SMTD Earns A 5-Star Green Fleet Rating

On October 25, 2001, the Sangamon Mass Transit District (SMTD) received the Illinois Green Fleet Designation from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). SMTD was the first transit agency in the state to receive this designation.

What is a "Green Fleet?" The IEPA developed a program where businesses, government units and other organizations may gain recognition for their efforts to reduce polluting emissions from motor vehicles through the use of environmentally-friendly alternative fuels.

The program assigns points to a fleet based on the percentage of the fleet using alternative fuels, refueling arrangements, actual fuel usage, the future commitment to clean, alternative fuels and the presence of any incentives for employees. There are three tiers of Green Fleets with 1-star being the lowest and 5-star being the highest. The SMTD is a 5-star fleet.

Currently SMTD uses 3 types of environmentally-friendly alternative fuels. Twenty-eight of its fifty buses are fueled with compressed natural gas. Twenty-five fixed-route and sixteen Access Sangamon vans may be fueled with soy diesel or 02 Diesel, which is an ethanol-based fuel. These alternative fuels redirect emissions for a cleaner environment.

Ride SMTD's environmentally-friendly buses "Wherever life takes you!"