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Fuel- Saving Plan? (Tony Jobanek and Rob Brooks) <br /> 1. Natural gas as a resource. <br /> Natural gas vehicles have been discussed as a possible future technology for the <br /> vehicle Fleet. The hurdles currently related to movement toward a natural gas <br /> powered vehicle fleet are: availability of CNG or LNG vehicles currently on the <br /> market , the cost of building a fueling station infrastructure to be in place to support <br /> a natural gas vehicle and the cost of retrofitting existing vehicles in the fleet. The <br /> City will continue to assess the viability of purchasing natural gas fueled vehicles for <br /> a portion of the vehicle fleet. <br /> 2. Propane? <br /> The City of Eugene converted several pickups in the late 1980's to propane as a test <br /> on the viability of converting part of the fleet to this energy source. Due to <br /> experiencing increased maintenance costs and lower power and fuel economy the <br /> vehicles were converted back to gasoline. As propane technologies advance it will <br /> continue to be assessed to determine if this technology is viable for City vehicles. <br /> Propane vehicles face some of the same hurdles as natural gas vehicles. <br /> 3. 4x10 hour work week <br /> The decision on work schedules is normally based on specific operational <br /> considerations. The discussion is best made at the work team level between the <br /> work team and their supervisor. ,41) <br /> 4. Multi -seat trucks <br /> o E.g.: Crew cabs <br /> This decision is based on the operational needs of individual work teams. Crew <br /> cabs can increase the overall cost of a new vehicle depending on its configuration. <br /> 5. Hybrid trucks if affordable <br /> City is currently bringing hybrid technologies into the vehicle fleet as technologies <br /> and budgets allow. Hybrid vehicles help meet the council goal of sustainability by <br /> reducing emissions and fuel usage. <br /> 6. Bicycles, taxis, motorcycles for concrete workers <br /> Bicycles are currently available for staff use for City business. Specific usage of <br /> bicycles and other alternative modes of transportation are determined at an <br /> operational level specific to the individual work team. No discussion at a Fleet or <br /> city wide level has taken place with regard to the specific work group of concrete <br /> workers. <br /> 7. No ethanol. Regular gas boosts mileage, lower maintenance cost. <br /> The state of Oregon currently requires the use E10 (ten percent Ethanol) for all <br /> gasoline powered vehicles. The City of Eugene has used El0 since January 2007 <br /> and has experienced no significant decrease in fuel economy. Maintenance costs for <br /> the city fleet due to the use of E10 have not shown to have any significant financial <br /> impact or change. The Oregon Department of Energy working with the US dept. of <br /> 26 <br />