Lean, Clean Bus Rolls Out for Testing

Applying Cold War technology to peacetime use, Los Angeles transportation officials on Tuesday rolled out the first “stealth” bus, a lightweight, low-polluting vehicle made out of materials similar to those used in the B-2 bomber.

After four years of research and development, workers at Northrop Grumman Corp.’s El Segundo plant joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena in unveiling a prototype of the bus they hope will not only provide thousands of manufacturing jobs but also become the successor for the world’s fleet of aging, smoke-belching buses.

The first Advanced Technology Transit Bus will undergo its first road testing on the bumpy streets of Los Angeles, but it will not be stopping for passengers for at least another year.

The bus rolled out Tuesday, bearing a sign “The Bus of the Future” and featuring the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority logo, is the first of six prototypes to be built under a $51-million program, one of the largest transit research projects ever funded by the federal government.

The vehicle is considered a major step forward not only for its cleaner fuel but also because of its reduced weight, designed to improve fuel economy, reduce emissions and save on wear and tear.

The 40-foot-long bus--made out of a glass composite--looks like a conventional aluminum-skin bus but runs on four wheels instead of six and weighs about 21,000 pounds instead of 30,000. It operates on compressed natural gas, which powers a generator. In turn, the generator delivers electricity to turn the rear wheels.

The bus holds the same number of passengers--43 seated and 29 standing--as those now in use but features a wider door and lower floor, reducing boarding time and--transit officials hope--speeding up the ride. To make the floor even with the curb, eliminating the need for steps, mechanical equipment normally beneath the bus is stored on top.

At the ceremony, officials expressed hope that the bus would provide thousands of local manufacturing jobs, reduce smog and perhaps even lower America’s trade deficit. Northrop Grumman officials, however, noted that they have no plans to manufacture the buses, saying the firm plans to continue to focus on defense and research.

“In the next century, I believe when we visit our friends in Asia or Europe or South America, we’ll be riding on American-made buses,” Pena said, predicting that the bus will become one of America’s leading exports in the early 21st century.

“We’re going to see this bus all over America,” said U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). “And they’re going to be made right here in Southern California.”

But it may be a few years before any assembly line begins rolling. Indeed, with the project still in the research phase, no manufacturer has yet been identified.

The first prototype will undergo several months of testing, with sandbags simulating the weight of passengers, on MTA routes, including one through downtown Los Angeles and another on the hilly, winding roads of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Then it will be shipped to test labs and tracks in Phoenix and Altoona, Pa., for several more months of testing.

The remaining five prototypes are scheduled to be built by the end of next year and tested in Los Angeles and five other yet-to-be selected cities.

An MTA official said that the public could take its first ride on one of the advanced buses as early as July 1997.

Although they have pioneered the use of cleaner-burning buses, Los Angeles officials have run into problems with past efforts.

The MTA in August pulled 120 natural-gas-powered buses off the streets after a gas tank ruptured in one of the vehicles. The agency also has spent millions of dollars to convert its methanol buses to ethanol because of engine problems.

In the early 1980s, the now-defunct Southern California Rapid Transit District and transit agencies in several other cities, including Chicago and New York, grounded hundreds of new Grumman-Flxible “advanced design” buses because of cracks in their frames and other structural weaknesses. Grumman had to spend millions recalling and strengthening buses and later sold its Flxible division.

Transit officials from cities across the nation have been closely monitoring the project because of the potential savings in fuel and maintenance costs. Los Angeles officials said the bus could free up money to expand public transit.

Jim Pachan, the MTA’s project manager for the stealth bus program, said that the advanced vehicle is expected to cost $337,000, about $10,000 more than the agency’s most recently purchased buses.

The MTA projects that if it replaces its entire fleet of 2,100 buses with the advanced vehicles, it will save $8 million a year on fuel and $1.8 million a year on brake repairs.

Philip Sweesy, Northrop Grumman assembly manager for the bus project who was aboard the prototype, dubbed ATTB 1, for a test ride Tuesday, said that it was more fun to work on the bus than the radar-evading bomber.

“They won’t let you drive the B-2,” he said.

The bus will be on exhibit at a private trade show in Anaheim today and on public display Friday at the MTA headquarters near Union Station.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Bus Lite

Transportation officials on Tuesday unveiled the prototype of the “stealth” bus, a lightweight, low-polluting transit vehicle of the future. Among its features:

* Composite material similar to that used in building the B-2 bomber.

* Weight nearly 9,000 pounds less than that of a conventional bus.

* Four wheels instead of six.

* Engine fueled by compressed natural gas, which powers an electric generator to turn the rear wheels; designed to accommodate other alternative fuel technologies.

* Same passenger capacity as a conventional bus, but with a wider door to ease passenger flow.

* Low floor to permit easy access for wheelchair passengers.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority