harger, Clean Energy’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Across the nation, Clean Energy is partnering with many transit agencies to reliably fuel over 5,500 buses daily. We are honored by the opportunity DART has given us to develop the new station infrastructure that will support one of America’s largest CNG transit bus fleets.”
Based in Dallas, Texas, DART deploys buses on 135 fixed and express routes. In fiscal year 2010, passenger boardings of DART buses totaled more than 38 million.
Using natural gas fuel can prevent tons of emissions from entering the atmosphere throughout the operating life of a typical bus fleet, while also lowering a transit agency’s operating costs significantly.
This article compiled using information from a Clean Energy Fuels Corporation press release.
