City Commission approves greener buses

By Mike Bontrager

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Lawrence Transit System will be implementing greener technologies in their new line of buses. The City Commission approved the Fuels Task Force’s recommendation to implement four biodiesel and two electric/biodiesel buses at the City Commission meeting April 28.

No buses where purchased last year because of the uncertainty about whether the sales tax to fund the transit system would pass. City staff is now working to find a manufacturer to provide the vehicles with the needed specifications.

Casey Toomay, interim public transit administrator, said the city received $2.9 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will be used for such transit-related projects.

Toomay said using alternative fuels was important for two reasons.

“Public transportation can be an environmentally responsible mode of transportation by reducing the number of cars on the road,” Toomay said. “Using alternative fuels can further reduce emissions and greenhouse gases.”

The city also hired a new public transit administrator, Robert Nugent.

David Corliss, city manager, said Nugent was selected after a nationwide recruitment effort. Corliss said Nugent was selected because of his experience and skill in transit administration.

“Robert has transit experience in larger communities and with communities that have a strong university presence,” Corliss said. “He has a strong sense of the value of public transit in a community, including the importance of cooperation with university transit systems.”

Nugent said he accepted the offer because the position was a good fit for him.

“I’ve always liked the university environment,” Nugent said. “It was my opportunity to really apply everything I knew about transit.”

Nugent said he wanted to help Lawrence increase ridership by promoting the transit systems as a system for everyone.

“I think there’s an opportunity to get the people who don’t ride or haven’t ridden in the past or haven’t ridden a lot,” Nugent said. “We might be able to get them on board and try it out, see if they like it a little bit. We can probably move forward with that pretty quick.”

Nugent said alternative fuels were a good option when the industry could provide a dependable vehicle.

“Some of the manufactures are producing a very good hybrid electric right now,” Nugent said. “They are a little more costly, but so what? On the other hand it’s saving us money with the environment.”

Toomay said the city was ready to proceed with the purchase of the vehicles and the city commission will officially approve the purchase order this summer.

— — Edited by Heather Melanson

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