Seen in New York: Clean Air Hybrid Electric Bus

Seen in New York: Clean Air Hybrid Electric Bus

The New York City Bus system uses over 1,280 buses and is considered the ninth largest transit bus fleet in North America. Its impact is significant. Although the City of New York owns most of the buses, seven private bus operators provide the service. The bus system carries over 114 million people annually. In the year 2000 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or the MTA as it is more commonly known - started the Clean Fuel Bus Program, which is envisaged to give New York the world's cleanest bus fleet. Designed to give cost-effective emissions reductions as quickly as possible, the Clean Fuel Bus Program is an initiative of the local government in an explicit attempt to set an example of environmental standards. It takes a mostly technological approach, aiming to replace or retrofit the existing diesel bus fleet with cleaner technologies. The initiative goes voluntarily beyond mandatory emission control standards. To achieve these goals Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses are used as well as hybrid buses, and clean diesel technologies.