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Clean, green kid-transporting machines are coming to a bus stop near you.

Because of the work of transportation department staff, Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) has received a hefty $440,000 grant that will provide four clean fuel-burning buses and the engine retrofitting for 11 of the current fleet of 18. The new buses should arrive this summer before school starts. All the retrofitting should be completed by December.

The grant comes from the Bay Area Quality Management District as part of its lower-emission school bus program. The four buses will employ "Green Diesel Technology" - an environmentally friendly method that is cleaner than even the best natural gas engines. According to its producer, International Truck and Engine Corporation, it relies on a special engine calibration, an exhaust particulate trap and ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. This will dramatically reduce bus emissions and turn each vehicle's murky exhaust fumes from black to clear.

The new buses alone cost approximately $113,000 each; of that the district only has to pay $25,000 a bus - to be paid over the next five years. The grant also pays $8,500 for each clean-burning retrofit of other buses - with $500 going to a rebate for the offset of fuel costs.

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