Honolulu's switch to hybrid buses stalled by realities of costs

[KamaAina]

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090510/NEWS09/905100367

Only a year ago, city officials said they were so pleased with their 50 hybrid diesel-electric buses that they wanted to convert half of the city's 530 buses to hybrids by 2013. At the time, only anecdotal evidence of the cost-effectiveness of the new hybrid buses was disclosed, and there was no data provided to support the decision. The new report, which the city posted on its Web site, assessed the cost-effectiveness of Honolulu's hybrids and is the first sign that the city's drive to buy them may have been ill-advised.

"Today's hybrids have not performed at the levels hoped for (and promised by the manufacturers)," according to the report. "While most manufacturers tout fuel savings as high as 60 percent, in-service tests have produced results that are, at best, about half of that level. In fact, most hybrid fuel savings are in the range of about 20 percent."...

C-Tran, a public transit agency in Clark County, Wash., recently purchased 12 hybrid buses, which were touted as fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. However, an August report by Portland's Cascade Policy Institute found that, based on current rates of diesel price increases, the new hybrid buses would need to be in service for more than 31 years to offset their added up-front costs, according to the free-market public policy research center. The actual lifespan of the buses is estimated at 12 years....

The average age of TheBus fleet is nearly 10 years old, which likely makes it the oldest transit bus fleet in America, according to the city's report. The conversion to hybrids, which are 50 percent more costly than diesel buses, has led to fewer overall bus purchases in recent years and, in turn, an aging fleet, according to the report.

I, for one, am not a huge fan of the hybrids. Not mentioned in the article is that they are smaller than the buses they replace, thus making it even harder for people like me to find a seat on some of the really crowded lines (think NYC subway crowded!).