Parkway's Yellow School Buses Going Green

A big yellow school bus is a familiar site, but now Parkway School District buses are going green.  

District officials tell Patch, the district is taking steps to transition its fleet of 150 buses to become more environmentally friendly. 

Parkway Spokesperson Cathy Kelly tells Patch, the buses will use a cleaner, healthier compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel.     

CNG costs less than diesel fuel, so Kelley said Parkway will save an estimated $100,000 per year in fuel costs as a result.

The fuel will also leave a smaller footprint on the environment, according to Kelly.

"It will reduce the amount of emissions emitted into the environment," she said. "The St. Louis area has bad air. So that's why they're doing this."

Kelly said the move is possible thanks to the East-West Gateway Council of Governments approval of a $1.5 million federal highway funding grant for Parkway to purchase the 30 CNG buses and a fueling station. 

The grant is included in the region’s 2013-2016 Transportation Improvement Program, Kelley explained.      

She said every year the district buys eight to 10 new buses. However, in 2013, the district will buy the 30 new CNG buses and then not purchase new buses again until 2016. 

The new buses should arrive some time next year and be in use for the 2013 - 2014 school year 

Kelly also said Parkway plans to reach out to other area agencies to look into sharing the fueling station.