Of the 10, nine run on natural gas and one runs on a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen. Unitrans is among the first transit systems in the nation to test the natural gas-hydrogen mixture in actual service conditions.

   With the new buses, 85 percent of Unitrans' mileage will be driven by clean-fuel buses; it had been 70 percent.

   The cost of the new buses, the fuel evaluation project and new hydrogen-fueling facilities totals $3.5 million. Funding sources include: federal funds allocated to UC Davis, the city of Davis, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and the Yolo County Transportation District (YCTD); a special grant for the hydrogen-natural gas project from the governor's last budget; a grant from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, and funds directly from Unitrans capital reserves.

   The natural gas-hydrogen fuel evaluation is a joint project of Unitrans, the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis) and private industry.

   ITS-Davis associate researcher Marshall Miller said that if the fuel blend is as clean-burning as predicted, "it will offer a clear way to reduce pollution significantly for already low-emission buses running on natural gas."

   The evaluation project will also establish a hydrogen fueling infrastructure in Yolo County. The facilities could help accommodate the introduction of fuel cell buses and cars, considered by many experts to have long-term benefits for cleaning up the air and reducing production of greenhouse gases.

   Federal regulators have determined that the Sacramento metropolitan area has unhealthy levels of air pollution. "We're on target to reach the 2005 federal standards for some pollution sources, such as manufacturing facilities, but meeting standards for vehicles has been more difficult," said air pollution control officer Larry Greene of the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District. "A key element of our strategy has been to develop transit fleets fueled by clean natural gas. Unitrans has been a leader in this effort," Greene said. For eight years, Unitrans has worked with Yolo County Transportation District and Sacramento Regional Transit to use cleaner bus fuels.

   The new, bright-red Unitrans buses were introduced at a reception on campus January 29, 2001. Unitrans director Jim McElroy welcomed Unitrans supporters including Matt Huerta, president of Associated Students of UC Davis; U.S. Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento; California Assembly Member Helen Thomson, D-Davis; and UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. Ose and Thomson have been instrumental in securing federal and state funds for these continuing air-quality projects.

   "In five short years Unitrans has become one of the cleanest public bus fleets in the nation. That reflects the emphasis that all of our elected leaders place on clean air," McElroy said. Unitrans is believed to be the largest public transit service run by students in the United States. About 175 student employees and 15 career employees run the system, which carries up to 18,000 passengers each weekday (over 2.4 million annually) in 30 buses over 15 routes.

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