News & Events

From STNOnline.com
Written by Ryan Gray
April 30, 2018

Upper Moreland School District was recognized along with 22 other local and state agencies by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as nearly three-quarters of its fleet is now comprised of propane school buses.

Upper Moreland was one of three organizations recognized for environmental efforts in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and the only school district honored statewide with the 2018 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence award.

The district serving the Philadelphia suburb of Willow Grove purchased 35, 72-passenger Blue Bird Vision propane school buses in 2016 as well as eight Type A Micro Bird propane buses to transport 3,400 students each school day.

The school district converted its school bus fleet to propane and installed fueling infrastructure in October 2016 to support not only its own use, but also the use of neighboring government organizations. Transportation Manager Kelly Rhodunda, who was accepted the award along with other district officials during a an April 22 ceremony, told School Transportation News that the propane infrastructure cost the district one-eighth the cost that CNG would have. 

The total buses will displace 50,000 gallons of diesel and 10,000 gallons of gasoline annually, and reduced fuel and maintenance costs will save taxpayers $256,766 annually. Propane will prevent 596 metric tons of carbon dioxide from polluting the atmosphere.

“Propane was the most cost effective solution for our district,” explained Rhodunda, who speaks about the district’s conversion on Tuesday at the Advanced Clean Transportation EXPO in Long Beach, California. “There were no major upgrades required for our garage and the price quote for buses was comparable to the purchase of a new diesel bus. Being domestically produced, fuel costs will remain lower than gasoline or diesel.”