EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect the cost of the CTTransit purchase.
Connecticut public transportation CTTransit put 16 new Ford Escape hybrid vehicles into service in its Hartford, Stamford and New Haven divisions, continuing the authority’s switch to cleaner vehicles.
The 16 hybrids replaced 10-year-old non-hybrids with more than 100,000 and will be part of the supervisor fleet. The new hybrids get 20 miles per gallon in the city and 26 miles per gallon on the highway.
The total cost of the purchase was $473,776.
CTTransit already has two Prius hybrid vehicles in use in Hartford. For its bus fleet, CTTransit has 33 hybrid-electric buses operating in Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury. Another 10 articulated hybrid-electric buses are expected for Hartford in the fall.
The state-owned transit system also operated five hydrogen fuel cell buses and is purchasing a sixth. This is the second largest hydrogen fuel cell bus fleet in the country, behind the system that services greater San Francisco.
