More autogas-powered buses in Florida

© Blue BirdIt may look like the school buses of yore, but it runs on the fuel of tomorrow

To make savings from the petrol-to-LPG switch come faster, the Broward County authorities decided to put retail quantities aside and go bulk buying instead. 98 Blue Bird Vision buses have been ordered in one go, with deliveries set to start in May 2014 so that the vehicles can enter duty in time for the 2014/2015 school year. As for the Vision model as such, it's the case of „you've seen one American school bus, you've seen them all”, but at least here the fuel is not quite as conventional as the looks.

The buses have been converted using systems provided by Roush CleanTech – a prominent company in the autogas business Stateside, known primarily for being Ford's approved installer. 100 gallon (93-gallon usable capacity) LPG tanks have been used, so that decent driving range shouldn't be something to worry about. For those of you who don't know how much 93 gallons are exactly, let us provide you with a recalculation to good old litres: that's approximately 352 l, so it's definitely quite something, eh?

Broward County Public Schools is leading the state with its environmental commitment and paving the way for other districts to choose this proven, versatile and American-made fuel.

Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech

Buying nearly 100 autogas-powered buses in Florida goes beyond just slashing your fuel bill and being easy on the environment. Replacing conventional fuels with gaseous ones (LPG or CNG) means being entitled to use state rebates in the form of waived state taxes. So not only does autogas pay, but also it actually enables you not to pay. Yes, it may sound weird, but it's all about money not being spent fruitlessly. And something tells us that with all the shale gas revolution going on across the Pond we're bound to hear more such news soon!