Colonial Airport Parking, a transportation organization that moves travelers to and from Philadelphia International Airport, says that since making fleet conversions to propane autogas three years ago, it has seen fuel costs reduced by 32% and bus maintenance costs by 28.4%.
The company initially purchased two Ford E-450 shuttles, each equipped with a ROUSH CleanTech engine, and it now operates eight propane-powered shuttles. Two remaining gasoline buses will be replaced next year, making the fleet 100% propane-fueled.
Colonial Airport Parking leveraged a grant from the state of Pennsylvania to cover half the incremental cost of the shuttles.
“By choosing propane, we’ve reduced our carbon footprint, improved our operating efficiency, better served our customers and prevented local residents from breathing in a lot of unnecessary pollution,” says John Groden, operations manager for Colonial Airport Parking.
He adds that the company’s propane shuttles “already have 140,000 miles on them, and have had no issues other than routine maintenance.”
“Our mechanic is astonished at how clean the oil is when our propane vehicles are due for service, and our drivers say that the propane vehicles function better than our gasoline vehicles, especially during cold winter months,” Groden notes.
ROUSH CleanTech – a Ford QVM-certified alternative fuel vehicle manufacturer – designs, engineers, manufactures and installs propane autogas fuel system technology for medium-duty Ford commercial vehicles, among other vehicle platforms. The company also does compressed natural gas fuel systems for Type C Blue Bird school buses.
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