Clean-burning buses powered by compressed natural gas have officially arrived at the Greater Portland Transit District. And the passengers on the District’s Metro system got to ride for free to celebrate this arrival.
Celebration hosted by Metro and organizations that promote the use of alternative fuels have been kicked off by scrapped the day’s fares on all routes, while introducing the new buses and new natural gas refueling station.
Natural gas now powers thirteen of the system’s 28 buses, as the older models run on diesel oil. Metro’s entire fleet may very soon be powered with the cleaner fuel, Peter Cavanaugh, operations manager informed.
As for economics is concerned, it is now, natural gas has a slight advantage over diesel fuel, though the differences in maintenance costs between the old and new buses are not yet determined.