Southern California Hybrid Transit Bus Deliveries Also Expected
LOS ANGELES—Clearer skies will be the result of an unprecedented community-focused partnership between the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and General Motors (GM) unveiled today during a news conference held at Glassell Park Elementary School near downtown Los Angeles.
The Community Clean Air Partnership, a joint effort between the two organizations, was conceived to help clean the air in a way that will directly benefit young people in many of the most heavily affected communities in the region. GM is committing the broad array of its products and technologies including alternative-fuel vans, advanced locomotive technology, money, and other resources to the partnership.
Dr. William Burke, Chair of the AQMD Governing Board, and Dennis Minano, GM Vice President of Environment and Energy & Chief Environmental Officer, arrived at the news conference with students from Glassell Park Elementary School in a special clean fuel school bus that emits no soot in its exhaust.
In a related announcement, Burke and Minano revealed that Southern California will be among the first regions in the nation to receive hybrid electric transit buses from New Flyer of America that feature propulsion systems developed by GM’s Allison Transmission Division.
The hybrid technology, which uses a combination of electric motors, batteries and an internal combustion engine, significantly reduces emissions, increases fuel economy by up to 50 percent and acceleration by up to 50 percent. The first hybrid bus will be delivered this fall, with a second delivery scheduled early next year.
Only a week ago, the AQMD established a non-profit "Adopt-A-Bus" program with the goal of raising funds to retrofit school buses or help school districts purchase alternative fueled buses.
Minano handed Dr. Burke a check for $250,000, making GM the first contributor to the new program. The cost to retrofit a typical school bus with a particulate trap is about $7,500, according to the AQMD. In some cases the program will pay the difference in cost between a new regular diesel powered bus and the added cost of purchasing a new alternative-fuel powered bus. That cost can be as high as $50,000 per bus.
The particulate trap technology, when used in conjunction with low sulfur fuel, will remove, on average, at least 80 percent of the soot and particulates from the exhaust. This is particularly important because tens of thousands of young people ride buses to school each day and will benefit directly from reduced exhaust emission.
"Nothing is more important to a community than safeguarding the future of its young people," declared Dr. Burke. "While it’s clear that air quality has improved dramatically in the last decade, there are still many communities that endure more than their fair share of the burden from air pollution.
"For instance, school buses and trains, contribute a fraction of the region’s overall air quality problems. Yet children who ride a bus can be exposed to exhaust while waiting near an idling bus, and many rail lines run right next to minority communities," he said.
"The Community Clean Air Partnership is especially designed to help those children and those communities, and we are very grateful to General Motors and Mr. Minano for being an active partner in this effort," Burke added.
Since taking over as Chair of the AQMD’s Board of Governors, Dr. Burke has initiated a number of programs that are targeted at young people and communities, including the "Children’s Agenda," an effort to educate teachers and medical professionals about how to protect young people from air pollution.
"Dr. Burke’s work is a good example of how we can build partnerships that will work to benefit communities," said Minano. "GM is committed to combining the power of its people, products, technology, and financial resources to benefit the communities in which we all live and work. It is particularly gratifying to be here with these students who represent the next generation of our community leaders." and our customers."
GM has been a world leader in using advanced technologies to reduce air pollution. GM manufactured the first commercial electric vehicle, the EV1, and also produces a range of alternative fueled vehicles.
The Community Clean Air partnership is the result of a number of conversations between Dr. Burke and GM over the last nine months. Dr. Burke’s vision for a community-oriented approach to creating healthier communities inspired GM to propose a number of ways in which the two organizations could work together.
GM is contributing the following items to the partnership:
The Community Clean Air Partnership is an informal joint effort of the AQMD and GM designed to take positive action to help communities.
Contact: Dave Barthmuss, GM, (313) 665-9036 or
Billy Kelly, SCAQMD, (909) 396-3230 or
Scott Taylor, MS&L, (323) 866-6054
AQMD Home Page
This page updated: March 01, 2004
URL: http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/GM_partnership.htm
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