Reply #3: This is surprising and disappointing to me. [View All]

I really can't fault King County for experimenting with the technology though. Often failure is the best way to illuminate the path to success.

Nor can it be said that the project was in fact, a total failure. According to the article, emissions are reduced and this is no small matter. Also, as others have noted, the route selection is poor.

Also it would be unwise to extract too much information from this "failure." It seems that the hybrid is being operated over the road, but a hybrid's chief advantage is in heavy traffic.

Municipal fleets do represent some of the best opportunities for the introduction of alternative fuels, I note, touching on the point raised by another poster. It would be interesting to see carbon neutral fuels like biodiesel or, even better, dimethyl ether made from alternative carbon sources used in such a such a fleet.