Natural Gas in Transit Fleets: A Review of the Transit Experience

Use of natural gas in transit bus fleets has grown over the last decade. Often motivated by air quality concerns, the use of natural gas also contributes to national and local energy security. Approximately 9% of the U.S. transit fleet in 2001 was composed of buses operating on some form of natural gas and even more were on order. While some agencies have achieved success with their natural gasprograms, others report difficulties and some have suspended their natural gas use altogether. What makes an agency successful in implementing natural gas into their operations? This paper reviews the experience of agencies with natural gas to determine the answer and to provide guidance on how fleets can effectively duplicate the successes and address or avoid the challenges.