Grand Forks city employees were out ooh-ing and ah-ing over the hot new rides parked Monday afternoon by City Hall.
They have the sheen of a new paintjob, suspension that can bring them closer to the ground, a hybrid engines that, in the right hands, could crank out some serious acceleration -- and they even have that new car smell.
Make that new bus smell.
Dale Bergman, the city's public transportation superintendent, is super pumped about the new hybrid buses. If they were put in "aggressive mode," he said, "it will literally throw you back in your seat."
Grand Forks is the first city in the state to get them and the farthest north among all U.S. cities, he said. They'll go into service in mid-August after undergoing certification in Chicago, he said.
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The two hybrid buses, costing $550,000 for each, arrived this past weekend from the New Flyer bus plant in Crookston along with two new diesel buses, costing $325,000 a piece. Congress' economic stimulus package and federal public transportation funding paid for most of the cost with the city paying $116,000.
City officials believe the greater fuel efficiency and lower maintenance would make up for the cost of the buses. They'll be running the hybrids on the busiest routes, No. 3 to the hospital and nearby schools, Nos. 4 and 6 to UND and Nos. 5 and 7 to Columbia Mall.
Smooth ride
So, what's the new ride like?
Joe Schmidt, the bus supervisor, said he used to drive the city's diesel buses and the hybrids aren't that different. They're just way smoother on the acceleration, he said, and they pretty much brake themselves when he takes the foot off the gas.
Monday afternoon, he was giving city employees a couple of rides around the block.
The wheels are powered directly by electric motors, which are indirectly powered by the diesel engine in the back, so there aren't any gears shifting up or down. On the gear shifter are three modes: D, N and R.
The bus is quieter and cleaner, too.
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Though by no means silent, there's none of the loud vroom-vroom of the engine straining to move the vehicle from a standstill, City Engineer Al Grasser noticed on his ride. The diesel runs at a constant speed, he said.
Pete Haga, the mayor's assistant, said that, as a runner, he appreciates the bus exhaust doesn't blast a big blue cloud when it's accelerating. There's hardly any odor, he said, as he stood sniffing behind the bus.
Hybrids are optimized for the stop-and-go driving pattern of buses, said Bergman, and, for the first 25 mph, the buses run on electricity only.
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
