Updated: April 23, 2003

New York City Accepted Into “Clean Cities” Program For Work With Alternative Fuel Vehicles

The alternative fuels program is one of the most important methods for cleaning up the local environment and ensuring the health of City residents. Motor vehicles generate 71 percent of the metropolitan region’s carbon monoxide, 53 percent of its ozone-depleting smog and 70 percent of the overall toxic chemicals in the air.

The City’s membership in the federal government’s “Clean Cities” program shows that the City has made great progress in promoting the use of alternative fuel vehicles. Not only does the City use alternative fuel vehicles in its own fleet, but it works with private sector companies to encourage usage throughout the five boroughs.

New York City has the largest municipal fleet of hybrid electric vehicles in the nation, with 480 non-emergency vehicles, about 400 of which are operated by DEP. (Hybrid vehicles combine a gasoline engine and electric motors, and reduce gasoline consumption by 50 percent.) The DEP also uses numerous electric vehicles, which create zero emissions.

Over 350 buses in the City’s franchised bus program run on compressed natural gas (CNG), as do 150 taxi cabs and 26 compactor trucks operated by the Department of Sanitation. Sanitation also has 328 light-duty vehicles and 5 street-sweepers that run on CNG, and 350 light-duty vehicles that are powered by ethanol.

Elsewhere in the City, the Postal Service has 22 electric vehicles and 207 CNG trucks, and the New York State Power Authority has 100 electric vehicles on the road. Private firms such as KeySpan Energy also operate large fleets of CNG vehicles.

“This is proof of New York City’s commitment to improving its air quality,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “By incorporating low emission and alternative fuel vehicles into our transportation system, we will significantly decrease levels of air pollutants, lower asthma rates and reduce our dependence on imported oil.”