Hybrid engines manufactured by General Motors Corp. will be used to power some buses in California's Yosemite National Park -- a move aimed at curbing emissions in the pristine reserve.

Gillig Corp., of Hayward, Calif., was awarded a contract to manufacture 18 new 40-foot buses that operate with GM diesel-electric hybrid engines. The buses are scheduled to go into service in the park in May 2005.

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Hi Jason:

___One item never reported is that a new hybrid bus cost something like $600,000 vs. a std. diesel bus at ~ $200,000. I was at Yosemite last month and they had a high PM count while we were there so of course a Hybrid bus makes sense on the pollution front but on the economic side of the equation, it is far from the “right thing to do” given today’s budgetary constraints facing everyone. I do not remember what a PM filter/NOx adsorber retrofit of a regular diesel bus/truck costs but I thought it was < $15K if one is available, not $400K. Then again, maybe GM is subsidizing this Hybrid expenditure or maybe I have read articles that weren’t truthful on the actual Hybrid bus prices either?

___All said and done, would you purchase the Prius II if it costs $60 - $70K vs. the 20 - $27K that it does in comparison to a LEV/ULEV automobile of the exact dimensions, handling, safety, whatever yet only received a combined 22 mpg? I doubt the Yosemite busses are traveling much over 30,000 miles per year but that is a guess. I should have asked the few drivers of the buses we were on while we were there for that exact answer? I do know that one lady said she drove a school bus when the tourist season ended which was in a few weeks (this was in July) so you can imagine the drop in bus passengers and bus miles driven after Labor Day through Memorial Day the following year.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Hi jason, xcel

Yosemite NP has always been an environmental leader. When I used to work there in the early 70s they were already using propane propelled busses. Air in the Valley was pretty thick because the still allowed campfires. They were already kicking around a “master plan” that involved huge parking lots outside the Valley and only shuttle busses inside the valley. They are still kicking around the “master plan”, but at least the air is better and they keep upgrading the busses.

dan