EAST LIBERTY, Ohio — School transportation personnel checked out the latest Blue Bird school buses at an event here last week.

The Ohio stop on the 2018 Blue Bird Experience tour took place at the James A. Rhodes Conference Center at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) in East Liberty. The event offered educational sessions and ride-and-drives with a variety of Blue Bird and Micro Bird school buses.

“Just as the TRC has been pushing the limits of vehicles on its proving grounds, Blue Bird has been pushing the limits of school bus innovation with its alternatively fueled buses, like electric, propane, and compressed natural gas, and with its cleaner-operating diesel and gasoline buses,” said Mark Terry, chief commercial officer of Blue Bird Corp.

Local Blue Bird dealer Cardinal Bus Sales hosted the tour stop.

“This event allowed school district decision makers to learn about the safety, economic, and environmental benefits of a host of Blue Bird’s buses,” said Tony Rumer with Cardinal Bus Sales. “In particular, they appreciated the low emissions, quiet ride, and fuel savings of the alternative-fueled models.”

More than 110 school transportation directors, technicians, school bus drivers, and school officials from multiple school districts across Ohio attended. Among them was Shawn Dawson, fleet manager of Westerville City Schools, which operates 35 propane buses and is reportedly saving 50% in operating costs with them.

“This event gave me a lot of confidence in continuing to purchase Blue Bird Vision Propane school buses,” Dawson said. “The partnership between Ford, Blue Bird, and Roush CleanTech is so strong.”

Over the past few months, the school bus OEM has taken its Blue Bird Experience tour to five locations across the nation, including a stop in Texas in April. The final event will be held next month at the STN Expo in Reno, Nevada.