Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus not so 'green'?

Just how "green" is Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus? Apparently not green enough.

The state's Air Resources Board announced today that it is slapping a $21,000 fine on the bus line for failing to conduct required diesel emissions testing and maintaining appropriate records, among other violations. The bus line, with a fleet about 200-strong, also failed to keep emission levels at no more than 60% of 2005 levels as required, according to the regulator.

The fine was agreed to as a part of a legal case settlement, which includes more "green" classes for staff and less idling for drivers. The Big Blue Bus was ranked best in the country in 2000 on efficiency and quality.

-- Victoria Kim

Comments

[mambo]

SM is hypocritical when it comes to being "green." Too quick to pat themselves on the back. Their recycling system is also a joke.

[tew]

These are technical violations that do not positively identify actual pollution violations. This is not news.

[Linda Gamberg]

Hello Ms. Kim –

Since the Big Blue Bus prides itself on being a cornerstone of our City’s sustainability plan, we want to take this opportunity to reassure riders and the public that we make every effort to operate in eco-friendly ways.

Yes, CARB fined BBB last year for violations discovered – and corrected – in 2007. But BBB quickly learned how to meet and exceed CARB requirements:

- Our 186 large buses have always successfully passed “opacity tests” (a.k.a. a smog test for diesel-powered buses). These tests meant BBB met the CARB regulation to reduce particulate matter emissions by 40% from the 2005 baseline.

- In 2007, CARB informed BBB that test results for our 14 smaller buses had to be included in the calculation of that 40% reduction. Although BBB tested smaller buses prior to 2007, we didn’t realize that test receipts needed to be included in CARB reports.

- Staff immediately collaborated with CARB to develop and successfully implement a compliance plan within 12 weeks.

In a nutshell: the fine was for a record keeping violation. But because BBB has a proud reputation to protect, we also took the following steps to exceed CARB standards:
1) Voluntarily installing devices that have the highest emissions reducing rates available on our small buses, lowering pollutants by 85%
2) Designating professional staff to liaison with CARB liaison so we can stay ahead of the curve on state regulations

So we want to reassure locals and other riders that they can continue to brag about our entire fleet exceeds all CARB emission-lowering regulations by 11.9%. And with plans to introduce electric hybrid vehicles next year, air quality in Santa Monica will continue to be stellar thanks to BBB efforts.

Linda Gamberg
City of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus

[Terry Gardner]

I was relieved to read Linda Gamberg's comments. Although Santa Monica still can do more to be a cleaner, greener city, I would like to know some specifics from Mambo about where the city has gone awry. Recently, Santa Monica started allowing residents to even dispose of compostable waste in the black recycleable bins.

My question about the Big Blue bus is whether I've been misinformed. I thought the buses ran on natural gas not diesel. Can someone clarify this?

[Dem0]

To whom this may concern,

The Big Blue Bus takes pride in being cleaner, greener and efficient. They are an organization that cares about people and the environment. And to answer the question about fuel, buses run on (LNG) fuel which is liguified natural gas. The organization is slowly phazing out diesel, but yes there are about 30-40 diesel buses still in operation. The long-term goal is have a whole fleet of LNG buses that run cleaner and are low in emmissions.