Executive Summary and Policy Recommendations

With the vision and leadership of Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) and the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at The University of Toledo developed a long-term, large-scale comprehensive research project to understand and assess the impacts of using a mixture of renewable bio-fuel and diesel fuel (B20: 20% bio-fuel and 80% diesel) compared to currently available diesel fuel. Efforts to initiate the study began in the late summer of 2005. The City of Toledo had three vehicles operating on B20. TARTA selected thirty-eight Thomas buses with 2003 Detroit Diesel MBE 900 engines and ten Bluebird buses with 2006 Cummins ISB engines. Half of each type used ULS diesel and the other half used B20 made with ULS diesel. There were no significant problems in switching from diesel to biodiesel, or problems with operations. The mechanics who worked on the vehicles did not see a significant difference between working on vehicles using standard diesel versus biodiesel, and a survey of drivers showed a slight preference for vehicles burning biodiesel. Fuel Costs (B20 became cheaper than standard diesel): The cost of standard diesel (ULS diesel) varied significantly over the study period from $1.859/gallon in October 2006 to a high of $4.19 in June 2008 back to a $1.88 at the close of data collection in May 2009. The lowest cost was $1.64/gallon. The cost of B20 varied significantly over the study period from $2.039 in October 2006 to a high of $4.049 in July 2008 back to a $1.781 at the close of data collection in May 2009. This fluctuation masked a change in the relationship between the price of standard diesel and B20. In the first year, the average cost of standard diesel was $1.975/gallon and B20 was $2.088 making B20 more expensive by $0.113/gallon. In the second year, the comparison was $2.864 versus 3.007 making B20 more expensive by $0.143/gallon. However, in the third year, it was $2.613 versus 2.507 making B20 less expensive by $0.106/gallon. Miles per Gallon (MPG) and Fuel Cost per Mile (FCM): For the Thomas buses, the MPG was lower and the FCM was higher for the buses run on B20 than the buses run of standard diesel. There was no such pattern for the Blue Bird buses. Over the life of the study, the FCM was approximately the same if one considers the large fluctuations in price during the study period. …