Four Florida school districts add autogas buses

May 26, 2016 By Megan Smalley

Four Tampa Bay, Fla., school districts add autogas buses to their fleets

Pasco County Schools added 58 propane autogas buses to its fleet this year. Photo courtesy of Roush CleanTech.

Four school districts in the Tampa, Fla., area added propane autogas buses to their school bus fleets within the past year.

According to Roush CleanTech, the school districts added a combined 171 propane-powered Blue Bird school buses to their fleets. All of the buses are equipped with Roush CleanTech autogas fuel systems.

The following Tampa-area school districts purchased buses:

Hillsborough County Public Schools added 50 buses.
Pasco County Schools added 58 buses.
Pinellas County Schools added 58 buses.
Polk County Public Schools added five buses.

According to Hillsborough County Public Schools, its propane provider supplies on-site fueling for its fleet.

Four Tampa Bay, Fla., area school districts add autogas buses to their fleets.

Pasco County Schools also added two autogas fueling stations at its site. Photo courtesy of Roush CleanTech.

“We chose extended-range tanks for our Blue Bird Vision propane buses to help with distance,” says James Beekman, general manager of transportation for Hillsborough County Public Schools, in a press release. “We can fuel the buses as needed, not necessarily every day.”

Polk County Public Schools uses the propane fuel station at its local sheriff’s department, while the Pasco County and Pinellas County school districts installed private fuel stations. According to Roush CleanTech, Pasco County Schools installed two propane fueling stations, one with a 3,000-gallon tank and one with a 3,600-gallon tank. Pinellas County Schools installed one 18,000-gallon tank in January.

Ryan McBride, director of transportation for Pinellas County Schools, says his school district already plans to add 40 more propane buses to its fleet by 2017.

“The goal is to have all-propane fleets at the smaller compounds with fueling infrastructure to support them,” he says, in a press release.

Roush CleanTech adds that each of the school districts will consider adding more propane-fueled buses after a full evaluation of their current fleets.