Hybrid-Electric School Buses in Kentucky Seeing Double

With 125 school buses on the road, Kentucky has the largest hybrid-electric school bus fleet in the nation. Not only have the school buses achieved increased route fuel efficiency with the new technology, some are achieving MPGs in the double-digits.
 
Pike County Schools, for instance, has achieved an average of 11.6 miles per gallon with their 37 buses. This eastern Kentucky school system has the largest fleet in the state and is doubling their fuel efficiency through driver education and ideal route placement of the buses.
 
“With lean times we are all going through right now, having extra money in our budget that we saved with these hybrid buses is something we didn’t dream would happen,” said Ancie Casey, director of transportation for Pike County Schools.
 
According to the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition (KCFC), one of the leading organizations responsible for coordinating the hybrid-school bus program, all the school buses are fitted with Electronic Control Modules that record and store all bus performance data, including the hybrid system data.  KCFC receives that information from each school monthly and compiles the performance data, which can be viewed on their web site.
 
Through August nearly 380,000 miles have been logged by the buses with an average hybrid fuel efficiency of 9.65 miles per gallon, three miles per gallon higher than the baseline fuel efficiency.
 
“Kentucky's broad topographic range offers excellent opportunities for real world data from the buses,” said Melissa Howell, KCFC executive director. “We hope that school systems across the country will take a look at what we are doing and use the data to help them decide if hybrid technology will provide them energy savings.”
 
The KCFC applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2010 that would offset the cost of the hybrid system for buses.  In December of last year, $12.8 million was awarded for the purchase of 215 hybrid electric school buses.
 
The Kentucky Department of Education administers the funds which can be applied for by any Kentucky public school district.  To date, 31 have taken advantage of the program.
The buses are manufactured by ThomasBuilt and International and are equipped with an Eaton hybrid system.
 
“With the data collected, we now know that the equipment is capable of achieving 12 miles per gallon, double what they were seeing with traditional diesel powered busses,” said Howell. “We have proven that in the first year!”
 
For more information on the Hybrid Horsepower for Kentucky Schools program, visit www.kentuckycleanfuels.org.