As part of its ongoing commitment to be a leader in sustainability practices, MTS unveiled its new East County Bus Maintenance Facility in mid-October. The 34,500-square-foot maintenance building and 10,275-square-foot administrative facility, which were built to LEED Silver standards, will be home to 120 clean-burning Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.
“MTS is focused on improving all facets of our business to improve efficiency, reliability, passenger amenities and the air we breathe,” said MTS Chief Executive Officer Paul Jablonski. “The new East County Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility helps us achieve all those goals.”
Some of the environmentally-friendly designs include:
- 30% reduction in potable water usage
- Draught-tolerant landscaping
- LED lighting to provide energy conservation, cost savings and thermal comfort
- On-site renewable energy photovalic (PV) solar system
A new CNG fueling station on-site will allow MTS to replace diesel-fueled buses with CNG-fueled buses, which provide a 50 percent reduction in NOx emissions, an 85 percent reduction in particulate matter pollution and an 89 percent decrease in CO emissions. Additionally, MTS is the first transit agency in the nation to pilot test near-zero NOx engines. These near-zero NOx engines reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% and reduce smog-forming NOx emissions by 90% below the EPA 2010 standards. The new facility will serve more than 4 million passengers annually in East County.
