Project: Montgomery Area Transit System Hybrid-Electric Buses

City: Montgomery

State: Alabama

ARRA Award Amount: $2.7 Million

Program: TIGGER

Description:

Montgomery Area Transit System is using its ARRA TIGGER funds to purchase five (5) GILLIG 30’ low-floor hybrid-electric buses to replace gasoline and diesel buses. Federal ARRA funding is providing 100% of the purchase costs. Bus delivery is expected in July 2011.

The GILLIG Hybrid is a variant of the Low Floor model that is powered by a clean diesel hybrid electrical propulsion system. It reduces emissions, saves on fuel and is smoother and quieter than a conventional bus, so it is environmentally and economically responsible while also being passenger and community friendly. Long life, non-hazardous, and maintenance free NiMH batteries capture and store braking energy and advanced solid state controllers manage and blend power sources to optimize performance and efficiency. In testing, hybrid buses have been shown to get up to 35 percent greater fuel economy than a standard diesel bus.