Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) Announces New Clean Air Initiatives

Low-emission fuel, exhaust filters, and higher-capacity buses for a healthier environment

The Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) recently introduced three new clean air initiatives: the use of reduced sulfur (lower emission) fuel, new exhaust filters to lower emissions even further, and longer buses to move more people using less fuel.

CATA converted all buses to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel in April 2003. The new fuel lowers emissions by as much as 20 percent; placing CATA ahead of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) projected 2006 directive for reduced-sulfur fuel usage.

CATA Executive Director Sandy Draggoo said the organization researched several types of alternative fuels and determined that the best ‘route’ was to use ULSD fuel. ULSD has several benefits over current fuel options:

• Emissions will be reduced while maintaining fuel efficiency
• The fuel can be used in current CATA buses, without requiring any fueling or infrastructure changes
• ULSD stores and performs well in cold weather

“The environmental benefits far outweigh the slight increase in price,” said Draggoo. CATA pays 10 cents more per ULSD fuel gallon than with standard diesel. Last year, CATA used about 900,000 gallons of standard diesel fuel, at an average price of 82 cents per gallon.

And Speaking of Fuel Efficiency …

Also announced were the addition of four new longer buses to accommodate more riders while using less fuel per person. The four new 60-foot articulated buses went into service today. The longest CATA bus before the artic additions was 40 feet in length. The new bus can carry about 50 more customers (seated and standing).

Each bus has a 35-foot front passenger seating section connected to a 25-foot rear seating section by an articulated, accordion-like joint. The “artics” will serve CATA routes with the highest concentration of riders. This August, artics will serve northeast Lansing, East Lansing, and the MSU campus on: Route 26 (Abbott/Chandler), and MSU campus Routes 30 (Spartan Village – Akers), and 31 (Brody – Hubbard).

“In the last couple of years, we’ve had so many customers on these routes that we’ve not had enough room to fit everyone from each stop all on one bus,” Draggoo said. “We love to see all these people riding, and we don’t want to have to leave them behind!”

The articulated buses are also equipped with particulate filters in the exhaust system to reduce emissions even further. For this reason, CATA is labeling all artics with a colorful new “CATAClean Machine” logo, identifying them as the cleanest-burning buses in the fleet.

“With the use of ULSD fuel and the new particulate filters, we lower emissions, there is almost no exhaust odor and you won’t see anything coming out of the tailpipe,” said Craig Allen, Director of Maintenance at CATA. “In fact, you can hold a white handkerchief right up to the tailpipe while the bus is running, and even after a couple of minutes, the handkerchief will remain clean!”

Draggoo said cleaner-diesel buses were first introduced at CATA in 1996, reducing vehicle emissions by 90 percent at the time. The most recent clean air initiatives (ULSD fuel and particulate filters) will reduce emissions by another 90 percent.

For more information on CATA transportation services, call CATA 394-1000.