Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to switch to CNG buses
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)’s full board has voted to solicit bids from firms able to supply nearly 600 new natural gas-powered buses, ending a nearly year-long debate over whether the transit agency’s next-generation fleet should be fueled by natural gas or diesel. It will also seek to hedge the cost of natural gas for 10 years. Staff recommended buying the natural gas buses because of falling natural gas prices — despite more than $100 million in construction funds that will have to be borrowed upfront to pay for the conversion to a natural gas fleet, those costs, including interest, will be more than offset by fuel savings the agency expects to achieve by choosing natural gas, reports NGVAmerica.
The switch is a significant win for Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who lobbied the DART board strenuously last year to reject the staff’s proposal to go with diesel buses. He said then that choosing natural gas over diesel would help brand Dallas as an environmentally friendly, forward-looking city. He also argued that DART would be acting in the country’s best interest if it helped move the country off heavily imported diesel fuel, and instead used more of a fuel that is mostly purchased from domestic sources.
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