Mo. district says propane buses quieter, cheaper

Thursday, January 31, 2013

O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis school district is believed to be the first in Missouri to add propane buses to its fleet.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/WDv18L ) reports that the Fort Zumwalt School District in St. Charles County operates eight buses that run on propane instead of diesel fuel, and plans to buy another 22.

Fort Zumwalt’s chief financial officer, Jeff Orr, says the propane buses are not only quieter and cleaner, but also less expensive. Orr says they save $3,000 per bus per year compared to the diesel buses.

Orr says propane fuel averages about $1.30 per gallon, compared to diesel, which has been in the $3.30 per gallon range lately. The district also gets a 50-cent per gallon credit from the federal government.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

More like this story

Littleinvestor 3 months, 3 weeks ago

This is not new. In the 1970s many schools had propane buses, easily converted from gasoline engine buses. They got rid of them when propane supplies became concentrated with a few companies and prices more than doubled. The old is new again.

billbrasky 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Hank Hill is super excited!

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