Colorado’s transit agency to add up to 22 CNG buses

In turn, the bus operator was preparing to issue a formal request for proposals this week seeking companies to install the necessary infrastructure for a CNG station. “If things go well and we are able to do this, we would like to develop some partnerships to build a public fueling station in the Glenwood Springs area,” said RFTA CEO Dan Blankenship.

The initiative may include the financial participation of Garfield County, whose Commissioner Tom Jankovsky is interested in partnering with RFTA and facilitating the CNG bus conversion. “This is important for us in Garfield County. We are now a big exporter of natural gas, and we need to find uses for it here. This is a better way to do that,” he said.

As reported by Post Independent, the Governor’s Energy Office, as well as local entities such as the Community Office for Resource Efficiency and Garfield Clean Energy, are also interested in facilitating the expansion of CNG fueling stations and CNG-powered fleets.

The upgrading will involve up to $3.1 million more in costs for the buses and related infrastructure, said Blankenship. The RFTA board is expected to approve the purchase of the new vehicles at its January 12 meeting. The agency plans to have four test buses in operation by January 2013, and the remainder of the new fleet in place by June 2013.