Yale University has added four compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to its on-campus fleet of 42 transit buses as a part of its shift to alternative fuels. Two of the buses are medium-sized, 20-passenger units built on the Ford E-450 chassis, and two are 38-passenger shuttle buses.
‘Over the past several years, our operations have grown, so we are running more facilities vehicles, shuttles, nighttime safe ride cars, and special services vans,’ says George E. Longyear, Yale's director of fleet and housing. ‘While we are trying to shrink our emissions output of a larger fleet, we are looking at alternative-powered vehicles of all sizes.’
He notes that CNG will play a prominent role in this shift. Yale's fleet management group is planning to purchase 13 new vehicles in the next year that are either factory-equipped with CNG systems or ready to be converted to CNG. Yale also currently has three MV-1 natural gas vehicles in its fleet.
Right now, Yale accesses fuel for its natural gas vehicles at a public-access CNG station located in West Haven, Conn. Another CNG station is scheduled to come online soon in New Haven, offering a closer option for refueling.
