Hybrid school buses starting to be sold in Virginia

A Campbell County company has sold one of the first hybrid school buses to go on the roads in Virginia.

Loudoun County Public Schools bought its first hybrid bus, which will run on diesel fuel and on electricity, from Sonny Merryman Inc. The bus will go into operation in the Northern Virginia county in early 2010.

The Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-LINER C2e is the first one Sonny Merryman officials know of being sold in the state.

The company held an event at its Evington headquarters Thursday to show the new Loudoun County school bus to public school officials in the Lynchburg region.

“Our company … has always had a green theme, thanks to my father,” said Floyd Merryman, president of the company and son of its founder. “Our number one goal was to turn yellow (buses) to green (dollars).”

Now the company is trying to be greener in the environmentally friendly sense, he said.

Brady Childress, director of customer support, said that hybrid vehicles are now being used for utility companies, public transit and school buses.

Although the more expensive model saves fuel, it would be difficult for a small school system to save enough fuel to make up for the cost, said Danville Public Schools Transportation Director Mike Adkins, who attended the event. “With the fuel conservation efforts that we already use, it would take a while to realize savings,” he said.

Childress said hybrid buses recharge the electric motor’s battery when the bus coasts or uses its brakes, making it “ideal for the stop-and-go operation of a school bus.”

Natalie VanDyke, Internet sales and marketing manager, said that the hybrid vehicles make significant cuts to the usage of diesel fuel and pollution emissions. The bus going to Loudoun County will travel about 85 miles per day. In a school year, it will use 1,170 fewer gallons of fuel and produce 2,680 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide than the bus it is replacing, she said.

“We have to face the fact that there is an impact to what we do,” Van Dyke said. “Hopefully we will decrease the impact of what we do.”

“Loudoun County should be proud of what they’ve done,” she said.

Tony Craun, shop foreman for Loudoun County Public Schools, said hybrid technology started being used in school buses at the end of last year. This year Sonny Merryman let the school system test out a hybrid bus.

“We’re really excited about it,” he said.

The hybrid bus cost the school system about $150,000, compared to about $90,000 for a diesel-only bus, said Dean Farmer, director of marketing for Sonny Merryman.