Texas school bus fleet still keen on propane after 30 years

ALVIN, Texas — Alvin Independent School District (ISD), just south of Houston, converted its school bus fleet to propane autogas following the energy crisis of the 1970s. Fuel access and pricing were starting to hinder the district’s transportation department, and after researching alternative fuels, the district switched to propane autogas in 1982. Thirty-one years later, Alvin ISD operates more than 100 propane autogas school buses that travel a total of nearly 1 million miles each year.

Today, more than half of Alvin ISD’s buses run on propane autogas, including 70 dedicated propane Blue Bird Vision Type C buses and 36 converted gasoline buses. The remaining fleet is made up of 80 diesel-fueled buses.

Performance, maintenance
According to Juan Mejias, Alvin ISD’s fleet maintenance manager, drivers have developed a preference for the propane autogas buses, and the district relies on them for their power and ease in maintenance.

“Our bus drivers love the acceleration with propane autogas,” Mejias said. “When we take the buses out of rotation for routine maintenance and drivers use the spare diesel buses, they come back and ask us how soon they can get their propane bus back. The drivers don’t have the same hesitation accelerating and merging in traffic like they do with the diesel buses. The performance is that good.” Read more here.