My colleague Zach Miners will have a piece in the upcoming September issue about the effect of rising fuel costs in districts nationwide. One of the results he found was a growing interest in other fuels, specifically propane, which is quite a bit cheaper than gas or diesel. I noticed this article in the Christian Science Monitor from just a few days ago about the growing popularity of propane, the Blue Bird Bus Company has just rolled out a new propane model that gets mentioned. What struck me the most in the article was the mention of the mileage: apparently, gasoline buses get about EIGHT miles per gallon, diesel get nine. And propane will get similar mileage, it's just cheaper per gallon. Incredible. I suppose that level of inefficiency was a non-issue in an age of cheap gas, but those days are apparently long gone. All these stories about fuel costs, fuel costs, fuel costs taking a huge and ever growing chunk out of district budgets. Difficult, yes, but does anyone question why we're using buses that make Hummers look like hybrids?? We need better buses, I think, and the current circumstances might just squeeze them out of the market, finally. Here's hoping.
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