 "Photo: Sol Kim / Outlook Student Press")
Transport of Rockland (TOR) recently launched 16 new hybrid electric buses to replace some of its old and outdated fleet.
An additional nine buses have been ordered and are currently being manufactured. Four of the new buses ordered will be transit buses and the other three are 45-foot hybrid commuter coach buses.
The buses were purchased thanks to a $5.5 million grant received by the county from the Federal Transit Administration.
TOR operates 11 routes within Rockland County and transports many students from SUNY Rockland to the Palisades Center and towns like Suffern, Monsey, Spring Valley, Stony Point, and Haverstraw.
TOR buses stop at the Cultural Arts Building, and semester-long unlimited tickets for students can be purchased for
$50 at the Bursar’s office.
Gabriel Valdez, sophomore said, “The bus is very silent and stops very smoothly. I think that the new buses are a great addition to the community and are just another step in the right direction.”
The new buses operate on a GM-Allison Hybrid EP40 System, which is designed to optimize fuel efficiency and reduce noise and emissions in transit buses that start and stop frequently.
The engine uses regenerative braking, which is an energy recovery mechanism that reduces vehicle speed by converting some of its kinetic energy, or the energy of motion, into a useful form instead of dissipating it as heat, like conventional braking systems do.
The energy is then transferred back to the battery at the top of the bus, which is charged while the bus is in motion.
According to estimates by Allison Transmission, 40 percent of the energy used to accelerate a bus with the GM Allison hybrid system, comes from the energy saved during regenerative braking.
The overall fuel economy improvements when compared to ordinary buses range from 20 to 54 percent. The company also claims that in-ride noise levels are similar to that of an ordinary passenger vehicle.
Besides the advanced hybrid electric system, the buses are also equipped with a bike rack attached to the front of the bus, and a Lift-U ramp that can be deployed to assist boarding and exiting for passengers who are wheelchair bound.
The new buses cost about $550,000 each, with funds coming from the Federal Transit Administration, the New York State Department of Transportation, and County transportation budgets.
Be the first to comment on this article!