When students on the east side of Corbin board the school bus Wednesday, they may be experiencing the future as the Corbin School System’s first hybrid school bus takes to the road.
Bus No. 67, a diesel-electric hybrid, was unveiled Tuesday at Whayne Supply Company.
"It will replace the 59 bus, which covers the east side of town, east of Master Street," said Josh VanNorstran, director of transportation for the school system.
The hybrid bus costs about $134,596. Federal stimulus money in the amount of $54,750 covered the difference between the hybrid bus and a traditional bus.
However, VanNorstran said the hybrid bus gets about 11 to 12 miles per gallon of diesel compared to the six miles per gallon of a traditional bus. Over the course of a year, a school will average about 14,000 miles.
While it will cost the school system about $7,000 to fuel a regular bus for a year, it will cost about $3,652.17 to fuel the hybrid with diesel costing about $3 per gallon. The regular bus will use about 2,300 gallons of diesel in a year, while the hybrid will use about 1,200.
"We get about 16 or 17 years out of a bus," VanNorstran said.
With diesel fuel costing about $3 per gallon, over the life of the hybrid bus, the school system will save almost $57,000 in fuel cost.
"At Corbin Independent, we want to do our part for a clean environment and as we replace business in our fleet, our goal is to go hybrid if funds are available," Corbin Superintendent Ed McNeel said.
McNeel had a special guest for the presentation of the bus. Kentucky Education Secretary Terry Holliday was visiting the district Tuesday as part of his endeavor to visit the 174 school districts in Kentucky.
"The Corbin School District certainly has a rich history, but what is most impressive is how supportive the community is," Holliday said.
Rick Eaton, of Eaton, which designed and built the hybrid drive system for the bus, said a series of batteries supplies power to transmission. When the bus is in motion but the driver is not pushing on the accelerator, that energy is being used to recharge the batteries.
"The braking power that was once dissipated into the air, is now being used," Eaton said.
Eaton said the hybrid system is made up of the batteries, a series of wires and transmission, which runs the bus on electric until it exceeds 35 mph. After that, it runs on the diesel power.
"If you want to fit this bus with the next generation, it can be done in the same time it takes to pull the transmission, wires and batteries and replace them," Eaton said.
Eaton said the hybrid drive comes with a five-year warranty. As for routine maintenance, technicians at Whayne Supply in Corbin have been taking classes on the system.
"We will just bring it to the great guys at Whayne Supply just like we do with our other buses," VanNorstran said.
Corbin will join Larue County, Allen County, Franklin County, Pike County and Covington Independent and Frankfort Independent Schools in running at least one of the hybrid buses. Through federal stimulus money, 22 public school districts across the commonwealth will eventually have at least one of the hybrid buses in its fleets.
"Whayne Supply Company is committed to shaping the future of student transportation in a cleaner environment and we are pleased to offer Thomas Built Buses with state of the industry Eaton hybrid technology to school systems across Kentucky," said. Barry Zink, on highway business manager for Whayne Supply.
