News Release
December 5, 2003

For More Information, Contact:
Meg Kester, Marketing & Communications Manager
Intercity Transit, 360-705-5842

Intercity Transit, which serves Olympia/Thurston County, received Washington State's top environmental award last month for pioneering the use of biodiesel in its entire fleet of buses.

Intercity Transit receives Washington State ’s top environmental award. Pictured are Mary Burg, Department of Ecology (center) and Intercity Transit Maintenance Director Randy Winders (left) and Transit Authority Chair Tom Hanson (right).

The Washington State Department of Ecology presented its Environmental Excellence Award to Intercity Transit during a joint transit Authority and Citizens Work Group meeting November 17.

Ecology’s air-quality manager, Mary Burg, who presented the award, said, “Intercity Transit has shown that using alternative fuels is very doable, and many citizens will enjoy better health because of it.”

Biodiesel is a cleaner-burning form of diesel that is made from vegetable oils from plants and recycled restaurant grease. It helps protect air quality because it produces fewer tiny particles that pollute air and cause health problems, said Burg. Biodiesel exhaust also reduces the use of fossil fuels, emits less deadly carbon monoxide, smells better and is a less-toxic alternative to diesel. Biodiesel also is made from natural, renewable resources that can be produced domestically.

Intercity Transit fuels its fleet of buses with biodiesel fuel.  Pictured are Intercity Transit Authority Member and Lacey Mayor, Graeme Sackrison (right) and Joe Weakley, IT maintenance staff (left).

The fuel’s popularity is rising among agencies, businesses, boaters, marinas and automobile drivers, said Burg. Refuse haulers, buses and ferries are testing it and using it. Current users in Washington include the Port of Tacoma , and McChord Air Force Base. It is attractive because it helps clean the air, it can be burned in any conventional diesel engine, and its availability is increasing.

Intercity Transit is banking on the fact that as fuel availability increases and more agencies throughout the Puget Sound region make the switch to biodiesel, cost will decline.

The bus fleet currently uses a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel, and plans to double the amount of biodiesel to 40 percent early next year, according to Meg Kester, spokeswoman for Intercity Transit. The transit authority is supporting this move by budgeting $90,000 to cover the additional fuel cost in 2004.

“Intercity Transit is leading the way, showing that biodiesel works. They didn’t just test it, they shifted their whole fleet over to it,” said Linda Graham, Director of the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition.

Regional use of  biodiesel has grown rapidly to more than 1.5 million gallons annually, according to Graham. The Coalition, of which Intercity Transit is a member, is a collaboration of public and private entities working into increase the use of alternative fuels, such as biodiesel and natural gas, for use in motor vehicles. 

The transit agency is making another move to improve its bus emissions by beginning use of ultra-low sulfur diesel by the middle of 2004.

Intercity Transit provides public transportation service in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Yelm in Thurston County, seat of the state capitol. 

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Contacts:        
Sandy Howard, Department of Ecology, 360-407-6239
Meg Kester, Intercity Transit, 360-705-5842  

More information on Intercity Transit.