Article published April 21, 2008
TARTA increases use of biodiesel in bus fleet
By ANGIE SCHMITT
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Just in time for Earth Day, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority is expanding its commitment to biodiesel.
Yesterday, TARTA equipped 10 new buses with the blend of 20 percent soybean oil, 80 percent diesel it has been using to fuel about three dozen of its buses.
As a result, about 25 percent of the authority's fleet will run on the environmentally friendly fuel.
To celebrate the development, TARTA General Manager James Gee, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), and a handful of baseball fans traveled to the Toledo Mud Hens game yesterday on one of the new "green" buses.
In addition, for one day tomorrow, in honor of Earth Day, the authority is planning to fuel its entire fleet with the blended fuel.
It costs an extra 5 to 10 cents per gallon to use biodiesel, Mr. Gee said.TARTA has been operating a portion of its fleet with biodiesel fuel since 2006 as part of a study with the University of Toledo.
Researchers also are testing the use of hydrogen gas in city buses.
Transit authority staff say there are no plans to halt the expansion of alternative energy within the fleet, especially as petroleum costs rise.
"We think of biodiesel not as an alternative but as a preferred replacement for diesel," Mr. Gee said. "We have seen very positive economic and environmental benefits."
As a result of a $1.5 million federal grant, TARTA has been able to adopt the new technology at no increased cost to riders, Mr. Gee said.
The grant, secured by Miss Kaptur, was used in part to equip the authority's fuel pumps to accommodate two types of fuel. The buses required no modifications.
An additional $300,000 federal air-quality grant provides for the extra costs associated with biodiesel, Mr. Gee said.
Mr. Gee and other transit authority employees say the shift to biodiesel has had the added effect of reducing maintenance costs.
"It better lubricates the engine," said Dave Burnham, TARTA's superintendent of maintenance.
The agency's commitment to agriculturally derived fuel is expected to be a boon for the local economy as well, Miss Kaptur said.
"The watershed we are in is one of the largest bio-producing areas in the world," Miss Kaptur said. "We're putting those dollars back to work in this watershed, in this soybean bowl, rather than sending them to Saudi Arabia."
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