Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Something new will soon be on the road for the Sangamon Mass Transit District.

SMTD managing director Steve Schoeffel says the transit district has purchased eight diesel-electric hybrid buses for not quite $1 million apiece.
“The goal right now,” said Schoeffel, is to replace what started out as thirty diesels with diesel-electric hybrids, and then keep our (compressed natural gas-powered) buses. As those age out, we’ll replace them with more CNG’s, but, at some point in there, if we want to do some sort of a pilot or if we want to try hydrogen or a battery-electric vehicle of some sort, that’ll be during this next eight-year transition to the hybrids.”
After employee training and other adjustments, Schoeffel said the new buses should hit the streets in a month or so.