Vacans to ride new bus

Vacans to ride new bus
By Melissa Murphy
Posted: 08/24/2009

The city of Vacaville is sporting a new set of wheels.

The first of 10 compressed natural gas city buses is now rolling a regular route through town.

The entire fleet will be in Vacaville by the end of September and will replace all diesel City Coach buses in the community.

"There will be a lot less pollutants," said Brian McLean, transit manager. "It's a way of removing harmful emissions and to adhere to more stringent air quality standards."

McLean said the new buses have a few changes to make them an overall better ride for passengers, such as a low floor design that allows visitors to step off the curb and into the bus to sit down without having to walk up stairs.

"Overall it's much more comfortable." he said and added that the new buses are quieter with a smoother ride. "It has a feel of riding in a Cadillac."

The new buses will also be equipped with the standard bike rack at the front of each bus.

He said it is also cheaper to keep the higher quality buses fueled.

According to McLean, it's only $1 per gallon of compressed natural gas. The city then receives a rebate of 50 cents.

The city did not have to grab from its general fund to purchase the buses. About $1.7 million was received from the American Recovery Reinvestment Act stimulus deal and another $2 million from regular federal funding. Another $740,000 was received from the Transportation Development Act and Proposition 1B.

Mayor Len Augustine said he's excited about what the new buses mean for Vacaville.

"Vacaville is on the forefront of looking out for the environment," he said and pointed to the city's electric cars and solar energy uses. "We're not going to stop here. We'll continue to work to clean up the air in Vacaville. We're revamping how we do business here as far as air quality goes."

The new fleet couldn't have come at a better time, city officials said.

Since the Vacaville Unified School District opted not to have school bus service, the city has since seen a significant jump in its ridership, as students catch a ride to school each day.

McLean said the number of youth who ride City Coach has increased fourfold.

"It's great to see many more students taking advantage of the bus system," he said.