With a 20% reduction in fuel costs, LeeTran (public transit provider for Lee County) has added more LPG-powered shuttles to its paratransit fleet, i.e. transportation services for people with disabilities, in May 2016. These new vehicles increase the public transit agency’s propane fleet to 20, nearly 50% of its entire paratransit fleet. However, the agency plans to switch its entire fleet to Autogas within the next five years.

“We are converting our vehicles to operate on Autogas for a number of reasons. It is an American made fuel with significant environmental benefits; converting to propane infrastructure is more affordable; and propane offers lower fuels prices,” said Robert Southall, maintenance manager of LeeTran.

LeeTran provides approximately 4 million rides per year, including over 100,000 passenger trips through its Passport service. The Autogas paratransit shuttles will be used for shared ride, advanced reservation trips for person with disabilities who are unable to use regular fixed route public transportation.

Each of the agency’s Passport shuttles, which travel 30,000 miles per year, is built on the Ford E-450 chassis with 6.8L V10 engine, and equipped with a ROUSH CleanTech Autogas fuel system with extended range 64-usable-gallon fuel tank.

“LeeTran wanted to reduce its emissions and operating cost without compromising range for its paratransit fleet. Our extended range fuel tank on the E-450 is exactly what the agency was looking for,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech.

By fuelling with Autogas, LeeTran is eliminating 1.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the shuttles’ lifetime, compared to conventionally fuelled counterparts.