“The dedication they have is second to none. “The fleet staff is the reason I was able to work here for 34 years,” Downs says.

Now, in 2012, the department has replaced or retrofitted more than 290 buses, exceeding the district’s initial goal. The team was recognized for proactively installing pollution-reduction technology on more than 100 school buses and replacing more than 137 of the department’s older buses with cleaner ones, giving students a healthier commute. In 2009, Columbus City Schools’ transportation and fleet services department received the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Clean Air Award. Just a few years ago we were running 1986 buses, and now we’re running 2012 models.” “It’s exciting - no two days are the same,” Downs says. Downs and his staff sample all buses’ oil on a regular basis, which allows them to extend oil changes up to 10,000 miles rather than 4,000 or 5,000. It might take effort, but it can be done.”Ĭolumbus’ fleet team has also strived to be more efficient in their everyday practices. “With the technology out there today, you can remove it. “I saw black smoke coming out of vehicles around town and realized it doesn’t have to be that way,” Downs says. The regulation applies to district-owned school buses and vehicles, contracted school buses and non-district vehicles making deliveries to schools. The regulation prohibits bus idling at schools and minimizes the amount of idling necessary in cold weather conditions.

Idling alerts from the GPS are automatically generated so the district can stay on top of its newly adopted vehicle idle time regulation. Route efficiency is constantly improving with the district’s integration of GPS in its buses, which allows transportation supervisors to actively monitor unnecessary idling. The district’s buses are equipped with engine pre-heaters, which Downs says help to reduce idling and save on fuel.īecoming a more efficient facility is high on the priority list for Columbus City Schools’ transportation and fleet services department. “The new buses and equipment are really a huge savings for the district,” Downs says, “and when we’re not spending as much, we can feed that money back into the classrooms.” In addition to reducing emissions, Downs says that going green has reduced the overall budget by $300,000, saving in parts and labor. After rounds of application, several grants were awarded to the district, which helped pay for diesel oxidation catalysts, Zonar GPS, buses with clean-burning engines, buses with engine pre-heaters and hybrid-electric buses.

Fuel up columbus city schools