BURBANK : Consortium Wins Bus-Project Grant
State lawmakers have awarded $300,000 to a Burbank-based consortium of government agencies and private businesses to develop a prototype of a 40-foot-long bus powered by electricity and natural gas.
Assemblyman James Rogan (R-Glendale), and Sen. Newton Russell (R-Glendale), announced the grant on Wednesday, to be given to CALSTART, a statewide agency representing 80 utilities, vehicle manufacturers and defense companies.
Funding for the CALSTART project comes from the California Energy Commission’s Transportation Energy Technologies Advancement Program--designed to promote development of vehicles using pollution-saving technologies, said Rogan spokeswoman Natalie Blanning.
Under an agreement negotiated with Russell’s office, CALSTART will provide $830,830 in matching funds to initiate the bus project. One of four bus manufacturers in California will be asked to build the prototype, said Dave Sotero, CALSTART communications associate.
CALSTART engineer Paul Helliker said the announcement frees up CALSTART’S matching funds for the project and allows him to convene a team of agency members formed to design a 40-foot-long bus.
The longer buses, similar to those used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are more difficult to design because they have a larger motor, Helliker said.
The bus will join a 22-foot CALSTART model--used as a shuttle bus--and a 30-foot prototype scheduled to debut on California roadways this September. Three electric school buses designed by CALSTART are also being tested in the Southland.
The 22- and 30-foot buses, built by APS Systems of Oxnard, can travel up to 100 miles before their batteries need to be charged, Helliker said. Electric school buses typically travel 40 miles between recharging sessions.
Each of the bus prototypes has an auxiliary natural gas tank that can be used to recharge batteries while the vehicle is on the road--increasing travel time, Helliker said.
CALSTART, created in 1992 to meet clean-air mandates from the California Air Resources Board, operates 13 programs designed to provide Californians by 1998 with vehicles that use different technologies to decrease pollution.
A majority of funding for the consortium comes from its participants, with about 10% of the agency’s budget provided by the state, Sotero said.
