Ga. school district is first in the state to use autogas buses

OAKWOOD - Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle joined local and state officials Thursday in celebrating the implementation of the state's first propane autogas-powered school buses.

The brief ceremony, held at Johnson High School, featured comments from Deal, Cagle and several others.

"This is another first, not only for Hall County but for the state of Georgia," Deal said. "We're pleased that this is an occasion where we can recognize one of the longstanding good corporate citizens of the state of Georgia, the Blue Bird bus company."

"Anytime that you can achieve a major step forward in terms of economy, in terms of keeping the environment clean, and utilizing American natural products that are available to us rather than having to import them from somewhere else, that is indeed a good for our state and our nation," Deal said as he was interrupted by applause.

Deal commended Hall County School Superintendent Will Schofield, board members and other system officials for their foresight in moving forward with the project.

In attendance with their propane-powered school buses at Thursday's event were Hall County school bus drivers Jill Corbin, Darlene Shaw, Ricky Towe and Jennifer White.

"Thanks, too, to the bus drivers," Deal said. "Do you realize we have about 220 buses, I am told, here in Hall County? They transport some 20,000 students with some 6,000 stops every day. They log about three and a half million miles a year in transporting our children all across not only the county, but sometimes to events outside the county. Thank you for what you and your fellow bus drivers do to keep our children safe."

Deal said he anticipates being involved in more of this type event in the future as word spreads of the collaborative effort being lauded Thursday in Hall County.

"I thank you all for being the forerunners, the tip of the spear, the ones who are willing to embrace new ideas that are good for our state, good for our nation, and good for our people because, after all, you are going to save the taxpayers money in the process," Deal said.

"Anytime you can save money, especially taxpayers' money - and this is what you're doing by saving on a cheaper fuel that's available - and at the same time create a cleaner air for all of us, those are wins," Deal said. "I'm just glad that Hall County is the one that kicked this off, and I think it will be something that is precedent setting, and I think you'll probably see many other school systems in Georgia following this example."

Speaking first as a parent, Schofield said he sees the advantages of the new fuel.

"As I look to the future and I realize that here lies an opportunity for Hall County to lead the state of Georgia, to lead the Southeast, in powering vehicles with a product that is produced domestically in this country, and that currently we would pay about $1.75 a gallon for versus $3.60 diesel fuel, which comes from the Middle East, that has to be good for my children, that has to be good for my grandchildren, and it certainly is good for Georgia," Schofield said.

"It is indeed a great day for Hall County School District, for this region, and I would not want to lose sight of the fact that one of the serendipitous benefits that comes with this process is we are putting three fueling stations in Hall County - fueling stations that can also be accessed by the municipal fleets, by individual drivers with the right type of cards," Schofield said.

"Folks, this indeed is the wave of the future," Schofield said. "One of the challenges and one of the stumbling blocks that we haven't moved quicker in this country toward transportation powered by LP and compressed natural gas is the lack of fueling stations. We sit in a tremendously incredible position here in Hall County now with three full-blown fueling stations, and I think that just has untold potential for our local and our state economy."

Cagle also shared his excitement about the new buses being placed in service in Hall County.

"This is really a great day, not only for the environment but the more money we can save in fixed asset costs really allows the money to be spent in the classroom for the kids, which ultimately is what education is all about," Cagle said. "Blue Bird, obviously, is a huge economic engine for our state. They're the second-largest automobile manufacturer and we're very, very proud of them. To see this innovation and the partnerships come together really is special for Georgia."

"You've seen a tremendous amount of innovation in school buses," Cagle said. "To see engines that are fueled by natural gas and what that means really for us to be able to get off the dependency on foreign oil I think is huge. To have a Georgia company and this collaborative effort really being spearheaded in our state I think is a great national model. I think it's a model that not only is born here, but is going to spread all across the nation, and it's going to be good for our state and certainly the nation as well."

Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird Corp. in Fort Valley, said the company employees 1,500 people in Georgia, having hired about 300 people this year.

"Today is a huge day for us," Horlock said. "First of all, the attendance of the governor and lieutenant governor here is fabulous. Here we are Blue Bird, we've been around for 85 years. We're the only manufacturer of propane-powered large school buses. Everyone else is trying to catch up with us and we know we're two generations ahead."

"This is a key event for us, selling our first propane-powered school buses in Georgia because what happens in this business is word of mouth passes on," Horlock said. "A year from now, you watch how many counties are driving their children around with propane-powered Blue Bird school buses. What's better than that for Georgia and for all of us?"

The Hall County School System recently purchased 20 72-passenger Blue Bird Propane-Powered Vision school buses.

Compared to the $3.50-per-gallon cost currently paid by Hall County for diesel, the county pays less than $2 per gallon for propane autogas fuel. That should translate to $36,000 in fuel savings for the 20 new propane buses in 2012 alone, officials say.

Carlton Allen, director of pupil transportation for the Georgia Department of Education, echoed others in touting the collaborative effort.

"I think it's a great day for Hall County where we can use some American products to run our school buses," Allen said. "I can tell you that school districts all across the state will be looking at Hall County and how this works for them, and I think it will really open the door for other systems across the state to use propane school buses."

Allen said so far the state hasn't had to significantly modify its training for school bus technicians.

Since there have been no propane-powered school buses on the road in Georgia, Roush CleanTech provided training to Hall County bus technicians on maintaining and repairing the buses.

"So far all of it has been done only for the Hall County system," Allen said. The new buses include a 67.5-gallon fuel tank located between the frame rails. Powered by a Ford 6.8-liter engine with Roush CleanTech Liquid Propane Autogas Fuel System, the engines have 362 horsepower at 4,750 rpm.

On the route, the buses perform at 5.5 mpg, a 13.5-percent savings over the previous generation, while on the highway they get 7 miles per gallon.

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