CULVER CITY, CA - The City of Culver City has taken delivery of its first dedicated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered paratransit buses. The three new buses operate on clean-burning natural gas to further compliment the City's growing fleet and dedication to CNG-powered vehicles. They replace three ten-year-old gasoline-powered buses.

"This is commensurate with and achieves the goal towards the City's efforts to continue and remove itself from foreign oil/fossil fuels wherever possible," said Paul Condran, equipment maintenance manager.

The buses are equipped to accommodate 15 passengers and are fully ADA compliant. With El Dorado Aerotech bodies, the buses are built on Ford F-450 chassis and include a 6.8L dedicated CNG engine and four high-capacity Luxfer CNG tanks with 28GGE (gasoline gallon equivalents) with a fuel door micro switch to prohibit accidental drive-away.

The buses include new electronic destination signs and are enhanced with a new paint scheme.

The Equipment Maintenance & Fleet Services Division attained additional grant money to offset 75 percent of the original cost of the buses, defraying all but approximately 25 percent of the total vehicle purchase cost.