Broome County adds 8 new clean-diesel buses to BC Transit fleet

VESTAL — BC Transit, which provides public transportation in Broome County, has added eight new “clean-diesel” buses to its fleet.

The new buses replace existing units that are more than 14 years old. 

They will offer “cleaner emissions, lower fuel consumption and lower cost per mile to operate,” the office of Broome County Executive Jason Garnar announced on Feb. 22.

The buses use systems that represent the “newest technology” in using “clean-diesel” fuel, says Gregory Kilmer, commissioner of the Broome County Department of Public Transportation. 

“In particular, they’ve used a combination of engine-management systems and sophisticated exhaust-gas systems that remove particulates and greenhouse gases from the emissions,” says Kilmer, who spoke with CNYBJ on March 12. 

They’re “much cleaner” than a lot of BC Transit’s older buses, which will be on the road at least 14 years, if not longer, he notes. In addition to just taking the existing fuel and using it better, they’re also using less of the fuel. 

“We’ve seen about a 20 percent increase in fuel economy over our oldest buses,” says Kilmer.

He joined Garnar and U.S. Representative Anthony Brindisi (D–Utica) to make the Feb. 22 announcement about the new buses.

The buses cost more than $3.5 million, according to a Broome County news release. State funding is covering more than $2.5 million, while federal money covers nearly $900,000. Broome County taxpayers are contributing more than $112,000 of the total cost.

The new buses are custom built by Gillig LLC, a Livermore, California–based company that says it manufactures “heavy-duty transit buses” in the U.S. The engines are made by Cummins Inc., which is headquartered in Columbus, Indiana.