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NYC Transit Buses Will Save Environment With a Smile

By

John Del Signore

Published Jun 30, 2009

Modified Jun 30, 2009

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By

John Del Signore

Published Jun 30, 2009

Modified Jun 30, 2009

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Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on the ECO Saver IV! By the end of the year, five of these 42-foot-long hybrid electric babies will be rolled out by NYC Transit, which may purchase as many as 80 if they perform as good as they look. As you can see here, the sleek design is accentuated by a front windshield which curves upward into a smile of blissful environmental friendliness. The Eco Saver IV's electric motor is powered by a battery pack, which is charged by a turbine engine, and Joseph Smith, NYC Transit's bus chief, tells the Daily News, "It's so quiet you don't even know it's running."

Because the smiley bus can run on battery power, it has zero emissions 20% of the time. And James Gaspard, the VP of the company that designed it (DesignLine), points out that "most of the parts that go bad on a regular bus don't exist on this bus." Those non-existent parts include the transmission, alternator, starter and water pump. Your move, non-smiling double decker bus.

Below, more details on the ECO Saver IV's specifications for the transit aficionados out there:

Design Line Hybrid Electric Turbine Bus Features and Specifications

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eco saver iv

hybrid

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John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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