Buffalo, N.Y.’s Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) and Trillium CNG began construction on a high-capacity, fast-fill compressed natural gas (CNG) station at its Metro department's Frontier Bus Garage

NFTA operates 316 buses over 65 routes in New York's Erie and Niagara counties, in addition to a 6.4-mile light rail system serving 95,000 customers each weekday.

The agency has ordered 44 full-size, CNG-powered buses from Nova Bus. The first 20 are due later this year and will begin transporting passengers at that time, with the remaining units to follow in 2016. The new buses will replace the oldest diesel buses currently in use.

NFTA has also ordered from Shepard Brothers 10 CNG paratransit vans, which will be used to transport customers with special needs. The PAL vans will begin service this fall.

The agency’s $5.9 million CNG station will encompass one-and-a-half acres and feature two 250-hp compressors, producing 700 standard cubic feet per minute that will serve four fuel dispensers. A twin tower dryer, control building, electric motor and control distribution wiring and control system are also part of the project.

The NFTA is paying about $5 million for the CNG station, with the remaining funding coming from the Federal Transit Administration ($575,112), National Fuel ($301,312) and the New York State Department of Transportation ($68,653).