Propane is a little hard to compare to diesel fuel because. 1) It is a gas compared to diesel which is a heavy liquid. "Burning" depends on "vaporization". Propane already starts out as a gas. 2) This qaseous normal state is why it is cleaner. 3) The reason it is "quieter" is because propane burns in a V8 "gas" engine ...which we all know, doesn't make that familiar da-da-da-da-da engine sound associated with running a diesel.

John Thomas had a number of years of experience with First Student so I can't imagine what he is thinking. Those 85 buses he wants Positive Connections or another bidder to replace will require a capitol outlay of about %8,075,000 plus about $605,000 in sales tax. Does he think for a second that the $8.5 million will not going to be passed on to the school district in contract costs? The Blue Bird Propane Powered Vision is a nice bus but you don't reolace your whole fleet at once. Additionally, I seriously doubt that a school district can specify that a safe industry standard fuel, i.e. diesel fuel, cannot be used in it's buses.

Now invest the saving in the kids. Not new leather furniture, and trips for the administrators.

i think the answer is to have a few of each. they better keep a couple diesel buses on hand for when they need to go on long field trips and sporting events. propane isnt always readily available like other fuels (ie- pay at the pump) and these propane units will have less range than their diesel counter parts.

the main reason for diesel fuel is it is much easier to run in the winter here , whereas diesel does not have the pressure drop when it gets cold and for you wackos out there that will argue about it the propane vehicles have heaters on them to get the fuel to work correctly and they are verrrrry high maintainace if they are so good whe does minnegasco no longer run them in their vehicle and they are a gas supplier !!

Several years ago Taylors Falls school district was using propane powered school busses, I beleive that would make them the first school district to use them. I don't know if they still use them or not, but mabe someone could check to see how they worked for them?

In 1976-79 ARA Services and it's successor Laidlaw Transportation ran a fleet of propane buses in Saint Paul and Minneapolis out of the Columbia Transit locations at Snelling and Como in Saint Paul and County Road E in Arden Hills both of which are now operated by First Student. While they theoretically saved money on the cost of the fuel they soon leaned that the amount of time it took to fuel these buses, often 30 to 40 minutes, the more frequent fuelings necessary due to decreased range, and the frequent breakdowns eliminated any savings. Blue Bird may have solved many of these issues with the new technology used in the propane Vision, which is a very impressive unit and a dream to drive, but the decreased range, need for expensive fueling stations, and scarcity of road legal propane outside of very limited fueling stations in urban areas remain.

Propane is a great DOMESTICALLY (US or Canada) versatile fuel that makes a great engine fuel. Propane engines operate cleaner and cheaper than any currently commercially available fuel. Over the past decade there has been many improvement such as, eliminating carburetors (EFI), lower maintenance than diesel and gasoline, increased mileage range over CNG, they can be duel fuel engines(gas and propane), and propane fill stations are readily available in nearly every town in Minnesota. Check out this website to learn more: http://www.ferrellgas.com/Propane-Services/Propane-Alternative-Fuel

...would drive this bus.

smitherings, folks will try to blame the driver, anything but the propane. I don't know.