In a policy shift long sought by NRDC, Governor George E. Pataki announced on April 12 that New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority would dramatically increase the number of cleaner-fuel vehicles in New York City's bus fleet and dump its dirty diesels. Pataki, joined by New York's legislative leaders, also announced that every remaining diesel bus in the MTA fleet would be fitted with advanced emission controls and would run on cleaner diesel fuels. Pataki's announcement represents the most sweeping environmental change in the history of New York City's transit system, and sends a strong message to the diesel industry to clean up its act or get out of the bus business in New York. As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers adopting more stringent rules to cut diesel pollution, the announcement shows that rapid progress in cutting diesel emissions is both necessary and possible. In New York City, where diesel exhaust is responsible for as much as half of the fine particle pollution in some areas, as many as 4,000 people each year may die prematurely from breathing in particulates.
Manhattan has the highest recorded levels of outdoor diesel particulates in the nation.
Three new depots will be outfitted to be compatible with the natural gas buses. New York's Department of Environmental Conservation will also establish a public process aimed at setting emissions standards that will ensure that all new buses match the low emissions levels that natural gas buses achieve, regardless of the actual fuel source. These standards will also limit cancer-causing toxic chemicals. Compressed natural gas buses are the leading current alternative to diesel because they virtually eliminate particulate soot, reduce smog-forming gases and toxic emissions and offer potentially lower fuel and operating costs. Hybrid-electric buses are driven by electric motors but can also draw power from a small diesel engine, and are a new introduction to the MTA's fleets.