Gov. Martin O’Malley announced Tuesday the state would replace three-quarters of the Mass Transit Administration’s diesel bus fleet by 2014 with 500 hybrid vehicles that would cost 50 percent more, but save money in the long run and the planet as well.

“We’re going to be able to reduce noise pollution, we’re going to reduce air pollution and we’re going to be able to reduce costs to taxpayers,” O’Malley said at event at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore City.

The hybrids use electric power and biodiesel fuel; the first 30 will be in use next year.

Each one costs $580,000 compared with $380,000 for a standard bus, but the hybrids use 20 percent less fuel, are 50 percent quieter and are twice as reliable, with hybrids logging 6,200 miles between service calls compared with 3,300 miles for diesel models. MTA Administrator Paul Wiedefeld said the additional costs are recovered in two years. The Federal Transit Administration subsidizes the purchase of the buses, but does not allow buses to be replaced until they are 12 years old.   

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Ten smaller, 40-foot hybrids have been operating in the Baltimore region since 2006. The newer articulated, accordion-style hybrids are 60 feet long and seat 56 people or 80 with standing room. Responding to a reporter’s question, O’Malley was critical of President Bush’s announcement Monday about lifting the executive ban on offshore oil drilling.

“I think it was a disservice to the American people to tell them that if we simply drilled offshore that we’d all go back to having gasoline at $1 a gallon,” O’Malley said.

While the governor has no interest in drilling off Maryland’s Atlantic coast, he said he’s interested in expanding the wind capability offshore.

llazarick@baltimoreexaminer.com