Propane autogas boosts savings for Florida school district

The Broward County Public Student Transportation Services Department in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., reduced its annual operating cost by more than $600,000 through the use of school buses fueled on propane autogas, according to an analysis announced by Roush CleanTech.

The school district reports it paid an average of $1.32 per gallon for propane and $2.75 for diesel the past year. In addition to fuel savings, the district says annual maintenance costs for the autogas buses were 80 percent less than for diesel buses.

The school district says it expects to save more than $74,000 in operating costs over the 12-year lifecycle of each autogas bus, equating to a 38-cents-per-mile savings. The district also budgeted a six-month return on investment for the initial setup of the propane engines in the buses, but succeeded in recouping that cost in three months.

Roush provided the school district’s autogas bus engines. The Broward County school district is the sixth-largest public school system in the United States. It operates 1,269 school buses, including 98 that run on autogas. The school district purchased 37 additional autogas buses it will use in the 2015-16 school year.