Champaign-Urbana MTD will premier four more hybrid buses on its regular route this week, completing their newly-purchased fleet of 10. Last Tuesday, six of the new Flyer Xcelsior XDE40 buses began running for the first time.

“It’s got that new bus smell,” said Jan Kijowski, marketing director of CUMTD.

More than half of CUMTD’s 102 buses are now hybrids, including other versions purchased in 2009 and 2011. The six hybrids that premiered last week bring the company’s total to 55 hybrid buses.

Kijowski said the hybrids cost $600,000 each, about $100,000 more than a diesel bus.

However, the new model, which gets about 6 mpg, is 25 percent more fuel-efficient than other diesel buses in CUMTD’s fleet. It is lighter in weight than previous models, which helps reduce fuel consumption.

“We expect we will get even lower usage of fuel,” she said. “(This new hybrid) is 2,600 pounds less in weight than the 2011 model.”

They also feature a more eco-friendly design that lets natural light flood in from a back window and emergency hatchets.

The company is also expecting to lower costs in maintenance with the new buses. Kijowski said efficiency will increase because they will be powering the buses’ cooling fans with electricity rather than hydraulics, which use fuel.

In addition to fuel efficiency, these new hybrids have several features that will make taking the bus more convenient for students and safer for cyclists. At night, LED lights attached to the front wheels coordinate with the bus’ turn signal to illuminate the road as the bus turns.

Another feature allows the bus to lower itself closer to the ground than other buses, making it easier for riders with disabilities to board the bus. 

Jane Sullivan, sustainability and transportation planner for CUMTD, said hybrids are the most visible green initiative. However, there are a lot of other environmental efforts taken, beyond the buses, at the maintenance garage and in the office. 

“(At the maintenance garage,) they recycle our waste oil to heat the garage and reuse our wash bay to wash the buses,” she said. “We use a lot of resources that have the potential to have a negative impact on the environment, but we are very careful to ensure they don’t.” 

Sullivan said CUMTD is only a few months away from receiving a certification from the Illinois Green Business Association.

Mara Eisenstein, director of marketing and special projects for the Illinois Green Business Association, said CUMTD is a great example of a business that is looking at all angles of green initiatives.

“They’re doing a really big effort to go green in the work place, too,” she said. “They are looking at their main offices, not only in their buses, but in their facilities.”

Corinne can be reached at [email protected].