Week of Jan. 28, 2008

Hybrid truck shows it’s tough enough for government work

County crews, including Bob Stanford and John Wilson, enjoy the efficient operations of the new hybrid truck.

In October, the King County Department of Transportation put a new medium-duty lift truck into service. It looks just like other trucks that are used to hoist workers into the air to repair traffic signals or maintain roadside trees – but this one is the first that runs on a hybrid-electric system.

The Fleet Administration Division, which manages vehicle purchases for the county, is already seeing great fuel economy results from the new addition, not to mention all of the environmental benefits.

“When I found out that Kenworth was about to unveil its first production of hybrid trucks, I wanted King County to be the first governmental agency to purchase one,” said King County Executive Ron Sims.

KCDOT Director Harold Taniguchi said Sims has pushed the depart-ment to continue its efforts to be one of the greenest transportation agencies in the nation.

“King County was the first governmental agency in the United States to purchase and put in service hybrid articulated buses. It was one of the first agencies in the State of Washington to purchase hybrid automobiles, and a plug-in hybrid auto,” said Taniguchi. “It is now again the first to purchase and put in use a hybrid truck.”

The new hybrid has a 50-foot lift boom.

Mitchell said not only is the new truck using less fuel when it’s moving between jobs, but also when it’s stationary.

“On our non-hybrid trucks, the motor has to be running for the lift to operate,” said Mitchell. “With this truck, the lift operates off the energy stored in the hybrid battery. That’s both cheaper and quieter.”

Mitchell headed up efforts to form a consortium of local and state government agencies interested in taking hybrid vehicle technology to the next level with the production of medium and heavy-duty work trucks. Together, they have opened the market for hybrid diesel-electric truck purchases, and also serve as a testing ground to provide on-the-road experience, data collection, and analysis of the new trucks. Through the purchasing power of the consortium, Mitchell was able to negotiate a deal so that King County did not have to pay a premium for the hybrid system.

The new Kenworth lift truck will soon be joined in the fleet by and International hybrid vehicle hauler, and an International lift truck will come on board this summer. As other trucks in the fleet age and need to be replaced, Mitchell says the plan is to purchase new hybrid trucks whenever possible.

“The vision and pioneering spirit of Executive Ron Sims really empowers us to embrace cutting-edge technologies,” said Mitchell. “His leadership has made King County a national leader and pacesetter in environmentally friendly and responsible transportation services.”

Crews busy keeping up with slick roads Old Cascade Highway near Skykomish Once again this winter, crews from the King County Road Services Division have been working around the clock to keep roads safe for travel despite the recent icy and snowy weather. Periodic snow, sleet and freezing rain have been making driving conditions hard to pin down all across the county - and it isn't over yet. We’ll likely continue to see wintry weather, rain and slippery roads through much of the week. Given the potential for continued blustery weather, motorists should closely monitor weather reports and use extra caution when traveling. This past weekend and into Monday morning, the regular crews from the maintenance division were assisted by other Roads staff who normally work on paving and drainage projects. The extra help was needed to deal with pockets of problems countywide. “We had a constant stream of calls from residents starting Saturday,” said Maintenance Superintendent Tony Ledbetter. “This one was hard to predict. There was ice on Saturday morning in South King County, slick roads in Fall City and east on Sunday, and then snow in many areas on Monday morning.”

Bike racks now available on almost all buses The project to temporarily replace many bike racks on Metro buses will be completed within the next week. Earlier in January, Metro removed racks that held three bikes from about 400 buses. There were concerns about the operation of that style of rack, so Metro temporarily replaced them with two-bike racks. Due to a shortage of the two-bike racks, some buses were without any kind of bike carrier for a few weeks. Racks have now been located for all of Metro’s in-service buses, and the installation should be complete by Feb. 4. RapidRide feedback due by Friday King County Metro Transit is seeking feedback on proposals for RapidRide bus service in West Seattle and on the Eastside. The deadline for comments is this Friday, Feb. 1. Metro’s initial plans call for buses to arrive on the route every 10 minutes during the busiest morning and evening travel hours, and every 15 minutes during midday and evening hours. The new-style buses will have low floors and three doors to speed up boarding, with limited stops to make RapidRide trips faster. Comments can be submitted by one of the following methods: Fill out an online questionnaire; Send by email to ellen.hansen@kingcounty.gov for West Seattle, and to Barbara.demichele@kingcountygov for Eastside; Mail to: King County Department of Transportation, Community Relations, KSC-TR-0824, 201 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104; Or, call to record your comments on a phone message line at (206) 684-1146. All comments are due by Friday, Feb. 1. More information about the RapidRide plans is available online.

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