Transportation Department realizes
return on investments made
In just
three years, between August 2014 and August 2017 the Puyallup School District
has reduced fuel purchases by 42.8 percent. Cutting gas bills nearly in half is
just one return on the investment of new buses.
The district
has purchased 111 buses since 2014 and has surplussed 88 old buses. Previously,
the district carried 188 buses in the fleet – now there are 174 in inventory
and 154 are on the depreciation scale.
The
transportation department has worked since 2014 to significantly reduce costs
by purchasing more efficient buses and eliminating buses that are fully
depreciated. The goal has been to generate enough in bus depreciation revenue
to make the bus fleet replacement self-sustainable.
Bus
investments since 2014 have generated almost $3 million in added depreciation
revenue.
“Fiscal
responsibility is critically important to our district. We have been able to
plan this fleet sustainability project with existing funds without a transportation
levy,” said Corine Pennington, chief financial officer. Asking voters to
approve transportation levies are a common strategy for purchasing new school
buses in Washington State.
According to
Pennington, the district receives a return on the investment for new buses:
·
Nearly
43 percent increase in fuel efficiency
·
90
percent reduction in fuel emissions
·
Funding
from the state in depreciation revenue for each bus over a period of 9 to 13
years
With newer
buses, the district has also moved toward having a more uniform fleet of buses
that have the same engines and transmissions, as well as other interchangeable
parts. By doing so, mechanics can specialize in a few, rather than many, types
of buses and parts.
“In some
cases, it was difficult to even repair some of the older buses in Puyallup’s
fleet because parts were obsolete,” said Pennington. While older buses average
five to six miles per gallon of gas, newer models get as much as 9 miles per
gallon.
Careful
management of the school district’s funds made it possible to purchase the new
buses, said Superintendent Tim Yeomans.
The district
helped offset the cost after being approved for a $90,000 Department of Ecology
grant.
“A regular
rotation of our bus fleet minimizes maintenance costs and maximizes student
safety,” Yeomans said. “This is about being good stewards of the public’s
money.”
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