New York Power Authority Clean Transportation Update                              October 2006

Greetings from the New York Power Authority!

Welcome to another edition of our Clean Transportation Update. With the high cost of gasoline and the nation’s renewed focus on greenhouse gases and the environment, stories on fuel economy and energy efficiency are all over the news. Here are a few stories from our own Electric Transportation Group that we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss..

Sprinter Van Hits the Ground Running

The latest in clean transportation technology is being unveiled in New York State this fall thanks to an alliance we formed with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and DaimlerChrysler to help promote a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV), which combines the best of both electric and hybrid-electric technology. The Sprinter Van made its debut Sept. 14, when Power Authority President Timothy Carey and CEO joined Battery Park City Authority President Jim Cavanaugh in demonstrating the prototype vehicle on the streets of Lower Manhattan.

“Under Governor George Pataki’s leadership the Power Authority has advanced a number of green initiatives,” said Carey.  “Our electric transportation program is committed to putting electric and hybrid-electric cars and buses on New York’s streets, and in government and customer fleets.  Now we are working with EPRI and DaimlerChrysler to pave the way for the next big thing in automotive transportation—plug-in hybrids.”

The Sprinter Van has since been featured at events in Central New York, Niagara Falls, Syracuse, White Plains and Albany.

Plug-in hybrids can operate in all-electric or hybrid mode. They have larger batteries than standard non-plug-in hybrids, which allow them to travel longer distances in electric-only mode.  The Sprinter Van has an all-electric range of up to 20 miles with zero emissions.  On short urban routes, with lots of stop-and-go driving, this vehicle may operate for most of the day in electric mode.  In the hybrid mode, the vehicle performs like a standard hybrid, with significantly lower emissions and fuel consumption than conventional diesel or gasoline vehicles.

By next year, a Sprinter van is expected to take part in a fleet demonstration project at The New York Times.

NYPA’s Clean School Bus Program Makes the Grade

Highlighting a program we initiated to reduce school bus emissions, among other New York initiatives, the Union of Concerned Scientists recently ranked New York among the top 16 states in the country for reducing harmful tail-pipe emissions from school buses.

In a national report, “School Bus Pollution Report Card 2006: Making the Grade,” the Concerned Scientists cited our Clean School Bus Program, launched in conjunction with the New York City Department of Education, which installed emission-reduction equipment (diesel oxidation catalysts) on 1,426 school buses and facilitated the use of cleaner-burning fuel for 2,800 buses. The combined impact of these measures reduced tailpipe emissions by as much as 40 percent and eliminated nearly 18,000 pounds of particulate matter—or soot—from the atmosphere.

Of the 1,426 school buses outfitted with emission controls under the program, 524 are used primarily in Brooklyn, 491 in the Bronx, 369 in Queens and 42 on Staten Island.

According to Martin Oestreicher, chief executive of school support services for the NYC Department of Education, the program has been effective.  “The NYPA program has proven these technologies work,” he said. “We’re moving ahead to clean the air in and around the balance of the city’s large school bus fleet.”

The Clean School Bus program is just one of several of our initiatives to help improve air quality for the city’s children.  As part of Governor Pataki’s Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act programs, we administered the Clean Air for Schools program that replaced polluting coal-fired boilers with clean oil and gas furnaces at 73 public schools in New York City and Buffalo and on Long Island.

From Parking Tickets to Medical Rescues

Versatility is more often associated with people than machines, but the 350 Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) we helped place into service in locations around the state show all the versatility of a great Hollywood screen star.  Here are some of the innovative ways these vehicles are being put to use.

The little DaimlerChrysler Global Electric Motorcar ( GEM)) cruising along the paths of Brooklyn’s renowned Green-Wood Cemetery is used every day by the cemetery’s president for everything from ground inspections to attending burials, according to Jane Cuccurullo, corporate secretary.  “The car navigates very nicely on our narrow, winding roads,” said Cuccurullo.  And as the country’s “largest necropolis” with over 600,000 graves spread over 478 acres, there’s a lot of ground to cover.

Frequent ferrying of VIPs, part of recent efforts to earn the cemetery landmark status, has led some cemetery regulars to dub Green-Wood’s GEM “the Pope Mobile”, after the distinctive security vehicle (also electric) used by the Pope.

Residents of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., have NYPA to thank for two new GEMs the city uses for parking enforcement. The roomy two-seater cars replaced gasoline-powered Cushman vehicles. At a base price of approximately $10,000 (not including co-funding by NYPA) electric vehicles are more cost-efficient than the Cushmans. They save on gas and maintenance costs while ensuring vigilant parking enforcement.

“Almost everyone who drives the GEMs says they don’t miss the frequent trips to the gas station across town,” says Lt. Betsy Gelardi.  We assume Dobbs Ferry residents are equally happy that traffic enforcement can now go on virtually uninterrupted until the vehicles are taken back to the garage for recharging every 30-40 miles.

Another NYPA GEM at Veteran’s Park in Grand Island, N.Y., replaces a bicycle. “Having a car instead of a bicycle has raised our level of service considerably,” said Ben Kozar of the Grand Island recreation department.  Used primarily for maintenance and patrol, the GEM has played a leading role in medical emergencies, such as the time a young man broke his collar bone on the playing field and was escorted by GEM to a waiting ambulance.  It is also used occasionally to transport elderly or infirm spectators from the parking lot to the park’s sports fields so they can watch their relatives compete.

More than what these NEVs do, it’s what they don’t do that makes them such “‘gems.”’ They don’t pollute. In cases where they replace gasoline-powered vehicles, they actually help clean the air by avoiding harmful emissions.  Replacing a similar gasoline-powered vehicle, a NEV can avoid the use of approximately 800 gallons of gas (or 40 barrels of crude oil) and can avoid emitting nearly 25 pounds of particulate matter and 5 tons of greenhouse gases.

We’re currently at work on a number of other exciting electric transportation projects, which we can’t wait to tell you about. Stay tuned for our next update.