Bath County News-Outlook Your Hometown Newspaper September 9, 2009 • 11
ross
Kentucky school
districts to receive
federal funds to
purchase new hy-
brid electric school
buses FRANKFORT,
Ky. (Sept. 2, 2009)
- Kentucky school
districts will benefit
from $12.9 million in
federal American Re-
covery and Reinvest-
ment Act (ARRA)
funds to purchase
new hybrid electric
school buses. Ken-
tucky will replace
about 200 diesel-pow-
ered units in school
bus fleets statewide
with Type C-Charge
Sustaining Hybrid
Electric school bus-
es. The procurement
process will begin in
October, and school
districts that intend
to purchase new bus-
es may choose hybrid
electric vehicles at
that time. There are
currently more than
9,800 diesel-fueled
school buses operat-
ing in Kentucky, and
this project is de-
signed to replace the
oldest buses in the
fleet. "These funds
will enable Ken-
tucky to continue its
outstanding school
transportation ser-
vice in our state's
public schools," said
Gov. Steve Beshear.
"Clean fuel technol-
ogy is not just the
wave of the future
- it's here now, and
our schools are an
excellent venue to
showcase the ben-
efits." The funds are
provided as a result
of a grant proposal
submitted by the
Kentucky Clean Fu-
els Coalition (KCFC).
KCFC will coordinate
with the Kentucky
Department of Edu-
cation, the Kentucky
Office for Air Quali-
ty, the Kentucky De-
partment of Energy
Development & In-
dependence and the
Kentucky Finance
& Administration
Cabinet on the proj-
ect. Education and
outreach prior to and
during bus delivery
will be coordinated
by the KCFC. The
buses will be part of
a nationwide initia-
tive to increase ener-
gy security, decrease
~0 William D. Ellington
AGENCY MANAGER
Derek Ellington, Agent
wingsville ° Ph.: (606) 674-6335
dependence on for-
eign oil and reduce
pollution. Once the
project is complete,
Kentucky will have
the largest fleet of
hybrid electric school
buses in the nation.
The project is antici-
pated to provide a
number of benefits,
including:
• extending the
current 14-year life
cycle of school buses
to 18-20 years
• reducing green-
house gas emissions
by 240 tons annually
• saving approxi-
mately 122,000 gal-
lons of diesel fuel per
year
• saving $950,000
over the life of the
new buses by using
regenerative braking
systems that reduce
maintenance
• providing oppor-
tunities for students
to observe and learn
about hybrid electric
technology firsthand
The Kentucky De-
partment of Educa-
tion will incorporate
hybrid electric tech-
nology as a speci-
fication in the bus
procurement process
available to every
school district in the
state. Performance
data will be tracked
on a quarterly ba-
sis. The Kentucky
NEED (National
Energy Education
Project), in partner-
ship with the KCFC,
will provide teacher
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Restorin
5410 ~V~ East
Owin v lte, 40360
Phone; 606-261~9263
Email" arn~ fi6~mail.com
e-mall: arn~nb~
support and curric-
ulum materials for
schools participating
in the hybrid electric
school bus program.
Teachers will be en-
couraged to use this
project as an oppor-
tunity to make real-
world connections in
science, chemistry,
mathematics and
other subject areas
for the students in
their schools. Hybrid
electric school bus-
es are more expen-
sive that standard
diesel-fueled buses
- the base price for
a hybrid electric bus
ranges from approxi-
mately $126,000 to
$133,000, compared
to $85,000 for a die-
sel-fueled bus. The
savings in fuel costs
and environmental
impacts, along with
other benefits, make
the use of hybrid
electric buses a vi-
able alternative for
Kentucky's public
school systems. This
grant will enable
districts to purchase
hybrid electric buses
with a reimburse-
ment process that
will eliminate addi-
tional costs.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
wspapee Office
I~: in+ere~+ed Con+at+ Melissa Mi+chell
P. O. 15o× l-7l Carlisle, ~/q
