Tulsa - Tulsa Transit is trying to save on its fuel costs. They will use federal stimulus money to purchase vehicles that use compressed natural gas.

Tulsa Transit will soon convert 38-percent of it's bus fleet to CNG, thanks to almost 13 million dollars in federal funds. It's money which will purchase 13 new CNG buses and 25 of the smaller lift vehicles.

In addition, Tulsa Transit will install its own refueling station which will make it less expensive when the buses go to fill up. The initial phase of the project will be completed within a year and a half. After that, CEO Bill Cartwright says they hope to buy more. 8 Talkback:
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"So the next wave of vehicles it will be just a regular vehicle replacement, the infrastructure will already be in place," Cartwright says.

When it comes to CNG vehicles, Tulsa Public Schools was a pioneer with dozens of CNG buses. Today, they are down to only one remaining CNG vehicle. They tell us the original engines simply didn't last.

"We worked hard and we were able to run them for about five to six years," says TPS Transportation Director Ottway Burkhalter. "But there wasn't any replacement engines for them."

But now, thanks to better and more reliable technology, they're going to convert about 140 of their buses to CNG. That's about half the fleet. The district is getting 3-point-9 million dollars in federal grant money to help with their switch-over.

"Natural gas is clean burning," Burkhalter says. "So not only is it good for the environment but economically it's good because of the difference between diesel and CNG."

He estimates the conversion to CNG will save Tulsa schools up to half a million dollars in fuel costs each year.

Both Tulsa Transit and Tulsa Public Schools believe it's just a matter of time before their entire fleet runs on compressed natural gas.

Buck