Pierce Transit, the public transportation agency serving Pierce County, Wash., has begun fueling its existing fleet of 143 natural gas buses on renewable natural gas.
The agency was among the earliest U.S. adopters of compressed natural gas (CNG) in transit applications, with its first CNG-powered buses coming online in 1986. Now, all of the fleet's CNG is derived from renewable sources – specifically, Pierce Transit and Cost Management Services Inc., the agency's natural gas marketer, obtain biogas from the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill in Maple Valley, Wash.
Pierce Transit notes that it will spend an average of approximately $0.70 per diesel gallon equivalent on renewable natural gas. Previously, the agency acquired CNG for about the same price – and at that price, Pierce Transit was able to save approximately $2.4 million in its 2013 budget by purchasing CNG.
‘The rebates for RNG are an added bonus,’ says Pierce Transit CEO Lynne Griffith.
