The Erie School District is considering a switch to buses that run on propane autogas as it replaces its fleet.

Switching from diesel-run buses to those with “cleantech engines” that run on domestically produced propane autogas is more environmentally friendly and, in the long-run, less expensive, said Matthew Cummings, the district’s director of communications.

The district currently operates 28 buses with an average age of 11 years and replaces buses on a five-year lease cycle. The current cycle is coming to an end, and it makes sense to investigate different options, Cummings said.

“Propane autogas is attractive for a number of reasons,” he said. “First, it’s very cost-effective; it costs less than half the price of diesel per gallon. And there’s a potential to save an additional 50 cents a gallon with the renewal of the federal tax credit program for alternative fuels.”

On Tuesday, the current market price for diesel was $4.10 per gallon, compared with $1.99 per gallon for propane autogas.

Buses that run on propane autogas are initially more expensive than those that use diesel -- a 72-passenger propane autogas bus might cost about $90,000, Cummings said, about $10,000 more than a diesel bus -- but are less costly to maintain. Maintenance costs are about 2 cents per mile for propane autogas, as compared with 9 cents per mile for diesel, he said.

The district currently budgets about $125,000 annually for lease payments on its buses and spends $138,000 a year on diesel for buses and other district vehicles.

Propane autogas is also less flammable and more environmentally friendly, Cummings said. Vehicles running on propane autogas emit 60 percent less carbon monoxide than diesel, and 12 percent less carbon dioxide.

“It also performs well in cold weather, which is obviously important for us here in Erie,” he said.

Other alternatives, including compressed natural gas, have proved cost-prohibitive, Cummings said. Switching to natural gas, as the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority has done, would require the construction of a new bus garage and fueling station, he said.

Districts that have made the switch to propane autogas include those in Mesa, Ariz.; Gainesville, Ga.; Omaha, Neb.; Chicago; and, closer to home, Oil City, Franklin, DuBois, Bradford, Slippery Rock and Gibsonia.

The Erie School Board earlier this month passed a resolution to study the shift to propane autogas and to authorize the administration to advertise bids for six buses, three 72-passenger buses and three wheelchair-lift buses that can accommodate between seven and eight wheelchairs.

The district has received approval for a grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant program that would rebate the district $5,000 for each of the six buses, for a total of $30,000, if the School Board does decide to move forward.

ERICA ERWIN can be reached at 870-1846 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNerwin.

First Published: October 23, 2014, 3:09 p.m.