The BRT vehicles feature clean hybrid diesel-electric technology and boast a 10% to 15% fuel reduction compared to conventional diesel vehicles. They are lightweight, quiet and have unique theatre-style seating in the articulated joint, with two rear exit doors.
The project, which received $8.5 million in 2010 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s TIGER program, created more than 80 jobs during the facility’s construction, according to the Ames Transit Agency.
The draft of the proposal released Wednesday contains a $3.9 billion reduction for the agencies from 2012 spending and it is $1.9 billion less than President Obama requested for the departments earlier this year.
The decision comes just under a year after Durham called the Triangle’s first transit referendum, approving its own half-percent sales tax surcharge with a 60% majority. Durham County is waiting to impose the tax until after similar measures are approved in both Orange and Wake counties.
The bus will be fueled daily at a state-of-the-art hydrogen fueling station, the first of its kind in Texas. The facility allows for the on site generation, compression, storage and dispensing of hydrogen.