By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
We would certainly like to see clean air buses as part of our operation, Long Beach Superintendent of Schools Ron Friedman said. There are some significant considerations that we have to look into.
The school district is considering changing part of their diesel bus fleet to clean air buses, which run on compressed natural gases (CNG). The Greater Long Island Clean City's Coalition has offered the district a $125,000 grant and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has offered a $1.1 million grant to pursue the new buses. Both grants would pay for the difference between a diesel bus and a clean air bus.
Since there is no time constraint to accept the grants, the school district will be investigating the change over the next few months. Every consideration is being researched since there are also a number of other expenses involved, Friedman said.
Friedman said the district is worried about future costs they might incur if they accept the grants. The district is heavily weighing the possibility that funds will not be available in five years.
If we replace a chunk of our fleet, now what assurances do we have that money will still be available, Friedman said. I won't bind the district to a two-bus system. There are a lot of hurdles. I'm interested, but not at all married to this one.
The district is looking to replace 20 of their diesel buses. If the district is satisfied, additional buses would be bought in five years, and then they would look to replace the remaining buses.
Friedman said for the next few months, school officials are going to meet with representatives of the grant-offering programs, and will be contacting other districts that have clean air buses.
We are not sure at this point that the grant money is adequate to warrant going in this direction, Friedman said.
Clean air buses have a longer life span than the diesel kind, and burn fuel that doesn't produce pollutants, Friedman said, but the cost difference ranges from $20,000 to $40,000.
The district is not ruling out sticking with diesel buses. With new federal guidelines on the horizon, diesel manufacturers must change their designs. The diesels must be cleaner than they used to be and they must meet federal guidelines, Arcola Bus Sales representative Jeff Robbins said. The guidelines are getting heavier every year.
Friedman believes if emissions from diesel buses prove to be semi-close to a clean air bus than he would consider that, especially if the cost is much lower.
