Pasco County’s school district is planning to use natural gas to fuel a new fleet of buses.
On Jan. 13, the Pasco County Planning Commission will consider a proposal to rezone about 24 acres on Interlaken Road for a storage, maintenance and fueling station that can handle about 120 buses.
(File Photo)
Pasco County commissioners will make the final decision on the rezoning at a later date, possibly on Jan. 26.
In the first year of the program, Pasco County Schools plans to buy between 30 and 35 new buses equipped to run on fuel known as Compressed Natural Gas, or CNG. Those buses could be rolling by spring 2017, with more to come.
“Transitioning to CNG will be done over many years,” said Pasco County Schools Deputy Superintendent Ray Gadd.
The district has about 470 buses in its fleet.
The goal is to shift a portion of the district’s bus fleet from gasoline and diesel-burning fuels to natural gas. The school district anticipates the shift to result in savings over time.
Buses also will burn cleaner fuel with less toxic emissions, and they will run more quietly than traditional buses.
Gadd estimates the annual cost for purchasing these buses will be about $1.5 million. A state rebate program could provide the school district with a return of $25,000 per bus, up to 10 buses.
“It helps counter the costs,” he said.
Schools.
(Courtesy of Pasco County Schools)
And, buying the buses over several years will stagger their eventual replacement dates, which also can save money. Typically, buses are replaced after 10 years. But, Gadd said a natural gas fueled bus is predicted to have a longer life of 13 to 15 years.
If the rezoning is approved, design work could begin within a month. Opening date for the approximately $7 million facility is anticipated in spring 2017.
A.D. Morgan of Tampa will build the station.
The school board briefly considered a public/private partnership, but Gadd said, “Any time you finance it, somebody is making a profit. We had the capital to build it ourselves. We are going to own it and operate it.”
The property on Interlaken is in a largely industrial area on a former tree farm.
Prior to reaching a decision, Pasco school district officials visited Clearwater Gas System, which is owned and operated by the city of Clearwater. The city was the first in Tampa Bay to build a natural gas fueling station in 2011.
Clearwater Gas will be the school district’s supplier. The utility currently serves parts of Pinellas and Pasco, including Land O’ Lakes and the community of Connerton.
At a neighborhood meeting in November, about a dozen residents met with school districts officials, according to county documents filed with the rezoning application.
They requested an eight-foot buffer wall, which Gadd said can be built.
Aside from the buses’ new sheen, parents and students won’t notice a difference from the old yellow school buses.
“It looks just like the buses we have now that people are used to seeing up and down their streets,” Gadd said.
Published January 13, 2016
