Metro News Release
For immediate release: September 7, 2005
Metro Unveils CNG Conversion of ItsFour Mile Run Bus Maintenance Facility
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) today celebrated the renovation of its Four Mile Run Metrobus Division located at 3501 South Glebe Road in Arlington County, VA, to include the installation of a fueling station for Metro’s compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.
The $22 million renovation, approved by Metro’s Board of Directors in October 2002, required necessary modifications to the existing maintenance and service buildings so that when Metro expanded its CNG fleet, the buses would be serviceable there.
The renovation allows Metro to service up to 212 new CNG buses at Four Mile Run, which are part of a new order of 250 buses. The remaining 38 buses will be at the Bladensburg Bus Division in Northeast Washington, D.C., which was the first facility to house CNG buses. The new buses should start to arrive this month.
"We are extremely excited about the completion of this project and the modifications that were made to the maintenance/service bays, and structures at Four Mile Run," said Metro Board Member Christopher Zimmerman. "The renovations at Four Mile Run included electrical and structural changes that were needed to support the operation of a large CNG bus fleet. Even more, these enhancements were implemented as the division continued to operate daily, providing for the service and maintenance needs of the hundreds of buses already housed at this division."
Three years ago, the Metro Board agreed to purchase the 250 new CNG buses. Currently, 164 CNG buses are housed at the Bladensburg Bus Division in Northeast Washington, DC. When the new buses arrive, it will mean Metro’s bus fleet will consist of 414 CNGs of a total fleet 1,473 diesel buses that operate on ultra-low sulphur fuel.
Renovations to Four Mile Run were required for local code compliance for CNG bus operations. These renovations included enhanced ventilation and heating; new generators for backup emergency power; upgrades and the addition of doors and walls that meet more stringent fire ratings; installation of a methane detection and control system; and installation of an emergency lighting system which requires an upgrade of various electrical components.
The new CNG buses are manufactured by Orion Bus Industries, Ltd., of Ontario, Canada, and each have a seating capacity of 41 passengers, including two locations for wheelchairs per bus. The total cost is approximately $67 million or $365,000 apiece.
"We have a commitment to our customers and to the Washington Metropolitan region to provide reliable, safe, customer-friendly bus transportation," explained Jack Requa, Chief Operating Officer for Bus. "A big part of that is our commitment to improve the region’s air quality."
In October 2001, Metrobus converted from standard diesel fuel to ultra-low sulphur diesel fuel and has since added exhaust after-treatment devices to further reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions. The CNG buses will produce a comparable reduction in PM, plus reduce nitrous oxide emissions by about 50 percent. The reduction in nitrous oxide will assist the region in reducing emissions in its most critical area: ozone pollution.
The Washington Metropolitan region must comply with federal regulations for air quality by 2005 to remain eligible for select federal transportation funds. Metro’s CNG buses work toward that goal of keeping vehicle emissions within the federally stated range.
The new CNG Metrobuses have the same red, white and blue painted design on their exterior, however customers will know that they are riding on one of the new buses when they pull up to a bus stop because the buses have a special large roof-top configuration that makes them easy to identify. A banner along the top of the bus points out that customers are riding on a clean fuel bus.
"The arrival of these new buses between now and March continues a commitment on the part of the Metro Board to do its part to improve regional air quality, which has been labeled by the Environmental Protection Agency as at risk for being a non-attainment area as it relates to air quality," said Mr. Zimmerman.
News release issued on September 7, 2005.