Springfield, Ill (WAND) – Look for low emission buses to be rolling into Springfield area bus stops in the not to distant future as the Sangamon Mass Transit District transitions to Lo/No emissions buses.
“We’ll be phasing out the 34 diesel buses with 34 diesel-electric hybrid buses,” SMTD Managing Director Steve Schoeffel told WAND News. “They’ll still run on diesel fuel but they will be able to shutoff at certain times and idle on electric power.”
The SMTD board has approved the transition. New buses usually take 18 months from order to delivery but SMTD is hopeful to have a set of the buses in about a year or so.
SMTD has also been running 22 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. The first went into operation in 1996. Those CNG buses will help open the door to buses using hydrogen fuel technology as a possible alternative fuel for the future.
“Moving to alternative fuels that are cleaner will be better for our community especially for our disadvantaged community and we’re looking forward to doing it,” Schoeffel said.
