Performance and Emissions Evaluation of Compressed Natural Gas and Clean Diesel Buses at New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority

The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has initiated a program to utilize various diesel emission control, alternative fuel, and hybrid electric drive technologies as part of its ongoing effort to provide environmentally friendly bus service. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has joined with the MTA and Environment Canada in evaluating this program, and has established a protocol for measuring both regulated and unregulated emissions, as well as other operational parameters. This paper compares and contrasts the emissions of buses powered by Detroit Diesel Series 50 diesel engines and Series 50G Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) engines. All buses have been tested for regulated emissions at the Emissions Research and Measurement Division of Environment Canada, in Ottawa, Ontario. Unregulated emissions measurements, including particle size distributions and chemical analysis, have been supported by DEC staff. The various measured quantities are presented in order to facilitate useful comparisons among the different transit bus technologies.