Twenty two new natural gas vehicles could get the green light

[view:node_ad=5]The City of Santa Clarita’s Transportation Department is asking for nearly five million dollars to purchase twenty two new vehicles that will be used for public transportation purposes.

 

The proposal for the new vehicles will appear on Tuesday’s City Council agenda as two separate items. One will ask for no more than $1,275,000, for the purchase of fourteen new compressed natural gas Dial-A-Ride vehicles. The Dial-A-Ride vehicles allow citizens to arrange for pickups, and are widely used by the disabled and elderly population of Santa Clarita, but are open to all.

 

According to City transportation manager Jeffrey O’Keefe, the current Dial-A-Ride fleet has surpassed its service life, and these new vehicles are for replacement purposes.

 

The second item requests no more than $3,637,200 for eight 40 ft long buses. O’Keefe says that half of these buses will add new muscle to the fleet. “Four are expansion buses, the other four are replacements.”

 

Both purchases will also be utilizing outside funding. Federal Transit Assistance monies will be added to the eight bus purchase. Nearly $600,000 will be added to the Dial-A-Ride project in grant funds.