Jun. 1--The Charlottesville Transit Service will soon be adding hybrid buses to its 38-bus fleet, a first for the service as it tries to use more fuel-efficient technology.

"It's a cleaner bus than we have today," said Bill Watterson, CTS' transit manager. In terms of getting more residents to use transit, Watterson said, "For some folks that may be a difference."

The purchase of the hybrids -- which, for now, will be two "trolley"-style buses -- is possible because of $1.3 million in federal economic stimulus funds that CTS will receive in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Nearly $1.2 million of the capital will be spent on the hybrids. The rest of the money will be spent on items such as BusFinders, which show how far a bus is away from a particular stop, other bus stop amenities, four passenger shelters and spare parts.

The buses cost considerably more than what CTS spends now on its buses, which cost around $350,000 each. Hybrids go for roughly $600,000 each, Watterson said, but officials say the upfront costs would be made up from the buses' drop in fuel consumption.

The buses that CTS has now have fuel capacities ranging from 50 to 120 gallons. The smallest and largest buses use about 26,584 and 133,748 gallons of fuel per year, respectively.

City Council member Satyendra Huja said hybrid technology has worked in cars for years, so even though the idea is somewhat new in transit, he does not see why the engines would not work in buses.

"It will be better than gas," he said.

Watterson said the first hybrids should arrive in summer 2010, as construction for CTS' new maintenance and operations facility wraps up, but he said there is also a possibility for a delay.

Currently, the area transit system has a mix of diesel and bio-diesel buses. The hybrids would still have diesel engines in them, but would run on electric motors.

"They're similar to a Prius," Watterson said.

Adding hybrids might be a first, but CTS has tried to have "greener" buses before, such as when the system had its short-lived attempt of using electric buses. The venture did not last long after the buses experienced difficulty in climbing Charlottesville's hills.

"That was a disaster," Mayor Dave Norris said. Of the hybrids, he said, "This is a totally different beast."

Watterson said he thinks the transit system would be able to make up its investment in the new types of buses, though he also said he does not know how much using hybrids would lower its carbon emissions.

"That's a little more difficult to say," he said.

Still, the two trolley hybrids are only the first step in what CTS hopes will be an all-hybrid bus fleet. Norris said while the city may not know by how much emissions would be reduced, fuel costs would definitely be cut.

"That's probably one of the biggest advantages," he said.

Six of the city's 35-foot buses, the largest ones used, will be eligible next year for replacement based on a federal schedule that the service follows, which says buses can be replaced every 12 years or when they hit 500,000 miles. Watterson said the service would attempt to replace those six buses with hybrids, as the replacements would be completely funded with federal money.

A second round of stimulus funding in the fall -- when the Commonwealth Transportation Board will allocate roughly $13.2 million more for transit and rail projects statewide -- may also provide a necessary cash infusion.

"Hopefully, we will be successful and have six more hybrids shortly thereafter," Watterson said.

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