Montgomery County, Maryland Acquiring Five GM Hybrid Buses
21 April 2006
Ride On, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Division of Transit, is adding five buses powered by General Motors’ diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system to its mass transit fleet, thereby becoming the 36th community to invest in hybrid buses using the GM-Allison powertrain.
Buses powered by GM&tsquo;s parallel hybrid technology deliver better fuel economy than traditional buses and produce up to 60% fewer oxides of nitrogen emissions and 90% fewer particulate, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions.
Other benefits of the buses include reduced maintenance costs resulting from extended brake, engine oil and transmission oil life; providing 50% faster acceleration compared with conventional diesel buses, and operational sound levels approaching that of passenger cars.
Since 2004, more than 440 GM hybrid-powered buses have been delivered to communities in the US and Canada, including two other transit agencies servicing Maryland, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) and the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). The estimated annual combined fuel savings for the 440 GM hybrid-powered buses is 650,000 gallons.
GM expects to deliver another 236 GM hybrid-powered buses to several cities by the end of the year.
The hybrid technology in these buses served as the basis for GM’s co-development with DaimlerChrysler and BMW Group of a two-mode hybrid system that GM will launch next year in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs, followed by the Cadillac Escalade in 2008.
Someone must have gotten bribed. Parallel hybrid for a bus!
What a joke.
Posted by: dursun | 22 April 2006 at 11:08 AM
Well I admit serial hybrid is the way to go for a bus, this bus is not bad. Its a step in the right direction. The clean air savings are worth the price of admission, the fuel savings are just a bonus. I dont consider this bus a joke.
Posted by: hampden wireless | 23 April 2006 at 05:49 PM