By Rob Ginter - Staff Writer
Rowan County schools transportation department test-drove a hybrid-assist bus at a demonstration held at the school bus garage.
Bluegrass International, a bus retailing company, held the demo for Rowan schools joined by transportation officials from Carter and Fleming counties. Bluegrass International spokesman Mark Cahill was on hand to answer questions about the bus’s engine and electrical system, and questions about grants to help offset the increased cost of the hybrid school bus.
“The benefit is you get improved fuel mileage and save money,” Cahill said. “It’s a good image builder for any district. Districts now have anti-idling policies and they are going with more efficient lighting in schools and heating, and the newer schools are all pointed toward green so this is part of that focus.”
“There are no orders in Kentucky for this bus yet,” Cahill said. “The purpose is to get the information out to the people in the state to be able to purchase this off the state contract at a future date.”
Kentucky has received almost $13 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program. The nearly $300 million program encourages states and communities to seek methods to increase the use of clean fuels and hybrid vehicles, as well as develop better infrastructure. Kentucky’s Clean Cities grant seeks to replace 190 older model school buses throughout the Commonwealth with new hybrid electric school buses. The Department of Energy estimates that the project could help the state save more than 120,000 gallons of fuel each year.
Along with the increased horsepower from the hybrid assist system, the bus also employs a regenerative braking system. This aids in slowing the bus without the use of the brakes and captures the energy from the motion of the bus, storing it in the hybrid system’s battery. The stored energy is then used to assist in the bus’s acceleration at low speeds.
Currently, a typical diesel-powered school bus has a life span of approximately 14 years. With the reduced strain on the diesel engine using a hybrid assist system, the life span of a school bus using the new technology could increase by four to six years.
Jack Tackett, a bus driver for Rowan County, test-drove the hybrid-assist bus. According to Rowan school officials, a school district using a hybrid-assist school bus could see a substantial cost savings. It could also provide students in the district with a first-hand lesson in hybrid electric technology as well as encourage them to become more environmentally aware, officials said.
