Alternative Fuels

One way to clean up L.A.'s smog is to use clean fuels instead of gasoline or diesel. Alternatively-fueled vehicles usually run on electricity, compressed or liquid natural gas, or propane. Natural gas vehicles emit up to 85 percent less pollution than gasoline or diesel vehicles. Gasoline-electric or liquid natural gas-diesel hybrids are also much cleaner than conventional cars.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, always at the forefront of strict air quality regulations, passed new rules in 2000 forcing owners of large vehicle fleets to buy only clean-fuel vehicles when replacing or expanding their fleets.

The City of Los Angeles had already made a commitment to switch over to alternative fuels, and is beginning to replace all of its fleet with natural gas or hybrid vehicles. By 2001 the city owned 807 alternative fuel vehicles, and made a committment to increase its fleet by 15% each year. Los Angeles owns over 250 gasoline-electric hybrid cars, 100 compressed natural gas cars, and is testing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with Honda. The Los Angeles Airport is also switching its fleet over to alternative fuels, as are other cities in the region. Some private have also begun buying clean vehicles, like the SuperShuttle, a private airport shuttle service, and some taxi companies.

The L.A. Department of Water and Power has run an aggressive campaign to promote electric vehicles. By early 2000 they had established or upgraded nearly 400 electric vehicle charging stations, many freely available to the public, at places like event centers, shopping malls and university campuses.

The most visible ambassadors of clean fuel are the buses. About 80 percent of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transit Administration's more than 2300 buses run on natural gas, and they expect to have the entire fleet on clean fuels within five years, a process begun back in 1994. Though they look like diesel buses, the ride is a bit quieter and a lot less smelly. The Metro fleet is the largest natural gas bus fleet in the United States. Other bus lines in the area, including the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and the Culver CityBus, have been actively switching over to natural gas as well.