The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving energy by reducing the annual gasoline consumption for its route supervision service.

MCTS operates a fleet of 10 minivans that supervisors use to support the drivers and riders of transit bus routes throughout Milwaukee County. These minivans, which accumulate about 20,000 miles a year, are nearing the end of their service life. Thanks to $210,000 from the TIGGER Program, the transit agency is replacing seven older vans with new hybrid electric vehicles manufactured by Ford.

The new Ford Escape vehicles will directly reduce MCTS’s fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions because the expected on-route fuel efficiency is more than double that of the current vehicles. The older minivans average 12 miles per gallon while the new Ford Escape hybrid vehicles will average 29 miles per gallon according to Environmental Protection Agency ratings for city driving. Much of this fuel savings is due to the hybrid vehicle’s ability to idle without burning gasoline—on-road vehicles spend about 50% of the time idling.

The seven hybrid vehicles will consume nearly 60% less fuel than the older minivans, reducing fuel use from almost 12,000 gallons to about 4,830 gallons a year. Based on these fuel savings, the hybrid vehicles will decrease carbon dioxide emissions from 102.8 metric tons to 42.5 metric tons a year. All told, the hybrid vehicles will slash carbon dioxide emissions by a whopping 485 metric tons during their expected eight-year lifetime.