SANTA CLARA VALLEY, CA – The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) said it replaced 75 older paratransit and gas-powered vehicles with new hybrid vehicles, which are expected to reduce VTA’s annual greenhouse gas output by 385 tons, according to the San Jose Business Journal. The San Jose-based agency said that Outreach, its contracted paratransit operator, currently operates 236 vehicles, 82 of which are Toyota Prius hybrids. VTA provided 60 of the hybrids to Outreach as part of VTA’s green vehicle replacement program.

The Prius vehicles travel an average of 3.4 million miles a year, which equates to almost 35 percent of the fleet’s total mileage but use only 15 percent of the fleet’s total fuel. With Prius vehicles now operating for more than a year, fuel data confirms an annual savings of 120,000 gallons per year.

Fifteen additional hybrids, including 10 Ford Escapes and five Toyota Priuses, operate in VTA’s non-revenue fleet and are continually used by VTA’s Protective Services and Construction divisions for high mileage activities and patrol.