160 CNG Vehicles Added To Oklahoma Department Of Transportation Fleet
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has accepted delivery of more than a dozen compressed natural gas-fueled pickup trucks that are being added to Oklahoma's fleet of vehicles. Fallin said on March 6 that the CNG vehicles will cut the state's vehicle fuel costs and help reduce exhaust emissions.
The trucks were delivered by John Vance Motors of Guthrie and Chrysler executives. They are among a group of 160 CNG vehicles the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is adding to its fleet.
Fallin is leading a bipartisan coalition of 22 states seeking to use more CNG vehicles in their state fleets. In April 2012, Fallin, with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper as well as the governors of
eleven other states, sent letters to auto makers in the United States
expressing their commitment to explore ways to purchase more CNG
vehicles for their state fleets.
The move was seen as both a cost-saving measure
for states and a means to incentivize the manufacture of affordable and
functional CNG vehicles. The letters referred to a multi-state Request
for Information (RFI), asking manufacturers to provide background and
information in anticipation of a multi-state solicitation. Participating states included: Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming,
Pennsylvania, Utah, Maine, New Mexico, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas,
Ohio, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The initiative by Fallin and Hickenlooper attempted to establish the demand and incentive for auto
manufacturers in the United States to design and sell a suitable
CNG-powered passenger vehicle that could be used both by public fleets and
private sector consumers.