Yellow School Buses Going Green
By Andrew Cristancho
Parents and students soon may notice a change to the familiar smell of diesel fumes in Tahoe and Truckee for two reasons — a 2-year-old state mandate for lower-emission diesel fuel, and successful grant hunting by officials with the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.
In August 2007, the district’s transportation department installed costly but effective particle filters on seven of the district’s fleet of 45 buses.
“These particulate traps reduce the emissions that these buses put out by 85 percent,” said Don Harder, the district’s fleet manager.
The filters are placed in-line between the main exhaust and tail pipe and remove much of the soot produced by the combustion of diesel fuel, said Heather Kuklo of the Placer County Air Pollution Control District. Read the full story.