Greener Buses Fleet * USA - Hitting area streets

(Photos by Steve Bloom/The Olympian - Intercity Transit coach technician William Snyder runs an electronic diagnostic scan Monday on one of six hybrid buses as the full-sized buses are prepared for fleet service over the next week, with one already on the road)

Olympia,Washington,USA -The News Tribune, by JOHN DODGE -10 Aug 2010: -- Six hybrid buses fueled by biodiesel and electricity are joining the Intercity Transit bus fleet this month... The first of the more fuel-efficient buses hit the streets Friday, and the remaining five could be in service within a week... The total cost of the six hybrid buses, including tax, is $3.7 million. The public transportation agency serving Thurston County paid for the buses with $2.3 million in federal stimulus money, nearly $751,000 in other federal funds and about $575,000 in transit authority capital funds...
(Photo from The Olympian - Intercity Transit is rolling out hybrid buses that agency officials have been hoping to buy since testing them in 2004)

The hybrid buses, which cost about $180,000 more per vehicle than a diesel-fueled bus, are also expected to provide a quieter, smoother ride with fewer diesel odors...