> About Us > Chair's Messages December 2007

Hybrid bus parade signals larger commitment

Everyone loves a parade!  Several weeks ago, we held one of our own on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis to roll out 17 of Metro Transit’s new hybrid electric buses.

The gleaming new buses are the first of 169 hybrids we’ll be adding to Metro Transit’s fleet over five years as part of our “Go Greener” initiative. The hybrid models deliver 22% better fuel mileage and produce 90% fewer emissions than the buses they replace.

Thanks to these buses, more than one third of all local bus trips on Nicollet Mall are now being operated with hybrids, reducing emissions and noise on this important pedestrian thoroughfare.

In addition to the hybrids, Metro Transit’s Go Greener initiative includes:

• Purchasing 164 buses over five years that use the latest clean diesel technologies.
• Doubling the biodiesel content of bus fuel to 10%, with plans to use a 20% blend during the summer starting next year.
• Modifying bus transmissions for better fuel economy and reducing bus-engine idling.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has asked state government to lead the way in the use of clean, renewable fuels and we have responded.

Meanwhile, the Council’s wastewater treatment system has embarked on an ambitious plan to reduce consumption of non-renewable fuels 15% by 2010. And we’ve partnered with the University of Minnesota to pursue new ideas for alternative fuels and energy conservation.

Protecting our environment is one of the Council’s top priorities. It’s central to our plans to help guide the future growth of this region, expand and maintain our wastewater treatment system, and enlarge our system of regional parks and trails.

Peter Bell

December 2007