RIVERSIDE--In service by months end will be a new Riverside Transit Agency bus. It has been converted to operate on a unique hydraulic hybrid system.

The 12-seat vehicle will operate on various routes and is said to offer fewer emissions and increased mileage.

RTA’s Bradley Weaver says it’s all in the braking process.

“The technology recognizes that you are stopping and it stores energy into pressure tanks, like a spring building pressure. When the light turns green and you accelerate this vehicle, the tanks release all that stored pressure and the vehicle is propelled forward,” he said.

RTA was among the first transit systems in the nation to operate low-emission methanol buses.

Story Date: February 1, 2011