SporTran has introduced five new 40-foot-long buses to its routes.

A news release from the City of Shreveport says the vibrantly-colored buses run on Compressed Natural Gas, and replace diesel-fueled buses that had been in circulation for 12 years. New buses were last added to the fleet in March 2011.

"It was time for us to provide our citizens with updated modes of transportation that also proved to be environmentally-friendly," said Mayor Ollie Tyler in the news release.

Each bus costs about $450,000 and the new bunch was purchased with funding from the Federal Transportation Administration, with a local match from Shreveport.

SporTran Director Dinero Washington said these buses will allow the public transportation service to continue its 2011 goal of increasing its use of clean-fuels and become a more green-friendly, energy-efficient transit system.

The new 40-seat buses include ramps and kneeling reatures for the convenient boarding of passengers with disabilities. They also have on-board camera systems, real-time passenger counters and an automatic vehicle locating system.

 

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