While Seattle's King County might be the first to turn to GM's new HEV buses to replenish their fleet, many more cities across North America are expected to do likewise. GM has plans to sell a total of 270 HEV buses to 10 cities this year alone, and that's just the beginning.
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| U.S. Senator Patty Murray, (D-WA) and Tom Stephens, General Motors' Vice President of Powertrain, get ready to board one of the 235 transit buses to King County. (Photo: General Motors of Canada, Joe Polimeni) |
And it makes sense that these cities would want to follow Seattle's lead, being that the HEV buses are said to improve fuel economy by up to 60 percent over conventional diesel buses. But that's only savings in the pocket book. The reduction of certain emissions can be improved by up to 90 percent. Reports have stated that if all 13,000 transit buses in the just nine of America's largest cities were replaced by HEV buses, fuel savings could reach upward of 40 million gallons per year.
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| Drivers take three of the 235 hybrid buses through the streets of Seattle for a test run, Wednesday May 26, 2004, as General Motors begins delivery to Kings County Metro Transit. (Photo: General Motors of Canada, Joe Polimeni) |
While Detroit's General Motors sells the buses, they're manufactured in Canada by New Flyer of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The buses derive their diesel power from Caterpillar of Peoria, Illinois.
"GM is committed to applying hybrid technology to the highest fuel consuming vehicles on the road, including mass transit buses," stated Beth Lowery, GM vice president of environment and energy. "King County's decision to purchase more than 200 of these buses will save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel [costs] and more than 750,000 gallons of fuel each year."
The HEV bus program is "the first step in a larger GM initiative," according to Tom Stephens, group vice president of GM Powertrain.