Arlington is about to complete a nearly $400,000 compressed natural gas fueling station in Shirlington.
The inaugural station is expected to open by the second week of November to fuel 25 ART buses and four new school buses.
“We have a bunch of them at this point. We have school buses, too. … It is a matter of convenience to fuel them up now,” said Chris Zimmerman, chair of the county board.
Compressed natural gas, primarily made up of methane, is considered to leave less nitrogen and particulate emissions in the air compared to regular gas and diesel fuels.
Just under 50 percent of the county’s fleet is made up of alternative fuel vehicles, including those that run on CNG, biodiesel, ethanol mixes and hybrids, according to Ric Heller, chief of equipment.
The county currently fuels its vehicles at Metro’s Four Mile Run facility or National Airport, said Paul Culver, a county budget analyst. The county received a $150,000 grant to build their own site.
“This will allow us to have essentially three different fueling sites for our vehicles,” said Culver, who added the new site would be the primary location.
“We set up an agreement with other jurisdictions that they can use our fueling site.”
Three of four new CNG school buses have been delivered to the county and will begin making runs when the station is completed, Hiller said.
The buses “are being used in the Tidewater area, but they don’t have any hills down there,” he said. The county will test out the buses in stop and go traffic before purchasing any more, he said.
The buses cost $50,000 more than an average diesel bus, but the county worksto secure grants to assist in the cost, Hiller said.
Since 2002, the county has been aggressively purchasing alternative fuel vehicles, beginning with buses that run on biodiesel.
