Mon Valley to roll out natural gas-fueled buses
A rendering of North Charleroi-based Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority’s new buses that will be fueled with natural gas
A new park-and-ride lot owned by Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority in North Charleroi
NORTH CHARLEROI – A Mon Valley transit authority plans to add to its fleet eight new heavy-duty buses fueled by natural gas.
“They’ll be hitting the road in December 2015,” said Marc Rancone, executive director of the North Charleroi-based Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority, which manages local bus routes and others to Pittsburgh and back.
He said the authority will be one of the first transit operators in Western Pennsylvania to use compressed natural gas to power buses.
The new buses, costing $465,000 apiece, were announced Thursday when the authority officially opened its new park-and-ride lot along Route 88 south next to its headquarters at 1300 McKean Ave.
“It’s certainly a great asset,” said Rik Pankiewicz, chairman of the authority’s board of directors.
The lot cost $560,000, using a combination of local, state and federal money, as well as a grant from the local share of the take at The Meadows Casino in North Strabane Township, Rancone said.
It has 18 parking spaces and a safer bus stop, away from the heavily traveled Route 88.
It also will have a shelter and security cameras.
“There used to be a bus lane cut in front of the building,” Rancone said, adding a bus lane and stop had been created nearby along Route 88 north.
“They eliminate the pedestrian concerns we had,” he said.
The new buses are part of a project the authority is involved with to create natural gas refueling stations at or near bus garages in Pennsylvania.
The authority will create one to serve its bus garage in Donora.