NEW HAVEN - Bringing New Haven to the forefront of the alternative fuels initiative, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today joined Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. and officials from Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition and the Greater New Haven Transit District (GNHTD) to unveil a design for the city’s new fuel cell buses. The buses will complement GNHTD’s existing fleet of battery-powered trolleys, which serve downtown New Haven.

“These buses will usher in the next generation of environmentally friendly vehicles, building on the city’s success with battery-powered trolleys and placing New Haven at the forefront of the alternative fuel initiative. Federal funding was critical to the success of this program, which is why I was delighted to work on New Haven’s behalf to secure this support.”

From Fiscal Years 2002-2004, DeLauro secured $3 million in federal funding to construct one fuel cell powered transit bus and another alternative-fuel powered transit bus that can ultimately be retro-fitted to be powered by fuel cell. The current generation of alternative fuel vehicles - New Haven’s battery-powered trolleys - were also funded in large measure through DeLauro’s work in Congress. In FY 2000-2001, she secured $1.25 million in funding for these trolleys. The trolleys, which do not emit any pollutants, were rolled out in June 2002.

GNHTD will announce that they have begun the process of procuring a contract to construct the buses, which are expected to be ready by 2006.

“Investing in mass transit means investing in our future,” continued DeLauro. “That is particularly true when technology promises the kinds of health benefits these buses do. Continuing this effort will mean black soot from diesel fuel will soon be a thing of the past, which in turn means lower asthma rates in our children, cleaner air and a cleaner city.”

Fuel cells emit few or no pollutants. In addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions to virtually nothing, fuel-cell-powered engines do not emit any ground-level ozone or particulate matter (PM-10, which is the soot that is emitted by diesel engines). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared New Haven County a severe non-attainment area for both ozone and PM-10.

In addition to the fuel savings and environmental health benefits of fuel cell power, fuel-cell-powered vehicles are much quieter than diesel or natural gas powered buses, a factor which further improves the quality of life in communities that use them.

Hydrogen fuel cell energy is still an emerging technology. As a consequence, very few transit agencies have fuel cell powered buses. Only Chicago and Oakland either have these buses in their fleet or will add them soon. Along with New Haven, Dallas, Washington, DC, and Las Vegas are known to be planning to add fuel cell buses to their fleet in the near future.