Ron Shipley of Pierce Transit Honored as 
2004 AFV Hero of the Year                      

Ron Shipley at Pierce Transit has been recognized by the Department of Energy (DOE) as the AFV Hero of the Year. Each year, DOE honors companies, government entities and individuals that have made significant, long-term contributions to advancing the use of alternative fuels in cars and trucks. There is no doubt that Ron deserves the honor in recognition of all his efforts to create a CNG transit fleet and helping to advance the entire heavy-duty CNG industry.

Pierce Transit of Tacoma, Washington, has successfully operated CNG buses in its fleet since 1986, and is on the verge of becoming a 100% CNG-powered fleet. The agency currently operates a fleet of 196 natural gas buses and eight natural gas support vehicles. 

The agency's belief in alternative fuels has developed largely from the tireless work of Ron Shipley, Vice President of Vehicle Maintenance. Ron has not only successfully implemented the natural gas program at Pierce Transit, but has been instrumental in working with engine developers to create better technology, technology that is now in use throughout the heavy-duty CNG industry. 

Ron has also has helped teach numerous other fleets and transit agencies about the benefits of AFVs. One example of Ron's efforts was his work to help persuade the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in Washington, D.C., to use CNG buses. He brokered a deal to allow WMATA to order buses off a procurement Pierce Transit has in place with the New Flyer bus factory. This saved WMATA nearly a year of procurement time and ensured the buses met the rigorous performance specifications that only a veteran fleet like Pierce Transit would have known to ask. 

Ron has also made the Pierce Transit maintenance training program available to numerous other fleets, and has always shared problem-solving expertise nationally through DOE's natural gas Transit Users Group. 

Without a doubt, many more AFVs are on the road today thanks to a generous helping hand from Ron Shipley and his team at Pierce Transit.

Additional information on Pierce Transit

The Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition is grateful for the assistance of the writers and editors of ShowTimes in developing the information for this article. ShowTimes is published by Convention and Tradeshow News at the 2004 National Clean Cities Conference.