Sep. 02, 2014
PDF of media releaseCALGARY —Approximately 3,420 Calgary Board of Education (CBE) students will be arriving at school this year in environmentally friendly buses purchased by Southland Transportation.
The company has acquired more than 90 new alternative fuel buses over the past year for approximately 65 CBE schools on 152 routes. The buses use propane as fuel instead of traditional diesel fuel.
“We are committed to ensuring that our students have reliable transportation to and from school each day,” said Darlene Unruh, CBE director of planning and transportation. “These state-of-the-art buses are better for the environment and help us to set an example for our students to develop good citizenship behaviours and lifelong environmental habits.”
Southland Transportation made the $6 million investment into the buses to transport CBE students. The expected lifespan of a propane bud is approximately 10 years. They are more reliable in winter as they reach operating temperature standards faster than traditional school buses.
“The new propane buses will help lower Southland Transportation’s hydrocarbon emissions by 80 per cent,” said Chris Castellarin, general manager, Southland Transportation. “We are proud to be able to provide service with these units to the second largest school board in Canada.”
Southland has been introducing the new propane units into their existing fleet for over a year.
“We thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to recognize the CBE’s EcoSite school initiative by substantially increasing our units that use alternative fuel,” said Castellarin.
EcoSites is a CBE initiative aimed at encouraging and recognizing environmental learning in schools. The initiative provides support for environmental literacy and action projects that aim at reducing the CBE’s ecological footprint.
More than 28,000 kindergarten to Grade 9 CBE students take a yellow school bus to school each day.
The CBE now has the sixth largest fleet of propane buses in North America.
