Tom Corbett yesterday awarded more than $6.7 million in Act 13 funding to 18 companies and organizations making the switch to natural gas for their heavy-duty fleet vehicles. "Act 13 was a leap forward in strengthening oversight of the drilling industry and in helping to continue to grow jobs and clean the air, at the same time as demand in the transportation sector develops,” he said.

The high volume, dedicated service established between Sanford, NC and Savannah, GA on April 18th, is the first ever built around commercial-order, production-built engines (Cummins Westport ISX12 G) fueled exclusively with liquefied natural gas. Transportation milestone was made possible through partnership including Cummins Westport, Freightliner and Clean Energy Fuels.

The bus manufacturer announced that has signed a five-year contract with Sun Metro, of El Paso, containing a firm order for 13 CNG 60-foot buses (26 EUs), and nine CNG 40-foot buses. Additionally, the contract includes four, one-year options for up to 108 60-foot CNG buses (216 EUs) and up to 72 40-foot CNG buses.

The company operates a fleet of 37 vans (nine- and 11-passenger vehicles), where 30 are already running on CNG and the remainder will be converted by May. In 2008, San Francisco International Airport informed of new alternative fuel requirements for shuttle companies that serve the airport and asked to switch 25 percent of the fleets to natural gas by 2010, with additional percentages required in 2011 and 2012, and full conversion this year.