WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 3
TRANSPORTATION
Commission approves student bus program
By Ehren Meditz emeditz@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The Lawrence City Commission approved a proposal 4-0 yesterday to allow KU bus riders access to the Lawrence Transit System, or T, bus routes for a one-time fee.
The proposal aims to increase student ridership on the T through the selling of "T-Passes."
The fifth commissioner, Sue Hack, was out of town and did not vote.
A T-Pass is a sticker that can be purchased and placed on the KU on Wheels bus pass for unlimited access to the public bus route beginning this fall.
"It works for the greater good of both organizations," said Tim Akright, transportation coordinator for KU on Wheels.
He said that increasing ridership on existing T bus routes would improve the efficiency of future KU bus routes by changing the routes that overlapped.
Now that the proposal has been approved, its proponents hope to have a program in place for the fall semester. The T-Pass sticker would cost $20 and be valid for the entire school year. Unlimited access T bus passes cost $17 a month, so the University is only charging a very small fee Akright said.
"I'm having a hard time seeing any downside to this," Mayor David Dunfield said at yesterday's meeting.
"I think this looks like a win-win situation," Commissioner David Schauner said.
For more information, call KU on Wheels at 864-4644.
— Edited by Annie Bernethy
TRANSPORTATION
New electric bus heading to Kansas City for testing
By Kevin Wiggs
kwiggs@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kansas City, Mo., will be one of the first homes for an experimental electric transit bus that could reduce fuels consumption by 80 percent.
The Kansas City Area Transit Authority will begin test driving the first 30-foot, hybrid bus, with passengers, in 14 to 18 months, said Karl Birns, project director and KU professor of environmental studies
A University of Kansas research team, headed by Glen Marotz and Dennis Lane. environmental engineering professors, will test the bus' fuel economy and emissions.
"Our motivation is to produce a vehicle that is a commercial success, with fuel and emissions as low as possible," Marotz said. "It must be commercially viable or there's no reason to build it."
The bus in Kansas City will be one of two in the On-Grid Hybrid Electric Bus Project. The other project will be in New York.
The bus will run primarily on electricity powered by batteries plugged into the
Kansas City Power and Light Co. power grid. It can run for 20 to 30 miles, and will include a backup diesel engine in case the bus must travel further, climb hills or use the air conditioner.
The KU research team will test the bus's fuel economy using a dynamometer, a stationary highway that runs the bus like a treadmill. They will also use a remote sensing device with an infrared beam to test tail-pipe emissions.
This type of bus differs from hybrid vehicles that use gas engines to recharge the battery. The on-grid bus is plugged in overnight to keep the battery charged.
The goal of the project is to prove this idea works so the bus can be mass-produced, said Andra Michel, a project manager for the Electronic Power Research Institute in California. The EPRI first proposed the bus in New York City more than three years ago.
With successful testing, the on-grid hybrid buses could reach full-scale production in four years. Birns said.
— Edited by Annie Bernethy
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