MTC
Allocation Turns Diesel Buses into Vehicle for Air Quality
Commission Action Coincides with Year’s First
Spare-the-Air Day
On June 25, the first
Spare-the-Air Day of 2003, the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission (MTC) allocated over $13.8 million in federal Congestion
Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program funds to 12 Bay Area
transit agencies to help finance the purchase of nearly 1,700
emission-control retrofit devices that will be installed on diesel
buses around the region. MTC allocated nearly $1.8 million in local
matching funds to supplement the federal commitment, which will be
spread over the 2003-04 and 2004-05 fiscal years. Once installed,
the retrofit systems are expected to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
in the Bay Area by over 2,500 pounds per day and particulate matter
by 300 pounds per day. Oxides of nitrogen are a prime contributor to
ground-level ozone or "smog" and particulate matter is
classified as a toxic air contaminant.
"This allocation shows not
only MTC’s dedication to meeting its clean air commitments, but
the effectiveness of federal legislation that allows metropolitan
planning organizations to decide how CMAQ funds are invested in
their areas," said MTC Chair and Marin County Supervisor Steve
Kinsey. "Since our focus is on smog reduction, we’re using
CMAQ money to help transit agencies bridge the cost gap so they get
the best emissions controls available instead of less effective
systems."
The new Cleaire Longview
emission-control system—which will replace mufflers on diesel
buses from model year 1994 and later—is manufactured by Cleaire
Advanced Emission Controls of San Leandro, and is distributed
through the Cummins distribution system via Fleetguard Emission
Solutions. It is the first diesel retrofit product to be verified by
the California Air Resources Board as effective in reducing both
particulate matter—the black soot in diesel exhaust—and oxides
of nitrogen. The Air Resources Board verified in April that the
Cleaire Longview reduces particulate matter by 85 percent and oxides
of nitrogen by 25 percent. Though diesel bus engines typically
produce relatively small amounts of hydrocarbons—some of which can
combine with oxides of nitrogen to form smog—the Cleaire Longview
reduces these emissions as well.
Cleaire began producing the
Longview in 2001, and the emissions control system has since been
installed on dozens of diesel vehicles throughout California,
including some AC Transit, Central Contra Costa Transit Authority
(County Connection), and SamTrans buses. The new MTC allocation will
allow AC Transit to buy 727 more Cleaire Longview devices, SamTrans
to acquire an additional 209 units, and County Connection to buy
another 89. The MTC distribution will allow San Francisco Muni to
buy 375 devices. Other agencies planning to install Cleaire Longview
catalysts on their diesel buses’ exhaust systems include the
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District;
Fairfield-Suisun Transit; the Livermore-Amador Valley Transit
Authority (WHEELS); Santa Rosa CityBus; Vallejo Transit; and Tri
Delta Transit and WestCAT in Contra Costa County.
MTC is the nine-county San
Francisco Bay Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and
financing agency. More information on air quality and the
Spare-the-Air campaign is available online from the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District at www.sparetheair.org.