It's Now Easy Being Green
By David Hunt, News Services
It’s 9:49 a.m. on a steamy Thursday morning and it’s already 90 degrees in the shade, if you can find any shade. Unfortunately, even in the sanctuary of the Wolfline’s strategically placed bus shelter, I’m still sweltering from the humidity as I wait to catch a ride on one of the university’s new ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel buses.
When the 40-foot-long gentle giant eases up to the curb a few minutes later, I find there’s a lot to like about the new fleet, and not just because it’s helping to protect the world from global warming. For one thing, the thermostat is set on a crisp 72 degrees.
Across the aisle Evelyn Bucks, a new NC State employee, breathes a sigh of relief – literally.
“I suffer from asthma, and I just can’t be out in this heat,” she says. “I always look for a bus.”
Bucks is fortunate. Like all university students, faculty and staff members, she can jump on nearly any bus in town, including buses operated by Wolfline, Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) and Capital Area Transit (CAT), and ride for free. Wolfline alone operates 10 routes across NC State’s sprawling campus, from the College of Veterinary Medicine to the far reaches of Centennial Campus and all points in between.
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| New NC State employee Evelyn Bucks rings for her stop. Photo: David Hunt. |
Although she’s only been on the job for a few days, Bucks has already started using the system. Every morning she catches a TTA bus in front of her house and rides it to Hillsborough Street, where she transfers to the Wolfline for a quick ride to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Not only is she saving money on gas and auto maintenance, Bucks is also contributing to the air quality of the region and, in a way, to her own health. The ultra-low-sulfur buses that Wolfline placed in service on Aug. 8 reduce emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by 90 percent and nitrogen oxide by 25 to 50 percent. For asthma sufferers like Bucks, these pollutants are bad news.
When the bus stops at the D. H. Hill Library, we pick up another passenger, a visiting Chinese graduate student who is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry. He introduces himself as Frank (‘That’s my American name”) Chen and says he’s been riding the bus every day for five weeks while he participates in a summer workshop. As an experienced rider, he’s happy to give a detailed progress report.
“This bus is a little behind schedule,” he declares, unfolding a large transit map. “It should have arrived at the library four minutes ago.”
But he’s evenhanded, if precise.
“The drivers are terrific,” he says approvingly. “Very polite.”
After Chen exits the bus, driver Patricia Howard explains that buses occasionally fall behind schedule due to construction detours, trucks in the middle of the street, and traffic congestion.
“Anything can stop a bus,” she says. “I tell students to always give themselves plenty of time to get to class.”
It’s good advice. The Transportation Department reinforces it by sending ambassadors – staff members in bright orange vests – to help new students get the hang of riding the Wolfline system the first couple of days of the semester.
As most students find out, the Wolfline buses tend to get crowded during peak times, but the 29 new buses may ease the crunch somewhat. Twenty-one of the clean diesel buses, manufactured by New Flyer Industries, have a capacity of 80 riders, 15 more than the old buses they replaced.
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| The new buses are bright and roomy. With the thermostat set at 72-degrees, you may want to jump on board just to get some relief from the late summer heat. Photo: David Hunt. |
“We have an unusual seating pattern,” explains Slade McCalip, assistant director for planning and transit operations. “Since we have short routes and high peaks, we ordered buses with a lot of standing room. The New Flyers can carry 30 seated and 50 standing.”
Riders can do their part to help the Transportation Department measure and plan for surges in usage: always exit by the rear door, which has a device that automatically counts and records the number of riders.
The cost of the new buses is about $350,000 each, but the university is getting a lot for its money. The new fleet has a lifespan of 12 to 18 years, more than double the old fleet. And it puts the university on the leading edge of clean, green technology. The new buses meet the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2007 Highway Diesel Rule.
“A lot of companies purchased buses last year to avoid the new federal mandates,” McCalip says. “But NC State decided to go ahead with the new standards. We want to be state-of-the-art.”
The Transportation Department had the buses put through an exhaustive battery of tests to make sure they meet the university’s rigorous demands, including a double-lane change obstacle avoidance test; an acceleration, grade-ability and top speed test; a fuel consumption test; and noise and vibration tests.
For my money, the air conditioning test is the one that matters. These new buses are so comfortable, you may want to jump on one just to find a clean, well-lighted and cool place to beat the heat.
To view the Wolfline Transit Visualization System, showing the real-time location of each bus, visit http://ncsu.transloc-inc.com. For more information about the Wolfline system, visit http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/trans/transportation/wolfline.