Mayor George Peary said Abbotsford has been selected for the project because the city’s transit garage is virtually adjacent to a new LNG fuelling station built by Vedder Transport. “I told them we would like to be the first to have the first fleet of LNG BC Transit buses,” he said.
FortisBC will be helping fund the buses for the pilot project on behalf of BC Transit because if the fuel cost and emission reductions are proven, the gas company will potentially benefit from any transit fleet conversions in the future. Besides, the City of Abbotsford will start examining the possible transition to natural gas of its heavy-duty vehicles.
Furthermore, Vedder Transport is retrofitting their fleet and has already ordered 50 LNG trucks that are expected to arrive by early 2012 in a bid to reduce fuel costs and green house gas emissions, reported The Abbotsford Times.