Transportation
Building a Better Bus
A Michigan-based engineering firm plans to unveil a new kind of hybrid bus that's both greener and cheaper
Many urban transit systems have been moving to green vehicle technology in recent years. New York, for example, began converting its buses to clean diesel and compressed natural gas back in 2000, and now operates almost 1,200 hybrid electrics, the largest such fleet in the world, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Yet the transition to low-emission fleets has been hampered by reports of technical problems on hybrid electric buses as well as high price points. Indeed, at a time when local and regional governments are struggling to contain costs, the hybrid premium poses a real challenge for transit officials.