First Student will operate 50 new Blue Bird Propane-Powered Vision school buses for Bozeman (Mont.) Public School District when school starts next month.
The school bus contractor and school district made the initial announcement earlier this year after the school board approved the purchase on Jan. 28. Bozeman is thought to be at least one of the first districts in the state to operate the straight-from-the-factory propane buses that run on a liquid propane-autogas system from ROUSH CleanTech and that works with a Ford 6.8L V10 engine.
Propane costs up to 50-percent less per gallon than diesel fuel, and Blue Bird and ROUSH claim the alternative fuel also reduces maintenance costs due to clean-burning properties. ROUSH has an online calculator that allows fleets to determine its potential capital, operating and miscellaneous savings by switching to the alternative fuel
The new Visions also include GPS tracking systems, onboard digital cameras, electronic child reminder systems from Child Check-Mate and crossing gates that require students to cross in front of the bus at a safe distance and in full view of their drivers.
In a statement, First Student said the order meet’s the company’s “core values of safety, commitment to customers, setting the highest standards, and support among locations are clearly demonstrated through the company’s regular investments in its fleet, implementation of leading-edge technologies, and enactment of stringent safety policies.”
