As Hybrid Buses Get Cheaper, Cities Fill Their Fleets

IF you wonder whether hybrid-electric vehicles will ever catch on, simply ask one of the millions of people who ride in them every day.

Hybrid-electric buses, that is.

Transit systems from New York to Taipei, and from Ames, Iowa, to Ann Arbor, Mich., are adding hybrid buses at a rapid clip. New York, by far, has the nation’s biggest fleet of hybrid buses, which run on electricity and diesel fuel, with nearly 1,000 in all five boroughs, most in Manhattan.

Although the initial cost is well above that of a conventional diesel-powered bus, hybrid buses emit less pollution and get far better fuel economy. They are quieter than old-style buses, and their ride is generally more comfortable (not accounting for the condition of city streets). Like the hybrid taxis that have become a common sight in New York, hybrid buses arrived during the last decade.

Transit officials faced pressure in the mid-1990s to clean up their bus fleet, which was a major contributor to air pollution on city streets. “We were looking at what to do to reduce bus emissions as quickly as possible that didn’t have a major cost,” said Joseph J. Smith, senior vice president for the department of buses for the MTA New York Transit Authority.

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