Thousand Oaks Gets Funds for Clean-Fuel Vehicles
Thousand Oaks will receive up to $37,000 from Ventura County to help fund the city’s purchase of eight vehicles that will run on compressed natural gas.
The Board of Supervisors approved the funding last week on a recommendation from the Clean Air Fund Advisory Committee, a panel set up to make spending proposals for a 1991 grant of $1.5 million from the 3M Co. The supervisors agreed to match donations made to Thousand Oaks by The Gas Co.
The money will go toward the purchase of four pickup trucks and four transit buses, all of which will be powered by compressed natural gas, a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline.
Thousand Oaks transit officials, in the midst of converting all of the city’s trucks and buses to compressed natural gas, welcomed the donation.
“Our goal is the same as most other transit systems: to provide transportation for the citizens by producing the least amount of pollution,” said Roy Myers, the city’s transportation engineer.
“The plan is to convert the whole fleet of trucks we have at the municipal center.”
Other agencies looking at buying compressed natural gas-powered vehicles include the cities of Long Beach and Sacramento, as well as the South Coast Area Transit system, which provides public transportation in the Oxnard area.
Thousand Oaks has already set up a portable “slow-fueling” station to pump the natural gas into its trucks and buses. But Myers said the city is working with The Gas Co. to construct a permanent “fast-fuel” facility.
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