Calif.-based Montebello Bus Lines (MBL) recently celebrated the completion of a $2.4 million compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel facility.

"These new, clean-burning natural gas buses will allow people to continue to commute in comfort and at the same time improve our air quality," said Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (38th District) who was instrumental in securing $6.1 million for capital projects including the new CNG fuel station and CNG-fueled buses.

Currently, Montebello has seven CNG-fueled buses, 45 hybrids (electric/gasoline) and 14 diesel buses, which are scheduled to be replaced by CNG-fueled buses by 2014.

The fuel station was built by Seal Beach-based Clean Energy. Representatives of the company said MBL's station is unique because it has two state of the art booster compressors and two primary compressors.

The booster compressors maximize the amount of gas that can be compressed and dispersed at the source before going into the primary compressors. They allow MBL to efficiently and cost effectively deliver nearly 500 gallons of natural gas per hour to the bus yard using the same natural gas that is delivered to residential consumers. This capacity not only meets the agency's current demand, but will also be sufficient as the fleet expands.

MBL's CNG fuel station was funded by the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) federal program.