A new Purdue University study finds that buses powered by natural gas are the way to go for mass transit in Indiana.
Dr. Wallace Tyner is an economist with Purdue‘s School of Agricultural Economics. Tyner says they studied the so-called, CityBus system of Greater Lafayette.
That system has 72 buses and services 30,000 riders a day. Tyner says even with an initial $2 million cost of building a natural gas fueling station, compressed natural gas would save many systems money and burns much cleaner than diesel gasoline.
Tyner says the 15-year project found that the natural gas system would cost $48 million over the period of the project compared to $54 million for the diesel-electric hybrid system.
They study also finds that natural gas has a 65% to 100% chance of being lower cost than diesel-powered buses. Tyner also says the price difference between crude oil and natural gas has grown significantly since 2009.
