[IMAGE]VTA-hybrid-bus-2.jpg[/IMAGE]Last week, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) launched the first nine of its 90 new, low-emission, diesel electric hybrid buses. Passengers can experience the smoother, quieter ride on VTA Line 66, which services San Jose Kaiser, through downtown San Jose, and Milpitas. 

VTA obtained a $53.4 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant and $5.3 million in California Proposition 1B funding to acquire the hybrid buses. Manufactured by Gillig in Hayward, these American-made buses are helping stimulate the local economy by creating and keeping more than 300 jobs in the local Bay Area region.

The buses will allow VTA to replace older buses that have exceeded their useful life span, reducing particulate matter by 90 percent when compared to the 1998 generation of diesel buses while also reducing the operating and maintenance costs of VTA's fleet.