In an effort to clear the air, Columbus schools recently spent $2.9 million to purchase 30 new low-emission buses.
With the help of a $1.45 million grant through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Columbus Municipal School District provided matching funds to purchase 28 full-size International buses and two Ford short buses. The International buses –purchased through Columbus-based Waters Truck and Tractor Co. Inc. — meet 2010 diesel emission standards. The Ford buses meet 2007 standards.
Waters Transportation Services handles transportation services for CMSD and has contracts with an additional eight of the state”s 152 school districts.
The district unveiled the buses, which went into service last week, Monday in a ceremony at its Brandon Central Services office. District 1 U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss., Columbus Mayor Robert Smith and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Executive Director Trudy Fisher each spoke at Monday”s press conference.
CMSD Superintendent Dr. Del Phillips said the grant will help the district avoid shouldering all of a large-scale purchase in the future to replace some of its aging 60-bus fleet.
“We set aside a portion of our budget each year to replace the existing fleet. So we tried to reallocate some funds to make a purchase up front where we won”t have to purchase a great amount of buses for quite some time,” he said.
The CMSD generally purchases two to four new buses each year. District funds were reallocated from savings and cash reserves to provide the matching funds. Remaining buses will be retrofitted with new equipment to meet 2010 emissions standards, Phillips said.
Keith Head, of emission inventory at MDEQ, said CMSD was one of eight entities out of 100 applicants in the Southeast to be awarded grant funds. Criteria for receiving the grant required retrofitting or replacing old equipment with new low-emission equipment.
The new buses are equipped with components such as direct-fire heaters, which warm the engine block without idling to save fuel and reduce emissions.
The buses were assembled in Tulsa, Okla., by IC Bus, a subsidiary of Navistar, which owns International Military and Government. IMG produces military vehicles — including Mine Resistant Ambush Protected military vehicles, commonly called MRAPs, and “Husky” tactical support vehicles — at its plant in West Point.
The buses delivered to CMSD through Waters Truck and Tractor are the first 2010 emissions standard compliant buses in the U.S., said John McKinney, president of IC Bus.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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