In Ocononowoc, Wisconsin, students will be getting greener rides to school. The Oconomowoc transportation department now has 11 hybrid school buses in its fleet. The buses run on a combination of plug-in electric, inlayed solar panels on the bus roof and diesel fuel. Each bus uses diesel to start, and then switches to electric power when it reaches a speed of about 25 miles per hour.
“We’re increasing the fuel economy by 50 percent, we’re reducing emissions by 30 to 40 percent,” says Sandy Syburg, president of Oconomowoc Transport. The city paid for the original buses, and the hybrid upgrade was funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Clean Transportation Program, a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Officials say that the buses will save the school district, and in turn taxpayers, roughly 7,500 gallons of fuel. By today’s cost of fuel, that’s approximately $25,000. Officials also reported that the upgraded buses still meet all federal and state government safety standards.
Via CNN.


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