Unitrans, which has offered bus services for university members and Davis residents since 1968 is the latest organisation to join the Cool Davis coalition. Anthony Palmere, General Manager, Scott Weintraub, Assistant General Manager, and Andrew Wyly, Maintenance Manager, obviously take pride in providing low-emission public transportation to the community and working experience for pupils.  They hope membership of Cool Davis will continue the tradition of forward-thinking environmentalism the bus service has maintained over the years.

Unitrans transitioned the fleet from diesel to compressed natural gas fuel starting in the mid 1990s, with the acquisition of a natural gas compressor. By the year 2007, every single-deck bus in the fleet ran on natural gas. Unitrans even runs the only natural gas powered double-decker bus in the world! The signature double-decker busses of Unitrans operate on 30% biodiesel fuel and have stayed operational for over 40 years with preventative maintenance provided by Unitrans employees, many of whom are students. The company offers hands-on experience in bus driving and vehicle maintenance to approximately twenty UCD undergraduates, making Unitrans not only green but supportive of youth as well.

Unitrans even runs the only natural gas powered double-decker bus in the world!

The high-quality service offered by Unitrans, offering a bus stop within a quarter mile of any destination in the city of Davis, has prevented the university from needing to install an environmentally and financially expensive parking structure to accommodate a growing campus community. With the Chancellor’s decision to expand the community with 7,000 more people by 2020, Unitrans’ latest challenge is how to continue to offer services and prevent the addition of any more parking spaces to campus.

They are also seeking to respond positively to their commitment to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), which has challenged transportation providers to measure their usage of water and electricity, and evaluate their greenhouse gas emissions, including how much are saved from riders not driving.

The transportation provider is hoping that through this new connection with the Cool Davis Initiative, more Davis residents will start riding the bus. Unitrans offers route information in the forms of paper schedules, online bus tracking, and actual people reached by calling the Unitrans bus office during normal business hours. Each bus stop has a number on the stop sign that can be texted to Unitrans’ number, called in, or searched on the web to determine when the next bus will come any time night or day. Unitrans currently offers a program with Davis Community Transit to train senior citizens on how to use the bus and what routes are available. Welcome to CDI, Unitrans!