The Kansas City (KS) Public School District will purchase 47 Thomas Built buses with compressed natural gas engines (CNG).

The buses are HDX rear engine models.

“Many forward-thinking customers are taking advantage of opportunities to build cleaner, greener fleets, and to address their long-term concerns about the price of diesel fuel. There’s about a $1 a gallon advantage in CNG over diesel, and that really adds up when you’re running a fleet of school buses,” said Ken Hedgecock, vp-sales, marketing & service, for Thomas Built Buses, a Daimler Trucks North America subsidiary. “In addition, low finance rates and lower maintenance costs can sweeten the deal, generating substantial savings.”

The school district is using a $4 million Dept. of Energy grant distributed through the Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Coalition to help finance the purchase. Matching funds are being supplied by Kansas City Kansas Public Schools.

The buses will be put into service in early 2011 once the infrastructure is completed. Thirty-five time-fill dispensers with dual hoses to allow two buses to be filled at a time at each station are being installed.